In praise of excellenceOnce again, we are witnessing the debate on the new Spanish education law, the LOMLOE in these days in which the first textbooks to be used next year are appearing. In fact, it is the same debate that we have been living since the beginning of its implementation, now made visible in the texts that students have to work with.
The complaint is that this educational law is proposing to bring to the classrooms the ideological model of the party in government. And that it does so in a transversal way with its strongest ideological lines, such as the so-called gender perspective, and in a direct way by proposing its concrete postulates in subjects such as economics or history, for example.
The more fundamental problem is how we conceive of the educationwhat education is for. Because what LOMLOE does is to bet on a model of education.
In a simple way, gathering the teachings of that great master that was Abilio de Gregorio, we could say that we have three major approaches to education.
First, there is the instructional perspective. In this model, education is seen primarily as the transmission of knowledge, in the hope that knowledge alone will produce solid and virtuous personalities. It is the approach that stems largely from the Enlightenment and that, in one way or another, is also present today in various educational proposals.
Secondly, there is what we could call a "second-order" approach. socializing-reproductive perspective. Education is the instrument that society has to reproduce itself. It is necessary to prepare the child to fit into society, to place himself or herself in a good social position. It is the approach that seeks in education a mechanism to find a job and be well placed tomorrow. In this approach, the contents that society demands, those that are useful, are taught. And those that are considered obsolete or less useful for the labor market are discarded. This is the breeding ground for the rise of English or technology and the decline of the humanities or artistic knowledge. To a large extent, education becomes a variable of the economic system.
The third vision is the socializing-anticipatory perspective. In this case, education is conceived as a weapon to transform society. Education is seen as the mechanism to promote a better society in the future. Whoever has education has the power to generate a certain type of citizen and society. In this case, education is at the service of ideology, and is therefore an area of political conflict.
The current educational law is fully immersed in the latter mentality, which is the usual educational proposal of leftist and nationalist parties. Just as the socializing-reproductive perspective is typical of right-wing political parties. With two such different visions of education, we are doomed to constant conflict.
The personalizing perspective of education
In reality, Abilio opens up a new possibility that takes us out of this circle of confrontation, and which is the most appropriate from a true Christian humanism. Because we can also speak of a personalized perspective of education. In this vision, the purpose of education is not the change of social structures, but the formation of the person. The learner is at the center. Its purpose is to form whole, complete persons. It is an education that leads the learner to be singular, original and autonomous, master of himself.
This perspective, which places the person and his or her integral formation at the center, certainly helps to improve societies, because with fully developed persons we will have more just societies in the future. But it eliminates the temptation of political manipulation. Undoubtedly it trains for work because it brings out the potentialities that each person has inside. But it does not leave aside other knowledge necessary for the integral formation of the person. It provides knowledge, because without knowledge intelligence does not develop. But it also cultivates the whole person and all his faculties and puts them at the service of society.
Putting the person at the center, as Pope Francis asks us to do in his proposal for a global pact for education, is the perspective that will help us understand the true value of education.
