SOCIALIZATION AND EDUCATION IN POSTMODERN TIMES:

THE SCHOOL - A LIMITED SPHERE OF INTEGRATION

Is it not strange that those who dominate the
human race occupy such a superior rank to those
who educate it?
This reveals to just what extent man is an
enslaved animal (Georg Christoph LICHT!"#G$
G%H% II$ &''$'(
ducation
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seems doomed to )e a *ield plagued with paradoxes and
contradictions% +n the one hand$ the conviction that education is important and school
resources must )e improved is$ *ortunately$ on the rise% +n the other hand$
)ewilderment and discontent grow )e*ore the undenia)le *ailure o* teaching institutions
on too many occasions% It has )ecome increasingly evident that there are more and
more things that should )e taught$ )ut also that ever more students are una)le to learn
them or even comprehend the interest that their studies hold% ,hile general$
compulsory education should )e the great e-uali.er o* the social opportunities *or
young people$ it instead rein*orces ine-ualities/ acting as a discriminatory *ilter%
+ne o* the most signi*icant pro)lems0that o* integration0*inds in the school its
most sensitive arenas% The general crisis occurring in education at the present is set
within the *ramework o* a greater crisis o* values% This current crisis o* values is
characteri.ed )y the creation o* a type o* human )eing that0as +rtega would say0no
longer knows what to hold to$ )ut rather than anguishing over his dilemma or )ecoming
distressed$ accepts it as a natural *act o* modern destiny
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and the inconsistency o*
values% The excellent historian$ 2aniel 3% "oorstin$ has stressed the signi*icance o* the
change *rom the singular to the plural o* the word 4value5% ,hereas dictionaries used to
read6 78L9%%%thic6 4That which is worthy o* esteem in its own right6 that which
possesses an intrinsic reason *or esteem% In contrast$ modern dictionaries now state6
78L96 pl% in sociology6 8cts$ customs$ institutions$ etcetera$ especially *avored )y a
people$ ethnic group$ etc%%%
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5 !o longer does a )elie* in moral progress exist/ now it is a
-uestion o* -uietly resigning to insecurity and inconsistency$
The -uestion is not a rhetorical one$ we are living at a time when two visions o*
the world overlap% +ne is that o* the positive$ optimistic neo0li)eral economists *or
whom everything is going extraordinarily well% The existing pro)lems are merely minor
di**iculties that will not take long to overcome% +n the other hand$ some authors and
political o)servers (8lain ;inc$ "ordieu$ Touraine( caution that we have never lived in
such an uncertain world$ a world which is on the verge o* collapse$ a collapse that
would )e a)solute in such an interrelated world as ours%
&
I will *irst consider the pro)lems that educators encounter in the school when they are con*ronted with
di**icult students$ how these pro)lems come a)out and the reasons *or con*lict% I will then go on to de*end
the theory that schools must concern themselves with issues relating to education and not dys*unctional or
pro)lematic )ehaviors that are social issues and not educational or school0related ones%
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8#8!G9#!$ 3%L% Propuestas morales, d% Tecnos$ ;adrid$ &<=:$ p%&>10&>:
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There exists a sociali.ation o* value that overrides its ethical meaning% ,hat is important is not moral
per*ection or the improvement o* our true reality )ut rather the image that we project o* it% This is the
only thing that is important )ecause it is what others perceive$ c*% "++#?TI!$ 2%3% The Image, in
8#8!G9#!$ i)id%
&
TH ?CH++L6 8 ?8@ AL8C?
