Life-Long
Learning and the U.N.
By
Dean
Gotcher
It seems that “Life Long Learning” has become a new buzz-word for the 90’s.
Everywhere one turns these days, the phrase is being used. Every time I hear this phrase
I’m reminded of the verse in the Bible: “Ever learning, yet never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth.”1 Education
is now declared as life-long. The area of “life-long learning” seems to be of the
greatest concern. Few people realize that the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is behind this process.2 In its plan to bring all nations under one “unifying
principle,” UNESCO is convincing nations that “all aspects of education” should be
melded into one “coherent whole” with them guiding the way. UNESCO began redefining
education as “life-long’” with a global emphasis, during its International
Education Year, 1970.
To “help” nations realize “their mutual interdependence,”
UNESCO set out in the 70’s and continues today the plan to reorganize “national
educational systems” with the hope “to achieve closer integration of all their
formal and non-formal components.” To integrate all “sub-systems” within the
“total social system,” it began the policy of emphasizing “new knowledge” and
“new conditions of existence” globally. Using phrases such as “rapid change” all
of society, it believed, would be willing to accept a “radical change” from their
“traditional way of doing things.” So far it appears to be working.
John Dewey’s Instrumentalism is the conceptual foundation for “life-long
learning.” With its emphasis upon “a
spontaneous unfolding of latent potentialities,” and a free “transaction between a
living being and its surroundings,” it teaches that all mental and physical stages of
life can be most fully developed. “Developing is learning” and “learning is
developing.” “It is that
reconstruction or reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience
and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent experience.”3
This is “life-long learning.”
Quality of life, according to this formulation, is the result of a process of
transformations throughout a “being’s” personal and social life. This principle is
based on the belief that the enrichment of experiences -- experiencing different kinds
of environment, facilitates learning. Therefore, environment becomes an important aspect
of learning. “Static societies” produce limited environments. “Changing
societies” produce unlimited environments. Therefore, according to this logic,
if one is to experience a satisfying life, transformation of experiences must occur. To
have these experiences within what is most likely a “static society,” educational
environments must be created, nurtured, and protected. In this way, educative
environments can provide a means whereby people “can continue to learn throughout
their lives.” “Both the learning of children and the learning of adults must have
this quality of continual transformation of learner’s experience. This quality will be
the criterion by which we judge the efficacy of any model of life-long education,"
since it "transcends national and cultural differences." (emphasis added) 4
Educational experiences are created within the school system which, when properly
facilitated, transcend into the community. This will affect all facets of life within
the community, from personal and social relations to economic conditions. As UNESCO
might state it, this consists of constructing systematic relationships between
interrelated parts in an effort to produce an integrated whole, i.e. a one-world
government. This is where the "Think global, act local" idea came from. A
national grocery store chain has even put this phrase on their sacks.
This whole process carries within it a global-local contract which seems to lean
toward the concept of “global commun(ity)/(- ism)”. With phrases like "it takes
a whole village to raise a child" being used by educators and politicians, we
appear to be drifting in this direction not only in thought, but also in practice.
UNESCO has sought all along to involve every nation, state, community, family, and
individual in this process through the method of “life-long education.” “Institutionalizing
the concept of life-long education implies a systematic organization of all levels of
formal schooling and non-formal out-of-school educational activities in such a way that
they provide an environment for learning throughout the life of man.”5
“Life-long education” is the means by which social psychologists will be able
to enter into every community and home in America today. Since the combining of both
fields (Psychology and Sociology along with Anthropology) by those who wanted to
“humanize” Marx, there has been an increasing emphasis upon identifying and
developing the “whole person” through education. This includes not only each
individual’s personal life but his social life as well. This is an attempt to bring
work and education into one life-long process. “The desirability of maintaining a
close relationship between schooling and work was pointed out by Karl Marx at an early
stage in the development of European public school systems.”6
This kind of attention towards
Marx by UNESCO and Social-Psychologists alike, should cause those nations which have or
hope to maintain their “traditional” form of government to be concerned.
UNESCO, with its plan of “life-long learning” is seeking to “help” the
nations of the world, to “help” improve their education systems, to “help” them
adapt with the technological and social changes of a “rapidly changing world,” to
“help” them more smoothly transform away from their old structures and traditions.
