Education and Democracy: confronting the postmodernist challenge1

This paper takes seriously the claim that postmodernism has seriously undermined our‘modern’ understanding of what the role of education in a democratic society should be. It therefore seeks to reinterpret this role in a way that confronts the challenge that postmodernism has posed. In order to do this the paper clarifies how postmodernism has now discredited the‘modern’ assumptions on which our view of the relationship between education and democracy has been erected. Drawing on the philosophy of John Dewey, it then reconstructs the relationship between education and democracy so as effectively to resist the challenge that postmodernism has posed.     

Postmodernism and the repoliticization of education

Postmodernism seriously questions the possibility of the modern project of education, because postmodern relativism seems to undermine the very possibility of justification, bothin and of education. Some educators have therefore concluded that postmodernism is the proclaimed end of education; others hold a more ambivalent stance. Educators in the critical tradition have especially criticized the depoliticizing tendencies of postmodernism.In this paper it is argued that postmodernism should not be understood as radical relativism, but as the articulation of a tension between contingency and commitment. The concern for radical plurality is identified as the typically postmodern commitment. It is argued that this commitment can also be characterized as a typically pedagogical commitment. Educators, therefore, have at least one strong reason to stay within postmodernism.In order to explore in what way postmodernism might contribute to the emancipatory interests of education, an overview is given of the feminist debate on postmodernism. This shows that the emancipatory potential of postmodernism can only be put into use by political means. The question the is, what a postmodern politics might look like. An answer to this question is found in the work of Richard Rorty, albeit that the theoretical hard core of his position — the separation between the public sphere and the private sphere — is criticized for its ideological charcter and its rather unpedagogical repercussions. After a reconstruction of the private-public-dichotomy has been given, three consequences for education are spelled out, all of which center around the conclusion that postmodernism inevitably leads to a repoliticization of education.     

Europe,Continental philosophy and the philosophy of education

On what might a comparative discussion of philosophy of education that takes Europe as one of its terms be based? This paper begins by addressing the complexity that attaches to the name 'Europe' in this context in order to lay the way for a more detailed consideration of so-called 'Continental' philosophy--specifically of poststructuralism. It makes reference to the ways in which the work of poststructuralist thinkers has often been interpreted in 'postmodern' educational theory and seeks to reveal certain errors in this regard. Distinctions are drawn between postmodernity, postmodernism and poststructuralism, illustrating the last of these in terms of two influential strands of thought drawn from Levinas and Nietzsche, and indicating their value for education. In conclusion, some brief remarks are offered regarding the institutionalization of philosophy of education in Europe.     

Developments in technical education

Abstract

The paper highlights the urgent and radical questions and problems which postmodernism poses for educational studies in general, and the philosophy of education in particular. First, it outlines and interrelates the legacies of modernism in social and cultural theory. Next, it describes the reactionary anti‐modernism of the Right, and contrasts this with traditionalism. It is argued that the current political and economic context of education is largely anti‐modernist, not traditionalist. The stirrings of radical doubts about modernism are described and contrasted with the antimodernism of the Right. A salient theme to this point is the variety of conceptions of the relationship between knowledge and power. Mature postmodernism is characterised centrally in terms of a reconceptualisation of that relationship. The metamorphosis of the concept of the self in postmodernism is described and related to new problems about ethics and a newly emerging importance for the aesthetic. Finally, the paper argues that while the fundamental issues for philosophy of education are unchanged ‐problems about instrumentalism and various issues of autonomy ‐ these are radically recast in postmodernism, and present new difficulties.     

