Beyond Rational Autonomy: Levinas and the Incomparable Worth of the Student as Singular Other

This article explores the question: Why are students of worth? Educationally, an answer often involves a Kantian response: They are of worth because they are always ends and never means. This response is usually connected to a notion of autonomy interpreted as individual, rational self-determination. The article argues for a different answer. The essay begins with a recent educational example of construing worth as rational autonomy. Meira Levinson, in her book The Demands of Liberal Education (1999), argues for a version of rational autonomy which is taken in the essay as a Kantian response to the question. The essay then turns to Kant’s own understanding of intrinsic human worth as ends. Although the essay agrees in general with the notion of end, it criticizes Kant’s version of rational autonomy. Instead, it argues for a notion of worth as irreplaceable singularity. Both the critique of the Kantian answer and theessay’salternative are shaped by the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. Here technical notions of “the other,” proximity and singularity are brought to bear on the question of human worth. The Levinasian alternative, so the essay argues, better answers the question of student worth by highlighting the incomparability of the student as a singular other.     

Feeling number: grounding number sense in a sense of quantity

Drawing on results from psychology and from cultural and linguistic studies, we argue for an increased focus on developing quantity sense in school mathematics. We explore the notion of “feeling number”, a phrase that we offer in a twofold sense—resisting tendencies to feel numb-er (more numb) by developing a feeling for numbers and the quantities they represent. First, we distinguish between quantity sense and the relatively vague notion of number sense. Second, we consider the human capacity for quantity sense and place that in the context of related cultural issues, including verbal and symbolic representations of number. Third and more pragmatically, we offer teaching strategies that seem helpful in the development of quantity sense coupled with number sense. Finally, we argue that there is a moral imperative to connect number sense with such a quantity sense that allows students to feel the weight of numbers. It is important that learners develop a feeling for number, which includes a sense of what numbers are and what they can do.     

Web-based education: A reality check

Conclusion Developing an easy-to-use, complete, practical, reliable, and cost-effective solution for delivering training and education on the Internet has required considerable research and development. We have found that off-the-shelf technologies offer only partial solutions, at best. Even when the software problems were solved, however, we found that our work was just beginning. An effective solution requires software technology, but expertise in instructional design has been equally important. The learning environments our clients create on the Internet have the potential for both “high tech” and “high touch.” These clients are finding ways to reach beyond the physical limitations of the classroom, but—perhaps more significantly—they are using the system to reach beyond the limiting assumptions of the classroom as well. As they—and we—do so, we will begin to understand the ways in which the Net really is a new medium.     

A sense of place

Conclusion Places shape the stories of our lives. These stories become ongoing “ecological conversations”—i.e., expressions of the dialogue between ourselves and the environment (Lutts, 1985). When this conversation ends, so will our future. The development of healthy environmental awareness and concern starts with a feeling response to nature. Such a response comes primarily by way of firsthand positive experiences in the out-of-doors, especially in environments fostering a “sense of place” experience. Attention to creating a sense of place for young children can thus prove helpful in fostering a lifelong commitment to the natural environment. In designing “sense of place” play and learning spaces for young children, we are, indeed, designing the future as well.     

Altering the model: the challenge of achieving inclusion

Besides “inclusion” meaning incorporation within the education system, there is also “inclusion” signifying the incorporation of knowledge, two distinct processes which went hand-in-hand to start with but which, as education systems expanded, have begun to drift apart. While the population as a whole, including the more deprived sectors, has improved its educational level over past decades, in more recent times there has been little to show for the considerable efforts made. It is as if the process had reached a ceiling, owing to practices of educational marginalization that are so embedded that they perpetually recreate themselves. The education system has lost its bearings because a new approach is needed with the emergence of the information and communication society, which implies a new definition of knowledge, cut off from its origins. The idea of “including” must also be a key notion in relation to the search for a fairer, more democratic society. This implies developing a number of viewpoints or fundamental attitudes when we consider inclusive education. There is the ideological/political point of view—which means developing the ideal of justice and democracy within the framework of education as a right; the epistemological aspect—which entails supporting the new educational approach in the very latest developments of the theory of complexity; the pedagogical aspect—which entails adopting the advances made in the new learning sciences in order to develop a new “technology of educational production” (didactics) that will guarantee the entire population’s ability to reason; and the institutional point of view—which requires reviewing the notion of a “school system” and incorporating other institutional spaces by considering the whole of society as offering potential “learning environments”.

