Conscious choices in society

Society and education: an interaction

Issues in society

We are all confronted daily with issues, which lead to choices. So, we consider all aspects of such issues, the pros and cons, and then proceed to take up positions, make choices and take action.

Our society also has to deal with many, usually complex, societal issues. Today’s societal issues also seem to be increasingly challenging. There are the profound changes in our climate and biodiversity, as well as issues like poverty and inequality and an ever-increasing number of refugees. Moreover, societal issues are intrinsically interlinked.

There is a sense of urgency - an urgent need for fundamental changes in the way we organise our society. Worldwide, the call for change is very loud. For instance, in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Van Poeck, Östman & Öhman 2019).

To deal effectively with complex societal issues in today’s world is therefore certainly not self-evident. This makes it all the more important that we approach the issues in a positive way, by making conscious choices. This leads to a different approach, which is especially needed for complex societal issues.

The school as a place for practice

Djapo promotes education that supports and encourages pupils to make well-considered choices in society. After all, the school can have a major impact on the development of children and young people into active and resilient global citizens, and this process can be stimulated by societal issues. It can help to develop the disposition to make conscious choices and, as a result, help individuals to maximise their resilience and decisiveness. School can achieve this by offering pupils support and encouragement. By offering them the chance to learn from the world as it is, and also the opportunity to renew their world (Masschelein & Simons 2013). In other words, the school can use societal issues as a valuable, relevant learning context for its pupils. It can create a climate in which the pupils at school encounter with society in a certain sense, with all the questions, answers, initiatives and conflicts that belong to that process.

This means that, while in a safe and protected environment, pupils can be confronted with authentic issues such as poverty of opportunity, gender inequality, climate change and water pollution. They can engage with these issues within the school as ‘scholè’ (Greek for ‘leisure’) (Masschelein & Simons 2013), without any pressure to perform. The school becomes a safe place for practice (Masschelein & Simons 2013) where pupils can learn to take up a standpoint and act accordingly. This learning process is essential in our society, where we are confronted with urgent issues on a daily basis. In chapter 2 ‘ESD experimental environment’, we go into detail about working with societal issues.

The school as a place for practice is an environment – in which pupils can deal with societal issues – without having to meet any societal agenda, – without suffering the direct consequences of their choices in their own lives, – and with space to reflect on their choices, the processes leading up to them and their consequences, – and to learn from this experience.

Disposition to make conscious choices

What are ‘conscious choices’?

We make several big and small choices every day. We think about our options and act on them. So, making a choice does not mean passively choosing from a menu of options. Yet we often make choices without really thinking about them. In such case, we choose on the basis of routine (Swartz et al. 2008), out of familiarity or habit. This kind of choice is useful in everyday life, to avoid dwelling on each individual choice, which is not necessary. But it is often good to reflect on a choice, in order to break routine and do things differently. Because if we reflect on our choices, we don’t just make any choice. By using the term ‘conscious’, we align with the concept of ‘skillful thinking’ by Swartz et al. (2008). This emphasises goal-oriented thinking, being aware of what is going on in the process of making our own choices and in those of others. After all, there are many aspects that determine the choices we make in our thinking and acting: our identity, values, emotions, convictions, interests, etc., all play a role. As do the zeitgeist and the place in the world in which we find ourselves at that moment. Making conscious choices starts with being aware of what drives those choices. This brings us to what we call ‘disposition’.

What do we mean by ‘disposition’?

In the context of this paper, ‘disposition’ means both the extent to which, and the probability that, we will think and act effectively and, in a goal-oriented way. This disposition, and the extent to which it is present, is determined by various factors. It is generally accepted that knowledge and skills play a role in the choice process. But the choices one actually makes depend to a large extent on being alert to situations in which knowledge and skills can be meaningfully applied, and on the motivation to apply specific knowledge and skills. The extent to which each of these factors is present varies from person to person.

We can therefore summarise that the disposition to think and act effectively and, consequently, the disposition to deal with societal issues in a goal-oriented way, becomes determined by the systematic interaction between four factors: knowledge, skills, sensitivity and motivation (Perkins et al. 2000). Specifically, if you want to apply something, you will be able to do so more easily and will know more about it. But the reverse is also true: you will want to do what you can do well. The four aspects are thus inextrica- bly linked (Tishman & Andrade 1996) (Perkins et al. 2000) (Tishman 2001). In this context, Djapo chooses to replace the word skills with the word ‘thinking processes’, because this places more emphasis on their process-oriented nature.

So, in our context, the 4 factors stand for:

– the extent to which we can use knowledge in the context of a societal issue/choice,

– the extent to which we can deploy thinking processes in the context of a societal issue/choice

– the extent to which we are alert to situations in which it is useful to deploy thinking processes and knowledge in the context of a societal issue/choice,

– the degree to which we are motivated to apply knowledge and thinking processes in the context of a societal issue/ choice.

‘Disposition’ also denotes a tendency to think and act effectively and is influenced by four aspects:

– knowledge

– thinking processes

– sensitivity to opportunities to use knowledge and thinking processes

– the motivation to apply knowledge and thinking processes.