Assoc. Prof David L.

Brierley
PAPER IN CONNECTION WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE BOOK 'ONE HUNDRED MILLION DESTINIES NOW'
English edition (published March 2017) Bosnian-Croatian edition 'Stotinu Milionu Sadasnjih Sudbina' (published April 2017);
German edition 'Hundert Millionen Schicksale jetzt'; Spanish edition: 'Cien milliones destinos ahora' (to be published October 2018)

Education between what is no longer and what is not yet

Every time something new comes into being in the world it is first born as a thought. In this way the
future is conceived. Everything that forms the future whether it be a machine, a building, a novel or
opera, is born out of a thought. Never before have we thought so much about what the future has in
store for us as today. For centuries humanity was preoccupied with three tribulations – famine,
disease and war. For most people today, particularly those living in Europe such preoccupations are
no longer of concern. In former times people looked towards the gods for repentence in the belief
that natural disasters, famine and plagues were acts of divine wrath. Today few believe that this is
the case and place their trust in scientific progress. Science has given us the ability to counteract
starvation and epidemics and the chances of participating in a war seem very remote.

Therefore for the first time in history when we are no longer preoccupied with the basics of survival
we able able, individually and collectively to raise our heads and look towards the future. In a time
when modern society has largely denounced the belief in a greater divine plan we ask ourselves
how is it possible to find meaning in life. Devoid of meaning society will always be in danger of
facing social collapse.
What will replace earlier preoccupations on the human agenda? What kind of life would we like for
our children and grandchildren? What is our vision? What are we going to do with ourselves in the
future? What will demand our attention in a time of decisive change? Which values need to be
enforced in a world of biotechnology, information technology, computerization, robots and artificial
intelligence? Questions of this kind have become a challenge for policymakers in education.

In looking to the future it seems quite obvious that most jobs will probably disappear within
decades. The European economy is less and less material based, no longer being dependent on
mineral resources or indeed wheat fields. Artificial intelligence will outperform humans in more and
more tasks and will replace them in more and more jobs. Human beings have both physical and
cognitive attributes. Machines have come a long way in emulating human beings on the physical
plan and are now able to compete effectively when it comes to a growing range of cognitive tasks.
The problem will not necessarily be the creation of new jobs but if employees can perform better
than algorithms. Some commentators predict that a new class of people could emerge, a group
which have come to be known as 'the useless class'. These will not only be unemployed, they will
be unemployable due to difficulties in adapting to other forms of employment. New jobs will
certainly be created but new forms of employment will require a greater flexibility and insight than
was the case earlier. The pace of scientific-technological progress is such that every decade people
will be required to reinvent themselves. One does not need to have a crystal ball or be a pessimist to
see these traits.
It is obvious that the generation of new ideas will become a main economic resource. No one,
whether it be politicians, psychologists or educationalist deny that creativity increasingly is the key
to individual well-being and the prosperity of society. In our wealthy consumer-based society with a
focus on unrivalled economic growth there will always be an element of public discontent due to
the fact that human beings are not satisfied with what they already have. Therefore the general
reaction is not one of satisfaction but a craving for something better, bigger and tastier and in the
short term more satisfying.
The main problem will be how to keep growing sections of the population occupied. They could be
entertained in some way. However no one believes that this is a sustainable solution. If the zest of
life is to be maintained people will have to be engaged in something purposeful, something that
gives life meaning. Otherwise they will be out of their minds. One solution could be a greater use of
computer games. Today we see that young people are spending increasingly large amounts of time
within virtual reality worlds. It is possible that activities of this kind could provide them with a far
greater emotional involvement and excitement than the world outside. Another solution might be an
age-old one, the adherence to religion. In the past religions have given the masses meaning in life
and have regulated a way of living. However, the end of work will not necesaarily mean the end of
meaning because meaning is generated by imagining rather than working.

