Social engagement

The ideal end product of education is that personally, socially and politically engaged and empowered people are able to contribute positively to community development and action. The roots of this lie early in life, where families and schools can inspire children. Equally the roots of disempowerment and apathy lie here too. A great deal of political effort has gone into providing school pupils with knowledge considered appropriate, and compliance is ensured through inspections. However there are in schools some unwilling participants in education who desperately need to make a personal breakthrough to move from a state of disaffection – emotional dislocation from school and from learning – towards motivation and engagement. One 15 year old girl put it this way:

“I was having a lot of problems at the time, my life was basically going downhill every day, I thought that I’d just end it. But … now there’s a reason to live, I am a good person, I can turn my life round. And I did. My friends think I’m more upbeat, my teachers think I’m more confident, people think it’s changed me, I’m more mature…And my behaviour is a lot better. Before I used to wander off I used to think, What the hell am I doing here, why don’t I just go home. But now I feel, I need to go to school, its education I need, and basically I’m a lot more focused in lessons. I’m able to do the work … and I enjoy the work a lot more than I ever did before.”


Emphases on social and emotional education, conflict resolution, circle time, mediation, and enjoyment all point towards that vital other dimension to education which can be described as empowerment, engagement, independent mindedness and emotional togetherness. In this individuals are engaged, feel ownership, feel able to make a difference and to tackle any problems that come their way. Fostering this personal empowerment may require a change of focus, particularly where educational procedures assume learner dependence rather than independence – dependence on materials, and on adults providing answers rather than having to think things out. Telling learners what we think (or what the government think) they need to know rather than encouraging them to explore and think for themselves, is a habit hard to get out of.