Synopses & Reviews
The 'postmodern condition,' in which instrumentalism usurps all other considerations, has produced a kind of intellectual paralysis in the world of education. It is difficult to take issue with such shibboleths of our time as 'standards', 'effectiveness' or 'quality', or the transmission of a nation's 'heritage', yet many people sense that important values are being lost as the education systems of the developed world increasingly devote themselves to managerialism and 'performativity', the quest for efficiency and effectiveness that can be quantified.
This book shows how a sustained and telling critique of current educational policy and practice can be developed from the writings of such postmodern thinkers as Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, and Lacan. These thinkers show us new directions, making what has become over-familiar in education seem strange, and they shake us out of established ways of thinking and writing. The book reveals how very different certain aspects of education—for instance, literacy, moral education (in the home as well as the school), curriculum policy and planning—look in the light of these ideas. The book makes many of the central ideas of postmodern theory accessible by demonstrating their relevance to familiar aspects of the practice of education.
Review
What I find most interesting is that the authors treat their main chosen poststructuralists as continuing and contributing to [the] traditional Anglo-American philosophy of education in a non-relativistic manner, rather than opposing it, which many Nietzschean based interpretations of these poststructuralists might suggest. This makes the book an important contribution to [the] philosophy of education in itself.Jim Marshall, Professor of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Arts University of Auckland
Review
I cannot not repeat how much I enjoyed reading the book myself; how refreshing I found the experience. It seems to me that in writing it Blake,et al. have done an important service in focusing a newly emergent strand within the circles of British philosophy of education....should generate a new enthusiasn for a long overdue debate on the future of philosophy in education.Journal of Philosophy of Education
Review
This book effectively overturns the caricature that postmodern thought is inheretly relativistic and nihilistic and develops a theoretical vision at once humanistic and theological....Thinking Again can serve as an introduction to postmodern thinking for those unfamiliar with it...a resource for thinking together about the renewal of educational theory and practice for those in the fields of religion and theological education.Blackwell Publishers Ltd
Review
Those who doubt that contemporary educational writing can go beyond evaluation and the management of assessment can think again....The authors succeed in shifting the reader's thinking from concern with "performativity" to contemplating philosophical problems in education. This book "does not save the reader time" but invites one to think in new directions about education and promises--which takes time. Thinking Again is not prescriptive and offers no simple solutions. Recommended.Education Libraries
Synopsis
The 'postmodern condition,' in which instrumentalism usurps all other considerations, has produced a kind of intellectual paralysis in the world of education. It is difficult to take issue with such shibboleths of our time as 'standards', 'effectiveness' or 'quality', or the transmission of a nation's 'heritage', yet many people sense that important values are being lost as the education systems of the developed world increasingly devote themselves to managerialism and 'performativity', the quest for efficiency and effectiveness that can be quantified. This book shows how a sustained and telling critique of current educational policy and practice can be developed from the writings of such postmodern thinkers as Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, and Lacan. These thinkers show us new directions, making what has become over-familiar in education seem strange, and they shake us out of established ways of thinking and writing. The book reveals how very different certain aspects of education--for instance, literacy, moral education (in the home as well as the school), curriculum policy and planning--look in the light of these ideas. The book makes many of the central ideas of postmodern theory accessible by demonstrating their relevance to familiar aspects of the practice of education.
Synopsis
The 'postmodern condition,' in which instrumentalism finally usurps all other considerations, has produced a kind of intellectual paralysis in the world of education. The authors of this book show how such postmodernist thinkers as Derrida, Foucault, and Lyotard illuminate puzzling aspects of education, arguing that educational theory is currently at an impasse. They postulate that we need these new and disturbing ideas in order to "think again" fruitfully and creatively about education.
Synopsis
The authors show how such postmodernist thinkers as Derrida, Foucault, and Lyotard illuminate puzzling aspects of education. They argue that educational theory is currently at an impasse, and that we need these new and disturbing ideas in order to "think again" fruitfully and creatively about education.
About the Author
NIGEL BLAKE is Lecturer in Educational Technology at The Open University, England.PAUL SMEYERS is Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, at the University of Leuven, Belgium.RICHARD SMITH is Senior Lecturer, School of Education, at the University of Durham, England, and is editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Education.PAUL STANDISH is Lecturer in Education at the University of Dundee, Scotland.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword
Preface
Retrospect
Poststructuralism and the Spectre of Relativism
Foundations Demolished, Sovereigns Deposed: The New Politics of Knowledge
The Ascription of Identity
Literacy Under the Microscope
Shifting, Shifted...Shattered: The Ethical Self
Giving Someone A Lesson
Telling Stories Out of School
The Responsibility of Desire
Folly, Words, Wigs, Rags
Learning by Heart
The Learning Pharmacy
Reading Education
Prospect
References
Author and Subject Indexes