Through this peer-reviewed journal we hope to contribute to an enlarging of the space of the poss... more Through this peer-reviewed journal we hope to contribute to an enlarging of the space of the possible around what it means to educate and to be educated. To this end, we acknowledge that the tools and expectations of traditional academic discourse might have to be challenged on occasion. A prominent theme across the current complexity science literatures is that the linear narrative and the Euclidean image are inadequate to depict the emergence and the behavior of a complex form. Rather, instances of complex emergence call for webbed, multithreaded tales and nested, scale independent geometries to accommodate forms that can become more intricate, more dense, more pregnant with possibilities.
This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educati... more This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educational purpose is not simply a socio-political question concerned with what the ends should be and why, but can also be understood as a structural question, concerned with the way we understand education's directional impetus. We suggest that it is possible to understand education as something other than a curricular instrument designed to facilitate a purpose external to itself. We challenge such an instrumental view by arguing that education is an emergent phenomenon with its own unique aesthetic qualities (like art or music); a phenomenon, moreover, that does not simply serve a purpose, but generates the purpose it serves. In this paper we lay down the groundwork for such a non-instrumental understanding of education by combining the notion of emergence with ideas from Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Aristotle's teleological notion of the 'ideal' as self-generated and the Greek notion of 'paideia.' This provides an opportunity to theorise education's directional impetus as the ongoing and open-ended coordination of three realms of human life: the symbolic, the individual and the political. Given the acute political and social dilemmas that instrumental understandings of education bring forth in multicultural, and so called 'democratic' and 'inclusive' societies, we hope that by opening the possibility to theorise education as a noninstrumental phenomenon, it may become possible to have more fruitful discussion regarding education than endless political debate about what the curricular ends of education should be.
In modern,Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school-goers acquire knowl... more In modern,Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school-goers acquire knowledge of pre-existing practices, events, entities and so on.The knowledge that is learned is then tested to see if the learner has acquired a correct or adequate understanding of it. For this reason, it can be argued that schooling is organised around a representational epistemology: one which holds that knowledge is an accurate representation of something that is separate from knowledge itself. Since the object of knowledge is assumed to exist separately from the knowledge itself, this epistemology can also be considered ‘spatial. ’ In this paper we show how ideas from complexity have challenged the ‘spatial epistemology ’ of representation and we explore possibilities for an alternative ‘temporal’ understanding of knowledge in its relationship to reality. In addition to complexity, our alternative takes its inspiration from Deweyan ‘transactional realism ’ and deconstruction. We suggest...
Rethinking Schooling Through the “Logic” of Emergence : Some thoughts on planned enculturation an... more Rethinking Schooling Through the “Logic” of Emergence : Some thoughts on planned enculturation and educational responsibility
The increased visibility of complexity in the social sciences has raised questions about the abil... more The increased visibility of complexity in the social sciences has raised questions about the ability of complexity theories to address political concerns. Many of these concerns are legitimate, particularly where complexity is portrayed as a superior naturalistic metaphysics of "life" which comes complete with a set of metaphors that can be used to legitimate certain social arrangements. In response to an article by Kevin Kelly in which complexity is portrayed in this way, Steve Best and Douglas Kellner (1999) rightly point out some of the shortcomings associated with this use of complexity and remark that this "uncritical approach to political realities and social power" is the "Achilles heel of complexity theory" (p. 155). However, while I have no problem with Best and Kellner's assessment of this genre of complexity research in the social sciences, it is important to be clear that the genre is one that many who use complexity in the social sciences are themselves critical. Nevertheless, the objection raised by Best and Kellner a decade ago is relevant in that in education there is still very little work that draws on complexity to address education's political concerns and in this regard complexity's potential to be critical in an educational context is largely overlooked. In this issue of JCACS we bring together seven papers which were initially developed for a symposium entitled Complex Criticality in Educational Research (presented in the Complexity SIG of AERA in April 2007). The symposium aimed to address the perceived lack of a "political
in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. Inthis way education purposely shapes t... more in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. Inthis way education purposely shapes the subjectivity of those being educated.We could, therefore, say that the function of education is to ensure that peoplehave certain kinds of experiences in order that they may achieve certainprespecified educational ends and so become certain kinds of people (suchas people who can be creative, people who can solve problems, or work withscientific knowledge, or be politically responsible, and so on). Since, witheducation, it would seem that people are always socialized into a
How can educators prepare their students for the many changes brought about by the information ex... more How can educators prepare their students for the many changes brought about by the information explosion? It is taking longer for students to finish their undergraduate degrees; more women are successful with earning their degrees that are men. Occupations are disappearing and new ones appearing at increasing speed. Education is one approach, but a changed and more responsive education system will be necessary. Students must learn how to be lifelong learners and discover their interests and talents through aptitude testing followed by counseling. Though of great age, the lecture remains one of the best ways to transmit information and will likely last, but in a modified form. These changes will profoundly affect politics, economics, the environment, and other areas of our lives.
