Writing the Self: Wittgenstein,Confession and Pedagogy

In this paper I investigate ‘the confessional’ as an aspect of Wittgenstein's style both as a mode of philosophising and as a mode of ‘writing the self’, tied explicitly to pedagogical practices. There are strong links between Wittgenstein's confessional mode of philosophising and his life—for him philosophy is a way of life —and interesting theoretical connections between confessional practices and pedagogy, usefully explored in the writings of the French philosopher, Michel Foucault. The Investigations provides a basis and springboard for understanding the notion of ‘writing the self’ as a pedagogical practice which encourages a confessional mode compelling us to tell the truth about ourselves and, thus, creating the conditions for ethico‐poetical self‐constitution.     

Excluding Primary School Children – The Outcomes Six Years On

This article reports and discusses a study which followed up, through case records, 726 children excluded permanently, indefinitely or for fixed–term periods in 1993/4 in 10 LEAs. The outcomes at secondary level in 1998/9 were found to be moderately poor with the problems intensifying for half the sample. Forty six per cent had further primary school exclusions and 36 per cent received exclusions in their secondary education. Looked–after children and those with special educational needs fared worse and achieved less. Case studies showed the kinds of commitment and support that can work even with very difficult cases.     

Who determines teacher work: The teacher,the organization,or both?

This paper examines how teachers responded when some organizational constraints on their work were loosened and why they responded as they did. It first reviews the sociological literature on teacher work to identify the main determinants studied. It then presents results of an ethnographic study of teachers in an urban school. The literature tends to portray teacher work as overly determined and may remove more responsibility from teachers for determining their own work than is warranted.     

The passion of teaching at the border of order

In this text, which was originally delivered as a speech, I discuss the massive critique of teachers in the public discourse on education in Sweden over the last decade. I speak in defence of teachers, and since I am a teacher I speak in defence of myself. The critique of teachers, schooling, and teacher education has been so overbearing that a purely rational response is simply not possible. Therefore, my response is rhetorical in tone. In highlighting the passion of teaching, I lift something central for teachers, which is seldom or never taught about teaching in teacher education. Neither is the passion of teaching present in the public discourse on education. Passion, I argue in the article, is that which adds excess or an overflow of meaning that cannot be contained within the order of discourse and which therefore puts this discourse out of balance. Finally, I discuss a new balance beyond this order in the context of a classroom. In a concluding section, I highlight the struggle over borders which define who can speak and think in “good” order and who cannot.