Facilitator or Mediator? Rethinking the Meta-Challenge of Twenty-First-Century Education and Its Foundational Presuppositions

Abstract

In contemporary education, we encounter various challenges that can be transformed into problems and subsequently addressed through problem-solving processes. In contrast, there are challenges that more fundamentally shape the actions and dispositions of teachers and students. Amid these concerns, a central pedagogical question that arises in the present era is whether, within the triangle of student, teacher, and subject matter, the teacher ought to assume the role of a facilitator or a mediator. Each of these concepts carries its own underlying assumptions and presents distinct possibilities and limitations. For instance, the discourse of facilitation — largely inspired by the intellectual tradition of pragmatism — has become dominant in educational movements as the superstructure of a broader pedagogical paradigm. By contrast, the formation of the concept of mediation, with reference to the importance of culture, rests on a fundamental presupposition about human perfection and perfectibility, emphasizing the need to learn from humanity's finest achievements. A range of thinkers identified as philosophers of culture may be regarded as intellectual predecessors of this perspective. Within the presupposition of mediation — and the teacher as mediator — a form of continuity in individual experience, as well as a connection to a shared cultural heritage, is assumed. The present article seeks to examine the foundational elements of these two approaches, analyze the seemingly contradictory aspects of their coexistence, and explore how they might be coherently arranged in relation to educational aims.