Book Review: Creative Universities: Reimagining Education for Global Challenges and Alternative Futures by Anke Schwittay

Abstract

through participatory and relational community education. Progressive educators would argue that the flaw in many communities and Freirean-based civic and emancipatory education programs is a failure to understand the critical importance of student agency in learning. As Biesta (following the lead of John Dewey) has often pointed out, teachers may guide students in certain directions, but in a truly democratic society, they must allow students in consultation with each other to come to their own conclusions. If students, whether young or adult, cannot be so trusted, if teachers, whether in formal or informal contexts, feel compelled to tell them how and what to think (as Biesta, 2017 notes are inherent in the Freirean model), they are, in effect, teaching them to follow the direction of authorities. In the final chapter, the editors acknowledged that none of the examples of community learning presented had resulted in any significant societal change. However, the pockets of humanity that were often vividly presented offered them signs of hope, which in our view are likely to bear fruit only through changes in practice in both formal and community education. As cited in several chapters, a UNESCO report (Delors, 1996) asserted that education for democracy must teach students “how to learn, to do, to be, and to live together,” which leads us to ask: Is it so impossible to imagine that our schools (starting from the earliest years) could teach people to become self-directed learners, to reflect upon who they are, and to respect, value, and work with those holding diverse world views? Is there any reason we adult educators could not also champion that kind of curriculum for our students?