论后现代主义对教育发展的影响

当哲学界主流思想对现代化的成功持肯定态度时,后现代主义却对现代性的合理性进行了反思与批判。面对后现代主义的理论,传统的教育理论受到了挑战。后现代主义对于教育发展的影响主要体现在:对教育目的的重新审视;对师生关系的重新考量;对同质教育的合理性批判;对传统课程结构的质疑;对传统教育管理的颠覆。但后现代主义的“解构”、“去中心”概念等具有很大的破坏性,它仅具有“有限合理性”。     

后现代主义主体理论与教学模式

建立在传统哲学的主体理论基础上的教学模式有一定缺陷，随着后现代主义哲学主体理论的出现，在教学中可以吸收它合理的因素，建立新的教学模式，以促进素质教育的发展。     

后现代主义、数学观与数学教育

后现代主义的影响已从人文学科转到自然学科。作为人类知识典范的数学也受到这个思潮的冲击,不仅数学哲学观正在发生相应的转变,而且数学教育也表现出明显的后现代思维的特点。后现代主义的这种影响既有积极意义也有消极影响。对西方这一思潮进行分析与批判,可以为我国新一轮数学课程改革发展提供有益的借鉴。     

The Unbearable Lightness of Representing 'Reality' in Science Education: A response to Schulz

This article responds to Schulz's criticisms of an earlier paper published in Educational Philosophy and Theory. The purpose in this paper is to clarify and extend some of my earlier arguments, to indicate what is unfortunate (i.e. what is lost) from a non-charitable, modernist reading of Lyotardian postmodernism (despite its weaknesses), and to suggest what new directions are emerging in science education from efforts to move beyond an either/or dichotomy of foundationalism and relativism.     

Lyotard,Postmodernism and Science Education: A Rejoinder To Zembylas

Although postmodernist thought has become prominent in some educational circles, its influence on science education has until recently been rather minor. This paper examines the proposal of Michalinos Zembylas, published earlier in this journal, that Lyotardian postmodernism should be applied to science educational reform in order to achieve the much sought after positive transformation. As a preliminary to this examination several critical points are raised about Lyotard's philosophy of education and philosophy of science which serve to challenge and undermine Zembylas’ project. Subsequently, the three main theses of Lyotard that Zembylas considers beneficial and wishes to transpose onto science classrooms and pedagogy are scrutinized and found to be more of a hindrance than a help to curriculum reformers.     

The Unbearable Lightness of Representing ‘Reality’ in Science Education: A response to Schulz

This article responds to Schulz's criticisms of an earlier paper published in Educational Philosophy and Theory. The purpose in this paper is to clarify and extend some of my earlier arguments, to indicate what is unfortunate (i.e. what is lost) from a non‐charitable, modernist reading of Lyotardian postmodernism (despite its weaknesses), and to suggest what new directions are emerging in science education from efforts to move beyond an either/or dichotomy of foundationalism and relativism.     

建设性后现代主义对我国教育思想的启迪

后现代主义(postmodernism)是20世纪后半叶流行于西方社会的一种哲学,文化思潮,涉及范围广泛,对当今西方社会文化,教育,艺术等各方面带来了很大的影响。当前我国正从前工业社会走向工业社会,学习,借鉴西方发达国家现代化过程中的经验,教训,减少现代化带来的破坏性,无疑是对我们是有益的。以格里芬为代表的“建设性后现代主义”以一种批判性的,建设性的态度对待“现代主义”,提出了“整体有机论”,给我们了一个全新的视野。特别是对于具有前瞻性的教育理论研究,可以用“建设性后现代主义”“整体有机论”的观点来研究我国教育领域的问题,从而发展我国的教育理论,指导我国教育的改革和发展。     

从《法国中尉的女人》看福尔斯的后现代主义创作艺术

福尔斯是英国当代著名的后现代主义作家。通过分析他的《法国中尉的女人》的人物刻画、情境描写、话语蕴藉、创作技巧等,探讨了后现代主义的创作艺术及其哲学基础。     

反思与重构:后现代主义对教师角色的启示

20世纪后半叶在西方社会掀起的后现代主义哲学文化思潮,代表着一种价值取向、一种思想态度和一种思维范式。后现代主义在教育观上的解构思想,为反思和重构教师角色提供了新的视角。由教师权威走向彼此平等对话,由知识传授走向学生学习的促进者,由习惯同一走向崇尚差异、倡导多元,这是教师角色的后现代转向。     

