Behold the clash of civilizations
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Posted by Wesley Fryer
Posted by Wesley Fryer
In 1993 political scientist Samuel P. Huntington wrote an article in Foreign Affairs titled, "The Clash of Civilizations?" In it he wrote:
Fifteen years after he penned those words, they still offer both insight as well as challenges to many of the conceptions we maintain about politics and international relations. Just as cultural fault lines arguably divide much of the world in a geopolitical sense, cultural fault lines also define a growing chasm between the environment in many of our U.S. schools and the environments outside them. This chasm is readily apparent in the latest RadioShack circular delivered to my home mailbox in Oklahoma today.
As thousands of K-12 students and teachers prepare to return to fall classes in a few weeks in the United States, commercial advertisers are carefully crafting messages to woo adults as well as young people into their stores to make purchases for the upcoming school year. In many cases, but certainly not all, students will be returning to school environments where cell phones are banned. In one of our Oklahoma districts northwest of the Oklahoma City metro area, students are fined monetarily on an increasing scale every time they are caught with a cell phone at school.
Like a concealed weapon, cell phones are considered by many school board members, administrators and teachers as dangerous, inappropriate items to bring into the school environment.
If cell phones are brought to school (as they are and will be in many cases, of course) school rules may dictate they can only be used outside of the building. Rather than encourage students to learn responsible and appropriate cell phone use habits and etiquette, many schools this year will take what they perceive to be a more efficient and easier approach to the challenges posed by cell phones and continue banning them entirely. The suggestion that cell phones can and should be used as powerful learning tools would, in many cases, fall on deaf administrative ears unwilling to even consider such pedagogical heresy.
Contrast these school environments anathema to the presence of cell phones in the hands of teenagers to the following RadioShack advertisement from today:
Behold, the clash of civilizations.
It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.
Fifteen years after he penned those words, they still offer both insight as well as challenges to many of the conceptions we maintain about politics and international relations. Just as cultural fault lines arguably divide much of the world in a geopolitical sense, cultural fault lines also define a growing chasm between the environment in many of our U.S. schools and the environments outside them. This chasm is readily apparent in the latest RadioShack circular delivered to my home mailbox in Oklahoma today.
As thousands of K-12 students and teachers prepare to return to fall classes in a few weeks in the United States, commercial advertisers are carefully crafting messages to woo adults as well as young people into their stores to make purchases for the upcoming school year. In many cases, but certainly not all, students will be returning to school environments where cell phones are banned. In one of our Oklahoma districts northwest of the Oklahoma City metro area, students are fined monetarily on an increasing scale every time they are caught with a cell phone at school.
Like a concealed weapon, cell phones are considered by many school board members, administrators and teachers as dangerous, inappropriate items to bring into the school environment.
If cell phones are brought to school (as they are and will be in many cases, of course) school rules may dictate they can only be used outside of the building. Rather than encourage students to learn responsible and appropriate cell phone use habits and etiquette, many schools this year will take what they perceive to be a more efficient and easier approach to the challenges posed by cell phones and continue banning them entirely. The suggestion that cell phones can and should be used as powerful learning tools would, in many cases, fall on deaf administrative ears unwilling to even consider such pedagogical heresy.
Contrast these school environments anathema to the presence of cell phones in the hands of teenagers to the following RadioShack advertisement from today:
ONE DAY THEY'RE TEETHING, THE NEXT THEY'RE TEXTING.
How can a kid survive these days without a wireless phone? Imagine how hard it would have been for you to get by without bellbottoms. Same thing. Don't let your child suffer, because during the school year, a wireless phone will be multipurpose. They're going to need to call you to come pick them up after school, or to bring them their cleats for soccer practice. Okay, they won't all be demands. Some of their calls will probably be filled with "I love you's" and "You're the best parent ever." Okay, stop laughing. Seriously, there are many reasons to come to RadioShack to get your kids a new wireless phone. Here are just a few.....
Behold, the clash of civilizations.
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5 Comments:
So the clash of civilizations is between schools that adapt, adopt, and even co opt cell phone use for educational purposes vs. those that ban them?
Is this really a clash of "civilizations," or is this analogy a little hyperbolic?
Or maybe I'm missing the point.
Nice insights! Too bad the same device that brings connection and has potential for learning also brings with it bullying and drug deals. Wish we could have one without the other.
Very well stated Wesley Fryer.
You make several excellent points in this post. I too was struck by the Radio Shack circular - 24 pages and of course, the cool high tech school supplies.
Students are not allowed to bring cell phones or MP3 players into my school's building either, even though 95 percent of the students have them. And despite being frisked before entering the school, 75 percent of the students find a way to slip their gadgets into the building anyway.
I long for the day when school district officials and administrators catch up with the times and see the practicality of cell phones, MP3 players and digital cameras as indispensable tools for learning. In my view, they are as relevant as pens, pencils and notebooks.
There are two good points being made here, but I think they are quite separate.
Are you talking about a clash between civilisations, or simply between generations?
I'm making an analogy that the clash of cultures in schools has some parallels to what Huntington discussed in his "Clash of Civilizations" article. D.C., I think your paraphrase is on target, and certainly do agree that the clash of civilizations is at a different level than what we see taking place in schools. The clash is between cultures in both places, however, and I think this is worthwhile to examine as we consider how to most effectively serve as constructive change agents in this landscape. My thoughts along these lines are also shaped by Virginia Postrel's 1998 book "The Future and Its Enemies" which describes post-Cold war struggles through the lens of "dynamists" versus "statists." I think this lens can be very helpful as we strive to not only understand conflicts over technology use in our schools, but also work in our schools to promote constructive uses.
Carla you are right on point, and that highlights the need we have to support constructive uses of digital technologies in visible ways in our communities, so the bad examples (bullying and drug deals) are not the only ones people in the community hear about.
Colin, I hesitate to call this a battle between generations because age does not necessarily define one's viewpoint. While older people may tend to be less connected and tech-saavy, I know many older folks who are strong advocates for appropriate uses of digital technologies. That is why I cast this as a conflict between cultural perspectives and viewpoints, rather than generations.
H Songhai, I look forward to you sharing your insights and ideas about how to promote constructive change in our present circumstances in your 2008 K-12 Online Conference presentation in October! Congrats on your acceptance!
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