8s a social institution$ the school is a place where groups o* individuals *rom
wide0ranging and di**erent social circles come together% The dominant social culture as
well as the economic and political context to which the school )elongs$ impregnates the
human exchanges that occur within it% Thus$ the contradictions that we *ind in the
di**erent demands o* that social culture characteri.e the human exchanges within the
school$ as well% In other words$ when discussing schools$ we cannot place )lame only
on the teachers *or the pro)lems that arise%
+n Tuesday @e)ruary = o* this year$ an article appeared in the 8"C newspaper
which presented an alarming statistic6 B>C o* "ritish teachers and approximately the
same percentage o* @rench and German teachers (statistics were not provided *or the
?panish( thought that the school was no longer a sa*e place% In the 9%?% the statistics are
even more alarming% ,hile the 4national educational o)jectives5 undertaken )y the
,hite House in &<<& *oresaw that )y the year 1>>> 4all 8merican schools would )e
*ree o* drugs and violence5$ their goals are nowhere near to )eing reached% The
situation in ?pain is not yet as serious as in other countries$ )ut we will soon )e on the
same road i* we do not take appropriate measures% The diagnosis$ as we will see$ is
common to almost all countries with similar educational levels%
It is clear that the presence o* violence in schools in not an uncommon
phenomenon nor is it restricted solely to them% 7iolent incidents and aggressive
)ehavior are mani*ested so assiduously in the media that it would not )e *ar*etched to
predict the disappearance o* media or games that in a hypothetical0*ictional case
scenario decided to eliminate content o* a violent nature% They would simply disappear
)ecause their audience would *eel deprived0in the emotional sense o* the word0o* the
enchantment and anxiety that violence provides% #egardless o* any ideological motives
or intentions to mediate pu)lic opinion$ the media descri)es violent )ehavior as a
semiotic necessity to sa*eguard the existence o* its own discourse$ and as such$ the
existence o* its own economy% +ne might allege that the media does no more than
register that which already exists in society% "ut that is not the pro)lem0violence has
always existed and even more than now% The pro)lem lies in its intensity and the
*re-uency o* the message that violence$ *ar *rom )eing perceived as an extraordinary
event$ has )ecome normali.ed
B
% 7iolence has come to *orm part o* our everyday lives as
something ha)itual and routine%
To )egin with$ we must understand that$ overall$ schools do not engender
violence )ut su**er *rom it and in the worst o* cases$ they allow it to happen% 2ou)tless$
it is the place chosen )y violent adolescents to let out their pent0up rage )y intimidating
younger students (a result o* the introduction o* the 4?+50compulsory secondary
education(% However we should not ignore the *act that what was originally a lack o*
discipline and which later turned into violence in the schools$ are mere symptoms o*
serious and complex social ills whose etiology includes *amily disorders$ media
pressure$ parental disorientation$ the desire *or immediate satis*action$ and loss o*
authority% Det while it is important to study the symptoms$ it is even more important to
study their causes%
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It is very di**icult to construct a critical discourse on violence$ Lolo #IC+$ T7 fbrica de Mentiras. La
manipulacin de nuestros hijos, ;adrid$ &<<B$ p% &1&. 7iolence exists )ut television deprives it o* any
political virtue% +nly the screen is real% ?eries shown on television endorse and encourage violence and
promote *ascist attitudes% It is the law o* the strongest$ the most power*ul%
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It should not )e surprising that in general the disappearance o* authority and the
weakened o)jectives and ideals o* modern schools give rise to this diagnosis% "ut that is
not enough% +ver the last two decades an exceptional phenomenon has )een occurring%
+n the one hand$ the state is )eing challenged )y an increase in illegal activity and on
the other hand$ the wel*are state is )eing -uestioned as a result o* the appearance o*
mem)ers who are excluded *rom the system% ,hile the two processes are very
di**erent$ they have a signi*icant in*luence upon the school and )ear witness to the
*ailings o* the structures o* order% Here$ order is understood in the classic sense o* the
word as su)mission to rule and law% "ut it is also understood as a social order that has
culminated the social democratic dream o* a population0*rom the poorest to the richest0
which is wholly protected )y the ,el*are ?tate% This time we cannot )lame
communism as the cause o* all evil/ we must also )lame the shortcomings o* a model