Flyer for seminar at University of Exeter March 10-11th 2017. We are having a seminar to establis... more Flyer for seminar at University of Exeter March 10-11th 2017. We are having a seminar to establish a grass roots movement to decolonize teacher education. Please share among your networks. Online registration from January 9th 2017. Details to follow.
… An international journal of complexity and …, 2005
Educationso we might sayis different from untutored learning or un-guided enculturation in that... more Educationso we might sayis different from untutored learning or un-guided enculturation in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. In this way education purposely shapes the subjectivity of those being educated. We could, therefore, say that the function of ...
In the last four issues of Complicity, Bill, Donna and I have focused the content of our editoria... more In the last four issues of Complicity, Bill, Donna and I have focused the content of our editorials on what it means to edit or contribute in other ways to a journal of complexity in a manner that does not contradict the ethos of complexity, whatever that is. In this regard we have ...
Through this peer-reviewed journal we hope to contribute to an enlarging of the space of the poss... more Through this peer-reviewed journal we hope to contribute to an enlarging of the space of the possible around what it means to educate and to be educated. To this end, we acknowledge that the tools and expectations of traditional academic discourse might have to be challenged on occasion. A prominent theme across the current complexity science literatures is that the linear narrative and the Euclidean image are inadequate to depict the emergence and the behavior of a complex form. Rather, instances of complex emergence call for webbed, multithreaded tales and nested, scale independent geometries to accommodate forms that can become more intricate, more dense, more pregnant with possibilities.
This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educati... more This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educational purpose is not simply a socio-political question concerned with what the ends should be and why, but can also be understood as a structural question, concerned with the way we understand education's directional impetus. We suggest that it is possible to understand education as something other than a curricular instrument designed to facilitate a purpose external to itself. We challenge such an instrumental view by arguing that education is an emergent phenomenon with its own unique aesthetic qualities (like art or music); a phenomenon, moreover, that does not simply serve a purpose, but generates the purpose it serves. In this paper we lay down the groundwork for such a non-instrumental understanding of education by combining the notion of emergence with ideas from Cassirer's Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Aristotle's teleological notion of the 'ideal' as self-generated and the Greek notion of 'paideia.' This provides an opportunity to theorise education's directional impetus as the ongoing and open-ended coordination of three realms of human life: the symbolic, the individual and the political. Given the acute political and social dilemmas that instrumental understandings of education bring forth in multicultural, and so called 'democratic' and 'inclusive' societies, we hope that by opening the possibility to theorise education as a noninstrumental phenomenon, it may become possible to have more fruitful discussion regarding education than endless political debate about what the curricular ends of education should be.
