Education for Survival: An Historical Perspective

Overview & Synopsis

At the beginning of the twenty-first century it is essential to review the nature and aims of education, both formal and informal, in the light of the unprecedented situation in which the human race is placed, and to give priority to education for survival. This article begins by identifying that unprecedented situation. We live on an overpopulated spaceship whose life support systems are running out. Our major concern is no longer the origin, but rather the death of species--especially our own. As yet educational responses to this situation have been formulated mainly with reference to the environment and sustainable development. This article provides an historical perspective and draws upon examples of education for salvation, education for the state and education for progress to demonstrate the need for a blueprint for education for survival in the present and future. It concludes that the history of education, in common with all other branches of human history, needs to be re-positioned within the context of physical history, the four and a half billion-year history of the Earth itself. (Contains 66 footnotes.)