Pedagogy and Conscience (ePub)

Education in the twenty-first century has turned into a commodity. Schools, colleges, and universities have become nothing more than conveyor belts of graduates who possess marketable skills attractive for potential employers. The human dimension of education—that is, of cultivating virtue, compassion, and empathy in our students—has been systematically neglected. Most of our graduates have become well-adapted automats who rarely question the ethical dimensions of what their leaders tell them. Nevertheless, the mere survival of humanity and the biosphere is jeopardized if we continue educating our youth as usual. The enormous challenges that humanity faces make the adoption of an education based on ethics, restraint, and empathy indispensable if we are to survive as a species.Due to the fact that it is governments and interest groups who determine school curricula, topics such as environmental degradation, animal cruelty, and the ruthless exploitation of the least fortunate are often neglected. It is the intention of Dr. Osieja to include these fundamental topics in school curricula and to create awareness since only through awareness is change possible.This book proposes ideas which make change possible through awareness—first by attaining it as an educational leader and then by fostering it in our students. It is true that the situation humanity faces in the twenty-first century is dire, but it is awareness and the will to act accordingly which differentiate challenges from problems.