By the utilization of a generalized conceptual model of education, UNESCO is not only
able to influence national educational policies, but will eventually be able to control
national policies. Its presence is not generally detected since the “generalized
conceptual model” is cloaked by the general principles that each nation recognizes and
the general system it uses. This model allows UNESCO to analyze a nation’s existing
system, to stimulate its desire to seek change and eventually use that nation’s
authorities to “convince” the people of their need for “life-long learning.”
Since, according to UNESCO, social change invalidates traditional assumptions,
organizations such as the Adult Education Committee of the Ministry of Reconstruction of
the United Kingdom, must be supported. In an effort to reculture the British society,
universal and “life-long learning” is being used. The same is happening in America.
Through the changes brought by science and technology it is “assumed” (presumed,
speculated, supposed - you pick one) that
the traditional linear model of education has become invalid. This is just a nice way of
saying that those families with money should not be able to pick the schools that their
children go to, while those without can not. As unfair as this policy has been over the
ages, it will not go away. Even with the use of social engineering it will go on.
Parents generally want the best for their children, even if it is just to make
themselves look good. Social psychologists and even Marxists in high positions, through
their associations and contacts, have always sought the best advantages for their own
children. It is human nature, and for all practical purposes it should be that way. It
is not that people with wealth want other children not to succeed, it is generally no
concern of theirs. I am not saying that it should not be a concern of theirs -- some
wealthy parents have invested large sums of money to assist those without funds to get a
good education. Socialism, with its “take from the rich and give to the poor” has
never produced a true spirit of giving, it has only revealed man’s worst nature of
manipulation and deceit, by “helping” people give out of fear of social rejection.
True giving is when you have, or even don’t have and share because you truly want to,
without having to be manipulated, deceived, or coerced into doing so.
Therefore, what UNESCO sees in “life-long education” is the need to
reconstruct all the different parts of society under one universal model. “Such a
model will require radical changes in the structures, functions, methods, and content of
education systems at all levels, and the implementation of a new model will almost
inevitably call for new strategies on the part of administrators and new approaches to
policy-making.”7
This model calls for the creation of certain environments in the area of work,
social and political events, and private life. This will require versatility on the part
of each member of the community with an emphasis upon common concerns, in other words
“one for all, and all for one.” Under this versatility, which each individual within
the community is to demonstrate, comes the willingness to “temporarily” lay aside
attitudes and beliefs that do not help in the experience of social transformation. Most
absolute-minded folks in America have not caught on to the significance of this stage of
the model. It is necessary to participate, and everyone must participate. It is
necessary that each and every individual put aside his absolute beliefs and attitudes in
the effort to work on some common concern, to find common ground, to achieve group
consensus.
The exercise of developing common concern will cause you to focus on the needs of
the collective whole. This exercise is actually aimed at changing the structure by which
you think - how you acquire and utilize understanding. It changes the structure of
thinking by which people define authority. By participating, you expose yourself to a
process that will eventually make you question traditional authority, which will make
you adaptable to change. You will at first become uncomfortable around those who are
absolute or traditionally minded, but as the process becomes more a part of your life
you will seek to “convert” them, for their own good. Those who continue to refuse to
participate in the process will be identified as resistant to change.
If the “resister to change” happens to be a close friend of yours, he/she
will be become a project of common concern, someone to “convert” from their
self-inflicted social limitations. This conversion will be for their own good as well as
the good of the community. This will be true the longer you remain in the process, and
they remain out of it. The resistance you feel from them is not due to the content of
their position but the structure of their position. This is because the structure
upon which you and your friend have based the “facts” of life, has changed. A
structure that is based upon an absolute depends upon absolute facts.
A structure that is based upon change does not. “Facts,” within the process,
must become ever changing. The two structures, which define facts differently, are
incompatible. Friends building upon opposite structure can not remain friends. The
Scriptures put it this way: “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”8 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.”9 This process, which is from the fallen
world, depends upon chaos and change to find understanding. There is no common ground
between this process and God, who is not the author of chaos.10
God is absolute and manifests this
structure of absolutes within His creation, for it has absolute boundaries and limits
set by Him11. Only He can change
them (i.e. via a miracle). Science and technology are nothing more than discovering His
limitations and boundaries and working within them. We could not fly, or even build
airplanes or even live, if nature did not have absolute limits and boundaries.12 When this structure of absolutes is ignored, the consequence is disaster
(i.e. ignoring gravity and jumping off of a building).
