DEWEY PHILOSOPHY AND CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA IMPELICATION FOR DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION

1.1Background to the Study

Since the return of sovereignty, education that is to do with socio-political, ideological orientation and democratic tenets and that helps to liberate the mind and mould the individual for self-reliance has been the main national objective of Nigerian education. Today, the zeal with which Nigerians embrace education as a potent instrument for socio-economic and political transformation must have accounted for the different political slogans that have been used to qualify the Nigerian educational system. These slogans range from ―democratic socialism, African socialism and pragmatic socialism‖, which are all geared toward achieving a democratic nation. Ekweke (2003, p.60) and Ogundowole (2010, p.111) argue that Nigeria has suffered political bruises even through democratically operated ideologies and that all these slogans are there but they seems to have nothing to offer the people in terms of education for democratic society.

The observable reality of the Nigerian society in the post independence era seems to indicate that the philosophical assumption underlying the educational system is centered on building ‗a free and democratic society‘, a just and egalitarian society‘ (NPE, 2004, p.2). However, the present quality of education given its dynamics seems contrary to policy pronouncement and provision. Thus, one may claim that the implementation lapses cannot form a necessary basis for effective instrument of education for democratic society (Osokoya,

2010, p.115). While the role of education in a democratic society cannot be over - emphasized, Ogundowole (2010, p.112) opines that a failure to offer democratic education or politically-socio orientated education to the young ones at this stage of the nation‘s development would amount to depriving them the right to life. Democratic education, if not properly conceived and wisely handled, according to Russell (1977, p.21) will stultify the growth and development of both the individual and the society, the culminating effect to build a self-reliant and a democratic nation will be a ruse.

In essence, there must be a relevant philosophy of education for appropriate education to be provided for every Nigerian. This is because philosophies of education articulate both the aims of education as well as the most appropriate means of achieving those aims (Cahn, 2009, p.379). No wonder the issue of education for a democratic society has gnarred lot of interest (Ekweke, 2003; Osokoya, 2010; Ogundowole, 2010). Thus, philosophy of education is considered as a potent instrument or tool for discussing issues and concerns in the determination of a sound system of knowledge development and social transformation.

However, philosophers of education differ in their understanding of the state in which of modes or methods of analysis proceed. In analyzing issues as they evolve, most especially when they involve concept clarification they tend to take different perspective. Akinpelu (2005, p.225) explained that philosophy of

education in its most general senses involves a search for the basic truths, meanings, realities and principles behind the superficial and surface appearances of phenomena. Furthermore, they differ in their findings of the rationale or rational explanation of what may not be clear to us. In its modern sense, philosophy of education has as its basic, and perhaps most important function, an analysis of the concepts, fundamental discourse and problems in whatever it is applied to. Isichei and Olufowobi (2005, p.24) seem to corroborate this claim when they explained that philosophy of education is the activity of reflecting upon, interpreting, analyzing and criticizing current educational systems and processes with the aim of improving the educational system.

Put succinctly, democracy and education are such concepts requiring clear definition if the aims and objectives of Nigerian education are to be realized. The analytical school of philosophy argues that while premium is placed on education as a potent tool at accelerating the progress and development of the individual and the nation as a whole, democracy presents the platform for human intelligence. By human intelligence we mean that human beings are not equally endowed intellectually but each person must be accorded the respect and given equal opportunity to enhance self-realization within the limits of their intellectual capabilities.

 

Attesting to this is the declarative statement in the Nigeria Constitution (1979 & 1999) and brought down to the National Policy on Education (2004, p.2) which stipulates that Nigeria‘s philosophy of education is therefore based on the

―integration of the individual into a sound and effective citizen and equal educational opportunity inside and outside the formal school system‖. In addition to the above, the document asserts that there are five main objectives on which the philosophy is built. These are: ―a free and democratic society; a just and egalitarian society; a strong and self-reliant nation; a great and dynamic economy; and a land of bright and full opportunities‖ (NPE, 2004, p.2).

There seems to be no contention about these constitutional stipulations but one is enthused by the idea of the actual conduct of education in operational democracy. However, it may be reasonably inferred that there are principles guiding both the educational practices and classical political democracy. Such principles are generally regarded as the cornerstone of democracy and education which Kneeler (1971, p.23) enumerated to include:

 

·That when the people elect their government, they should be educated to live responsibly;

·That through such education, every individual is expected to develop his own talents to the fullest;

·That humans must be educated to be free;

·That such exposure should train the open mind;

 

·That education should develop the habit of productive cooperation as well as healthy competition;

·That whenever possible, one should adopt democratic practices in school behavior; and

·That political control over education must be kept to the minimum.

