For several decades now, the term crisis has been used frequently in the world of economics. The world is becoming increasingly globalized, and the growth of the financial economy has surpassed the old productive economy, generating a specter of uncertainty worldwide. Globalization has weakened the principle of “state” and replaced it with that of “market,” exacerbating poverty in the world and generating a greater gap in the differences between rich and poor.
However, another crisis is occurring in the globalized world, and it is the global crisis in education. For much of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, a global trend towards academic performance has led to an excessive emphasis on the instrumental aspects of teaching (Arthur, 2003) and as Nussbaum points out in Not for Profit, educational systems have a tendency to pursue more materialistic aspects that please and comfort us based on the needs of a consumer society, leaving aside what Tagore called "what makes us human," such as the soul, human relationships, and imagination.
At the same time, the development of technology has given way to a conception of the curriculum based more on scientific-mathematical elements, to the detriment of a more humanistic education in which more emphasis is placed on the ability to develop greater critical thinking that allows students to face life as "citizens of the world" and cultivating reflective capacities that allow maintaining a more democratic structure of education.
Thus, it is our obligation as educators to move education away from interests purely based on the creation of “rich elites” (Nussbaum) and to approach an equal distribution of education in search of more humane and less productive purposes. Let us return, then, to the Aristotelian principles of education, where the objective of education is the development of virtues that lead to a “life well lived” (Nicomachean Ethics) where the search for what Marcus Aurelius calls in his Meditations “… justice, truth, temperance, courage or, better yet, more than the virtue of a self-sufficient soul” as essential values for the flourishing of the individual is celebrated.
At SEK Catalunya, we have as our basis the embrace of the paradigm of human development in education, instead of the growth-oriented paradigm understood as economic growth, moving away from the passive assimilation of facts and moving towards the development of competent human beings capable of analyzing a world in constant change from a critical and reflective perspective. And so, the most useful tool to fight against the globalization of thought is the arts because, as Nussbaum indicated, the arts are not servants of any ideology and are the essential ingredient for the fight against indoctrination. The arts are, as Dewey said, a key ingredient in a democratic society since it allows for the development of imagination and creativity, promoting “both inner self-cultivation and responsiveness to others” (Nussbaum).
David Bauzá-Capart is the Principal at SEK Catalunya International School, and has been a school leader for many years. He has worked in International Baccalaureate schools in Spain, the United States of America, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. He holds a master's in history and doctorate of education with the Fundación Universitaria Americana (Mexico). He has written articles for several educational magazines and taught master classes at the University of Birmingham Dubai regarding educational strategies.
