Vol.2, No 6, 1999 pp. 147 - 152
NEW BOOKS REVIEW
BUCHBESPRECHUNGEN
EDUCATION FOR DEMOKRACY
The Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade published
in the first half of 1997 the book Democracy, education, personality. I
say 'a book', although in a review such as this one it should be more specifically
determined in terms of its scientific genre. The editor, Dr. Zoran Avramovi},
thinks, and in the preface he has written, that this is a monograph, although
it can hardly be that, both in its title and in its approach to and the
incoherence of the subject matter. It is all this that would rather make
this publication a book-collection. The monograph (we stick to the editor's
categorization) resulted from the work on the project Education for democracy
realized at the Institute within the macro-project Social and moral education.
The monograph is interdisciplinary in its concept. It,
as the editor informs us, considers the issues significant for democratic
education and the development of democratic culture from the point of view
of various scientific disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, pedagogy,
sociology, law, political science, and history. It also considers
the issues relevant for the explanation and understanding of democracy
and democratic functioning of a society, as well as the issues concerning
the very process of the education for democracy, its aims, means, subjects,
and effects.
The monograph consists of eleven articles written by
eleven authors of various professional profiles. With the preface and summaries
in the English language, the book amounts to two hundred and two pages.
'Cultivating for democracy' is the article by Mihailo
Markovi}, the member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts, where he stated
his opinion by answering five questions: (1) what is democracy, (2) freedom
- a precondition for democracy, (3) is democracy a condition or an ideal,
(4) can one be a democrat in one limited area of life, while being a non-democrat
in all the other spheres, and (5) how to cultivate people for democracy.
The original classical sense of democracy has been
completely lost, and democracy in a broader sense, according to Markovi},
"means a mode of managing any system other than political: economic, cultural,
ecological, church, sport, etc. (p.11). Such democracy is a political system
established on the principle of equal freedoms of all the citizens of a
country. Markovi} further points out that it is not difficult to see that
in reality, even in the so-called 'democratic societies', democracy is
present only to a negligible extent. In mixed societies there are initial
forms of economic and cultural democracy, as well as participatory political
democracy. Democracy in the broadest sense, as a life style, has not yet
prevailed anywhere in reality, and there are very few democratic persons
(p.16). Out of the four spheres of life - the sphere of the private life
in the family, the work sphere, the leisure sphere, and the sphere of political
activity, 'when we speak about democracy (including education for democracy),
we usually have in mind only this last area of human life, which is even
not the most important for the majority of people." (p.17). The main problem
of education for freedom and democracy is the reconciliation of the two
apparently conflicting requirements: "on one hand, removing the limits
and barriers to the individual autonomy, and on the other, restricting
the autonomy of one person in the name of the autonomy of other people.
(p.18.). Another important problem of education for democracy is the forming
of the identity of a young human being without negating the identity of
the others. Moreover, the cultivation of the dialogue as a method of struggle
is a necessary element of the education for democracy.
'Democracy and education' is the title of the article
by Jovan Babi}, Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. Although
his text lacks the desirable and necessary methodology, such as was seen
in the text by M. Markovi}, a few relevant considerations can be recognized
and singled out. Thus, the substantial determination of democracy is very
widely spread. It presupposes a fixed, preestablihed programme that should
be achieved as a description of 'the state of democracy'. (p.23). Education
emerges as a kind of a precondition for democracy and its constituent part.
Without competent, educated people, there cannot be competent citizens.
This makes education very significant politically. "The aim of education
in democracy therefore has to be the autonomy of a person, the aspect of
maturity which is the precondition or the pillar of political freedom
where everyone in a relevant way takes part in decision making. But the
opposite also applies - political freedom is the precondition of the possibility
of such an education
(p.28). This means that the element of education
and the element of upbringing are necessary conditions of the democratic
decision-making and the discussion of these issues. 'Democracy as such,
therefore, protects from sudden and great changes, but what kind of a state
will be produced, and how it will change and in which direction, it will
depend on people's ability to make decisions in a competent manner." All
this is not possible without sufficiently high quality education, in two
senses" "first, there should be an awareness, which means the knowledge
of what is possible in a particular social community
and second, there
should be moral and political courage
(p.31). There cannot be a really
democratic decision-making, if the majority is uneducated, or, which is
perhaps even worse, semi-educated. Therefore the mastering of the competence
to think and act in an autonomous way is the aim of the third dimension
of education.
'Democracy and education with the Ancient Greeks' is
a review article written by Ksenija Maricki-Gadjanski from the Faculty
of Philosophy in Novi Sad. It is one of the two longest articles in the
book, certainly too long considering the volume of the whole book. The
article itself resembles a collage it its nature. It gives thoughts, attitudes
and witticisms of many people on many issues, and, naturally, mostly on
education and democracy. It is all supported by expressions in Old Greek,
Modern Greek, Latin, and several other modern languages, probably in the
attempt to give the paper the desirable and necessary academic style. It
also gives the unavoidable etymological explanations. Without giving the
summary of the article (which does not even seem possible to me) with which
I could familiarize the readers, I recommend them to read it for themselves.
