After Higgins and Dunne: Imagining School Teaching as a Multi‐Practice Activity

There remains a concern in philosophy of education circles to assert that teaching is a social practice. Its initiation occurs in a conversation between Alasdair MacIntyre and Joe Dunne which inspired a Special Issue of the Journal of Philosophy of Education. This has been recently utilised in a further Special Issue by Chris Higgins. In this article I consider two points of conflict between MacIntyre and Dunne and seek to resolve both with a more nuanced understanding of the implications of applying the concept ‘social practice’ to teaching. I critique both Dunne's and Higgins' focus on schools and school teaching. It is their focus on school teaching, rather than a broader account of teaching, that leads them astray. The result is that Dunne and Higgins have not shown that teaching is a social practice. School teaching is not a complex activity, but a complex set of different activities co‐located in one place and engaged in by the same agents. In a final section I offer an account of ‘school teaching’ as a multi‐practice activity which is consistent with MacIntyre's approach, and argue that schoolteachers have both an institutional and an educative role.     

校园景观规划建设中地相学的引进研究应用——以唐山学院为例

大学校园景观由于其自身特殊性,景观规划建设趋于程式化,校园景观设计中利用交叉学科优势引入地相学概念进行研究,文章讨论在地相学的研究角度下的校园景观规划建设,以唐山学院为例,以校园的地形地貌、空间格局、方向方位等角度展开初步探索,力求在校园规划建设前期和校园维护改造过程中提供研究资料。     

Perspective

The discourse on internationalisation has undergone a transformation in recent years, particularly in the sphere of education, where the term's centrality has long been undeniable. This discourse has evolved from a focus on internationalisation's increasing importance in education to a mounting critique regarding the process's utility and incorrect interpretation of its meaning by countries and higher education institutions. This critique attributes to internationalisation many negative implications linked to neoliberalism within the socio-economic discourse and thus raising the need for novel theoretical conceptualisation of the term that will allow further development of empirical research and academic discourse. The present article discusses the need to redefine the concept of internationalisation, and proposes a new definition for internationalisation. The article argues that negative by-products should not be a reason to dismiss a concept that has significance for learners and the education system.     

市民社会批判与马克思主义哲学研究范式的转换

市民社会是西方近代社会转型的根本问题,市民社会问题是引发马克思哲学变革的问题意识,也是当代中国"现代性"社会转型所要面对的一个基本理论问题.把市民社会研究(批判)作为马克思主义哲学研究中的一个基本问题意识,可以推进当代中国马克思主义哲学研究范式的转变和自身内在理论逻辑的变革.同时,通过对市民社会问题的马克思主义审理,在当代中国社会转型这个重大的理论与现实问题上可以发出马克思主义的声音,从而沟通马克思主义与当代中国社会的关系,导引出马克思主义哲学在当代真正出场,体现出马克思主义理论与实践相统一的理论特质.     

Relativism and the Critical Potential of Philosophy of Education

How can philosophy exert its critical function in society and in education if any appeal to independent and even relatively ‘certain’ criteria seems problematic? The epistemological doubts that foundationalist models of justification encounter unavoidably seem to raise this question. In particular, the relativist implications that seem to result from rejecting such models seem to paralyse the critical potential of philosophy of education. In order to explore the possibilities of a conception of educational critique that avoids the pitfalls of foundationalism, I analyse the epistemological dimensions of this much‐feared relativism, illustrating this with some characteristic examples. Solving the problems raised will require an interpretation of critique that leaves our daily sense of critique intact, without literally adopting its—foundationalist—basic assumptions. After systematically developing such an alternative interpretation of critical usage, a non‐relativist but still non‐foundationalist and powerful conception of philosophical critique seems possible. I illustrate results with some examples from philosophy of education.     

梁启超思想的结构特征及其现代性意义

梁启超思想呈现出＂国民-群-民族国家-世界＂的结构特征,它是对传统＂身-家-国-天下＂思想体系整体性批判的结果。在传统与现代两个体系的转换过程中,梁启超思想隐含着一系列有关中国现代性的命题,具有重要的启示意义。     

Wittgenstein and Stage-Setting: Being brought into the space of reasons

Abstract

Wittgenstein constantly invokes teaching, training and learning in his later work. It is therefore interesting to consider what role these notions play for him there. I argue that their use is central to Wittgenstein’s attempt to refute cognitivist assumptions, and to show how normative practices can be understood without the threat of circularity, grounded not in a kind of seeing, but in doing, and the natural reactions of an organism. This can generate a worry that Wittgenstein’s position is quietist and anti-critical: critique, as a challenge to the taken-for-granted grammar of our language game, is technically meaningless. I argue that Wittgenstein does not rule out critique. His own practice demonstrates that critique is possible, but takes place within a language game, and its status as critique is always subject to challenge in the agora of a discourse.     

