The ideas of ‘education’ and ‘learning’ are not discussed philosophically in the safety industry but rather are assumed to be the same as training. Even when we see Safety use the word ‘learning’ it rarely means much more than ‘training’. Indeed, there is really no appetite for Philosophy in the safety industry either.
When I first studied to become a teacher in 1971 it was compulsory to study the works of R. S. Peters (The Logic of Education, Ethics of Education and The Concept of Education) as well as the work of the free-schooling and de-schooling movements. R. S. Peters in many ways could be considered the founder of the modern understanding of Education and Learning. When we look at the radical changes in educational institutions across the world in the 1970s, much of this can be linked back to Peters.
Peters was a Philosopher of Education at the University of London (1962-1983) and was the supervisor of my mentor Dr W.E.C. (Bill) Andersen at the University of Sydney. So, I had come into contact with Peters’ ideas on Education in my first year of study and, then later in my Master’s with Bill (1982).
The word ‘education’ has come to mean some vague thing associated with schooling or the ‘education system’ and this is unfortunate. We now hear the word ‘education’ used for many activities that are NOT ‘educative’ or educational. There can be no separation between the notion of education and ethics and this is the most significant work of R.S Peters (1966, Ethics and Education, https://archive.org/details/ethicseducation0000pete_s1g4). You won’t see anything about Education and Learning in the safety world even from the so called ‘safety differently’ group.
It is nonsense to speak about ‘Learning’ or ‘Education’ as if they can be separated from Ethics. Unless an activity is ethical it cannot be deemed educational. Similarly, we need to know what it is to be ‘an educated person’ if we are to know what it is to be educated.
The transfer of data or knowledge has little to do with education and learning. You can receive all the data and knowledge in the world but if it doesn’t lead to ethical practice, then you are NOT ‘educated’.
- Abuse of ‘the learner’ regardless of what knowledge is transferred is NOT education.
- Similarly, abuse in any activity in safety, regardless of reduction in physical injury rate, is NOT Safety nor does it have anything to do with ‘Education’.
- Obtaining certificates or completion of a course in something, is not Education unless it includes an ‘ethic of being’ and ‘ethic of risk’.
- You can go through an ‘education system’ and come out at the other end and still not be educated, if this means one is devoid of ‘an ethic’.
- Becoming compliant, following regulation, gaining knowledge of rules and systems and, directing order in compliance to systems, has nothing to do with Education or Learning.
- A trained person is not an ‘educated’ person.
The best work done on the meaning of Education was tackled by Peters. I will leave it up to you to chase up more on his work: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/sats-2023-0008/html?lang=en For the purpose of this blog, we don’t need to discuss more of Peters.
What is important, is understanding what it means to be ‘educated’ and why ‘ethics’ is foundational to the definition of ‘being educated’. Similarly, why ethics is important to being educated in risk. There is no learning without risk.
The idea of being ‘educated’ carries with it an intrinsic virtue in itself. Being educated implies an orientation towards persons that seeks their best interests (including safety) through ethical practice. Of course, in Safety, you won’t hear about any of this.
In Safety there is no well-articulated ethic, no interest in ethics and no interest in an ethic of care. learning and helping. There is nothing in any safety curriculum globally that has any interest in this. So, from the evidence, it is clear that Safety has no interest in an Education in Risk just as it has no interest in an Ethic of Risk. This ignorance enables the brutalising and abuse of persons in the name of good (zero-safety).
If you are interested in studying An Ethic of Risk, you can do so here: https://cllr.com.au/product/an-ethic-of-risk-workshop-unit-17-elearning/
Or if you are interested in the education of persons you can come to the Conference in 13-17 May 2024 in Canberra where the first workshop is on Personhood (https://spor.com.au/canberra-convention/ ).
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