With these factors in mind we can to turn to the question of educating the coming generations. After
all, we are educating for the future. In a fast-changing world we have little idea of how things will
look like when this year's school starters complete their compulsory education let alone when they
are at the height of their chosen professions.
We must ask: what indeed is education? The purpose of our existence is to develop the incipient
element of humanity as much as possible. The finer senses of the pupils need to be cultivated, a
sense of reason needs to be addressed, so that potentialities can come to light for the benefit of both
the individual and society. The opposite of education is manipulation which can only come into
being due to a lack of faith in the uniqueness of the pupils in our care.
In 1919 at a time of total upheaval in Europe the Waldorf School was founded in Stuttgart in 1919.
Its founder Rudolf Steiner laid down the motives for the school and made it clear that “the question
of education should not be what does a person need to know and be able to do in society as it now
exists. Rather we should ask: what capacities are to be found within each human being that can be
developed. This will make it possible to bring ever increasing insights and energy into society.” 1

In Defence of a Well-Balanced Liberal Education

Since the advent of the modern era humanity has rightly taken pride in its scientific achievements.
The progress made in a relatively short space of time has been far beyond the wildest hopes and
dreams of our forefathers. As a result we place our trust in science as never before. There is a
general feeling that through science we can achieve longelivity, comfort and well-being. Enormous
sums of capital are invested in scientific research in the belief that we can achieve contentment in
the years to come. Our faith in science is dependent on governments, businesses and private donors
funding the enormous expenditure that is needed for scientic research. This has led to the
accentuation on sciences in schools rather than on a liberal education where the humanities and arts
and crafts are on the same footing as the sciences and technology. Walter Gropius, architect,
engineer and educator, the founder of Bauhaus saw the synthesization of different subjects as the
only feasible future for education. He wrote that “the laws of the physical world and the intellectual
world and the world of the spirit function should be expressed simultaneously,” He believed that the
only true schooling trains the mind, the body and the spirit. A scholar of our time needs to strive for
synthesis and a holistic world view. Therefore he believed that education should attempt to
reintegrate poetry and physics, art and chemistry, music and biology, dance and sociology and every
other combination of aesthetic and analytical knowledge.

The division in daily life between, on the one hand, scientists whose activities are based on facts
and empirical knowledge, and on the other, philosophers, psychologists and authors whose
professional sphere is of value is nothing new. In the years just prior to the outbreak of the First
World War and the fall of the Austriasn-Hungarian Empire the divide came to the surface.
Rationalists have been quite prepared to leave vital decisions in the field of beauty, love and belief
to other groups who regarded values as their professional domain. Throughout the twentieth century
and up to today the one side has been on the ascendency, then the other. As in the 1960's the mood
was against exact knowledge calling fervently for a new belief in humans, the soul and eternal
values. All things in the world are engaged in an invisible but constant process of change where the
possibilities are unlimited. This is most apparent in teaching where an embodiment of possibilities
in each pupil, in the coming individuality can be cultivated. Today the emphasis is ofte placed on
developing the intellect and the logical faculty. The significance of the other fundemental area of
human life, that of emotions and imagination should not be disregarded.

This tripartite balance is needed because science is not an activity that finds itself on a superior
humanistic level whether it be moral, ethical or spiritual. Any new scientific breakthrough has to be
implemented to justify its expenditure. One example would be the detonation of the first atomic
bomb at Alamogordo in New Mexico at 05.29.53 hrs on the 16th July 1945. Eight seconds
afterwards Robert Oppenheimer quoted from Bhagavad Gita: “Now I have become death, the
destroyer of worlds.” The two bombs killed at least 120,000 people instantly, approximately double
as many died due to the effects of radio activity, thousands of descendents suffered deformaties.
A more recent case is that of a British 14-year-old girl who was teminally ill with a rare form of
cancer. She decided that she wanted a chance to live longer by having her body cryogenically
frozen in the hope that she could be brought back to life some time in the future. The teenager’s
mother supported the girl’s wish to be cryogenically preserved. Her estranged father initially
opposed her wishes. During the last months of her life, the teenager had surfed the internet and
found information about cryogenic research. Known only as JS, (her name has been kept
confidential), she sent a letter to the court: “I have been asked to explain why I want this unusual
thing done. “I’m only 14 years old and I don’t want to die, but I know I am going to. I think being
cryo‐preserved gives me a chance to be cured. I don’t want to be buried underground. I want to live
and live longer and I think that in the future they might find a cure for my illness and wake me up. I
want to have this chance. This is my wish.” Following the court ruling, in a case described by the
judge as exceptional, the body of JS has now been preserved and transported from where she lived
in London to the US, where it has been frozen 'in perpetuity' by a commercial company at a cost of
£37,000.
Both these examples represent the relationship between science and moral-ethical ways of thinking.
It is fitting to recall that it is almost two hundred years since this issue arose due to the publication
of Mary Shelley's novel 'Frankenstein - the Modern Prometheus'. Written when she was 18 years
old and published anonymously in London in 1818, the book tells of Victor Frankenstein, a young
scientist born in Naples and his obsession in creating a humanoid that turned out to be a hideous
monster due to the difficulty in replicating minute and complicated workings in the human body.