Basic Problems of a Critical Theory of Education

ABSTRACT Education is in itself a project of Enlightenment. The critical theory of the Frankfurt School, whose origin and development bear the imprint of self-destructive social-cultural processes of modernity and of the Holocaust, can count as an attempt to continue the process of Enlightenment through radical self-criticism. The paper presents the approach of the first generation of critical theory and then Jurgen Habermas' critique of this approach and his reconstruction of critical theory in his theory of communicative action. Special emphasis is laid on the discussion of the ethical implications of human communication. From this background the paper enquires what significance these reflections could have for a revised concept of education.     

EDUCATION WITHOUT THEORY

ABSTRACT:  This paper proceeds through four stages. First, it provides an account of the origins and evolution of the concept of educational theory. Second, it uses this historical narrative to show how what we now call 'educational theory' is deeply rooted in the foundationalist discourse of late nineteenth and early twentieth century modernity. Third, it outlines and defends a postfoundationalist critique of the foundationalist epistemological assumptions on which our understanding of educational theory has been erected. Finally, it argues that the only conclusion to draw from this postfoundationalist critique is that educational theory has run its course and should now be brought to a dignified end.     

马克思对现代性形而上学基础的批判及其哲学革命

现代性诸矛盾现象背后有其深刻的形而上学基础,这就是近代理性主义哲学。对现代性批判的彻底性要求导致马克思对现代性的形而上学基础近代理性主义哲学的两大根基——抽象本体和抽象的人进行批判,颠覆其形而上学的思维方式,进而走向哲学革命,最终创立以实践作为其哲学根本观点的"新唯物主义"。因此,马克思对近代理性主义哲学的批判是其哲学革命出场的现实路径,而其哲学革命则是其现代性批判彻底化的哲学结论。     

Learning how to be a woman in the Canadian Forces/unlearning it through feminism: an autoethnography of my learning journey A preliminary version of this paper was presented as part of a panel discussion at the Atlantic Regional Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education (CASAE) 2002 conference.

Gender plays a significant role in the experiences of workers within organizations. This is particularly true for women in non-traditional roles as they constantly struggle with gender barriers that are so ensconced in certain organizations and in society as to be accepted without question. Using an autoethnographical account, I explore the implications of my experience as a woman in the non-traditional role of a military member. First, I will discuss the importance of speaking from a first-hand, subjective position, and will briefly explore how we learn to be men and women through socialization processes in current western society. Then I will focus on how I learned to be a military member in a male organization and will examine how women's bodies and emotions separate women from men. I conclude with a discussion of how learning about feminist theories provoked me to begin to make connections between my experience and larger societal issues that had previously been invisible to me.     

PERSONALISED LEARNING: AMBIGUITIES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Abstract:  This paper traces the origins of the concept of personalisation in public sector services, and applies it to school education. The original conceptualisation stressed the need for 'deep' rather than shallow, personalisation, if radical transformation of services were to be achieved. It is argued that as the concept has been disseminated and implemented through policy documents, notably the 2005 White Paper, it has lost its original emphasis on deep personalisation. The focus in this article is particularly upon gifted and talented students whose education provides the best case example of how the theory of personalisation might work in practice. Two examples of the lessons in a sixth form college are used to illustrate the character of personalised pedagogy in practice. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

教育观的现代性危机与新路径初探

所谓现代性,主要体现为以数学和物理学为基础的现代科学理论以及启蒙运动引发的理性精神和历史意识,特点为“勇敢地使用自己的理智”来评判一切。现代性的核心理念为理性、主体性和世俗性。在启蒙精神的指引下,教育理论也开始了现代性之路,主要表现在目的观、研究观、课程与教学观、教师观上。现代性及其教育观不可能退出历史舞台,因为现代性没有丧失其存在的合理性,现代性的教育观也没有丧失它存在的合理性。现代性的教育仍是我国实现现代化的重要手段,也是现代人生存发展的重要手段。现代性的教育观之出路在于现代性与后现代性的教育观的有机整合,即走和合之路。     

现代文论的诗话传统刍议

现代文论中仍然保留着相当的诗话传统。这种"现代诗话"的现代性在于其思想武器、论诗眼光、论述方法、理论观点等与传统诗话均有所别。现代文论对传统诗话的继承主要体现在诗性与逻辑性统一的多重对话性,片断性与整体性统一的文体结撰方式等方面。     

马克思政治概念的双重维度

马克思对政治的思考,以“整体性”特质尽显卓越.从“政治”的整体性出发,马克思深刻地揭示了现代性政治的特性与本质——与强制性权力、国家紧密相关(以国家为中心),即现代国家政治;另一方面,马克思在建构其未来的理想社会中呈现了与这一理想社会相融合的政治特性——与理想社会秩序、人的自主能力和交往能力完满相结合意义上的政治(以社会为中心),从而使他的政治概念具有了纵深的历史感和厚重结构.因此,马克思对政治的思考和把握具有双重维度——现代性的维度和理想性的维度.我们只有把二者结合起来,既把握政治作为国家强制性权力的现代性,也把握政治作为人类自我治理需要的理想性,才有可能深刻地把握马克思的政治概念的本真意蕴.     

