Philosophical Foundations of Educational Theory, Policy and Practice [PDF]

Philosophical Foundations of Educational Theory, Policy and Practice TBC

(Course Organiser)

Credit Rating 20 credits, SCQF 11

Course Description This course offers master students the possibility to reflect on the most fundamental issues in the field of education (What is education? What is education for? Can these aims be reached and what is the most appropriate way? And how can we be sure to give an appropriate answer to the aforementioned questions?). At the same time students should be able to develop themselves a point of view based on a solid line of argumentation. In this course the following topics will be discussed:     

the nature and purposes of education (and of schooling) the content of the curriculum and the role of the educator the relation between education, society, culture, economy and politics the difference between maturation, education and indoctrination the possibilities and limitations inherent to scientific knowledge in the domain of education studies

These questions are discussed from a wide variety of past and present intellectual perspectives. This course also aspires to give students an adequate and nuanced understanding of a variety of philosophical and theoretical approaches, and to show that such an understanding has bearings on actual educational practice and policy. The background here is that doing philosophy is also a way of life, i.e. doing philosophy itself ‘educates’ the student and assists her in giving shape to her own life as a ‘master’ in education.

Learning Outcomes On completion of this course, students will be able to:  have insight into the major models of western educational philosophy and theory  have knowledge of philosophical concepts, ideas and theories that enable a critical understanding of contemporary educational issues  have insight into the main characteristics of a pedagogical ethos (as a condition for appropriate action in an educational situation)  be able to form a personal standpoint on important educational matters, that is both and theoretically and scientifically supported  understand that practical decisions and policy making in education relate to choices for specific theoretical standpoints

Teaching 10 x 2.5 hour seminars = 25 hours Each session will involve some formal presentation of the issues in the form of lecture, guided reading or structured questions. This will be followed by seminar discussion. Next to this, students are required to watch some films, which are a substantial part of the course material and which will form the background of the class discussions.

Assessment One written essay of 4, 000 words, which relates to one of the topics discussed during class.

Content Weeks 1 - 4 Introduction; The Nature And Aims of Education  What is philosophy? What is education? What is philosophy of education?: education will be defined as a matter of giving an appropriate response to the challenge any new generation poses to an existing world, and philosophy as a particular way to come to terms with this challenge (as such education and philosophy are very closely related domains)  Discussion of the recently translated work of Klaus Mollenhauer (Forgotten Connections): investigating the implications of the idea that human beings are not creatures of necessity, but fundamentally open to transformation  Criticism of the dominant discourse on education which scales down this openness through ‘the language of learning’ (Biesta)  A positive and inherently educational clarification of this openness in terms of the indeterminate nature of humankind in view of its basic linguistic conditions (Vlieghe & Ramaekers)  Investigation into the consequences this view has for the relation between the sphere of education, and the spheres of society and politics (Arendt, Furedi).

Weeks 5 - 6 Epistemological Issues In this part the possibilities and limitations of (scientific) research into education are investigated:  What is the difference between mere opinion and serious, philosophical and scientific, ideas and insights?  How far does scientific knowledge extent (can we ever reach ‘certainty’ or ‘truth’)? How should we deal with uncertainty and with conflicting ideas and insights?  Which role does language play in constructing scientifically valid arguments and insights, but also in convincing a public of these insights? Rather than discussing all this in an abstract way, the course will focus on one particular educational issue, viz. research into behavior disorders (ADD) Weeks 7 - 10 Overview Of Various Theoretical Stances In the last part the most important approaches in educational philosophy and theory are discussed on the basis of the work of one or several representative authors. In contradistinction to the former part, we deal here with normative questions (i.e. what education should be)  The traditional view: education as a work of civilization; the pedagogical paradox (Kant)  Anti-authoritarian and student-centered views; critique of schooling as disciplinary apparatus (Rogers, Dewey, Deacon)  Critical Pedagogy: societal emancipation through education (Freire, Giroux)  Liberal education and world-centered views (Peters, Weil)

Some Recommended Course Reading Arendt, H. (1968). The crisis of education. In Id., Between Past and Future (pp 173-196). New York: Penguin Biesta, G. (2005). Against learning. Reclaiming a language for education in an age of learning. Nordisk Pedagogik 25, 54–66 Blake, N. et al. (Eds.) (2002). The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Education. Oxford: Blackwell Deacon, R. (2006). Michel Foucault on education: a preliminary theoretical overview. South African Journal of Education 26 (2), 177-187. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. New York, Macmillan Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (M. Bergman Ramos, Trans.). London: Penguin

Furedi, F. (2009). Wasted. Why Education isn’t Educating. London: Continuum Giesinger, J. (2012). Kant on Dignity and Education. Educational Theory 62 (6), 609-620. Giroux, H. (2011). Teachers as Transformatory Intellectuals. Critical Educators 46-49 Masschelein, J., Simons, M. (2010) The hatred of public schooling: The school as the mark of democracy. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42 (5-6), 666-82 Masschelein, J., Simons, M. (2013). In defence of the school. A public issue. E-ducation, culture & society publishers Mollenhauer, K. (2014). Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing (N. Friesen, Trans.). London: Routledge. Peters, R.S. (1959). Authority, Responsibility and Education. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd Rogers, C., Freiberg, H.J. (1994). Freedom to learn. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Tait, G. (2010). Philosophy, Behaviour Disorders, and the School. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers Stiegler, B. (2010). Taking Care of Youth and the Generations. Stanford: Stanford University Press Vlieghe, J., Ramaekers, S. (2014). The show of childhood. Agamben and Cavell on education and transformation. Philosophy of Education Yearbook. (In Press)

Films The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Werner Herzog, 1974) Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009) Erziehung zum Ungehorsam (Gerhard Bott, 1967) Our Mother’s House (Jack Clayton, 1967)

UPDATED: 28 July 2015