Issues
Don’t let politicians interfere in the classroom It is the responsibility of public authorities to set general objectives and targets for their education systems. Schools and educators, however, must be autonomous in applying educational methods and in selecting the teaching and learning materials that will help them reach those targets. Politicians should not interfere in the work of professional educators by prescribing educational methods and content. In the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, education became an election issue. Politicians, rather than providing budgetary support and frameworks for education policy – their traditional roles – began proposing laws to manage the classroom. A heavy reliance on testing was imposed. This created enormous stress for students and teachers, and the quality and scope of education deteriorated as its results were judged based on limited and measurable criteria. The result of political meddling in education was that public support for the schools declined. It became difficult to recruit and retain teachers. Standards deteriorated and, as private schools assumed a greater role, schools became increasingly segregated, both ethnically and socio-economically. As in so many policy areas in recent decades, many politicians have developed more trust in the market than in the public policy and infrastructure for which they are responsible. Unfortunately, many reforms, starting with those in the United States and the United Kingdom, have the 20
Western Teacher June 2020
effect of decentralising education to the school level while offering school choice and making education a matter between customers (parents) and education service providers. The system can be damaged in a short period of time and become vulnerable to private hustlers who are better at flashy public relations and deceptive promises than at substance and real performance. In some cases, the “merchants of education” seem to do rather well when politicians invade the classroom (even if it is only for short photo opportunities). Cuts in public support for education and austerity programs adopted by these very same politicians, have created problems that, in turn, have prompted cheap and poor-quality solutions. More and more problems are caused by such solutions. Education, by its very nature, is a longterm process. It requires consistency, solid democratic values and sustainability. It has worked best where its mission reflects a consensus in society and when it is firmly rooted in the community. Politics are driven by an entirely different dynamic. Long-term is, normally and understandably, the next election. Results must be short term, which means that they are not likely to be real. Increasingly, politicians have become more preoccupied with slogans than substance. When these bad habits are imposed on education, the results are disastrous. In many countries, education policy has become polarising and short-term rather than unifying and long-term. If politicians wake up and re-assume their responsibilities to ensure education as a common good that nurtures
democratic society and human rights values, misguided education reforms can be reversed. However, in the current environment in many countries, it means that creating a coherent and workable system will be much more difficult. It will require democracy to return to education. It will also need politicians who are ready and willing to serve and further that democracy. Although it is the purview of politicians and public authorities to take decisions – even unwise ones – on educational reforms and targets, direct interference in the classroom, telling teachers what and how to teach, is crossing the line. Chapter 4 of On Education & Democracy (2019) briefly addresses the crusade against the teachers of Brazil by President Jair Messias Bolsonaro. He believes that Marxist ideology is being taught in schools and encourages students to videotape their teachers and shame them on social media. Once in office, his Education Minister instructed schools to have students sing the national anthem and recite Bolsonaro’s campaign slogan every morning. In Turkey, after the failed military coup in 2016, President Recip Erodgan fired 11,000 teachers and withdrew the teaching licences of 21,000, accusing them of being disloyal to his government. In addition, he removed the theory of evolution from the curriculum in primary and secondary schools. In Hungary, President Orbán has taken control of school textbooks and they are increasingly showing a narrow nationalistic view. In 2018, he also forced the Central European University to close its doors.
