Session Information
13 SES 09 A, Text, Film, the Public
Paper Session
Contribution
In this paper I explore the ancient Greek concept of paideia for two reasons: 1. In order to contribute to an on-going revitalization of educational theory in Sweden as well as elsewhere in Europe that positions freedom as central to the educational process; and 2. In order to offer a theoretical frame for analysing the current crisis of the formation of the public and the role of educational theory in relation to it. This twofold ambition is linked to the educational task of staging a true public sphere in which freedom of the other is a necessary concern (Biesta & Säfström 2011).
In Sweden as well as in many other countries within Europe educational theory (educational philosophy, allgemeine pädagogik, pedagogik/allmän didaktik) has been challenged by, on the one hand, shifting political demands on educational research and, on the other, correspondingly shifts of priorities within universities (for an analysis of the consequences for educational theory, pedagogik[k] see for example Säfström & Saverot 2015). There have been several critiques of how educational theory has been diminished, but also attempts to strengthen educational theory (Biesta 2010, Saeverot2013, Smeyers & Smith 2014, Masschelein & Simmons 2011, Thompsson 2009, Todd 2009). However, what has not been discussed in any depth is how educational theory owes its tradition of thought to a concept of paideia that places education at the centre of society. That is, the ancient Greek concept of paideia was based on the idea that we need a shared space of communality for political and social life to exist at all. I return to this concept in order to shed light on the current crisis in our European societies, which has had a detrimental effect on how we conceive of education itself. Such a crisis is quite visible through increased political violence and an increasing and quite visible division (and subsequent exclusion) of certain marginalised people within our societies. European states at large seem to have increasing difficultly dealing with an ongoing fragmentation of the public sphere coupled with extreme right wing and fundamentalist violence, repressive laws and increased surveillance and control of their citizens as a consequence. What seems to be at stake, therefore, is the very possibility of freedom as a necessary condition of public life, that is, of the very idea of padeia. I introduce a reading of “paideia” as formulated by Werner Jaeger (1939/1965, vol.1) as a process through which citizens as well as culture are formed. I then offer an understanding of paideia through different aspects of Cornelius Castoriadis’s (1987), Jacques Rancière's (1999), and Chantal Mouffe's (2005) thinking on the formation of the public. I explore how, at least since the time of the ancient Greeks, education has been understood as central for the creation of a “public” and that this lends itself to an understanding that only education through its task of 'educating' the citizen in her role as citizen can give the public sphere a real and authentic content. That means that the current crisis and social unrest in many European countries can be rethought as a project of paideia. I will conclude the paper with some suggestions for a revitalized idea of educational theory in which the current crisis of education in its formation of an authentic public can be addressed.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Biesta Gert (2010). Good Education in a Time of Measurement. Paradigm Publishers. Biesta Gert & Säfström Carl Anders (2011). A Manifesto for Education. Policy Futures in Education, 9 (5), 540-547. Castoriadis Cornelius (1987). The Imaginary Constitution of Society. Cambridge Massachusetts: The IMT Press. Jaeger, Werner (1939/1965). Paideia. The Ideas of Greek Culture. Vol 1. Archaic Greece The Minds of Athens. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Masschelein, Jan & Simmons, Martin ed. (2011). Rancière, Public Education and the Taming of Democracy. Wiley-Blackwell. Mouffe Chantal (2005). On the Political. London: Routlegde Rancière Jacques (1999). Disagreement. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Saeverot, H. (2013). Indirect Pedagogy: Some Lessons in Existential Education. Boston & Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Smeyers Paul & Smith Richard (2014). Understanding Education and Educational Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Säfström, Carl Anders & Saeverot, Herner (2015). Att skada pedagogisk kunskap. Kampen om lärarutbildning i Sverige och Norge.(To Harm Educational Knowledge. The Struggle Over Teacher Education In Sweden and Norway) Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige, 20 (1-2). Thompsson, Christiane (2009). Bildung und die Grenzen der Erfahrung: Randgänge der Bildungsphilosophie. Paderbom: Schöningh. Todd, Sharon (2009). Toward an Imperfect Education. Facing Humanity, Rethinking Cosmopolitanism. London: Paradigm Publishers.
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