Serving the System: A critical history of distance education

When analysed through the critical lens, distance education has a long history of serving the system at the expense of the lifeworld. Using Jürgen Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action as a powerful learning paradigm to diagnose problems and envision cures, this paper looks at the history of distance education in terms of its ability to foster communicative action. It concludes that most forms of distance education have served the system. However, computer conferencing carries the potential for the interactivity that enables communicative action, but does not guarantee it. Only the value choices of distance educators willing to stand up against the system in this era of corporate globalisation can ensure that they make the 'learning turn' and serve the lifeworld.