Social Engineering in Education

Education is a field in which objective data are frequently lost in subjective debate.The philosophy of liberalism with its, values of choice, individualism and empiricism, is fundamental for educational decision-makers in western countries. But within this philosophy there are two sides: what divides them is their attitude towards objectivism or, in other words, their view of the real world.

Objectivists hold a world-view that can be traced back at least to Thomas Hobbes, by way of John Stuart Mill, both of whom sought to establish truth through clear definition, rational argument and the test of experience. In particular, Mill considered that the world consisted of uniformities that could be discovered through what is now called the scientific method: laws of cause and effect could be formulated by noting parallel cases.What happend once would, under a sufficient degree of similarity of circumstances, happen again.

Objectivists in education are likely to assume that goals can be agreed, and that costs and effects can be identified and measured. If all this is possible, then cost-effective education systems can be distinguished from those that are not. The former can be replicated, the latter discontinued or modified. It can be expected that casuality will be established beyond resonable doubt. Everything will be explicit, usually through atomistic analysis and often through quantification.