They will be given many facts, and they might find the answer, which I
did not find, to the question raised by the author: What is today's role
of education and upbringing in the perspective of the existence of the
great power of our time? (p.57)
'Problems of democracy defining and modeling' is the
title of the article written by Vucina Vasovi}, Professor at the Faculty
of Political Sciences in Belgrade. He starts from the truism that never
in the modern history have there been so numerous and strong reasons as
today to reconsider and reexamine the complex and vital concept of the
perspective and the state of democracy in the contemporary world from a
broader empirical and prospective or critical and humanistic point of view.
He gives only six reasons (among the many) why it is so, and the sixth
reason argues that "a clearer determination of the concepts and types,
i.e. models of democracy, is necessary for the establishment, better to
say, development, of a more adequate system of education and the general
process of democratic socialization (!?) and culturation ." (p.61). Unpretentiously,
clearly, due to a limited space, in the text he does not consider all the
key problems of democracy. In fact, almost as in elementary remarks, he
discusses two groups of questions: 1/ of defining and modeling, i.e. the
model of democracy, and 2/ of certain basic conditions and preconditions
for establishing and functioning of the adequate project-model of democracy.
In the section subtitled 'Modeling and models of democracy' he mentions
ten elements or features of democracy. Among others they are "the principle
of the rule of law, or the restrictions imposed to the state by law, freedom
and rights of the citizens, political equality, responsibility of the subjects
of political power, political pluralism, election for the organs of political
power, the freedom of mass media, etc.
'Unlearnt lessons on democracy' is the article by Jovica
Trkulja from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. The text consists of the introduction,
development (three subtitles), conclusion. There is also the list of references.
For the motto of his article Trkulja took Monteskie's thought: "it is good
to create democracy for people. But there is something even better and
more important: to educate people for democracy." Therefore it was expected
that the article will deal more with education and upbringing, the one
for democracy, of course. That is lacking, but the author speaks of lessons
, once as unlearnt (in the title), the second time as unabsolved (in the
subtitle). The author was obviously not bothered by the unnatural link
between a lesson and democracy. Lessons and democracy, in any sense, don't
and should not go together. If that happens, it is democracy that loses.
In the first part of the article J. Trkulja gives eleven conditions and
factors of democracy, which mostly are the same as mentioned by other authors.
They are: constituting a citizen, creation of a civil society, legal state
and the rule of law, the control of the subjects of political power, establishment
of political pluralism, etc. The second part deals with the degrees of
development of a modern democratic state, and the third with the course
of postcommunist transition between a democratic and an authoritarian political
system.
'Social and institutional basis of education for democracy'
is the title of the longest text in the book (some thirty pages), written
by Milan Nedeljkovi}, Professor of the Teacher Training College in Jagodina.
The article consists of the introduction, the body (divided into
four subtitles) and the list of references. The subtitles are: The notion,
historical development and the meaning of democracy; Modern society
and democracy; Modern school and democracy; The role and place of a teacher
in education for democracy. Judging by the title, and especially by the
subtitles, all the two hundred pages of this monograph would not be sufficient
for the adequate treatment of the subject matter, particularly if done
at the level of a scientific project. It is certainly difficult, almost
impossible, to state the problem in a proper academic manner at five pages,
as for instance, 'Modern society and democracy'. I was especially curious
to see what place and role the author gave to the teacher in the education
process which aims at democracy. I gave up the search for that answer,
but I did find the author's opinion on the qualities of the teachers who
will educate for democracy. "For the young generation it can be understandable
and acceptable only to have good, gifted, talented teachers, masters, virtuosi
of education, extraordinary personalities, persons who are acknowledged
for their inspiration for democracy and other values." (underlined by M.
I., p.121). My congratulations to the young generation on their taste and
my sincere condolences in their disappointment because they are not going
to find a teacher inspired by values, as described above, at least not
in this country.
'Education, democracy, school' is a bulky and diffuse
title for the article such as written by Želimir Popov from the Pedagogy
Department of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. Ž. Popov informs us
in his introductory sentences that he will try to point to the important
relations between education, democracy and school which he recognizes as
relevant for the theory of education as an inherently pedagogic discipline.
And he did it in a terrific way. The article as a whole exudes theoretical
novelties and the freshness of thought, and has been written in a mild,
but precise pedagogic style. Due to the limited space, it was done in an
encyclopedic way, which only increases the value of the text. The 'entries'
themselves - education, democracy, and school, have been dealt with
in the same way. Thus, we learn from Ž. Popov that the word education has
many meanings, which is one of the reasons why this concept resists simple
definition and determination. This, however, does not mean that there are
no criteria for defining the concept of education. The author chooses to
define education as an activity, but in the spirit of Brezinka's definition
according to which education is "
an activity with which people try, in
any sense, to permanently improve the structure of psychic dispositions
of other people or to detain their components estimated as valuable, to
postpone or prevent the onset of dispositions that are estimated as bad.
(p.125). The author warns that from the point of view of science of education
it is not acceptable to determine political goals as educational, regardless
of their content or the motives for their determination, and consequently,
the realization of such goals should not be sought for through education.
