British Journal of Sociology of Education, Jun 16, 2014
ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take o... more ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take on contemporary society and his antagonism towards modernity will provide an appropriate platform from which to gain purchase on the problems of higher education so as to understand how that education might best respond to this context of radical social transformation. Oxenham arranges his text in the manner of the classical rhetoricians. While the Exordium provides an initial overview of the argument, the ensuing two chapters of the Narratio provide, first, an account of Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’ followed by – and drawing on Bauman’s analysis – Oxenham’s own characterisation of contemporary higher education as tending towards ‘liquid education’. Chapters 4–7 of the Confirmatio contrast current arrangements characterised as liquid education with the ‘traditional’ view of education through an analysis of four key concepts – authority, culture, reason and structure – which are regarded by Oxenham as key to understanding the shift from traditional to liquid education. Chapters 8–12 of the Reprehensio seek to offer a critique of liquid education that is consistent with Bauman’s reading of liquid modernity, and the book culminates with the Conclusio outlining two ‘conversations’ that, in Oxenham’s view, could serve as correctives to the shortcomings of recent trends in higher education. The account of liquid modernity in Chapter 2, drawn primarily from Bauman’s (2000) Liquid Modernity, will provide the reader not familiar with Bauman’s work with a useful overview. Bauman invokes the solid/liquid distinction as a metaphor to distinguish distinct stages in the history of modernity, and in his later work he employs the term ‘liquid modernity’ in order to avoid some of the confusions associated with the term ‘postmodern’. Of course, the key thing about this distinction is that whilst ‘solid’ suggests an identifiable shape and relative stability through time, ‘liquid’ suggests a contingency of form and a propensity to shift through time. Bauman thus characterises the pre-Enlightenment era of ‘pre-modernity’ in terms of solidity – and here Oxenham notes how Christianity could be said to promote a vision of a ‘solid, ideal and universal shape for society’ (17). The premodern age comes to an end with the ‘melting’, liquefying effect of the Enlightenment, and although perhaps appearing at first sight to hold the promise of a new era of freedom from the old solid structures and spaces and irrational bonds, in fact this period of liquidity turned out to be short-lived, sufficient only to loosen the old social and intellectual ties before the onset of a new period of solidity in the shape of modernity, which brings its own ‘solid’ conception of an ideal and universal utopian society. Solid modernity, in turn, comes to an end with our present-day phase of liquid modernity, a phase characterised by unprecedented and relentless change. In liquid modernity there is no universal telos, no overarching common purpose; the past is no longer a guide to the present, and British Journal of Sociology of Education 627
Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 Richard Smith 1 The Role of Policy in Philosophy of Educ... more Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 Richard Smith 1 The Role of Policy in Philosophy of Education: An Argument and an Illustration 5 John White 2 Alluring Ideas: Cherry Picking Policy from Around the World 18 Carrie Winstanley 3 The Only Answer is Innovation ... : Europe, Policy and the Big Society 34 Naomi Hodgson 4 A New Dawn for Faith-Based Education? Opportunities for Religious Organisations in the UK s New School System 47 Michael Hand 5 A Monstrous Regimen of Synthetic Phonics: Fantasies of Research-Based Teaching Methods versus Real Teaching 60 Andrew Davis 6 The Future of Teacher Education 74 Alis Oancea and Janet Orchard 7 Two Concepts of Assessment 89 Gerard Lum 8 Vocational and Civic Education: Whither British Policy? 103 Christopher Winch 9 Education under the Heel of Caesar: Reading UK Higher Education Reform through Shakespeare s Antony and Cleopatra 118 Sophie Ward 10 Improving the Student Experience 129 Elizabeth Staddon and Paul Standish 11 University Futures 147 Richard Smith 12 What Lessons Can We Learn? 160 W. A. Hart Index 170
ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take o... more ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take on contemporary society and his antagonism towards modernity will provide an appropriate platform from which to gain purchase on the problems of higher education so as to understand how that education might best respond to this context of radical social transformation. Oxenham arranges his text in the manner of the classical rhetoricians. While the Exordium provides an initial overview of the argument, the ensuing two chapters of the Narratio provide, first, an account of Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’ followed by – and drawing on Bauman’s analysis – Oxenham’s own characterisation of contemporary higher education as tending towards ‘liquid education’. Chapters 4–7 of the Confirmatio contrast current arrangements characterised as liquid education with the ‘traditional’ view of education through an analysis of four key concepts – authority, culture, reason and structure – which are regarded by Oxenham as key to understanding the shift from traditional to liquid education. Chapters 8–12 of the Reprehensio seek to offer a critique of liquid education that is consistent with Bauman’s reading of liquid modernity, and the book culminates with the Conclusio outlining two ‘conversations’ that, in Oxenham’s view, could serve as correctives to the shortcomings of recent trends in higher education. The account of liquid modernity in Chapter 2, drawn primarily from Bauman’s (2000) Liquid Modernity, will