Ruwa (2007) upholds that these are necessary principles for Nigeria whose desire is to build a democratic society. In other words, these principles can be pursued to their logical conclusion in a disciplined and democratic country. It is in this regard that Dewey‘s idea of education and democracy has profoundly contributed to the success of American education. Among such contributions are Dewey (1916, p.89) in which he opined that educational attainment is a prerequisite for democratic society. He stressed that education promotes democracy and development, and because it leads to greater prosperity, it is also thought to cause political development. Buttressing the position of Dewey is the modernization theory popularized by Lipset (1969 p.105); Gardner (1961, p.34); Giroux (2003) which emphasizes the role of education as well as economic growth in promoting political development in general and democracy in particular. Lipset (1969, p.105) argues that education presumably broadens men‘s outlooks, enables them to understand the norms of tolerance, restrains them from adhering to extremist doctrines, and increases their capacity to make rational electoral choicesNigeria has wisely adopted democracy as her form of government; hence there is nothing absolutely wrong if her philosophy of education is based on democratic principles, but the idea of the overall Nigerian philosophy may be queried. One may ask if there is a document that may be so called. Should the brainstorming sessions and cumulative thinking of the National Conference of 1969 and the Seminar of Experts in 1973 labelled ‗the overall philosophy of Nigeria‘ be regarded as policy document for the nation? In fact with the ushering in of a democratic dispensation in 1999, every attraction points to a democratic society where education as a ‗social and individual‘ process would be more pronounced; rather, education has become a political slogan. Indeed, it forms the major manifesto of many political parties and it serves as a programme to invoke the feelings of the electorate to vote parties into power.

It is of interest to find out whether the education of all citizens is a condition for democracy in Nigeria. Or is the formal education of all citizens a logically necessary condition for the success of democracy? Aladejana and Omoteso (2003) opine that for a democratic setting to be successful, at least the majority of the people need to be educated. One of the strongest arguments for contending that education is a logical and necessary condition for democracy is that since the people themselves elect their government, they should be educated to do so responsibly. Hence education is a sine qua non to democratic realization.

Education is such an indispensable tool to man and society for sustainable development. This implies that the fundamental task of education in the society is in two folds: the social process and the individual process. The latter will help in the proper preparation of the young citizens for the roles and responsibilities that they should take on when they reach maturity. Dewey (1966, p.89) asserts that through education, society can formulate its own purpose, can organize its own means and resources and shape itself with definiteness and economy in the direction in which it wishes to move.

It is education that must channel all the individual‘s potentialities - intellectual, moral, physical, social, aesthetic, and spiritual-into a democratic ideal (Farayola, 2007). The search for a good society and person has been a consistent effort of various schools of thought, individual philosophers and theologians. These include Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Illich, and Dewey. This list is not exhaustive. Similarly, the search for a good educational system in a democratic setting has been the major concern of educational philosophers.

The educational system in any nation is influenced by different educational philosophies and philosophical traditions. For instance, the two classical philosophies and their corresponding philosophical traditions that had influenced British education were Perennialism and Essentialism. These two philosophies of

education have Realism and Idealism, respectively, as their philosophical traditions. In contemporary times, we have Progressivism and Reconstructionism as educational philosophies with Pragmatism as their philosophical tradition in America.

A close examination of the educational aims or objectives in developing nations reveals a kind of vagueness that must be conceptually clarified if the aims of education would qualify to act as a guide for educational endeavour. If man is the greatest value in all of created reality, then, the overriding purpose of education must be ‗the making of persons‘ or ‗to forming of persons‘, or rather

‗to help a child attain his full formation or his completeness‘. In a nutshell, education of the youths/ individuals should be the foundation of the values upon which democracy ought to be constructed (Falaiye, 2007).

If every society transmits habits of mind, social norms and culture from one generation to another, can this conscious social reproduction form the democratic education? What direct bearing has education with the building of a democratic society? What are the peculiar features of democratic education and

‗what are the tasks of education in a democratic society? What skills ought such education to develop in the learner for social reconstruction and development of the human capital? Steiner (1994, p.24) stresses that democratic education should equip citizens to be ‗‗the measure of all things‘‘; the voices of society

should develop the skills of questioning, criticizing and reconstructing the language of the day in order to dissect the rhetoric of politics, economy, and culture. However, these are not the skills being encouraged neither in today‘s educational reform efforts nor in colleges and universities.

