Based on Freire's educational philosophy, this study aimed at addressing the irony of the status quo of education and why educators cannot become subjects creating one's own educational philosophy but remain passive, only delivering information. First...
Based on Freire's educational philosophy, this study aimed at addressing the irony of the status quo of education and why educators cannot become subjects creating one's own educational philosophy but remain passive, only delivering information. First of all, this study defined 'veil' as an education-wide ideology of control and taming. Based on Freire's theory, it was analyzed as to how this veil distorts the reality and obstructs clear judgment.
Veil is created for the ruling class to sustain their vested interests. Veil mythicizes the reality so that the suppressed class cannot raise questions. It also cuts off communication and degrades man to non-historical entity. When covered by veil, man conforms oneself to the situation. In other cases, man aspires to the powerful class, their pomp and glory and hopes to be part of them. Veil also hampers a clear judgment on reality and keeps man from living sincerely.
Under a veil, history is deemed something irrelevant to man, not something created by man. Reality becomes something to be given and accept passively, not an active product of man's creativity. History also becomes a permanent truth, not something changeable. This is the moment when both man and history find themselves out of context and man is degraded to an object. Truth also becomes a myth when covered by a veil. Under a veil, knowledge becomes a present to enlighten the ignorant, not something that is accomplished through interaction, criticism, modification. While knowledge is produced from man's search for truth and creative activity, the ruling party inflicts their ideology onto others to govern public's mind and body by debasing truth to a myth.
When covered by a veil, an educator is nothing but a technician engaged in the practice of one's skills. The ruling class always wants to control and manage the activity of educators on the pretext that their activity should always be predictable and consistent. As they are something to be managed, teachers do not need the process of deliberation and self-examination. Therefore, they come to avoid questions as to what to teach, why and how to teach and what goal they are pursuing. Teachers even get deprived of their right to speak out and their consciences are internalized.
Just like administrative authorities limit the freedom of educators to teach, educators also limit the freedom of their learners. They train, force and suppress intellectually incompetent learners to store knowledge. The more teachers believe they can transform students and force them to acquire knowledge, students get used to passive way of life and become more incompetent and dependent. However, educators who envision humane education without veil encourage students to become subjects of education. Through communicating with students, they also enlarge their own recognition.
Therefore, it is essential to understand the wide existence of veil and recognize what effect this veil is having upon education. For educators to be subjects of education, they need to see clearly the identity of the veil and have a critical viewpoint of the reality. In order to achieve this, teachers should be the first ones to change their own thoughts. If teachers want to enjoy true freedom in the education system, they should recognize their identity and have a will to change their own notions. As someone directly involved in education, educators can change only when they emerge as subjects with a will to change voluntarily. In a reality where authorities control and tame education and educators, teachers should have one's own educational philosophy, be autonomous enough to organize the curriculum and create a community to share discussion among themselves. Whey such community have the potential to offer healthy and self-creating discussion, educators could selectively accept and reorganize bureaucratic demands of administration authority. Only by organizing the community that can share serious personal ideas on education, bureaucratic demands can lead to sound educational efforts.