Structural Inequalities in the Irish Education System and the Role of Community Education in Removing Barriers to Participation

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There are many and varied reasons why they got left behind in the first place: illness, lack of space and time to do homework, not enough to eat, cold, etc but the common thread running through all their stories is the dismissive and even cruel ways they were treated by many of those in positions of power over them and how this treatment resulted in the lack of confidence and self-esteem that comprise the major psychological barriers to re-entry into education.

People who find themselves in the situation described above have, in addition to the psychological barriers mentioned, many other obstacles to overcome if they are to break out of the cycle of isolation and shame. Many literacy learners either rely on social welfare payments or do low-paid jobs, often with anti-social hours. They tend not to have savings but live week to week. What they do manage to put by is for contingency or, in many cases, for education-related expenses for their children. For these people the necessity to give up their benefits or cut down on their working hours in order to avail of educational opportunities is out of the question. In addition, the problems associated with the extra costs of availing of education; travel costs, materials, food, are quite simply insurmountable. This is where community education can step in and offer an alternative to people who are unable to access the more mainstream educational streams by bringing education to the community and offering a safe and convenient location within which people will be assured of a respectful, supportive and inclusive environment in which to learn.

Community education in Ireland is provided in a variety of ways. Much, though not all, of the funding is provided by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and administered through the local VECs (now ETBs) by way of the Adult Literacy and Community Education Scheme (ALCES) (AONTAS, 2009). Much of it is provided in response to a recognised need within a community generally identified by community development workers or other community groups. It differs substantially from other forms of education: mainstream and the adult education sector by the philosophy behind it and the methodologies it uses. Community Education is inclusive and it emphasises co-operation and collaboration rather than the individualistic competitive, neo-liberal approach of mainstream education in Ireland. It recognises that all education is political being mostly shaped by the values and attitudes of the dominant culture. Therefore it takes the experiences of individual group members as the starting point for all learning and through a process of reflection, analysis and shared learning facilitates the group to construct meaning from their collective knowledge. The members of the group are encouraged to form a mutually supportive network that values all members equally and provides a safe environment for the exploration of the values and culture of the members empowering them to go back into their communities, recognise inequities and act for social change. In addition, it is an important principle of community education that there is consultation between learners, tutors and organisers on all aspects of the learning: content, approach, methods used and outcomes. In this it is not difficult to trace the philosophical roots of community education to the literacy work of Paulo Freire and the Radical Theory of Education that it spawned (Elias & Merriam, 1995). Freire’s theory is based on humility before and deep respect for the learners which allows for the growth of “reciprocal trust and communication” between tutor and learner (McLaren & de Lissovoy, 2002). At the core of the methodology is the need to expose the dehumanising assumptions and preconceptions which determine and shape the understanding and interpretation of experiences. This is the process of conscientization or consciousness-raising. To achieve this Freire proposed a dialogic problem-posing method of education (Elias & Merriam, 1995) (McLaren & de Lissovoy, 2002) (Shor, 1992). Problem-posing offers all subject matter as products of history to be questioned rather than as universal truths to be accepted (Shor, 1992). The facilitators and learners are “co-investigators of knowledge” within “culture circles” which are the basis for Freire’s system of education (McLaren & de Lissovoy, 2002). It uses “generative” themes taken from the lives of the learners to identify issues and ideas which then become the subjects of the dialogue and are explored to reveal the ideologies and assumptions at their core.

Within a Literacy setting it is interesting to look at how these methodologies work to bolster learners’ confidence in both their own pre-existing knowledge and in their ability to learn. The first obstacle to be overcome is the learners’ fear at what they are letting themselves in for! It is not unusual for a learner to shake with anxiety when first attending a literacy class. They expect the experience to mirror the (universally) bad experience of school and they also expect the relationship between the tutor and themselves to have the same power imbalance that they remember. Working from community education principles the tutor and learners establish a relationship based on equality, mutual respect and empathy. In this supportive environment the learners can start to examine their past experiences and identify for themselves the reasons behind their literacy difficulties. As a result of this process (conscientization, in Freire’s terminology) the learners start to let go of the shame and blame that has characterised their understanding of their own deficiencies and shift responsibility onto the education system that failed to give them the support and encouragement they needed to learn. This is not a rapid process – it can take many years for learners to reach this stage but on the journey there will be many milestones each of which adds to the self-esteem and self-confidence of the learners and becomes a cause for celebration.

In conclusion, this essay has looked at the ways in which the education system in Ireland tends to exclude a sizeable minority of the population from enjoying many of the benefits education brings. It has examined the way in which the education system is skewed towards the success of those with the resources to avail fully of the progression routes and it has identified some of those who are recognised to be educationally disadvantaged. There have been numerous interventions aimed at eliminating educational disadvantage some of which have been relatively successful but none of which have addressed the social inequalities at the root of educational disadvantage. It has gone on to explore the role of community education in addressing the structural inequalities inherent in the system

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