At the same time there are few things that a modern secular society believes in as fervently as
education. Since the Enlightenment education from primary level through to university has been
presented as the most effective answer to a range of society's gravest ills, the conduit to fashioning a
civilized, prosperous and rational citizenship. Therefore there is a general agreement that the human
being should be at the centre of our existence. The traditional form of humanism maintains that
each person is a unique individual possessing an authentic inner voice. Each individual illuminates
the world from different perspectives which gives society colour and meaning. If we want to solve
any ethical question or to come up with a groundbreaking creative insight, a revolutionary idea, we
need to connect with our inner experiences and look at them with the utmost senstivity. In the
formative years at school children and youths collect experiences. They need to be able to work on
sharpening a sensivity in relation to their experiences in order to gain a deeper understanding of
what they learn. Any adopted method is obliged to take into account that experiences have three
components -emotions, sensations and thoughts. Sensitivity is a practical skill that can only be
developed through practice. Education embraces the fostering of growth, not only in a physical
sense but also growth that becomes apparent through expression. Pupils need to be able to make
sounds, images, movements and artifacts. A person who can express himself in many ways is a
well-educated person. If he can make good sounds he is a good speaker, a good musician, a good
poet; if he can make good images he is a good painter or sculptor; if he can make good movements
a good dancer or craftsman. All faculties of logic, memory, intellect are parts of such processes. In
this way pupils can enter the world on the background of a wide range of possibilities and select
1
Steiner, Rudolf: lecture Arnheim 17th July 1924. Published as 'Human Values in Education'.
from a profusion of vocations based on their deeper personal inclinations and aspirations.

We must bear in mind that in the last century we have experimented with other forms of humanism.
Socialist humanism sprung out of a variety of communist and socialist idealologies. These saw the
orthodox liberal humanism as flawed because it relies on multitudes of individual feelings and
meanings. Nineteenth century nationalists celebrated the unique feelings of a nation, something
which was to be protected. It demanded that one stops thinking about oneself in order to focus on
the nation. In the extreme this involved also the repression of the individual as seen in the Soviet
and not least iduring Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Evolutionary humanism was another
variation, as seen in National Socialism. It was based on the idea that people are very different and
some human beings are superior to others. Some groups were eliminated in order that 'pure' sections
of the population should not be 'contaminated'. 2