that re-uired an annual growth rate o* :C or BC to run smoothly%
Those excluded *rom the system constitute$ in their own way$ a large 4gray
area%5 They are living proo* o* a world over which the ?tate has increasingly less
control% ?ome authors (8lain ;inc
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( have called this phenomenon 4the new middle
ages5 It is a phenomenon where anomie$ marginality$ and invisi)ility are present and is
exempli*ied )y the &>>$>>> young people that drop out o* school to disappear into the
)owels o* the system% +ne only needs to take a walk around the outskirts o* any city$
not only the )ig cities$ to reali.e that the presence o* the ?tate$ police or otherwise$
simply does not exist here%
,hy is this phenomenon exclusive to the schools and so present in them? ,hy
is it so dramatically evident? The answer can )e *ound in the *act that the school is the
only normative place that these representatives o* the gray area are una)le to sidestep%
Their lives may )e a series o* dys*unctional contexts6 *amily$ social circles$ etc%%%and
suddenly school appears on the scene/ a school which is parallel to the other circles in
which they move and they do not know how to react/ neither they nor the teachers%
To resolve this pro)lem is practically impossi)le% The instruments employed )y
the teachers and the education administration run head on into anomie (a )reakdown o*
social norms( and aggressiveness/ as does the sym)ology to which they are accustomed%
The tools we do possess are ine**icient and to use *orce would not change their system%
In spite o* this$ we cannot allow our will to crack$ even when it is di**icult *or us to
contemplate these issues and not )e a)le to resolve them% "ut deep down we know we
are right and will continue to )e so%
To this *irst 4gray area5 o* social outcasts$ we must add a second one/ made up
o* marginal micro0communities that live entwined around the heart o* society )ut which
do not identi*y with the system% How many thousands o* young people )elieve
themselves to )e independent and unaccounta)le to the rulesF In contrast to the youth o*
G'= who were politici.ed and hence revolutionaries$ these do not even )other to reject
the system% ,e should not *orget$ however$ that hate constitutes a social )ond% These
young people ignore the system$ despise it and get around it% ?el*0su**icient$ thanks to
the society as )ene*actor0)e it in the *orm o* parents or ?tate$ these young people
reinvent a primitive model which has )een closely studied )y anthropologists% It is a
model in which power is held )y those who ensure survival and where violence is the
most natural way *or its mem)ers to relate to one another$ with the exception o* those
who sign the 4pact%5 ,ho can exercise the least authority over these youths? Their
parents? They are out o* touch% Teachers? @or a long time now they have )een disarmed
and powerless% ?ocial workers? Trained to remedy the worldGs misery$ they *ree.e up
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c*% ;I!C$ 8%$ La nueva edad media, ;adrid$ &<<B$ see p% =:0&&E%
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)e*ore phenomena such as these which are resistant to generosity and altruism% The
causes *or this phenomenon are varied6
a( The in*luence o* the 8merican model o* culture which worships money
while ignoring the moral and religious counterweight inherent to Arotestant
and Catholic urope%
)( Individualism that has led people to give pre*erence to their interests perinde
ac cadaver.
c( The collapse o* the great institutions6 ?tate$ Church$ Aolitical Aarties$
?yndicates%
d( The disappearance o* class struggles and social con*licts that have given way
to mimetism )etween pro*essional circles and the desire to imitate (the
appearance o* em)lematic *igures who are dishonest and cunning(%
It seems as i* the realm o* the real world and the realm o* the legal world
were divided in their jurisdictions$ and that the latter is increasingly on the
de*ensive% The less transparent a society and the more oligarchy prevails over
democracy$ more incrusted )ecomes the gray$ illegal society in the structures o*
power% The ?tate should accept a reality it does not -uite want to admit6 its
incapacity to control whole sectors o* society% How strange in a century which
sought to know all$ dominate all and su)mit all to reasonF
C9LT9#6 TH +!LD ,8D T+ 8? I!H98LITD
The school and the entire educational system$ in spite o* its meritocratic
nature and its *unction as a reproducer o* social hierarchies$ is pro)a)ly the most
egalitarian o* all social su)systems% 8s a social institution in which di**erent
groups o* individuals come into contact with one another$ the school exercises a
power*ul sociali.ing in*luence% Inevita)ly$ the dominant social culture within the
