Ignorant School Master

Ignorant schoolmaster is a book Jacques Ranciere reminisce Joseph Jacotot.  Jacotot during his exile to Netherland build his argument based on the situation when he teaches French to a group of Flemish students who knew no French and he knew no Flemish. According to his experiment where student successfully learn French he concluded that one can teach what one do not know, we can learn anything that can be learned by virtue of our own abilities and without the direction of a knowing-mentor, and all intelligences are equal. His critics on providing a mentor to a child is that the mentor first create his inferiority over child as a capable over incapable, intelligent over stupid, knowing minds over ignorant ones. His role as an explicator is to develop the distant between the book and the child, the learning and the understanding. In doing so the explicator stultified the child ability, creativity, and imagination. To support Jacotot radical thought of self-schooling he pointed out that children learn best which cannot be taught to them. He propagates the concept of ‘Universal teaching’ like learning mother tongue through self-observation, methodology, efforts, and self-correction. Universal teaching also claims that one can learn whatever he/she wants to learn. Reasoning above passion he said is one unique principle of Universal teaching. He projected four act of learning combining various determinants, by an emancipator master or by dulling one, by a learned master or by an ignorant one. It’s the principle of inequality that numb student no matter what procedure, course manner used to emancipate but in Jacotot principle or the principle of equality absolute emancipation is done whatever the procedure, book or fact used.

Inequality of intelligences means only a kind of differences in intelligences. Superior minds/brains in order to establish their superiority/dominance over inferior minds create laws, assembly, government, and political order. They further claim their superiority as immaterial so cannot be measured but tag spiritual and immortal valued in it.  But the truth is the privilege and all these inequalities of intelligences are a social construct and difference in manifestation of intelligences.

In early childhood Instinct and needs drive equally and thus phenomenon of intelligences continuous.  But Inequality of attention, performing poorly as he/she work poorly (see less as she looks less) will start creating differences in achievement and thus labeled intelligences of different degree. As needs becomes more substantial and attention less constant, and circumstances divers so he/she learn according to the prevailing situation. A child observed and interact with the objects, nature and people around him/her through his/her senses and languages. Thus material affluent (rich exposure), interactive surrounding and rich languages will influences child intelligences more than the genetic make-up of the child. These claim is very relevant among the tribal and backward community of Sirohi (etc.) whose children under perform academically due to their lesser exposure and inadequate languages (or three languages system making them quite confused in early age). Thus, it suffices to conclude as ‘man is a will served by intelligences’.  This statement puts will at the center stage of all actions, understanding, speech, thoughts and intelligences. During Jacotot times his Understanding of truth was different from other thinkers. He says truth and languages thus not unite people but what brings them together is the non- aggregation and arbitrariness of languages that pulls them to communicate and thus builds community of intelligences. He propagated that truth exist independently in itself and is not dependent on man but is also not foreign to people.   He attacks the very idea hierarchy of languages and asserted that all languages are equally arbitrary, there are no languages of intelligences, and no languages are more universal over other. He also believes languages of sentiment precede analyses. During his time his claim was considered scandalous and sharply reacted from many corners. Thought are spoken, manifested in work, communicated to other thinking being. Thought according to Jacotot is not told in truth; it is express in veracity. Thought travels from one mind to another through the medium ‘words’ provided there is will to communicate, receive, and translate it. He extended to say painting as a language where thought can be communicated. Communication of man’s thoughts means translation of intelligences and so this flow of intelligences made possible the existences of society.

In the section the society of contempt the author talks about the unjust construct and maintenance of societal structure. He pointed out how Jeremy Bentham in his book ‘treaties on parliamentary sophistries’ denouncing how authoritarian set-up dismiss progressive reform, free-thinking and reasonable man from progressing for its own survival. The author is right in saying that in nature we are equal but we are forced to inequality by circumstances. Superiority is maintained by domination and subjugation on the basis of irrational reasoning which is totally against the law of nature. In true sense war are fought and glorified only to maintained distinction and domination of intellectuals of irrationality. Truth and reason he says is sovereign of anything and it is we who needs truth and reason and not vies-versa. The author thus conclude from universal teaching, will, truth, and reason that one can emancipate oneself and emancipate others and nullify the existences of exclusive class of emancipator.

Thus after building the pertinence of universal teaching Jacotot disciples is only left with the task of convincing the illiterate folks how to emancipate oneself. Under the good gesture and inspiration of the princes of Netherland Jacotot was pursued to implement his ideology of education (universal teaching) in military school in Louvain. The result was total negation as his ideology is not meant to be applied in military set up where power of instruction rules. Thus he concluded that universal teaching at best can be useful for families but not applicable to institutionalized.  From this lesson learn I wanted to make an interesting comparison. Indian education system like the one in Louvain military school is an instructional institute where decisions are flow from top to bottom, and the emancipator(teachers) are bind by many laws, policy, guidelines and regulations. So, in a milieu like ours it won’t be strange is universal teaching is tried. The illiteracy of parents, lack of motivation, lack of inspiration among the student, parents, and teachers will add flavor to this failure. On his departure back to Paris he state that education like liberty is not given but taken. He further instigates to decry the ethos that intellectuals subjugating the ignorant and enjoying the material benefit by manipulating the ignorant. One of his prominent was obviously of over simplifying learning. Many have tried implementing his approaches of education with diver’s outcome and encountering inconsistency and contradiction.  

The author when visualizing Jacotot’s philosophy of equality in present century found capacity (revealed through education) of a person determining the social order and progress(realization of human capacity) the current way of saying inequality in a more formidable way then yesteryear. Nevertheless, explication never vanish but well perfecting explication flourish and so justified its existences. Strong objection came from the elites who will want to ripe the ignorance of mass in the name of industrialization, republic and society. Jacotot breathe his last on 7^th August 1840 and inscription on his tomb “I BELIVE THAT GOD CREATED THE HUMAN SOUL CAPABLE OF TEACHING ITSELF BY ITSELF, AND WITHOUT A MASTER” was vandalized as per his prediction that universal teaching wouldn’t take but will not be perish.