现代性成长与构建社会主义和谐社会

现代化是现代性成长中社会转型的过程。现代性成长在解构传统的同时,也必然导致社会的分裂,形成许多新的矛盾。从这一视角认识社会主义现代化,这就不仅是一个有光明前景的目标,而且是一个充满悖论的过程。构建社会主义和谐社会的命题在传统与现代、外源与内源、批判与建构的诸矛盾关系中,以全新的观念把握了中国特色社会主义深入发展的内在要求,有深刻的理论意义。     

Young children,gender and the heterosexual matrix

In this paper I consider the adult focus of current mainstream gender theory. I relate this to how the concept of the heterosexual matrix originates in a social contract which excludes children from civil society. I argue that this exclusion is problematic both for theoretical reasons and from the perspective of children themselves. I start by discussing the nature of the heterosexual matrix and its foundations. I consider the implications for participation which arise from being named as a child, how that affects children's attempts to claim participation in civil society, and how this is related to children's naming of themselves as gendered. I then briefly consider the possibility that, because of their exclusion, children might also be considered to be exempt from the heterosexual matrix. However, I argue, there is considerable evidence that children are actively sexual beings who also work hard to claim inclusion in local practices of heterosexuality. I end by suggesting that there are three key reasons for this: that the discourses of normative sexuality provide children with a language to express sexual feelings; that self-insertion in the heterosexual matrix is a way for children to claim rights to participation; and that taking up heterosexual formations is a means whereby children can experience the power of naming themselves as part of the social world.     

Problematising Critique in Education and Child‐Rearing: Ruhloff's Scepticism

In ‘Problematising Critique in Pedagogy’ Jörg Ruhloff develops a concept of critique that is motivated by a deep concern for the state of humanity. This is a thought‐provoking development of critique, but I find myself disagreeing over, or rather simply unconvinced by, his understanding of the human condition, and, connected to this, of criticism. Referring to Nietzsche, I start by illustrating one way in which a concept of critique such as Ruhloff's may in some sense be implied in educational praxis, focusing mainly on his concern that critique is not domesticated by political, economic, or other forces. In the second section I draw on Stanley Cavell to discuss some contentious aspects of Ruhloff's construal of criticism. Here I focus on Ruhloff's claim to universality, as contained in his appeal to what he calls the condition of human rationality and to a procedure of critical‐transcendental‐sceptical deliberation over the presuppositions of different standpoints. Ruhloff's understanding of criticism exemplifies an attitude that presents itself as a hostility to the ordinary. Connected to this, I sketch a conception of scepticism that is different—viz. more dynamic—than his understanding of it as a kind of methodological tool in the service of exposing presuppositions. Scepticism needs to be acknowledged in existential terms, as inherent to the human condition: a condition of life with language. With further reference to Cavell, the importance of expression, of revealing oneself as an exemplar, can then be emphasised. I conclude, in the third section, by indicating in what sense I find that a commitment to substantial judgements is lacking in Ruhloff's conception of critique and criticality.     

A Genealogical Analysis of the Concept of ‘Good’ Teaching: A Polemic

In this essay I intentionally employ Nietzsche's genealogical method as a means to critique the complex concept of ‘good’ teaching, and at the same time reconstitute ‘good’ teaching in a form that is radically different from contemporary accounts. In order to do this, I start out by undertaking a genealogical analysis to both reveal the complicated historical development of ‘good’ teaching and also disentangle the intertwining threads that remain hidden from us so we are aware of the core threads that hold it together. Two major threads are identified in my analysis, which I refer to as: Genealogy I: Teaching as applied science or practice; and, Genealogy II: Teaching as a vocational calling or neutral profession. With this in mind, I take the two value systems (Genealogy I and II) presented in my critique of ‘good’ teaching, and rather than return to old, or create new values, I argue that the true task of any educational endeavour is to make human beings human. Therefore, in the spirit of Nietzsche, I revive and extend Nietzsche's account of Bildung as a dynamic way of living timeless educational aims, such as learning to see, think, speak, write and feel in becoming true human beings.     

马克思关于市民社会与现代性的关联

市民社会是马克思现代性理论的重要基础。通过对市民社会与国家关系的探讨,马克思阐明现代国家与市民社会的分离是现代性确立的重要标志;通过对市民社会经济领域的考察,马克思指出市民社会是现代性发展的真正的实践领地。在对市民社会进行全面探究后,马克思看到市民社会的局限与矛盾,从而提出超越市民社会,从政治解放到人类解放的共产主义理想。这里,市民社会又成为马克思的现代性自我批判与超越的基础。