political and economic *ramework o* the school impregnates the human
exchanges that occur within it%
The contradictions that we *ind today in our lives are replicated in the
schools% "oth teachers and students have assumed contradictory values in the
three spheres o* social li*e%
a( 8 demand *or attention$ care$ a**ection$ and generosity in the *amily%
)( 8 tendency to competitiveness$ egoism$ individualism$ give
importance a)ove all to money and productivity in the workplace$ the
economy and the la)or market%
c( The conviction that everyone is e-ual at least in theory and )y right
o* law$ political participation$ a commitment to the common good$
and the collective responsi)ilities o* democratic societies%
These contradictions take on meaning*ul nuances in our times% The *amily is no
longer a uni*ying *orce$ nor is it the homogenous and inaltera)le sphere o* thirty years
ago% The economy calls *or new *orms o* )ehavior$ new attitudes and new skills%
Aolitics has )ecome mere marketing with scant citi.en participation% 8)solute cultural
and historical relativism/ the ethical pragmatic that 4everything goes5/ super*icial
tolerance understood as a lack o* commitment and orientation/ *erocious
competitiveness/ egocentric individualism coupled with social con*ormity/ the
importance o* appearances$ *ashion$ o* having over )eing/ the exaltation o* all things
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ephemeral and changing/ and the o)session to consume should all )e regarded as a
logical conse-uence o* the way in which economic relations are conceived% #elations
which condition the lives o* human )eings and which are regulated exclusively )y
market laws% +* course all these aspects o* contemporary postmodern culture are
present in everyday exchanges in and out o* the school and they un-uestiona)ly lead to
the ac-uisition o* speci*ic conducts$ values$ attitudes and ideas% In short, the success o
our schoo!s "s short-!"#e$%
Three keys *unctions are concentrated in the school that cannot )e *ound in other
social realms%
a( The social *unction o* the school$ which transmits the )asics o* pu)lic
education to all strata o* society$ is indispensa)le in order to guarantee the
training o* human resources re-uired )y the jo) market *or it to run
smoothly% The higher the educational level$ greater is the possi)ility to adapt
to the ever0changing demands o* the economic world today% Thus$ we are
a)le to a**irm that the school carries out a social *unction characteri.ed )y
the per*ection o* spontaneous processes o* sociali.ation/ with its virtues and
contradictions%
)( The political *unction o* the school as a *ree and compulsory pu)lic service
*or all citi.ens up to a certain age 0&' years in ?pain0aims to compensate *or
the de*iciencies in these spontaneous processes o* sociali.ation% This is true
o* the generali.ed shortcomings o* these same processes with respect to
di**erent *ields o* study$ as well as to the pro*ound ine-ualities they cause in
the social and cultural origins o* di**erent groups o* people% In this way$
pu)lic education tries to alleviate the e**ects that the inevita)le ine-ualities
o* the market economy have produced in di**erent social groups% It is here
where the school has )een le*t on its own as a place which is capa)le o*
containing and resolving the pro)lems that open$ democratic societies do not
know how to resolve% However$ the school is neither capa)le$ nor knows
how to$ nor is e-uipped with the instruments to *orce a change in the o*ten
negative and opposing tendencies o* its younger mem)ers%
c( 8lso o* importance$ is the schoolGs educational *unction% ,hen the school
teaches purely academic material o* little conse-uence to real li*e$ it is learnt
merely *or the sake o* passing exams and -uickly *orgotten% The stimulus is
lacking to apply what is learned in a conscientious and re*lexive manner to
everyday li*e and the schoolGs duties are not o* an educational )ut a
sociali.ing nature% The educational *unction re-uires intellectual autonomy
and independence and is characteri.ed )y a critical analysis o* those same
processes and sociali.ing in*luences% To )reak the arti*icial )arriers )etween
school and society and to convert the educational center in an open and
*lexi)le place where participation is expected$ discrepancies tolerated and
initiatives are encouraged is to complete its educational *unction%
?chools have )een )urdened with a task that not even society would take
on% Aoliticians have re*used )y decree to treat the pro)lems o* sociali.ation
and social ine-uality in schools% It is as i* the school were a conveyor )elt6
the pro)lematic$ dys*unctional student enters in one end and comes out the
other in a state o* per*ect integration and sel*0awareness%
,e have already mentioned that when disorder advances in the heart o*
