(1) Everyone has the right to education.

Education shall be free, at least in the

elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of
merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms….
These fundamental and inalienable rights are the entitlement of all human
beings regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or
any other status (Article 2).
Scientific exploration. Lastly, I want to look at the results of scientific
investigation into our nature as humans. More specifically we need to reflect
on what it means when humans are described as social animals.
As we have already seen there is a significant amount of research showing just
how dependent we are in everyday life on having trusting relationships in a
society. Without them even the most basic exchanges cannot take place. We
also know that in those societies where there is stronger concern for others
and relatively narrow gaps between rich and poor people are generally happier
(see, for example, Halpern 2010). On the basis of this material we could make
a case for educators to look to the needs and experiences of all. Political, social
and economic institutions depend on mass participation or at least benign
consent – and the detail of this has to be learnt. However, with our growing
appreciation of how our brains work and with the development of, for
example, social cognitive neuroscience, we have a have a different avenue for
exploration. We look to the needs and experience of others because we are
hard-wired to do so. As Matthew D. Lieberman (2013) has put it:
Our basic urges include the need to belong, right along with the need for food and
water. Our pain and pleasure systems do not merely respond to sensory inputs that
can produce physical harm and reward. They are also exquisitely tuned to the sweet
and bitter tastes delivered from the social world—a world of connection and threat to
connection. (Lieberman 2013: 299)
Our survival as a species is dependent upon on looking to the needs and
experiences of others. We dependent upon:
 Connecting: We have ‘evolved the capacity to feel social pains and pleasures,
forever linking our well-being to our social connectedness. Infants embody
this deep need to stay connected, but it is present through our entire lives’ (op.
cit.: 10)
Mindreading: Primates have developed an unparalleled ability to understand
the actions and thoughts of those around them, enhancing their ability to stay
connected and interact strategically… This capacity allows humans to create
groups that can implement nearly any idea and to anticipate the needs and
wants of those around us, keeping our groups moving smoothly (op. cit.: 10)
 Harmonizing: Although the self may appear to be a mechanism for
distinguishing us from others and perhaps accentuating our selfishness, the
self actually operates as a powerful force for social
cohesiveness. Whereas connection is about our desire to be
social, harmonizing refers to the neural adaptations that allow group beliefs
and values to influence our own. (op. cit.: 11)

One of the key issues around these processes is the extent to which they can
act to become exclusionary i.e. people can become closely attached to one
particular group, community or nation and begin to treat others as somehow
lesser or alien. In so doing relationships that are necessary to our survival –
and that of the planet – become compromised. We need to develop
relationships that are both bonding and bridging (see social capital) – and this
involves being and interacting with others who may not share our interests
and concerns.

Acting
Education is more than fostering understanding and an appreciation of
emotions and feelings. It is also concerned with change – ‘with how people can
act with understanding and sensitivity to improve their lives and those of
others’ (Smith and Smith 2008: 104). As Karl Marx (1977: 157-8) famously put
it ‘all social life is practical…. philosophers have only interpreted the world in
various ways; ‘the point is to change it’. Developing an understanding of an
experience or a situation is one thing, working out what is good and wanting to
do something about it is quite another. ‘For appropriate action to occur there
needs to be commitment’ (Smith and Smith 2008: 105).
This combination of reflection; looking to what might be good and making it
our own; and seeking to change ourselves and the world we live in is what
Freire (1973) talked about as praxis. It involves us, as educators, working with
people to create and sustain environments and relationships where it is
possible to:
 Go back to experiences. Learning doesn’t take place in a vacuum. We
have to look to the past as well as the present and the future. It is necessary to
put things in their place by returning to, or recalling, events and happenings
that seem relevant.
 Attend and connect to feelings. Our ability to think and act is wrapped
up with our feelings. Appreciating what might be going on for us (and for
others) at a particular moment; thinking about the ways our emotions may be
affecting things; and being open to what our instincts or intuitions are telling
us are important elements of such reflection. (See Boud et. al. 1985).
 Develop understandings. Alongside attending to feelings and
experiences, we need to examine the theories and understandings we are
 using. We also need to build new interpretations where needed. We should be
looking to integrating new knowledge into our conceptual framework.
 Commit. Education is something ‘higher’ according to John Henry
Newman. It is concerned not just with what we know and can do, but also with
who we are, what we value, and our capacity to live life as well as we can . We
need space to engage with these questions and help to appreciate the things we
value. As we learn to frame our beliefs we can better appreciate how they
breathe life into our relationships and encounters, become our own, and move
us to act.
 Act. Education is forward-looking and hopeful. It looks to change for the
better. In the end our efforts at facilitating learning have to be judged by the
extent to which they further the capacity to flourish and to share in life. For
this reason we need also to attend to the concrete, the actual steps that can be
taken to improve things.
As such education is a deeply practical activity – something that we can do for
ourselves (what we could call self-education), and with others.

Conclusion – so what is education?

It is in this way that we end up with a definition of education as ‘the wise,
hopeful and respectful cultivation of learning undertaken in the belief that all
should have the chance to share in life’. What does education involve? First,
we can see a guiding eidos or leading idea – the belief that all share in life and
a picture of what might allow people to be happy and flourish. Alongside is a
disposition or haltung  (a concern to act respectfully, knowledgeably and
wisely) and interaction (joining with others to build relationships and
environments for learning). Finally, there is praxis – informed, committed
action (Carr and Kemmis 1986; Grundy 1987).

The process of education