General Report - Social Upbringing and Preparation for the Knowledge Society

Upbringing is a consistent process carried out by society through specific mechanisms and methods to give its members all the cultural elements that shape their identity and maintain their knowledge, attitudes, values, standards, and perceptive models, affecting their behaviour in all walks of life (Mohsin, Mustafa, in Arabic, 1997). Moreover, upbringing involves developing a person’s self-image, providing the individual with the elements of a social identity, raising awareness, integrating into the cultural and social environment, and preparing for the social and professional roles as an effective and full member of society. Upbringing is a fundamental pillar in the process of analysing the requirements of the enabling environment and fostering that environment to prepare future Arab generations to access the knowledge society, in view of the fact that social, political and economic contexts play a significant role in shaping values. These contexts may uphold the values of the renaissance and progress which support science, knowledge, freedom and development, and keep them in the public awareness, but they may also create negative situations, which act as inhibitors for values and enlightened trends in society (Mohsin, Mustafa, background paper for the report). Such contexts represent the various institutions of upbringing, and are considered the main agencies concerned with this mission, including the school, family, and media, as well as the general cultural context in the society at large, in terms of religion, language and dominant values. Also, areas of upbringing vary and integrate at the same time; from the institutional, such as school and family in particular, to the noninstitutional, encompassing various areas and components of society’s institutions, such as media, clubs, parties, unions, mosques and streets (Mohsin, Mustafa, in Arabic, 1997). However, we stress that upbringing is a dynamic interactive process which interchanges between the individual and the influences surrounding him or her. “The young individual does not only passively receive external influences but also interacts with and absorbs such influences in his/ her own way, then extracts from them to become part of the components of the perceptions guiding his/her behaviour towards others and the outside world in general” (Sassi, Nour Al-Din, Member of the Readers Committee). Due to comprehensiveness of the concept of ‘social upbringing’ which extends to the different cognitive and social fields continuously growing in modern society, it has become possible to distinguish between several interactive types of upbringing; political upbringing, moral upbringing, religious upbringing, sexual upbringing and professional upbringing. Relevant reports show that upbringing in most Arab countries is not strong enough due to historical, economic, social, political and cultural reasons (AlMaliki, Mohammed, background paper for the report). In fact, the political and social environment plays a negative role in forming upbringing mechanisms and methods, distorting the system of active values and perceptual models constituting individuals’ awareness and behaviour in SocIal UpbrIngIng and preparatIon For the knowledge SocIety CHAPTER THREE