democratic societies$ the pro)lem is eschewed )y making it invisi)le/ in this
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case )y placing it in the school% The idea in itsel* is not )ad6 ine-uality in
the processes o* sociali.ation0a key pro)lem in *ormal democratic societies
which are ruled )y the law o* the *ree market0)ecomes invisi)le when the
school is entrusted with the task o* eliminating it% It is naive to think that
schools will )e a)le to overcome such economic and cultural ine-ualities%
"ut they can and should provide the opportunity to compensate in part *or
the e**ects o* such alarming discrimination in the individual development o*
the most marginal groups%
?chools should )e e-uipped with appropriate tools which would allow
them to success*ully integrate those students that are di**icult or distanced
*rom pu)lic education with other students that have assumed academic or
educational models% The more academic we are with this type o* non0
integrated student$ the greater the distance and the drop0out rate will )e *or
those who do not *ind support or encouragement in their *amily or peers% To
say it another way6 there should )e transitional classrooms (some do already
exist de *acto( that *acilitate the move towards intellectual cultural% This
takes on even more importance since it is only in the school where
intellectual culture can )e experienced and enjoyed%
In new and di**erent ways schools in postindustrial societies seem to
achieve this complex and contradictory set o* *unctions6 sociali.ation$
transmission o* education$ preparation o* human resources or compensation
*or the e**ects o* social and economic ine-ualities% "ut it will only )e
educational when it is a)le to make re*lection$ the construction o*
autonomous thought and individual conduct possi)le%
It is evident that postmodern thought has demonstrated the enormous
shortcomings that the modern age overlooked6 the nature o* corporeality$ the
moment$ the world o* emotions and *eelings$ the limitations o* the logos$ the
importance o* the present$ the importance o* micro politics$ the non0
universal nature o* norms$ the positive evaluation o* esthetics and
expressiveness$ the importance o* tolerant and respect*ul attitudes$ the
demysti*ication o* the principles and role o* science and technology$ the
rejection o* militancy and the dei*ication o* reason% ,e are entering a world
where we will no longer *ind solid$ uni*ying principles%
a( !or religious principles$ *or o)vious reasons%
)( !or ideological principles6 the notion o* progress as ultima ratio will
)e short0lived% It is evident that progress has not disappeared$ and less
so the )elie* in progress itsel*$ )ut it is only one conviction among
many that is o**ered in the market o* ideologies%
c( !or cultural principles% The 8merican model manipulates the
sym)ols as i* it were the dominant model$ yet entire areas o* the
world$ such as 8sia$ resist its model%
d( !or economic principles6 *inancial and industrial realities must
coexist with historical events and strategic dynamics that keep them
*rom determining the concerns o* our societies%
I* we can no longer hope *or a)solute certainties *rom the sciences$ nor
the arts$ nor culture or philosophy with respect to knowledge or values which
dictate human exchanges and the management o* pu)lic a**airs/ i* situational
certainties are reached through a common search$ experimentation and
evaluation o* democratically encouraged and controlled projects/ i* pu)lic li*e is
'
to em)race individual li)erties$ guarantee e-ual opportunities and protect
di**erent mani*estations and minority proposals$ they should all )e the
consensual result o* a democratic$ in*ormed and re*lexive participation o* the
mem)ers o* a social community% The emergence and strengthening o* the
su)ject should )ecome the main priority o* education%
The ?tate should recogni.e that nowadays the school does not only
resolve pro)lems related to education$ )ut also socio0political ones and should$
there*ore$ modi*y its approach towards the most well0prepared o* all institutions%
"ut at the same it is one o* the most overlooked institutions in the social and
political realm% @or those that work in education and who are con*ronted with an
increasing num)er o* pro)lems$ it is a pro*ession lacking in incentives% I* the
?tate does not take on this challenge$ schools will )e divided into two types o*
institutions6 elitist institutions that will resolve educational issues and other
4integrating5 institutions that will resolve or at least try to resolve social and
political issues% They will however$ ignore academic and educational -uestions$
sentencing all those )oys and girls to dys*uncionality/ )oys and girls who are
determined to work hard$ )ecome part o* the system and take on educational
challenges%
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