Editor's Note

"School is a place where tests are failed and passed, where amusing things happen, where new insights are tumbled upon, and skills acquired. But it is also a place in which people sit, and listen, and wait and raise their hands, and pass out paper, and stand in line, and sharpen pencils. School is where we encounter both friends and foes, where imagination is unleashed and misunderstandings brought to ground. But it is also a place in which yawns are stifled and initials scratched on desktops, where milk money is collected and recess lines are formed. Both aspects of school life, the celebrated and the unnoticed, are familiar to all of us, but the latter, if only because of its characteristic neglect, seems to deserve more attention that it has received to date from those who are interested in education."
(The Daily Grind, Philip Jackson)

Whether we like it or not, schools are places that propagate standardized learnings, ritualistic and cyclic classroom activities, curriculums oriented towards the western pattern of education, evaluative mechanisms based on the much controversial IQ and meritocracy techniques to grade and classify students. The grading and classifying further induce stratification and inequality among children making them feel inadequate and uneasy with their own unique capabilities. Uniqueness is marred by the intention to homogenize not only the aims of education but also the tools to communicate it. The only rationale behind acquiring education is achieving an economically sound stature in society. The definition of education is sadly confused with the laborious process of attending one schooling institution after another. All other forms of learning outside the physical boundaries of a school/college/university are marginalized if not completely wiped out.

To understand the institution of schooling in the historical context of colonialism, to analyze the social, cultural and moral impacts the school creates by promoting westernized forms of learning that have little or nothing to do with our indigenous culture and language and to appreciate the value and significance of alternative educational approaches, this issue of EDucate! aims at rethinking and reclaiming the meaning of education and schooling in our society. The content is a varied mix of articles and interviews on critical and transformatory education, neo-liberalism and education, concept of schooling and the part schools play in society and role of teachers. The present day education system of the country cannot be analyzed without referring to the colonial influence in the Subcontinent. The cover story 'Understanding and Transforming Our Schools' deals with this issue and analyzes the schooling system in the light of colonial times. Wasif Rizvi's article 'Education in Pakistan: From Numbers to Learning' is also a critique of the current education system of the country and outlines corrective measures for its transformation. Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, a well-known name in the education circles of Pakistan, discusses the preconceived notions of schools in our society and redefines them in his article 'Reconeptualizing Good Schools'. Throughout this issue we have emphasized the notion that education should not be restricted to mere schooling. A face-to-face with Fatima Suriya Bajia, a much-loved playwright and person for all generations, supports this idea since her own education took place at home without any formal schooling. UR On… features Peter McLaren, one of the leading critical educators of the present times. In this interview he focuses on progressive and critical education, critical pedagogy, teachers as transformative intellectuals and the role of schools in the struggle for social justice.

We hope this issue of EDucate! proves to be a powerful source of learning and understanding for teachers, parents, students and all those involved with the process and institutions of education.
I would like to sign off with a few lines of Ivan Illich: "Everyone learns how to live outside school. We learn to speak, to think, to love, to feel, to play, to curse, to politick, and to work without interference from a teacher. Even children who are under a teacher's care day and night are no exception to the rule. Orphans, idiots, and schoolteachers' sons learn most of what they learn outside the 'educational' process planned for them." Let's not make schooling the end of the wonderful world of curiosity and perpetual discovery of truth.

Ambreena Aziz