Love of Learning and the Celebration of the Learned

A week from today, the nation will begins its annual observance of National Library Week. There will be, predictably, a number of public readings and similar events, some of them aimed at fund-raising, all of them aimed at reminding the nation of its extraordinary wealth in public and private libraries. There will also be, with equal predictability, a deal of lamentation about the decline of reading and of learning in general.

That American education is in a state of crisis is beyond question. The commissions have completed their work and have concluded what we all knew: The educational process has broken down at every level. Newspapers, magazines and the nightly news bombard us with surveys and polls that report the astonishing ignorance of American youth. As the social, political and economic consequences of this ignorance become clear, educators, politicians and business leaders rush forward with diagnoses of the causes of our problems and with prescriptions that promise cures. Though these diagnoses and prescriptions differ significantly, they share at least two important assumptions.

First, many believe that the educational process has gone awry because it no longer transmits a common body of knowledge and has lost sight of fundamental Western (or even American) values. Accordingly, the battle cry of educational reform has become: “Back to basics!” Under the Reagan Administration, educational “reform” went hand in hand with the view that affirmative action had “gone too far.” Even now, nostalgia for an old-fashioned curriculum is not untouched by nostalgia for what we might call an old-fashioned student body.

Second, there is a widespread assumption among “reformers” that educational problems must be addressed at the earliest possible stage. Thus, there has been a shift of attention from educational policies and practices in colleges and universities to the elementary and secondary levels. If basic knowledge and fundamental values are to be communicated effectively, it is argued, they must be taught to those who are still young. When we recognize the ideological interests of such educational reform, the implications of these developments appear chilling. Where does indoctrination end and education begin?

These two basic assumptions influencing so many of the efforts to address the crisis in education are both deeply flawed.

In the first place, the proliferation of knowledge and increasing interrelation of diverse cultures render problematic every vision of agreed-upon knowledge and basic values. What is agreed upon in one context is disputed in another. What is valued in one culture is questioned or rejected in another. It is no longer clear whether different cultures share any underlying or overarching unity. To build educational reform upon the assumption that we can define fundamental knowledge and basic values is to presuppose precisely what needs to be demonstrated.

In the second place, it is not at all obvious that our educational problems are best addressed at the most elementary level. To the contrary, I would argue that educational reform is impossible without a shift in cultural values at a much higher and more sophisticated level. If young people are to value education, our society must learn how to celebrate learned men and women as well as learning in the abstract.

During a recent trip to Helsinki, I was struck by the profound differences between American and Finnish cultural life. The occasion of my visit was to serve as a critic of a doctoral dissertation at the University of Helsinki. In America, the defense of a doctoral dissertation is a private affair attended by the author of the thesis and two or three professors who serve as critics. In Finland, the defense of a doctoral dissertation is a cultural event of considerable interest throughout society.

The thesis that I was to criticize was written by an extraordinary young woman, Heidi Liehu, who, at 22, is the youngest person to receive a doctoral degree in the 350-year history of the University of Helsinki. This fact is all the more impressive when one considers that the average age of those who complete the doctorate in Finland is 42.

The thesis defense was a major cultural event. More than 300 people crowded into the auditorium to listen to our three-hour exchange. The entire proceeding was filmed by three television stations, recorded by several radio stations, chronicled by a dozen photographers and reported by a score of reporters from the major Finnish newspapers and magazines. In addition to news reports, a half-hour television program on Dr. Liehu and her work is planned. A cover story of the Finnish equivalent of Newsweek or Time already has been devoted to Liehu, and numerous other magazine articles soon will appear. Such interest in an academic event is simply incomprehensible to Americans.

This widespread interest in academic affairs is not unusual or exceptional in Finland. During my stay, I also had occasion to lecture in the class of one of Finland’s leading philosophers, Esa Saarien. Prof. Saarien’s courses regularly attract more than 200 people. What is most impressive, however, is that those who follow these lectures are not only university students but are also writers, artists, dancers, photographers and journalists. For the Finns, education is a lifelong process. Finns read serious, thought-provoking books throughout their lives and are eager to discuss important ideas and problems.

As these observations suggest, Finnish cultural and intellectual life is extremely lively. While Americans celebrate sports and show business, Finns celebrate learning and the fine arts. This is a crucial cultural difference. In Finland, it is possible for an intellectual such as Saarien to achieve a celebrity status that in this country is granted only to athletes and entertainers. In newspapers, magazines, on radio and television, intellectuals and artists have the opportunity to raise important issues and engage in thoughtful discussion on a broad range of questions. The level of public debate is very high. Furthermore, cultural discussion is cosmopolitan rather than parochial. In other words, there is a pervasive awareness of the importance of cultural differences and the value of other traditions that is all too often lacking in American discussions of education.

Within such a cultural climate, the virtues of learning are simply assumed. In celebrating intellectuals, the Finns reject the anti-intellectualism of which so many Americans are proud. Young people in a society in which individuals actively demonstrate a lifelong commitment to learning will, as a matter of course, take education seriously. Furthermore, the educational process to which they are introduced will be one that is open to the rich complexity and diversity that characterize the contemporary world. It is clear to me that the Finns have much to teach our so-called educational reformers.

If America is to address the current crisis in education in a responsible way, we must discover how to celebrate intellectuals; for when learned adults are admired as essential to society rather than being scorned as snobs or mocked as obscurantists, young people will be proud rather than ashamed of being interested in reading and learning.

Our libraries will be a wasted resource and National Library Week a bad joke so long as we view education as something that ends with high school or college rather than as a lifelong process. I have nothing personal against Robert Fulghum, but, alas, only in America could a book entitled “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” become a best seller.

While monumental changes are taking place in the world, American social, political and cultural life seems strangely paralyzed. We no longer possess and can never recover the preeminent position of power we have enjoyed since World War II. Nor should we desire to do so. Instead of waving the flag and calling for a return to basics, we must begin to understand ourselves as but one among many cultures that are equally valuable. In other words, we must learn to accept our place in a world community that has as its goal the overcoming of repressive domination in all its forms. To do so will require a profound shift in values and vision.

At the moment, politicians with eyes glued to television and ears bent by pollsters are simply incapable of providing the leadership we need. It is the responsibility of intellectuals to raise their voices and the responsibility of citizens to listen to what they say.