Conception of Integral Person as Basis of Education in the 21st Century

Abstract

As far as modern education is concerned I agree with the statement, expressed long time ago by Hannah Arendt, that its main problem is inability to reject authority and tradition although “it has to develop in the world which structures are not defined by authority anymore and which is not integrated by tradition”. The problem becomes more and more complicated, because local cultures and global culture, thanks to expansion of technology and everyday use of multimedia, undergo constant dispersion and multiplication. It deepens the process of disintegration of man. In other words, contemporary cultural experience, which has educational character, do not support development of integrated man, it means man who simultaneously acquires abilities allowing to exist in the world and valuate the world. That is why in my speech I express the opinion that one of the essential duties of constant education (lasting for the whole life) based on media and cognitive knowledge (useful and efficient) and on network experiences is an attempt to work out new conceptions of an integral person. I assume that the biggest challenge of contemporary education is man, who possesses numerous technical abilities but do not know how to valuate technology, its consequences and their own attitude towards technology. That is why I consider the role of axiology in education which shapes students’ competences to develop plurality in thinking and acting and to open to dynamics of reality.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n7p334