Humanist Worldview Education In Diverse Europe

Author(s):

Eveline Oostdijk(presenting / submitting)Wiel Veugelers Yvonne Leeman

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

07 SES 09 B, Intercultural Peace and Humanist Worldview Education

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-10

11:00-12:30

Room:

3001. [Main]

Chair:

Yvonne Leeman

Contribution

In contemporary European societies it is important that young people develop both a sense of autonomy and social concern for others and the quality of living together in today’s diverse societies. Education could be an important environment for the development of these values. In this paper we’ll focus on humanist worldview education in the Netherlands in which explicitly a humanist worldview is advocated.

In line with various social developments during the last decades, worldview education has become an interesting social phenomenon in Dutch education. Dutch society transformed from a pillarized society along religious lines into a more secular society. Biesta, van Nijnatten and Miedema (2001) characterize the Netherlands nowadays as a plural postmodern society. This transition implies a challenge for religious and worldview education in Dutch schools. Education could help students to orient themselves towards an inclusive society, to be able to bridge (Putnam, 2000) and to construct communalities across differences (van Koeven & Leeman, 2011; Parker, 2003). Ideally this social orientation extends national borders, is oriented towards Europe and the global world.

Humanism, as a non-religious worldview, focuses on linking autonomy and humanity (Veugelers & Oostdijk 2013). In Dutch public schools humanist worldview education is taught to pupils on parent’s request. About 1/3 of the public schools have this humanist worldview education. This type of education concentrates on moral, worldview and citizenship education from a humanist perspective.

This research aims to gain insight into teachers thinking on the opportunities and practices of humanist worldview education. As we are interested in the goals and theoretical assumptions we analyzed philosophical theories (Aloni), pedagogical theories (Biesta) and psychological theories (Baumeister) to construct an instrument for a survey among teachers.

Aloni (2002) provides a historical overview of four approaches in humanistic education. The cultural-classical approach focuses on longing for human perfection and is found in the roots of Western culture. A good and full human life existed of a connection of human skills(arete) and knowledge about cultural traditions (paideai or Bildung) The naturalistic-romantic approach values the yearning for the authenticity or self-actualization. The existential approach concentrates on the demand for self-creation. Human beings need to shape their identities by themselves. The critical-radical approach considers education as a mean to enhance (political) empowerment and moral sensitivity and the development of just societies.

To analyze the pedagogical views and approaches of teachers, we used theories of moral development. This perspective implies developing rationality, autonomy, empowerment, creativity, affections and a concern for humanity. This social component also means appreciating diversity and democracy (Veugelers, 2011) Important are therefore to develop children’s critical thinking, their ability to judge and live with and across differences (Biesta, 2012). A more psychological perspective allowed us to pay attention to processes of meaning giving (Baumeister, 1991).

We researched the ideas and interpretations of the teachers regarding humanist worldview education. Following Goodlad’s curriculum model (1979), further developed in the Netherlands by Van den Akker (2003) and Bartels (2013), we focused on the interpreted curriculum (the interpretation made of the programme by the teacher). We asked the teachers also about their interpretations of practice of teaching and of the learning results.

The research questions are the following:

Which pedagogical goals, content and methods can be found in the curriculum of humanistic worldview education?
How do pupils experience the practice of humanistic worldview education and what do they learn?
How and to what extent practices and results can be related to the different humanistic philosophical foundations?

Method

We conducted a survey among all 159 teachers of humanist worldview education in primary public schools in the Netherlands. 95 Teachers participated (response 60%). The survey aimed to gain insight in the way teachers think and act with regard to their lessons. The main questions of the survey were: • Which goals do teachers consider to be important? (importance) • To what extent do they believe to be able to accomplish these goals? (contribution) • What is the content of their lessons? • Which teaching methods do they use? To measure the goals, we used three types of scales. Teachers were asked whether any of a wide variety of values should be an educational objective 1 (not important) – 5 (very important) and whether they were practiced 1 (not)- 5 (very much). Citizenship goals The first scale is based on the empirical studies of Leenders, Veugelers and De Kat (2008) on citizenship in education. This scale has 18 items, like ‘the pupil behaves honestly’. We aimed to analyze different types of objectives of citizenship, like discipline, autonomy, social concern and critical political concern. Humanist goals The second scale is based on pedagogical goals published by the organisation for humanist worldview education (HVO). This scale has 12 items, like ‘the pupil behaves empathically’. We aimed to analyze different types of objectives, like moral development, personal development and social development. Humanist philosophical goals The third scale is based on the four philosophical foundations of humanistic education (Aloni, 2002). This scale has 12 items, like ‘the pupil shows solidarity’. We aimed to analyze different types of objectives related to the cultural-classical approach, the naturalistic-romantic approach, the existential approach and the critical-radical approach. Contents To measure the contents, we conducted a scale of 18 items, based on resources and materials published by the organisation for humanist worldview education (HVO). Respondents were asked how often they pay attention to a particular subject, for example friendship, in their lessons on a scale from 1 (never¬) – 5 (very often) Teaching methods To measure the teaching methods, we conducted a scale of 24 items, based on resources and materials published by the organisation for humanist worldview education (HVO). Respondents were asked how often they use a particular method, for example discussion or brainstorming, in their lessons on a scale from 1 (never¬) – 5 (very often)