Surviving Rescue: A Feminist Reading of Scott O’Dell’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Island of the Blue Dolphins</Emphasis>

Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins tells the archetypal story of the young, virgin, orphan girl who is vulnerable to either debauchery or rescue. That such a girl must succumb to either one or the other is a necessary element of the archetype. In O’Dell’s work—one intended, after all, for children—the heroine is rescued by a paternalistic figure and re-inscribed into the patriarchal world. Yet, in the hands of young readers, Island—part fairytale, part rescue narrative, part feminist parable—becomes a story of independence and survival, despite the heroine’s “rescue” at the end.

The contribution of epistemology to curriculum construction in the sciences

Summary The paper focuses upon curriculum planning in the scientific disciplines at university level, although it is claimed the argument may be of wider applicability. Drawing upon the writings of philosophers of education from several decades ago (notably Schwab and Scheffler) whose work is too often overlooked in contemporary debates about the curriculum, and using illustrative examples from the author’s own experience, it is argued that too often the focus of science curriculum planning is the “rhetoric of conclusions” or the “substantive structure” — the current state of knowledge at the forefront of the respective disciplines — to the neglect of what Schwab called the “syntactical structure” of the sciences (which roughly approximates their epistemology). This aspect of these disciplines is essential for the general student trying to become familiar with the nature of science as a broad field of knowledge, for prospective teachers, and — contra Scheffler’s view — for students who aim at careers as researchers.

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Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag der Epistemologie zur Curriuculumkonstruktion in den Naturwissenschaften Der Aufsatz fokussiert auf die Curriculumplanung für den naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht in der universit?ren Lehrerausbildung, wenngleich behauptet wird, dass dieses Argument weitreichendere Anwendbarkeit besitzt. Der Text knüpft an erziehungswissenschaftlichen Schriften (insbesondere von Schwab und Scheffler) an, deren Ver?ffentlichung zwar einige Dekaden zurückliegt, deren Beitrag in den aktuellen Debatten aber oft übersehen wird. Darüber hinaus werden einige illustrative Beispiele aus dem Erfahrungsschatz des Autors genutzt, um zu zeigen, dass der Fokus der Curriculumplanung für die Naturwissenschaften — dem augenblicklichen Wissensstand der zu berücksichtigenden Disziplinen zufolge — zu oft in einer „Rhetorik der Schlussfolgerung“ oder „substantivischen Struktur“ besteht, was dazu führt, dass das, was Schwab die „syntaktische Struktur“ der Naturwissenschaften nennt (und ihrer Epistemologie ziemlich nahe kommt), vernachl?ssigt wird. Dieser Aspekt jener Disziplinen ist besonders wichtig für Studierende, die allgemeinbildend vertraut werden m?chten mit den Naturwissenschaften, für angehende Lehrer und — entgegen Schefflers Ansicht — für Studenten, die eine Karriere als Forscher anstreben.

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“When walking in quicksand country, carry a stout pole — it will help you get out should you need to. As soon as you start to sink, lay the pole on the surface of the quicksand. Flop onto your back on top of the pole. Work the pole to a new position: under your hips and at right angles to your spine. Take the shortest route to firmer ground, moving slowly.” Piven/Borgenicht 1999, p. 18

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This paper was presented at the conference Silence Between the Disciplines, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Berlin, October 2002.     

Four dialogues and metalogues about the nature of science

We analyse and explore, in the form of dialogues and metalogues questions about the dialogic nature of beliefs and students belief talk about the nature of science and scientific knowledge. Following recent advances in discursive psychology, this study focuses not on students' claims but on the discursive resources and dialogical practices that support the particular claims they make. We argue that students' discourse is better understood as a textual bricolage that is sensitive to conversational context, common sense, interpretive repertoires, and textual resources available in the conversational situation. Our text is reflexive as it embodies the discursive construction of knowledge and undercuts any claims to authoritative knowledge. The very conception of “belief” is itself an expression or construction from within the mundane idiom.... We learn to use “belief” in conditions when the “objective facts” are unknown or problematic and we want to indicate the tenuous character of our claim.... The notion of “real world” or “objective reality” is embedded in an extensive, pervasive language game which includes as an intelligible move or possibility the use of the very concept of “belief” itself. (Pollner, 1987, p. 21)     

Burden of Acting Neither White Nor Black: Asian American Identities and Achievement in Urban Schools