后现代主义对现代高等教育目的观的批判与重构

在后现代主义看来,现代高等教育所推崇的“完人”目的观存在诸多弊端,它导致高等教育以某种预设的完人常模作为中心和出发点,有悖于终身学习的思想,忽视了人与人之间的差异性,无视多元化文化背景的存在。在此基础上,后现代主义从价值取向、内容规定、形成方式以及种类要求四个方面阐释了其高等教育目的观,这对审视我国长期以来形成的以理性主义、工具主义为核心的高等教育目的观具有重要启示。     

Educational development within higher arts education: an experimental move beyond fixed pedagogies

This paper explores creative educational development by asking what it is or might become. It is based on a singular pedagogical process within the fields of arts, design, and architecture in higher education. The exploration is framed by Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of difference, which allows for a movement beyond educational certainties that might sometimes limit developmental efforts in higher education. With the intersection of artistic-pedagogical processes and theoretical investigations, the paper aims to imagine potentialities for thinking and doing otherwise in educational development. Thus, this paper strives to become open toward expanding difference and creation within educational development processes.     

后现代主义课程文化观与网络课程建设研究

后现代主义思潮是20世纪末西方社会流行的一种哲学和社会思潮，自90年代以来，许多学者借助于后现代主义的思想来审视教育的种种问题。文章通过对后现代主义课程观的探析，对网络课程建设的相关问题进行了思考。     

Education and the Educational Project II: do we still care about it?

The paper continues the earlier Education and the Educational Project I: the atmosphere of postmodernism.¹ Following the later Wittgenstein a different view of human action, emphasising the educator's intention, is argued for. A conception of education as the ongoing discussion of mankind is outlined and, drawing on Frankfurt's view of the importance of what we care about, the idea of an educational project is re-conceived. It is concluded that neither parents nor teachers can do without this idea, but that it cannot be thought of as determining deductively and exhaustively all practical decisions concerning educational matters. Postmodernism therefore seems to be only nearly right about education.     

Images of thinking in feminist materialisms: ontological divergences and the production of researcher subjectivities

Qualitative feminist studies are much challenged by the contemporary critique of social constructionist postmodernism, as well as the renewed search for the body and materiality. The result is (at least) two diverging research accounts: a renewed feminist materialism, relying on some foundational ontologies and what has been called a new materialist feminist account that constitutes radical ontological rewritings. The aim of this paper is to investigate what kind of researcher subjectivities these different accounts produce for qualitative inquiry. This investigation will be unfolded using an example from a collaborative research process involving 10 PhD students. The example is woven into Deleuze and Guattari’s discussions on the Image of Thought and the three images of thinking outlined in A Thousand Plateaus. The investigation shows that although the aim of our collaborative process was to resist the assumed Cogito/“I” of philosophy and qualitative inquiry, we still got caught up in taken-for-granted images of thinking and doing analysis. A deterritorializing of habits of thinking and practicing in order for new and other researcher subjectivities to emerge required collaborative efforts that put to work a rhizomatic image of thinking and operated from within an ontology of difference.     

Feyerabend revisited: Epistemological anarchy and disciplined eclecticism in educational research

Discussion between the adherents of various orientations within educational research has often generated more heat than light. A pervasive analogy drawn in these discussions has been between the philosophy of science and educational research. In this paper I explore the value of several influential perspectives within twentieth century philosophy of science as means of understanding what researchers in education do, and why. I suggest that Paul Feyerabend’s ‘anything goes’ epistemological perspective has much to offer in supporting rich educational research. If positivist standards of validity and reliability are no longer considered appropriate for some forms of educational research, however, new standards for justification and representation, explicitly stated within the research, will be necessary.