(p.129). Then the author points to the fact that school and education are
two different phenomena. In its origin, education is older than school.
From the pedagogical angle, "school is an institutionalized from of education,
and from the sociological angle, it is a social institution or an institution
of a society
" (p.130). At the end the author warns: it should not be
expected that a democratic society will emerge solely as the consequence
of education. All the attempts to change society through school, with its
reformation, did not give the expected results. (p.132). Let us add to
this, those who expected this and saw such power in school had a fairy-tale
notion of school, but of education in general as well.
'Personality and democratic behaviour' is the title of
the article by Bora Kuzmanovi}, Professor at the Psychology Department
at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. The article consists of four
parts: Issues of understanding and accepting of democracy, Authoritarianism
as a factor which causes non-democratic attitudes and behaviour, Other
psychological factors relevant for the acceptance of non-democratic attitudes
and decision-making, and An attempt at constructing a democratic character.
According to Kuzmanovi}, democracy primarily has to presuppose the autonomy
of an individual, his free declaraing, and only then his readiness to obey
the common 'rules of the game', the procedure of decision making. Education
for democracy and the relation between personality and democratic decision-making
can be seriously discussed only when the concept of democracy broadens
to include "various forms of participatory managing and group decision-making"
(p.136). Further, the author says that it can be reasonably assumed that
the number of the adherents of democracy decreases when turning from the
general level to particular attitudes. Discussing authoritarian behaviour
and non-democracy, the author notes that authoritarian bahaviour, among
other things, can be not only a characteristic of an individual, but also
a value orientation. Therefore authoritarian bahaviour is a really important
hindrance in the development of democracy and a democratic pattern of behaviour.
Having in mind participatory democracy, an important element for the development
and efficiency of such democracy is then the motivation of the members
of a community, organization or a group to participate in the preparation
and making of decisions, what is important is their readiness to take part,
to be involved (p.148).
'Education for democracy: the problem of transfer' is
the article by Mirjana Vasovi} from the Institute for Social Sciences
in Belgrade. Despite lacking the desirable methodology, it is theoretically
interesting. According to the author, one of the classic problems in the
theory of political socialization is the problem of transfer. It has to
do, in fact, with the influence of an early and previous political teaching
to the subsequent political teaching, i.e. political behaviour. In the
context of theoretical problems of education for democracy, the problem
of transfer can be considered at several levels. M. Vasovi} does
it at three levels. The first is the most general one, the societal level.
The problem deals with the significance of the influence which the previous
authoritarian, political culture can have on the process of acquisition
of democratic orientations and future democratic behaviour. The second
is the individual level. It deals with the relevance of the influence of
an early teaching of democratic attitudes, in childhood and adolescence,
on a person's democratic awareness and behaviour in his/her adult age.
The third is the methodological level. The problem deals with the possibility
to project an optimal curriculum for a democratic education that could
be applicable in various democratic institutional paradigms. (p.161).
'Development of democratic values in school' was written
by Snežana Joksimovi} from the Institute for Educational Research in Belgrade.
Judging by the contents and the lack of the usual structure, the paper
as a whole could be considered as an introduction into the problem stated
in the title. After the usual explanation of a democratic personality and
democratic values, the author discusses the role of school in the development
of a democratic orientation of young people, starting from those aspects
of school life that most directly influence the relationships at school
and the school atmosphere. As found in some American researches, as interpreted
by the author, schools with a lower number of pupils are more suitable
for the development of democratic orientation. (What is that number?) The
size of a class, i.e. the number of pupils in a class as well. (What is
that number?) However, for the development of a democratic orientation
the usual sitting arrangement in a classroom is not suitable, with its
rows of desks, where the pupils are on one and the teacher on the other
side. To this aim, much better are 'open classes'. (p.168). Further, the
social climate in a class and a democratic orientation are highly influenced
by the teacher, especially verbal communication between the teacher and
the pupils. Also, the method of work in the class. And finally, there is
also peer interaction. That is how the things are in America, but I dare
to ask: can this simply be applied in our social and school conditions
and with our children?
'Knowledge on democracy in textbooks' is the article
written by the monograph's editor, Zoran Avramovi}, with whose courtesy
it was published as the last one. There is a quotation from the text, which
I think embodies the main idea. "No single text on education for democracy
can take the risk of explicating the right and best choice in democracy.
In such an attempt there would be a lot of utopia, and little reality.
The text aiming at forming education and upbringing for a good choice in
democracy, would have scientific justification if it would express a few
constitutive elements of democratic consciousness and knowledge: a/ the
nature of social conditioning of consciousness and democratic knowledge
b/ the structure of party and political programmes and their values, c/
the identification of the creators of politics, and d/ the institutions
that mediate between the individual opinion and the candidates for representative
bodies
" (p.185). These are the elements the author deals with in this
paper, with the warning that students' reception of democratic contents
of the texts in their textbooks is made difficult by the notion of democracy
as the ever-changing form of life of an individual and a society.
Giving a detailed review of the monograph and the articles
it includes, referring to the original wherever it was possible, I wanted,
among other things, to arouse the interest of both academic, professional
and general public. To all of them, I can highly recommend this book.
Miomir Ivković
