Bildung in a knowledge society

Abstract

Education, in the sense of the German concept of Bildung, is usually associated with a cultural past that modern society has left far behind. This society understands itself to be on the way to a knowledge society which, as a rule and in the interest of its future, puts emphasis on the capacity of the scientific and technological mind, and thus on the existence of technological cultures. Here, instructed knowledge, by which Bildung is essentially identified, has only little chance to be successful. The concept of education (Bildung) is replaced by a concept of training (Ausbildung) which is oriented towards technological, economic and political constraints. In this paper, it will be stressed that the concept of Bildung has never been as indispensable as it is today; and this is in a comprehensive sense which cannot be reduced to the training of useful skills and competences. A knowledge society, also and especially in the form of an information society, presents itself not only as an open but also as an accelerated society characterized by permanent change and innovation, unlimited mobility and chameleon-like flexibility. Without elements of Bildung such a society will be destroyed by its own changeability, to which knowledge also belongs. This is one of nine theses put forward in this essay to promote a modern concept of education.