36_ENG

4
No.36 JUNE 12, 2018
TOPIC OF THE DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
In the first part of the
interview (see No. 34,
June 5, 2018), the
well-known Estonian
philosopher and statesman
Ulo Vooglaid reflects
on the formation of elites,
the preconditions for successful
reforms, and the
importance of service, spirituality,
and planning in
the context of societal
changes. Read below about
the place of upbringing and
patriotism in the system of
education, drawbacks of
the Bologna Agreement,
and the nature of democracy.
● “EDUCATION DOES
NOT BEGIN
IN THE KINDERGARTEN
OR SCHOOL”
In the past few years, Ukraine’s
education officials have been endlessly
trying to reduce the number and
volume of compulsory liberal-arts
disciplines in non-core curriculums
on the grounds that a narrower specialization
is needed. What do you
think of this viewpoint?
“Society is in need of educated
people in all the spheres of life, including,
naturally, industrial production,
agriculture, and trade. If somebody really
intends to withdraw liberal arts
from the system of education, it is
sheer horror. In these conditions, a
generalist cannot emerge in principle.
“Research shows that the fundamental
phases of education, which fall
on the earliest age and even the prenatal
period, are of paramount importance
for the formation of a personality.
We call it ‘education in the
womb.’ What is from the moment of
birth until the age of three is ‘education
in the nest.’ At this stage an individual
acquires the idea of himself as
well as ethic and esthetic notions,
forms the sensation of ‘I,’ ‘we,’ and
‘they,’ and learns the native language.
“We should understand that education
does not begin in the kindergarten
or school. A human begins to
receive education the moment parents
‘send a letter to the stork.’ It is very
important for him or her to feel warm
and cozy, without any fear or alarm.
The likelihood of neuroses and psychoses
depends on this period to a considerable
extent. The question is
whether one will grow into a subject or
an object of manipulations. At a very
early age, in the kindergarten, it is a
conscious person who has rights, duties,
and freedom of actions. He or she
must know why it is necessary to observe
certain rules, do something one
way, not another. This lays the foundation
of a personality.
“As for the next phases, we
should know that the ultimate goal of
an elementary school leaver is not confined
to being promoted to secondary
and then higher school. Life is multifaceted,
and we are speaking of a person
who receives the passport of a citizen
and will soon take part in social
and cultural life. He or she is fully responsible
for what they are doing as
well as for what they are not doing, although
they should do. The graduate
should be prepared for work, and
know how to defend not only himself,
but also others as well as nature, culture,
the native language, the honor
and dignity of the state – with
weapons in hand, if necessary. Work,
creation, cognition – one must be prepared
for all the spheres of public life.
“In the higher school, what really
matters is not specialty but personality
– as a subject, an active beginning
of certain processes for which one
How to change a country
by means of education?–2
Ulo VOOGLAID: “Democracy is a function of culture –
otherwise it turns into a set of public deception ploys”
must be responsible. What is important
here is experience in terms of not
only the specialty, but also the profession
and the office held.”
There is a widespread opinion in
Ukraine’s educational circles that upbringing
is only good at the school
stage. The idea is that school should
inculcate civil patriotism, certain
moral guidelines, etc., in children
(which is far from always the case in
reality, unfortunately), whereas the
university should remain “neutral” in
this matter. But it is hardly achievable
in reality, for every teacher also
has values and persuasions of their
own which they convey, deliberately
or not, to students. Do you agree to
this interpretation of the place of upbringing
in the system of education?
“No, in my view, it is a terrible approach.
I am convinced that upbringing
takes precedence over education.
Knowledge, skills, and experience are
only some of the prerequisites, but human
life centers around the personality,
subjectness, soul, world-view, the
human being and his position in public
and cultural life. This is what really
matters.
“An individual is brought up and
educated not only in school and university
– experts estimate that it is a
question of not more than 10 percent
here. Ninety percent is accounted for
by all the other civic institutions:
above all, the family, and the system
of mass communication and information,
sport organizations, and any other
nongovernmental initiatives.
“It is worthwhile to define what
education and learnedness is. There are
at least 10 viewpoints on this. To get a
full picture, we must take all them into
account. For example, we can regard
education as a lifelong process. It is a
process of forming preparedness for
various situations at different stages
of life, which culture and society offer.
It is impossible to evaluate education
by inspecting schools. You can only
evaluate the result of this activity –
whether or not it meets the expectations
of public and cultural life.
“It is very important that an individual
should grow into a patriot who
wants to serve his country and nation
and is preparing for this at every moment
of his life.”
● “TO LOVE YOUR COUNTRY
IS A NATURAL NEED
FOR MAN”
I think the fear that upbringing is
part of the system of education may
be the result of a totalitarian legacy.
For both the USSR and the Third Reich
were trying hard to “bring up a
new man.”
