On 14 January I gave a short talk for Norbury & Pollards Hill Labour Party about the history of the local library which has been modernised but awaits re-opening when COVID lockdown ends. I highlighted the residents campaign for the library to be provided, the innovative pioneering approach that had been spearheaded by Stanley Jast, the Anglo-Polish Chief Librarian until May 1915, who opened it in May 1932, and the campaign to prevent the Tories from closing libraries when they ran the Council pre- May 2014. I ended by discussing outstanding issues about its future management.
Since
then I have asked myself: can this be developed into a political education
session? I think it can. It could concentrate on discussing the pros and cons
of issues such as:
(1)
campaigning to have new services
provided and defend existing services
(2)
imaginative creative non-bureaucratic
service provision
(3)
the role of how local Councillors
(4) partnership between the Council and local community organisations in managing local services
Almost
anything can be used as the starting off point for political education: a song,
a piece of music, a poem, a novel, a painting, a person, an event.
There
is a growing amount of debate about the state of political education within the
labour, trade union and and socialist movements. Unison states:
‘Political education helps raise
awareness about how we can help challenge attacks on public services, and
campaign for greater rights for working people.’ (1)
This fits in with wider views held within the labour and socialist movements.
The Real Democracy Movement
The
Real Democracy campaign, for example, is working with others to create a free
online political education course that people can do in their own time.
After
consultation it has devised three units which it is now working on developing
in greater depth and detail with a view to putting on the course online later
this year.
‘The
Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a cruel, unjust and unequal economic and political
system and compelled many people to consider alternatives. Our course will
contribute to learning about how to bring about revolutionary system change.’
The
units are:
·
Composting
capitalism
·
The state
and democracy
·
From theory
to practice, to changing the world
The
detail is impressive and appear to be very challenging and intensive, which
will not suit everyone. It will therefore be one of many different ways in
which ‘political education’ can be provided.
The
central questions are what ‘political education’ is and how is it delivered and
promoted. The answer will vary within the community, history, labour,
socialist, Black rights and women’s movements according to the type of organisation.
Independent Working Class
Education (IWCE)
For a
while I was involved in the Independent Working Class Education (IWCE)
initiative of Labour and socialist activists, having to drop out because of the
need to reduce commitments.
In its
draft manifesto Colin Waugh argues the importance of distinguishing education from
the process of learning. ‘All education involves learning, but only some
learning is education.’
‘Conventional
definitions of education as a process usually present it as the politically
neutral handing on from one generation to the next either of ethical norms or
of knowledge as outstanding individuals have developed it to that point.’
IWCE rejects
‘this definition as both inadequate and false. For us, education is a planned
process of teaching and learning … (which ) involves people working with one
another to produce some or all of them as bearers of an enlarged and/or
enhanced capacity.’
‘This
capacity, in turn, necessarily comprises the ability to apply techniques and
procedures (in short, skill), the ability to call up memorised information (in
short, knowledge) and the ability to use and develop concepts (in short,
understanding).’
Education
and training are not the same.
‘Training
is a process of instruction plus systematic practice. Its goal is that at the
end those undergoing training will be able to apply specific techniques and
procedures in specific spheres.’
‘All
education has some training as its necessary condition’. But for ‘teaching and
learning to count as education there must always be the possibility that it
will take a direction and/or move forward to an extent that has not been
decided - or even imagined – beforehand.’
In
education ‘questions put are characteristically open-ended ….. designed to pose
problems about the subject matter that will enable both teacher and students,
working together, to understand it better.’
‘Education
and training are two ends of a continuum, and the more a given process of
teaching and learning tends towards the education end of this continuum, the
more it becomes a dialogue between and amongst those taking part, in which all
involved can learn from and teach one another.
Colin
then analyses the implications of this approach to class struggle suggesting ‘three
broad fields of activity’:
·
‘intellectual
production: the generation, development, elaboration or refinement of ideas.’
·
‘dissemination
of ideas, either as propaganda (many ideas to a few people) or agitation (a few
ideas to many people), which in the latter case normally implies that the ideas
disseminated will give rise to activity.’
·
‘a
sphere in which ideas and activity overlap, a sphere in which dialogue takes
place between those whose role at that moment is mainly to elaborate ideas and
those whose role is mainly to organise activity. ‘
‘Education
properly so called tries on principle to make available to students the whole
truth and nothing but the truth about the topics it’s dealing with (of course
at a level and to a depth that is feasible given their existing knowledge and
experience). ‘
‘Mis-education,
in contrast, sometimes tells outright lies, sometimes distorts the truth,
sometimes leaves out crucial information, sometimes smuggles in false
assumptions, or sometimes does all of these things at once. And so, by means
that are often very subtle, it deliberately narrows students’ freedom to think
for themselves.’ (3)
Other Approaches
There
are several other approaches to the concept of ‘political education’ such as
‘citizenship’, ‘community’ and ‘democratic’ education.
The Politics Project aims to empower young people ‘through an effective democratic education; one where they feel informed, inspired, and empowered. At its best, this is an experience that goes beyond the usual limits of the classroom or town hall, and engages with people in a personal way that makes politics matter.’(4)
There are a growing range of organisations that can be seen to fit within the realm of ‘political education’, such Journey for Justice (5), and the Ella Baker School of Organising (6), the latter developed from the United States.
In the United States The Center for Political Education (CPE) ‘is a resource for political organizations on the left, progressive social movements, the working class and people of color. CPE’s approach is non-sectarian, democratic, and committed to a critical analysis of local, regional and global politics. We believe that movements are strongest when their organizing and activism are grounded in historical knowledge, strong theory and rigorous analysis.’ (7)
Part 2 follows in the next posting
(1) www.unison.org.uk/get-involved/learning-development/activists/political-edu
(2) https://realdemocracymovement.org/know-the-system-change-the-system
(3)
https://iwceducation.co.uk/images/PDFfiles/IWCE%20manifesto%20as%20disc%20doc%202%20backup.pdf
(4) https://thepoliticsproject.org.uk
(5) https://journeytojustice.org.uk
(6) www.ellabakerorganising.org.uk
(7) https://politicaleducation.org/about
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