Ogbu’s theory of “burden of acting white” has been one of the most frequently cited studies to explain black and white achievement gap. However, emerging studies have argued that Ogbu’s theory may be limited when examining variability of school achievement among black and white students. Research shows that in addition to culture, other social forces, such as class, peer networks, and school context may play a significant role when accounting for minority students’ academic aspirations and achievement. In the midst of this on-going debate, however, there is a limited understanding of how, if at all, theory of “acting white” plays a role for racial groups other than black and white students. By extending the discussion beyond a black-and-white discourse, this research examines how Asian American students in two different social and economic contexts, negotiate their race and ethnic identities. Framed by a prevalent model minority stereotype that conflates Asian Americans with whiteness, the findings show that portrayal of Asian “success” much like black “failure” cannot be explained solely on their cultural orientation. By comparing experiences of two groups of Korean American students—both high- and low-achieving—in different economic and school contexts, this study illustrates how the two groups of Korean American students adopt different racial strategies depending on their socioeconomic backgrounds, peer networks, and school contexts. Using Korean American students in urban schools as a case study, this research complicates and challenges our understanding of the role of culture in school achievement and illustrates how culture intersects with class, race, and schools. Jamie Lew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Education, Rutgers University-Newark, 110 Warren Street, Newark, NY, 07102-1814, USA     

“What are you Representing?” Contesting Identities of Incarcerated Youth

This article explores how incarcerated youth and adult supervisors contest claims to identity via language of “representing”. Comparing how youth and adults “represent” in discussions of their own past and future selves sheds light on the constrained universe of discourse within which both groups work to express identities and on the basis of which we counsel, mentor, and educate young people. Acknowledging these constraints can contribute to understanding what I call exceptionalism—the idea that only exceptional poor and raced young men, through great personal effort and sacrifice, may resist the lure of the “street”. I conclude by discussing implications of this work for education and youth development work both inside and beyond the juvenile justice system as well as for research across lines of difference by committed “outsiders”.

The Trouble with Rainbow Boys

Few pieces of GLBTQ fiction have received the popular and scholarly acclaim awarded to Alex Sanchez’s Rainbow Boys series. Although “problem novels” are rarely taken seriously as literature, the books—the first novel in particular—have joined the few pieces of GLBTQ literature incorporated into educational discourse and curriculum. In this article, the author suggests that although the positive nature and surface construction appeals to those seeking “affirmative” representations of GLBTQ youth, the contributions made by the series may be overshadowed by its reliance on heteronormative gender stereotypes that may actually work to perpetuate homophobic attitudes toward gay sexuality.

Diversity and multiculturalism in Japan: what is called into question?

This study explores the different ways in which the notion of multiculturalism in Japan has been influenced by various social and historical trajectories. Since the Japanese government started to promote “internationalization” in the 1980’s, slogans such as “international exchange,” “cultural exchange,” and “understanding of other cultures” have become the most popular expressions among policy makers and educators. This article demonstrates that the notion of Japanese multiculturalism is intricately and deeply embedded in the society, culture, and education system of Japan. It also points out that this particularly Japanese style of multiculturalism excludes some immigrants who have lived in Japan for generations, and that this exclusion is not the result of ideological products, but rather the effect of multiple power relations.     

Unraveling the myth of meritocracy within the context of US higher education

Framed by historical and contemporary discussions, this article reviews the principal foundations of meritocracy and uses the public University of California system as a point of departure for examining the connection between meritocracy and higher education within the context of the United States. Through consideration of four dimensions that inform the concept of meritocracy—merit, distributive justice, equality of opportunity, and social mobility—this review examines the underlying tenets of meritocracy to better understand how higher education functions within it. In The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, Daniel Bell (1973) suggested that higher education would become a “defensive necessity.” However, if colleges and universities are to serve as instruments for creating and expanding opportunity, then higher education must be more profound than simply being reduced to “defensive necessity,” and it is important for researchers to examine more closely the theoretical concerns of meritocracy and the higher education implications.     

Examining the social and scientific roles of invention in science education

I have been drawn to the construct of “invention” and “inventive acts” because in my research involving how homeless children construct science and the self-in-science, an overwhelming theme has been the multiple ways in which self-identity in science has been described by the children through a language of invention. Using post-modern feminism and science and technologies studies, I examine the multiple uses and definitions of “invention” in science in order to develop a theory of invention and inventive acts around the themes: invention as a social act, invention as a recursive and socially linked process, and embodied agency. I use this framework to examine the construct of “invention” in two different case studies involving the science education of urban homeless children. Finally, I link this discussion of invention and inventive acts with current international reform initiatives revolving around constructivist science teaching and learning.     