Taking Care of the Soul in Times of Change

In today’s world we are all artists- knowingly or not, willingly or not, whether we like it or not. We
are life artists because we are expected to give our lives purpose and meaning by using our own
human dispositions and attributes. The word ‘artist’ is appropriate because an artist possesses the
capacity to shape and form what otherwise would be formless, shapeless and without colour. Such a
person is then able to impose order to what otherwise would be choatic, random and haphazard. In a
society increasingly devoid of traditional points of reference such as the church, family and cultural
traditions a need arises to have the ability to plot a course in life. The fashioning of one’s life, as in
any work of art, requires imagination, ingenuity, concentration, a certain amount of freedom, the
ability to make sound judgements and exercise critical thinking. Any artist wants to tell their own
particular story and to sing their own irreplaceable song. When it comes to educating future
generations in tune with our time we need always to look at aspects of contemporary life with
reference to their inner meaning. The psychological foundation of a free individuality is today
detrimentally subjected to swift external stimuli. Due to the increasing demands of practical life the
modern mind has become a more calculating one. The desire to become more what we are is not an
egoistic, anti-social principle. It enables us to contribute towards a progressive society that
cherishes the values that make us human.
We may ask: Does global citizenship necessitate learning the humanities in schools and
universities? A lot of factual knowledge in the humanities can be amassed by absorbing facts
through standardized text books. Responsible citizenship and the future of society demands much
more. The ability to assess historical evidence, to be able to think critically, to appreciate the
complexities of different philosophies and religions are attributes that come to mind. An
encyclopaedia of facts without an ability to assess them, to understand the deeper lines of thought,
is almost as detrimental as ignorance. Surely education is revealed more in terms of human
dispositions -sensitivity, resourcefulness, amiability, responsibility, taste, a sense of judgement and
critical thinking. Teachers complain of being distracted by reforms that demand attention and time
for documentation and quantification rather than an assessment of the qualitative experiences of the
pupils in their care.
A humanistic approach sees life as a gradual process of inner change through a varierty of
emotional, physical and intellectual experiences. In this way one can argue that the humanities
make a vital contribution to the health and maintenance of a democracy. A thriving democracy is
dependent on core values such as critical reflection, reasoning, debate and the evaluation of ideas.
This means that the position of the humanities in schools is dependent on the kinds of intelligence
that are cultivated in the lessons, complimenting the logical-analytical methods which are the basis