Expected Outcomes

Descriptive statistics and factor analyses led to the following results. Citizenship goals Four types found: discipline, autonomy, social concern, critical political concern. On average: ‘social concern’ highest. On average statement ‘ pupils shows respect to other opinions’ highest importance and contribution ratings. On average, statement ‘ pupil shows regularity and structure in work and behavior’ lowest importance and contribution ratings. Humanist goals Three types found: personal development, social development, moral development. On average ‘social development’ highest ratings. On average, statement ‘the pupil is capable of listening to another’ highest importance and contribution ratings. On average, statement ‘ pupil is capable of describing the moral dilemma in a situation’ lowest importance. Statement ‘pupil is capable of speaking about his actions in moral terms’ lowest contribution ratings. Humanist philosophical goals Two types found: individual goals and social-cultural goals. On average, individual highest. On average, statement ‘pupil thinks on his own’ highest importance and contribution ratings. Statement ‘pupil knows about cultural traditions’ lowest importance and contribution ratings. Contents Four types of subject matters: ‘identity development’, social and emotional development’, ‘living together and democracy’ , ‘humanist worldview’. On average, subject matters of the type ‘identity development’ the highest ratings. Teaching methods Two types: teacher directed and student directed. On average, teacher directed highest ratings. The initial data-analysis is finished. In September the full analysis will be presented. One important preliminary conclusion: Teachers pay more attention to a type of content and teaching that facilitates an individualistic accent in personal development. In theory humanistic education focuses on linking both autonomy and social concern. The teachers do not seem to make this connection. In the discussion we link the results to the general emphasis on individualism in neo-liberal societies and we’ll explore the possibilities of humanist worldview education for a just and inclusive world (Nussbaum, 1998)

References

Akker, J. van den, Kuiper, W. & Hameyer, U. (eds.) (2003) Curriculum Landscapes and Trends. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Aloni, N. (2002) Enhancing humanity. The philosophical foundations of humanistic education. Dordrecht: Springer Bartels, R. (2013) Democratie leren door filosoferen. Budel: Damon Bakker, C. & I. ter Avest (2014) Coming Out Religiously: Life orientation in Public Schools. In: Religious Education Baumeister, R.F. (1991) Meanings of life. New York: Guilford Press. Biesta, G. (2010) Good education in an Age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers Biesta, G., Van Nijnatten. C., & Miedema, S., (Red.) (2001). Onderwijs en opvoeding en de terugkeer van de religie in de postmoderne samenleving. Inleiding op het themadeel Pedagogiek. Wetenschappelijk forum voor Opvoeding, Onderwijs en Vorming, 21, 124-177 Koeven, E, Van & Leeman, Y. (2011) Intercultural Education 22 (5) 395-410. Leenders, H., Veugelers, W., & Kat E. de, (2008), Teachers’ view on citizenship in secondary education in the Netherlands. Cambridge journal of education Nussbaum, M. (1998). Cultivating humanity. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Parker, W.C. (2003). Teaching democracy: unity and diversity in public life. New York: Teachers College Press. Putnam, R., (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster Veugelers, W. (Eds.) (2011) Education and Humanism. Linking autonomy and humanity. Rotterdam: SensePublishers Veugelers, W en E. Oostdijk (2013) Humanistische levensbeschouwelijke vorming. Levensbeschouwelijke vorming in het Nederlandse openbaar onderwijs, in het bijzonder HVO. Pedagogiek, jrg 33 (oktober 2013) (2), pp. 136-153

Author Information

Eveline Oostdijk (presenting / submitting)

university for humanistics

education

utrecht

Wiel Veugelers

University of Humanistic Studies

Naarden

Yvonne Leeman

university for humanistics, Netherlands, The

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