Adult Learning and Discourse

One of the things I love about Education Rita is how much good can come of our muck-ups, when at least some of our intentions are good. Being a frumpy old hippie (and a huge Michael Caine fan), I relate to pathetic old Frank, and thus reflect on his role as an adult educator. Let’s think about all the ways Frank positioned himself in ways that were and were not ”ideal” for dialogue according to Habermas’ three claims for valid or “ideal” speech:  (a) Truth. This has to do the factual accuracy of speech. Was Frank speaking the truth to Rita, about the content of the courses? I think so. I do not think he lied to her about the criteria for the exams, the significance of an author or text, or the facts surrounding the plot of Macbeth. In fact he didn’t lie to her about his drinking habits, or his initial reluctance to take her on as an extended university student. (b) Rightness. Rightness has to do with the ethical principles and moral content of speech — regardless of it’s accuracy, the ideas embedded in speech can lead to hurtful or helpful, caring or hateful outcomes….Even here, I think Frank scores relatively high marks.  Yes, I ascribe to him some shreds of noble concern about the moral impact of his work. This may seem odd, given his callous and cynical stance toward his students. In this sector of his job, he is anything but moral or ethical. But in terms of his relationship with Rita, I do believe he genuinely does not want to crush her authentic “folk” spirit that would result from transforming her into a preppy clone. He is blind to his own jaded selfishness regarding his perspective, and cannot see how his “Habit of Mind” is in serious need of wardrobe change. Still, when judging him from within his own value system, isn’t he taking a principled stance? (c) Truthfulness. Truthfulness has to do with the motivations of the speaker. Does the speaker have his own or the listener’s best interests at heart? Does the speaker wish to direct or free the listener to direct herself? Here is Frank’s great downfall. He is riddled with ulterior motives from the get-go: first, a lazy, self-absorbed stupor to avoid work; then a paternalistic need to impress her with his authority, and finally his romantic interest. In each phase, these motives permeate his attempts at dialogue and cloud the purposes of his tutorial. As Rita grows toward independence, his motives are exposed. His cruel criticisms of Rita about how her new voice was “shrill”, about how he had created a “Frankenstein”. In real life this mean-spirited and non-truthful speech would likely have destroyed someone even as courageous and talented as Rita. And wouldn’t she have found out about the shallownesses of literary communities eventually? She didn’t need Frank’s jealous smears for that; Trish’s suicide attempt worked quite well in this regard, thank you very much.