2
It is fitting to note when the Waldorf school movement is nearing one hundred years of existance that its
schools were closed under the Nazi régime and that in communist countries they were banned. Today the story is quite
different with an quickly expanding movement throughout the world not least in China.
of mathematical thinking.
The Curriculum and the Method
In recent years word creativity has become one of the most overused and debased in the language,
stripped of any clear indication to how it should be promoted in schools as a basis for innovation in
society. It is invariably linked to aristic expression rather than the generation of divergent thinking.
Of all the enigmas in the world that of creativity is one of the most mysterious. That is the reason
why, throughout time, it has been linked to the divine. We sense something unearthly when an idea
suddenly appears out of nothing. Most impressive is when that which has been created does not
fade away like a flower but survives the test of time and becomes as eternal as the stars. In this way
human beings live not only in a material sphere. The pinnacle of human striving is when that book,
that building, that symphony, that invention survives decades and centuries to form the cultural
platform on which we base our school curriculum and our lives.
Already in the mid nineteenth century Matthew Arnold, poet, professor at Oxford University and
inspector of schools, was to define the content of a school curriculum as “the best we have achieved
intellectually, aesthetically and morally.” In his book 'Culture, Education and its Enemies' (1867) he
saw the coming enemies of a child-centred education. These were: a tendency to be over-
materialistic and a harmful competitiveness amongst people. 3
A curriculum profits from the contribution of our forefathers. In this way it relates to the past. An
overriding question is how pupils can use this content as a basis for the development of human
dispositions for future involvement in society. Teaching needs to provide opportunities for the
individual to construe his or her own thoughts and interpretations from what is bestowed from the
past. This entails exercising the formulation of ideas and solutions. The content of the curriculum
lays out instructional objectives, specifying skills and items of knowledge that are thought to be
relevant. What this entails is constantly open to question. The content is not only dependent on the
requirements of society at large but also the needs of a specific group of pupils that make up the
class. Importantly, the second, ‘hidden’ part of the curriculum needs to represent expressive
objectives. They differ significantly from instructional objectives in that their content is not pre-
determined. They involve a high degree of personal input. An expressive objective defines a task
that can be approached and solved in numerous ways. It constitutes an educational encounter.
Herein lies an invitation to explore, investigate and formulate. Learning is no longer prescriptive to
be judged, for example, on the basis of standardized examination. It is evocative. The teacher’s aim
is to provide a situation whereby meanings and opinions become personalized so that ideas can
come to light. A method of this kind is implemented with one aim in mind -to bring about
discussion, to foster a sense of judgement and to reveal personal traits and potentialities. The results
can be as diverse as as the individuals themselves.
Hereby lies a fundamental problem, that of evaluation. Responses of this kind can never be based
on common objective standards. Creativity cannot be demanded or commanded. Pupils cannot be
taught to be creative. They can only be invited, encouraged and inspired to be so. The mind does not
gain true freedom by acquiring materials for knowledge and possessing other people’s ideas but by
exercising its own thoughts, forming its own judgements, and solutions. Here no homogeneity of
response is demanded from the pupils. On the contrary, a diversity of response is encouraged. In an
expressive context of this kind the teacher hopes to provide a situation whereby meanings and
opinions become personalized as a basis for the cultivation of thinking and formation of ideas. In
principle, in a Waldorf school a pupil should not be judged on his standing in the present but on the
basis of his work. It should be made clear how it can be bettered and improved in the short and long
term. In other words evaluation is embedded in a developmental process.
The introduction of mass educational systems brought about the introduction of marks. At the time
authorities throughout Europe favoured the use of numbers as a way of categorizing. It was also
3
Arnold, Matthew (2009) Culture, Education and its Enemies. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
imposed in schools. The worth of each pupil was gauged by an average mark. It the last decades this
has spread to the evaluation of teachers and headmasters, judged by an overall average. Today the
focus is on getting high marks individually, in schools and on national and international levels. At
the same time it is generally recognized that the skills needed to get high marks in an increasing
number of tests are not the same as gaining an understanding of a subject whether it be Biology or
Literature. On the basis of these scores pupils become university students and gain access to certain
forms of employment. Therefore pupils have to summon their energy into obtaining higher marks.
We see the results of this policy. One only has to read the alarming reports on causes of the growing
'drop-out' rates in our schools. In addition increasing numbers of children take stimulants such as
Ritalin. In 2011 in the USA 3.5 million children were taking the medication for ADHD (Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)). In the UK the number rose from 92,000 in 1997 to 786,000 in
2012. The original aim had been to treat children with concentration problems but today many
healthy schoolchildren take medications of this kind to enhance their performance in tests in order
to live up to the expectations of their parents, teachers and society in general. There are strong
objections to this trend arguing that the problem lies rather with the educational system and the
methods employed in schools. There will always be debate as to the values in education but in some
quarters it seems to be deemed easier to change a child's biochemistry rather than to revise outdated
methods that are out of tune with our time.
A true democracy will always endeavour to assimilate two aspects of life - that of society
representing a soul beyond individual souls, a group mind, and the personal needs and inclinations
of the individual. In Ancient Greece they were represented by the 'ecclesia' and the 'oikos' -
common interests and individual contributions. 'Ecclesia' literally means ' to come together'. This
two-way translation of interests was, and is, a democratic ideal. Today there is little left of an ethos
through which authority can be articulated. If a decision making body is to be more than a
collection of individuals who are in some way propelled in a position of power Today there is little
left of an ethos through which authority can be articulated. If a decision making body is to be more
than a collection of individuals who are in some way propelled in a position of powerit needs to
possess an esprit de corps -a common ethos and outlook – through which it can understand its role,
express its interest, validate its values and inspire the general public, it needs to possess an esprit de
corps -a common ethos and outlook – through which it can understand its role, express its interest,
validate its values and inspire the general public.
Europe today suffers from a deficit in this respect seen in some degree of disenchantment and
disgruntlement amongst upper school pupils and students. They ask in which way they can bridge
the void between the individual and society. There is no agora as in Ancient Greece. There is no
local, national or European coffee house that provides a forum where the generations can come
together to mould their opinions, a place where ideas are born, where viewpoints are examined,
where newspaper articles are analyzed. Without an agora, without permanent discourse it becomes
difficult to ascribe to a common attitude to life, an impulse for the future. This once was possible in
the coffee houses of Vienna and in the theatres and opera houses in the provinces pre-1914. It is
difficult to see how such hives can be established today. Previously they sprung out of a common
culture.Is not the classroom the new agora where divergent modes of thinking, the imaginative
faculty and a sense of judgement can be systematically cultivated?
Human beings may themselves achieve a synthesis between intellect and feeling, exactitide and
imagination, action and contemplation, a true synthesis to serve as the foundation of a better life.
Such a conception of mankind may seem utopian, but our time is such that every individual has the
power to work for such a balance in him or herself in adulthood on the basis of a developmental
curriculum and method in the years of compulsory education. On a lager scale, a society which
consciously aims for such a goal, unferred by outworn systems or rigid ideologies, will indeed make
it possible for men and women to fulfil their true potential.
Endnotes