In modern,Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school-goers acquire knowl... more In modern,Western societies the purpose of schooling is to ensure that school-goers acquire knowledge of pre-existing practices, events, entities and so on.The knowledge that is learned is then tested to see if the learner has acquired a correct or adequate understanding of it. For this reason, it can be argued that schooling is organised around a representational epistemology: one which holds that knowledge is an accurate representation of something that is separate from knowledge itself. Since the object of knowledge is assumed to exist separately from the knowledge itself, this epistemology can also be considered ‘spatial. ’ In this paper we show how ideas from complexity have challenged the ‘spatial epistemology ’ of representation and we explore possibilities for an alternative ‘temporal’ understanding of knowledge in its relationship to reality. In addition to complexity, our alternative takes its inspiration from Deweyan ‘transactional realism ’ and deconstruction. We suggest...
Rethinking Schooling Through the “Logic” of Emergence : Some thoughts on planned enculturation an... more Rethinking Schooling Through the “Logic” of Emergence : Some thoughts on planned enculturation and educational responsibility
The increased visibility of complexity in the social sciences has raised questions about the abil... more The increased visibility of complexity in the social sciences has raised questions about the ability of complexity theories to address political concerns. Many of these concerns are legitimate, particularly where complexity is portrayed as a superior naturalistic metaphysics of "life" which comes complete with a set of metaphors that can be used to legitimate certain social arrangements. In response to an article by Kevin Kelly in which complexity is portrayed in this way, Steve Best and Douglas Kellner (1999) rightly point out some of the shortcomings associated with this use of complexity and remark that this "uncritical approach to political realities and social power" is the "Achilles heel of complexity theory" (p. 155). However, while I have no problem with Best and Kellner's assessment of this genre of complexity research in the social sciences, it is important to be clear that the genre is one that many who use complexity in the social sciences are themselves critical. Nevertheless, the objection raised by Best and Kellner a decade ago is relevant in that in education there is still very little work that draws on complexity to address education's political concerns and in this regard complexity's potential to be critical in an educational context is largely overlooked. In this issue of JCACS we bring together seven papers which were initially developed for a symposium entitled Complex Criticality in Educational Research (presented in the Complexity SIG of AERA in April 2007). The symposium aimed to address the perceived lack of a "political
in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. Inthis way education purposely shapes t... more in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. Inthis way education purposely shapes the subjectivity of those being educated.We could, therefore, say that the function of education is to ensure that peoplehave certain kinds of experiences in order that they may achieve certainprespecified educational ends and so become certain kinds of people (suchas people who can be creative, people who can solve problems, or work withscientific knowledge, or be politically responsible, and so on). Since, witheducation, it would seem that people are always socialized into a
How can educators prepare their students for the many changes brought about by the information ex... more How can educators prepare their students for the many changes brought about by the information explosion? It is taking longer for students to finish their undergraduate degrees; more women are successful with earning their degrees that are men. Occupations are disappearing and new ones appearing at increasing speed. Education is one approach, but a changed and more responsive education system will be necessary. Students must learn how to be lifelong learners and discover their interests and talents through aptitude testing followed by counseling. Though of great age, the lecture remains one of the best ways to transmit information and will likely last, but in a modified form. These changes will profoundly affect politics, economics, the environment, and other areas of our lives.
Flyer for seminar at University of Exeter March 10-11th 2017. We are having a seminar to establis... more Flyer for seminar at University of Exeter March 10-11th 2017. We are having a seminar to establish a grass roots movement to decolonize teacher education. Please share among your networks. Online registration from January 9th 2017. Details to follow.
… An international journal of complexity and …, 2005
Educationso we might sayis different from untutored learning or un-guided enculturation in that... more Educationso we might sayis different from untutored learning or un-guided enculturation in that it directs the kind of learning that takes place. In this way education purposely shapes the subjectivity of those being educated. We could, therefore, say that the function of ...
In the last four issues of Complicity, Bill, Donna and I have focused the content of our editoria... more In the last four issues of Complicity, Bill, Donna and I have focused the content of our editorials on what it means to edit or contribute in other ways to a journal of complexity in a manner that does not contradict the ethos of complexity, whatever that is. In this regard we have ...
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Papers by Deborah Osberg