Since a democratic society repudiates the principle of external authority, it must find a substitute in voluntary disposition and interest that can be created only by education (Parker, 2003). In his own explanation, Dewey (1966, p.89) posits that democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, conjoint communicated experience. It could then be deduced that the goal of democratic education and government of democracy are in harmony. Both promote independent thinking ability with questioning skills, respect for evidence and logic, expression of criticism and sound judgment. Steirner‘s view points to the fear of Adaralegbe on the issues and problems of university education. He wrote:

…..if after three or four years their students, still go out ill-equipped to meet life‘s challenges and without having laid or discovered for themselves a true foundation of an intelligent curiosity, critical judgment, trained imagination and sharpened intuition, a social consciousness, and an understanding of fundamental principles of their chosen professions, something is basically wrong (Adaralegbe, 1972, p.5).Nigeria‘s education is no doubt at a crossroad, in a juxtaposed state, because the social malaise in today‘s educational system stems from her rather lopsided

system where corruption is as evident as it has been in the areas of politics, law enforcement agencies and the business sector (Ujomu, 2001). To Ikuwemesi (2008), education in Nigeria has become an easy means to nescience and ignorance rather than a means to individual social freedom and a support for the germination of great societies. Education is faced with the threat of anomie, a crisis of value where virtually every cherished principle of moral integrity and concept of ideal life has nearly been eroded, if not totally already? (Ujomu, 2001). The general norms and ethical values associated with democratic principles in a society for human interpersonal co-existence are absent altogether. Unethical values, immoral attitudes and violence are more pronounced in our schools.

Rauterberg (2002) remarks that Nigerian schools looked like ―ruined factories‖. This statement confirmed the observation of Okpara (2001), who asserts that the contemporary Nigerian youths are ―the children of violence‖ where only the learning and internalization of violence characterized the educational system. All these immoral, unethical behaviours and attitudes, according to Ujomu (2001), serve as an indication of the deterioration and degeneration of the ethical value system that society desires for the democratic experience and intense socio- economic development vis-à-vis peaceful co-existence in Nigeria. Rather than being a free and democratic society, Amaele (2000, p.95) submits that Nigerian

has become a country where citizens are in chains, unity is far-fetched and self- reliance is yet a dream.

With the rebirth of democracy in 1999, salient issues or problems that had plagued the Nigerian educational system such as equal educational opportunity, curriculum and educational reform, vocational/ technical education, university education and democracy, democracy and quota system, and democratic education of the citizen are yet to be resolved (Akinpelu, 1981, p.207; Adewole, 2001, p.2; Okoh, 2005 p.5). Falaiye (2007) concurs that it is disheartening that the level of illiteracy is still very high. Issues presented in the democratic process are hardly understood by a vast majority of the people. An educational system that tries to avoid these indices of a democratic society will give birth to a‗miseducated‘ society (Ruwa, 2007). This, however, necessitates the need for the philosophers and philosophers of education to come to terms with a national philosophy with the cardinal objectives to build a self-reliant nation through democratic education contrary to what is apparent in the present system of education.

The failures of human intelligence in these social areas emphasize the social aspect of Dewey‘s philosophy in fostering democratic education in Nigeria. The hackneyed American slang expression, ―if it ain‘t broke, don‘t fix it‖ seems to reflect the essence of pragmatism as a philosophy which is primarily concerned

with the workability of an idea or a given situation. If anything is obvious in the doctrine of pragmatism and the progressive movement, it is the certainty that we live in a changing world and that the educational process must prepare us for the changing circumstances. It is based on this premise that this researcher seeks to understand this philosophical tradition and reconstructionism as an educational philosophy that has influenced Dewey in his analysis of democracy and education as to have advocated the ‗learning by doing and social reconstruction‘. Omatseye (2004) opines that the search for better alternatives in education as a process never stops; that is why the progressive movement for the African school should be drawn along the lines of education as a democratic endeavour and social reconstruction.

