Was Fundamental Education Another Form Of Colonialism?

Abstract

A description of the work of Pedro Tamesis Orata provides an opportunity to investigate the conflicts that can occur when educators seek to reduce poverty while trying to respect indigenous cultures. A native of the Philippines, Orata completed his doctoral studies at the Ohio State University in 1927. During US President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, he accepted the position of school principal for the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. After World War II, he directed the spread of fundamental education through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In his final years, he returned to the Philippines where he began a movement to spread what were called self-help high schools. In these activities, Orata taught people to follow John Dewey’s five steps of thinking while working to improve their standards of living. In the 1970s, educators, such as Paulo Freire, complained that problem-solving methods, similar to those Orata favored, reinforced the oppressive aspects of formerly colonial societies. While Freire may have been overly critical, conflicts among cultural orientations appear to be unavoidable. The hope behind this investigation is that the difficulties can be reduced when people understand the different forces that persist.