Silence of the genes

The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Andrew Fire and Craig Mello for discovering “RNA interference—genesilencing by double-stranded RNA”. The Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden selected them for the award for unraveling “a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information” that is “already being widely used in basic science as a method to study the function of genes and may lead to novel therapies in the future”. This has been one of the fastest Nobel Prizes conferred in physiology or medicine, considering that Fire and Mello published their path-breaking article in the journal Nature in 1998, less than ten years ago. Utpal Nath is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc. His laboratory is studying the genetic mechanisms of plant development. Saumitra Das is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc. His laboratory is interested in the translational control of cellular and viral RNA.     

The second promise ofbrown

This article describes the cultural consequences of the local school closing in a predominantly black community (Centerville) as a result of desegregation policies. Based on oral accounts of community members, the author unearths the diverse functions the former all-black school used to have in the community. Furthermore, the possible reasons for the nostalgia with which the community remembers its “own” school are analyzed. It is shown why the predominantly white schools to which today's students are bused cannot possibly “pass the test” of comparison with the former community school. And finally, the article reminds us of two promises ofBrown, only one of which has been fulfilled in the case of Centerville. While racial segregation of schooling was indeed abolished in Centerville, the second promise ofBrown—providing equal educational opportunities for all children irrespective of race—remains elusive at best. And the very institution that would be central to fulfilling the second promise ofBrown—a school for which the town feels a sense of ownership—was closed for the sake of desegregation. Parts of this article have been the basis for an oral presentation at the South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society meeting, Richmond, VA, October 1993, and are published in the SAPES Proceedings, 1993, pp. 109–114.     

Academic inbreeding: exploring its characteristics and rationale in Japanese universities using a qualitative perspective

This study analyses why and how academic inbreeding as a recruitment practice continues to prevail in Japan, a country with a mature higher education system, where high rates of academic inbreeding endure in most of the research-oriented universities in spite of several higher education reforms. Based on a qualitative analysis, we disclose three characteristics that lead academics to become inbred at Japanese universities. One characteristic—the adoption of “open recruitment processes” in detriment of “closed recruitment processes”—changed over time, limiting academic inbreeding practices, but two other characteristics remained unchanged over time: the “one university learning experience” and the “concentration of doctoral supervisors at the same university”. These latter characteristics represent difficult challenges to be tackled as they are also traditional characteristics of the Japanese higher education system. The research also shows that academic inbreeding practices are a means to assure organizational stability and institutional identity, features perceived as important by Japanese universities. A central challenge for the Japanese universities is then to guarantee these features without needing to rely on academic inbreeding practices to obtain them. However, devising policies to meet this challenge calls for institutional will to change, proactive strategies and time.     

Educational reform in Singapore: from quantity to quality

In 2004, Prime Minister Lee called teachers to “teach less” so that students might “learn more”. In 2005, the Ministry of Education clarified this philosophical statement to mean transforming learning from quantity to quality—“more quality and less quantity” in education. This is in line with the national vision of ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’. This policy initiative, which began in 2004, is set to change the fundamental nature of education in Singapore. This article discusses this initiative, its major implications for schools in Singapore and the challenges to be addressed in the implementation of the policy. In particular, the article discusses the issues of understanding an engaged learning paradigm, establishing signposts for the shift from quantity to quality and the difficulties of system-wide transformation. The challenge for schools is to go beyond the form of the initiative to bring real, substantial and sustainable educational change through this movement.     

New Teachers, High-Stakes Diversity, and the Performance-Based Conundrum

This article explores the impact of high-stakes gate-keeping assessments (of both K-12 students and new teachers) on teacher development of equitable teaching practices. Drawing from two studies of field experiences in Washington State—one of teacher interns and one of cooperating teachers—findings include that state level policies in response to NCLB may actually be decreasing teacher attention to closing the achievement gap. Further, the article explores how even progressive performance-based standards—when administered “globalistically”—are generally ineffective. After discussing university complicity in exacerbating the problem, the paper concludes with ways policymakers may shift their attention from creating complicated rubrics to promoting relationships that support pedagogical change.Jason Margolis is an Assistant Professor in Teacher Education and Professional Development Partnerships, Washington State University.