“Maybe. It is important to note
that the effects of upbringing are not
produced in a game situation – the
process requires a serious attitude. Is
it shameful to love your country culture,
nature? Of course not! It is an
honor, a natural need for man. We
should in no way give in to enemy
propaganda in this matter. Are we really
striving to produce an individual
who will learn all subjects but end up
as a rascal? There’s nothing to argue
about here. Bringing up a soundminded
and adequate patriot is the
primary task.”
After all, one is happier when
these contexts are present in his life,
when this life is not confined to his
purely personal interests and has
broader public and cultural horizons.
“Exactly! Ideals (both personal
and national) are an important quality
of any personality. Serving the ideals
makes life meaningful.”
I know that you are critical of the
Bologna Process in education. Why?
“I remember everybody saying in
1999, when the Bologna Agreement
was signed, that, while earlier it took
Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day
four years to gain higher education,
now it will take five (three years of the
bachelor’s course and two years of the
master’s course). But, as we can see,
the majority of students confine
themselves to the bachelor’s degree. It
is very difficult to call three years of
study a university education. Pardon
my harsh words, but I can only offer
my condolences to those who think so.
If one who has only a bachelor’s degree
is allowed to work in a university, it is
abnormal, to say the least.
“The objective of the higher education
system is to train, above all, an
educated person, not a degree-bearing
specialist, and increase the number of
intellectuals in all the required fields.
It is not a question of choice but a prerequisite
for the existence and development
of society. In addition to giving
a specialty, the university provides
training with due account of the
profession, position, and ability to
cognize and create. The graduate must
be able to begin practical activity in a
certain field. If the objective is only to
prepare for the next stage of education,
as the Bologna Process suggests,
what one is going to do after gaining a
doctoral degree?
“The Bologna Process calls for
students to draw up programs on their
own, but most of them are not prepared
to do so. If doctors were also
trained on these principles, this would
have a deleterious effect on patients’
life expectancy.”
● “TO ASK THE PEOPLE FOR
THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE
IN PARLIAMENTARY
ACTIVITY, YOU MUST
PREPARE YOURSELF VERY
SERIOUSLY”
There is an opinion that modernday
democracy is more and more
turning into sort of “democracy of minorities.”
Major efforts are being
made to preserve local identities,
while universal values are being either
ignored or, on the contrary, so
emasculated and “worn out” due to
constant use that they are in fact
turning into empty words bereft of
any sense. For example, everybody
talks of “human rights,” but do people
know where this concept came
from and what it means? Do you
agree that this problem exists?
“Yes, of course. You are asking
about ‘modern-day democracy.’ But
who developed this modern-day idea
of democracy? Who decided that the
so-called minority has all the rights,
while all the other people must observe
them? Unfortunately, this improper
idea is very common. I think
we must ‘straighten our back.’
Democracy is a function of culture.
Democracy is people who know and respect
one another, have a feeling of
shame, and strive to behave normally,
in accordance with the expectations of
others. Only in these conditions is
democracy possible. Otherwise,
democracy turns into a set of public
deception ploys. We have seen these
sad changes take place in the past few
years.
“Winston Churchill once said that
if something depended on elections,
they would have been banned long
ago. Certain figures have always been
trying to use elections for consolidating
and preserving their power even
after their own death. Democracy is
impossible when people are uneducated,
uninformed, and inexperienced.
What’s the use of elections if you
know nothing?
“Ballots should bear the names of
the people who really know what to do
if they are elected. If you’ve been
elected to parliament, you must know
what legislation is and how the law
works as a regulatory mechanism. To
be still more exact, mechanisms of impact
must be brought into play. You
must know this, and only then you will
have a moral right to push multicolored
buttons.
“Another enormous task is to exercise
top control over the activity of
all civic constitutional institutions.
One must understand their purpose,
goals, rights, and duties, and know
the prerequisites that allow one to
govern, manage, and conduct other
target-oriented processes. One must
know society, people, the laws and
regularities of the formation of various
relationships – in other words,
you must be an educated person or, to
be more exact, a generalist. To ask the
people for the right to participate in
parliamentary activity, you must first
prepare yourself very seriously. It is a
tremendous honor, but, first of all, it
is a very important task to serve your
nation – not to simulate service but to
serve indeed. Only this kind of ruler
will earn society’s respect.
“It is primitive to identify democracy
with elections only. Under normal
circumstances, the people, as the
highest power-forming body, has the
right to show legislative initiatives,
hold referendums on various issues,
and take part in shaping the organizational
mechanisms of public and cultural
life. For, as it was said above, an
individual asserts his activity and responsibility
by way of real participation
in decision-making. Once he withdraws
from this process, he sinks into
passivity, apathy, and alienation (in
the psychic and sociological senses).
You cannot order a person to be active.
Activity forms by itself, but this
requires the creation of relevant preconditions.
“We have discussed all this at our
meetings in Ukraine, and I can assure
you that there are a lot of people here
who understand the essence of these
fundamental societal issues.”
By Roman GRYVINSKYI, The Day