Following the simile that the needs of democratic regeneration are floating in the wind, and can be perceived by the majority (except, I fear, by some politicians), today I am going to talk about an aroma (taking advantage of the start of the course), which may not be perceived by everyone as an absolute necessity, but which for me is the quintessence of democracy and which sets the bar for its quality. I am referring to education. I agree that other measures are more urgent, but without quality education there is no quality democracy.
Let's review a bit of history and see that Western democracies emerged, broadly speaking, in the 19th century and that the beginning of public school is also from that time. Logically, it is about education and democracies that are not universal, but restricted, for example, by economic or gender issues. If we continue to make history, we see that as we move forward, participation in both expands. Thus we arrive at the current era in which both are universal. But now a definitive step is missing: that of quality. Neither our education nor our democracy is of quality.
If we take a look at our compulsory public education, we see that it is about locking our children and youth in educational centers (an adjective open to debate), where they are taught a series of useful knowledge and we steal their time with many others that are completely useless or, at least, dispensable. This education is carried out by capable, hardworking professionals who love their work, and others who are not very competent, whose only path would be mandatory retraining or abandoning this activity. All of this is organized and supervised by politicians (who no one has called to save the homeland), who can be evaluated by the results obtained. They neither manage to design an adequate, consensual and lasting educational system (although some have made more efforts than others), nor fulfill their function of ensuring that the one in place is executed well. But it seems that all that is not a problem, because the final result of the process is not unpleasant. If it were, they would not continue to insist on the same thing and would look for other alternatives. It is an alienated student with little capacity for reflection and, therefore, suitable for not questioning the system. After education, comes the majority of the media, which transmit the dominant thought and finish shaping it into an individualistic human being, trapped by consumerism and who swallows everything they throw at him.
Faced with this lifelong educational model, others are possible, and certainly better ones. For example, one where the approach is completely changed and designed thinking about the human being and the only properties we have, so that by knowing them, we can move towards a happier world: I am referring to our body and our time.
Knowing our body (with which I assure you I have lived since I was born), in its physical, mental and social aspects, so that by knowing ourselves, we can be happier, know what the rest of human beings are like and, among other things, know the motivations that incite us to act. And knowing how to use our time: time for work, leisure and active citizen politically, socially and economically. It is about obtaining the basic preparation to insert ourselves into the labor market of those jobs that do not need specific preparation. Not so much knowledge, but useful qualities for all work, such as development of intelligence, observation, capacity for reflection, responsibility, discipline, organization, ability to learn, initiative, teamwork, etc. With respect to the second, expand our field in activities that make us happy (or at least try), mainly from the world of culture, art, sports, hobbies, travel... (Field whose development would give a large number of jobs). And in the third, contribute our grain of sand so that this world improves, being an active citizen who participates in the organization of our coexistence. But it must be a knowledge without ideological transmission, reflective, with alternative options and always with the possibility of creating something new that improves us.
Thus we would kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, people who come out with a basic preparation for specific political dedication and another so that they cannot be easily deceived with a policy that is only a facade.
In short, it would be an education that helps us develop all our possibilities and live with more fullness and autonomy and stop wasting time and boring students sovereignly, which translates into demotivation, disinterest and, in many cases, indiscipline.
I know that those who read this may say that I am talking about science fiction or utopias. None of that. I know that what I propose is very difficult, because education is the main tool to change the world and everyone wants to appropriate it and impregnate it with their ideology. But if I am clear about anything, it is that continuing to insist on the same thing does not lead us anywhere and the new education law (LOMCE) is even worse than what we have. Only an education that develops us as free and autonomous beings, capable of reflecting and deciding for ourselves, can lead us to advances in progress and happiness.
But, as usually happens in life, conquests are made from below, and today conditions are appearing, which, in addition to our natural intelligence, can mark the path towards a change of model, through channels different from institutional education. Do you really believe that without the push of the people, politicians would be talking about democratic regeneration?
I end by copying a phrase said by a French revolutionary more than two centuries ago: The secret of freedom lies in educating people, while the secret of tyranny lies in keeping them ignorant.