Dewey‘s love for democracy was based not only on the principle of the right of citizens to participate in decisions affecting their lives but also to tap individual resources for possible improvement of decisions already made. Both endeavours are guided by the wisdom of collective responsibility as well as the possibility of further improvement based upon new and more convincing evidence. What is not present in democracy is a situation where one individual or group lords it over others, thus giving credence to the notion of ―might is right‖. The concept of democracy evokes images of free speech, social justice and an inclusive form of government. This is what Fitzsimons (2002) referred to as collective action. It is based on the tenets of democracy that Dewey (1916, p.56) opines that if all

these tenets are adhered to men, women and young people would discover their potential and perceive the full import of their activity.

This explains why Nigeria desires to build, through education, ‘a free and democratic society‘. Similarly, many nations of the world aspire to build democratic societies but the African continent as a whole and Nigeria in particular have neither been comfortable nor stable in their democratic experiments. For too long, Africans have suffered deprivation in the exercise of their rights to fully determine their fortunes. This unfortunate trend which started with colonialism has continued under the leadership of successive post- independence regimes most of which have not only been repressive but have also been outright dictatorships. And if a break must be put to this unfortunate trend, the process has to begin with the younger generation of African children in school. It is on this score that Omaseye (2004, p.139) the school curriculum, the pedagogy, and pedagogy officers/teachers must be challenged to redeem the society by helping children develop not only a scientific attitude but also democratic instincts.

Democracy in some African states is better described as diarchy - a government shared by both the military and civilians. The African continent has been enveloped with partial democracy, undemocratic constitutions, leadership crises, and the military as a major obstacle to democratization. Even where it appears

that all is well, for example in Egypt, a critical look reveals some deficiencies. Smith (1999, p.16) opines that if economic liberalization is now Egypt‗s pride, political deliberalization is its shame. In theory, Egypt is a democracy. In fact, it is almost as much under the ruling party‘s thumb as it was in the 1960s when Egypt was a one-party state.

According to Oladipo (2007), the unequivocal answer to this issue in African social and political thought, particularly since the 1990s, is that democracy is the answer. However, what kind of democracy? It is not that democracy is strange to Africa, but the western kind of democracy is strange to Africa. A king or a chief might ascend to the throne or power through democratic principles but rule as long as he lives. This practice is expressed in Yoruba as ‗bi oba kan o ku, oba mi ko ni je‘, which means except a king dies no other gets to the throne. The Nigerian situation poses a big problem. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has been under military rule for two-thirds of forty-five years. Owolabi (1994) asserts that although not the most violent country in the world, Nigeria may well be the most misruled. The main activity of the state of affairs seems to be embezzlement. Nigeria as a misruled country is characterized by electricity failure, collapse of educational infrastructure, unemployment, and crime wave and leadership imbroglio. Nigeria‘s struggle for democracy has not yielded favourable dividends.

The aspiration to build a democratic Nigerian society, from all indications, has not enjoyed mass consciousness and action. It is a struggle between a few knowledgeable people and a large mass of uneducated people. As Barber (1997) says, Nigeria has been criticized internationally for its abuse of human rights and its dismissal of democracy; and it has become a substantial test for the Commonwealth of Nations and how the beliefs of the commonwealth can be put into practice.

In terms of democratic education, the challenges of schools, colleges, and universities producing half-baked persons persist because the learning institutions are handicapped with under-funding and poor staffing. The problem of unpredictable and abnormal school/ academic calendar, coupled with incessant strikes and agitation for a conducive/enabling environment and lack of integrity of the examining bodies – WAEC (West African Examination Council), NECO (National Examination Council), JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board)- are evident in the system (Akinpelu, 2005, p.207). All these are a big threat to the possible realization of a democratic setting. This is the reason why Isichei (1998, p.21) believes that an education structure that will meet the aspirations and the needs of Nigerians in terms of self-reliance, socio-economic exigencies, adequate provision for participation in its goodness by all its citizens on equal terms and foster national unity is essential and indispensable.

Democracy is not just a principle of governance but, as Dewey puts it, it is ‗‗a way of conjoint communicated experience‘‘; education is therefore a rich avenue for promoting democratic living (Dewey, 1966, p.57). If the Nigerian social consciousness to build a democratic society is weak and education which is a necessary tool in democracy is not a priority of the government, then it follows that at present both educational practices and democratic governance are in crisis. It is against this background that the study is centered on Dewey‘s philosophy in fostering democratic education in Nigeria.