provide the reader not familiar with Bauman’s work with a useful overview. Bauman invokes the solid/liquid distinction as a metaphor to distinguish distinct stages in the history of modernity, and in his later work he employs the term ‘liquid modernity’ in order to avoid some of the confusions associated with the term ‘postmodern’. Of course, the key thing about this distinction is that whilst ‘solid’ suggests an identifiable shape and relative stability through time, ‘liquid’ suggests a contingency of form and a propensity to shift through time. Bauman thus characterises the pre-Enlightenment era of ‘pre-modernity’ in terms of solidity – and here Oxenham notes how Christianity could be said to promote a vision of a ‘solid, ideal and universal shape for society’ (17). The premodern age comes to an end with the ‘melting’, liquefying effect of the Enlightenment, and although perhaps appearing at first sight to hold the promise of a new era of freedom from the old solid structures and spaces and irrational bonds, in fact this period of liquidity turned out to be short-lived, sufficient only to loosen the old social and intellectual ties before the onset of a new period of solidity in the shape of modernity, which brings its own ‘solid’ conception of an ideal and universal utopian society. Solid modernity, in turn, comes to an end with our present-day phase of liquid modernity, a phase characterised by unprecedented and relentless change. In liquid modernity there is no universal telos, no overarching common purpose; the past is no longer a guide to the present, and British Journal of Sociology of Education 627
Learning, Work and Practice: New Understandings, 2012
Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world to represent occupational capability a... more Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world to represent occupational capability as the facility to make sense of a ‘world’ of occupation-specific meanings and involvements, a perspective which contrasts greatly with more traditional accounts centred on the dichotomies of theory-practice, thinking-doing, and so on. It seems to me that this alternative conception of occupational capability has a number of important implications for the role of work-based learning, and I would be interested in exploring these with a view to determining, amongst other things, what can and cannot be expected from workplace learning. Our getting clear about the substantive benefits of work-based learning, I would argue, necessitates acknowledging its limitations.
Notes on Contributors Series Editor's Preface Introduction, Gerard Lum Part I: Assessment and... more Notes on Contributors Series Editor's Preface Introduction, Gerard Lum Part I: Assessment and Accountability, Andrew Davis Part II: The Nature and Purpose of Educational Assessment - A Response to Andrew Davis, Christopher Winch Afterword: Can the Two Positions Be Reconciled?, Gerard Lum Bibliography Index
British Journal of Sociology of Education, Jun 16, 2014
ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take o... more ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take on contemporary society and his antagonism towards modernity will provide an appropriate platform from which to gain purchase on the problems of higher education so as to understand how that education might best respond to this context of radical social transformation. Oxenham arranges his text in the manner of the classical rhetoricians. While the Exordium provides an initial overview of the argument, the ensuing two chapters of the Narratio provide, first, an account of Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’ followed by – and drawing on Bauman’s analysis – Oxenham’s own characterisation of contemporary higher education as tending towards ‘liquid education’. Chapters 4–7 of the Confirmatio contrast current arrangements characterised as liquid education with the ‘traditional’ view of education through an analysis of four key concepts – authority, culture, reason and structure – which are regarded by Oxenham as key to understanding the shift from traditional to liquid education. Chapters 8–12 of the Reprehensio seek to offer a critique of liquid education that is consistent with Bauman’s reading of liquid modernity, and the book culminates with the Conclusio outlining two ‘conversations’ that, in Oxenham’s view, could serve as correctives to the shortcomings of recent trends in higher education. The account of liquid modernity in Chapter 2, drawn primarily from Bauman’s (2000) Liquid Modernity, will provide the reader not familiar with Bauman’s work with a useful overview. Bauman invokes the solid/liquid distinction as a metaphor to distinguish distinct stages in the history of modernity, and in his later work he employs the term ‘liquid modernity’ in order to avoid some of the confusions associated with the term ‘postmodern’. Of course, the key thing about this distinction is that whilst ‘solid’ suggests an identifiable shape and relative stability through time, ‘liquid’ suggests a contingency of form and a propensity to shift through time. Bauman thus characterises the pre-Enlightenment era of ‘pre-modernity’ in terms of solidity – and here Oxenham notes how Christianity could be said to promote a vision of a ‘solid, ideal and universal shape for society’ (17). The premodern age comes to an end with the ‘melting’, liquefying effect of the Enlightenment, and although perhaps appearing at first sight to hold the promise of a new era of freedom from the old solid structures and spaces and irrational bonds, in fact this period of liquidity turned out to be short-lived, sufficient only to loosen the old social and intellectual ties before the onset of a new period of solidity in the shape of modernity, which brings its own ‘solid’ conception of an ideal and universal utopian society. Solid modernity, in turn, comes to an end with our present-day phase of liquid modernity, a phase characterised by unprecedented and relentless change. In liquid modernity there is no universal telos, no overarching common purpose; the past is no longer a guide to the present, and British Journal of Sociology of Education 627
Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 Richard Smith 1 The Role of Policy in Philosophy of Educ... more Notes on Contributors vii Introduction 1 Richard Smith 1 The Role of Policy in Philosophy of Education: An Argument and an Illustration 5 John White 2 Alluring Ideas: Cherry Picking Policy from Around the World 18 Carrie Winstanley 3 The Only Answer is Innovation ... : Europe, Policy and the Big Society 34 Naomi Hodgson 4 A New Dawn for Faith-Based Education? Opportunities for Religious Organisations in the UK s New School System 47 Michael Hand 5 A Monstrous Regimen of Synthetic Phonics: Fantasies of Research-Based Teaching Methods versus Real Teaching 60 Andrew Davis 6 The Future of Teacher Education 74 Alis Oancea and Janet Orchard 7 Two Concepts of Assessment 89 Gerard Lum 8 Vocational and Civic Education: Whither British Policy? 103 Christopher Winch 9 Education under the Heel of Caesar: Reading UK Higher Education Reform through Shakespeare s Antony and Cleopatra 118 Sophie Ward 10 Improving the Student Experience 129 Elizabeth Staddon and Paul Standish 11 University Futures 147 Richard Smith 12 What Lessons Can We Learn? 160 W. A. Hart Index 170
ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take o... more ion, scholasticism and irrelevance. Oxenham’s hope is that Bauman’s essentially postmodern take on contemporary society and his antagonism towards modernity will provide an appropriate platform from which to gain purchase on the problems of higher education so as to understand how that education might best respond to this context of radical social transformation. Oxenham arranges his text in the manner of the classical rhetoricians. While the Exordium provides an initial overview of the argument, the ensuing two chapters of the Narratio provide, first, an account of Bauman’s notion of ‘liquid modernity’ followed by – and drawing on Bauman’s analysis – Oxenham’s own characterisation of contemporary higher education as tending towards ‘liquid education’. Chapters 4–7 of the Confirmatio contrast current arrangements characterised as liquid education with the ‘traditional’ view of education through an analysis of four key concepts – authority, culture, reason and structure – which are regarded by Oxenham as key to understanding the shift from traditional to liquid education. Chapters 8–12 of the Reprehensio seek to offer a critique of liquid education that is consistent with Bauman’s reading of liquid modernity, and the book culminates with the Conclusio outlining two ‘conversations’ that, in Oxenham’s view, could serve as correctives to the shortcomings of recent trends in higher education. The account of liquid modernity in Chapter 2, drawn primarily from Bauman’s (2000) Liquid Modernity, will provide the reader not familiar with Bauman’s work with a useful overview. Bauman invokes the solid/liquid distinction as a metaphor to distinguish distinct stages in the history of modernity, and in his later work he employs the term ‘liquid modernity’ in order to avoid some of the confusions associated with the term ‘postmodern’. Of course, the key thing about this distinction is that whilst ‘solid’ suggests an identifiable shape and relative stability through time, ‘liquid’ suggests a contingency of form and a propensity to shift through time. Bauman thus characterises the pre-Enlightenment era of ‘pre-modernity’ in terms of solidity – and here Oxenham notes how Christianity could be said to promote a vision of a ‘solid, ideal and universal shape for society’ (17). The premodern age comes to an end with the ‘melting’, liquefying effect of the Enlightenment, and although perhaps appearing at first sight to hold the promise of a new era of freedom from the old solid structures and spaces and irrational bonds, in fact this period of liquidity turned out to be short-lived, sufficient only to loosen the old social and intellectual ties before the onset of a new period of solidity in the shape of modernity, which brings its own ‘solid’ conception of an ideal and universal utopian society. Solid modernity, in turn, comes to an end with our present-day phase of liquid modernity, a phase characterised by unprecedented and relentless change. In liquid modernity there is no universal telos, no overarching common purpose; the past is no longer a guide to the present, and British Journal of Sociology of Education 627
Learning, Work and Practice: New Understandings, 2012
Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world to represent occupational capability a... more Drawing on Martin Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world to represent occupational capability as the facility to make sense of a ‘world’ of occupation-specific meanings and involvements, a perspective which contrasts greatly with more traditional accounts centred on the dichotomies of theory-practice, thinking-doing, and so on. It seems to me that this alternative conception of occupational capability has a number of important implications for the role of work-based learning, and I would be interested in exploring these with a view to determining, amongst other things, what can and cannot be expected from workplace learning. Our getting clear about the substantive benefits of work-based learning, I would argue, necessitates acknowledging its limitations.
Notes on Contributors Series Editor's Preface Introduction, Gerard Lum Part I: Assessment and... more Notes on Contributors Series Editor's Preface Introduction, Gerard Lum Part I: Assessment and Accountability, Andrew Davis Part II: The Nature and Purpose of Educational Assessment - A Response to Andrew Davis, Christopher Winch Afterword: Can the Two Positions Be Reconciled?, Gerard Lum Bibliography Index
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