“Life-long learning” does not
produce the righteousness of God. It does not reconcile the differences between man and
his Creator, nor does it actually reconcile the differences between mankind. UNESCO is
using “life-long education” as a means to build a new social order. The belief that
“traditional methods of self-education are inadequate” is based upon UNESCO’s
social agenda. The direct correlation between education and work are apparent in this
agenda. Education and uneducation are code words for socialists and capitalists (elites)
respectively. “Rigidly stratified relationships between managers and workers are
inappropriate in modern enterprises. . . . smooth functioning can be brought about only
by more cooperative and egalitarian relationships based on constantly changing knowledge
and skill. . . . the unwillingness of elites (capitalists) to recognize the need for
participation of workers in management is handicapping their unquestioned efforts for
economic progress. . . . When most of the adult population is uneducated (capitalistic),
the danger of perpetuating an elitism(capitalism) that runs counter to emerging
aspirations for democratic(socialistic) development is all too obvious"13
“Scientific logic” is another one
of those code words. To the traditional mind it means calculus, trigonometry, physics,
etc., but to the social engineers from UNESCO it means a way of thinking -
transformational dialectic “reasoning”. This dialectic method of conflict resolution
encourages the challenging of “existing facts”(authority).
By creating an environment where people can freely express their feelings towards
“existing facts” (authority), “new facts” (authority) can be discovered. This
“scientific logic” is what the Scriptures identify as foolishness, not wisdom.14
We have entered the icon era, where
symbols conjure up complete manners of behavior. “Whole word” (or “whole
language”) and its “look-say” method is part of this process which has helped
produce group think attitudes. The model of “life-long education” has relied heavily
upon this method which entails a three-stage process of cognitive (know the facts),
affective (know the feelings about those facts), and psychomotor (reconcile the facts
and feelings through mediation then practice the results to find “new facts”).
UNESCO is using all three steps in order to produce acceptance for a new
one-world government. Every time UNESCO “helps” a nation keep up with the “rapidly
changing world,” it gains a foothold in their political-social affairs. When UNESCO
offers to “help” nations gain control over their destiny, through the free exchange
of innovative ideas and practices, it is actually “helping” that nation to move from
an overt model of “authority” to a covert model of “authority,” with UNESCO at
the controls. Science and technology are used as a cover, as UNESCO deceives nations.
While “helping” a nation acquire new innovative ideas and practices, UNESCO is
restructuring its government and reculturing its people. If we were talking about
science and technology and innovation in relation to washers and dryers this would be
one thing, but we are talking about how people are expected to behave. The three stages
of this model are first, to develop a “rational-empirical” base for dialogue;
secondly, to incite emotional and sentimental favor for change; and finally, to gain
control over authority.
The first stage attempts to establish a “rational” analysis of the facts of
the situation. This opening attitude helps to validate in the minds of the local
leadership the “rational” and “intellectual” approach of this process along with
the respect that they will gain by being a part of such a program for progress. The
second stage changes peoples’ attitudes toward the new order of things, by helping
them to focus upon the emotional and sentimental benefits of change.
Endnotes
1. 2 Tim. 3:7
KJV (King James Version)
2.
Towards a conceptual model of life-long education. George W. Parkyn, UNESCO,
Paris, 1973.
3. Democracy
and Education, John Dewey. New York: Macmillan, 1916, p. 90.
4.
Parkyn, p.9.
5.
Parkyn,p. 11.
6.
Polytechnical Education in the USSR. S. G. Shapovalenko (ed.), Paris,
UNESCO,
1963. Ch. 1, "Marxist-Leninist Ideas on polytechnical education."
7.
Parkyn,p. 15.
8.
James 4:4 KJV
9.
Matt. 6:24 KJV
10.. 1 Cor. 14:33 KJV
11. Gen.
1; Job 26:10; Ps. 33:6-9; Ps. 104 KJV
12. Rom.
l:18-21 KJV
13. Parkyn,
pp.12-13
14. Rom.
1:22-32 KJV