es3220outline

University of Winchester

Education Studies

Education Studies (Early Childhood)

ES3220: Critiquing Higher Education

Semester 2, Tuesday 12 -2pm, MA6.

Marie Morgan

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Last updated on 12.03.10.

Learning Outcomes

1. Show an ability to employ theorists critically in relation to issues

2. Show an ability to use concepts as critical tools in discussing issues and questions as appropriate

3. Show an ability to employ theoretical perspectives as critical tools

4. Therein, to develop in their work a critical synthesis informed and deepened by appropriate use of theory as critique

Since medieval times the universities of Europe have been moulded, in one way or another, on the Platonic pattern, that is, as educational institutions of learning based on the teaching of universal knowledge (McMurray, unpublished). In recent years the principles and foundations of higher education have been challenged in various ways and many changes have occurred. Some of the changes higher education has faced (and continues to face) are practical changes, such as an increase in student numbers, students entering higher education from increasingly diverse backgrounds and so on. There has also been an increase in the type and nature of courses offered and a very significant increase, not only in the number of institutions offering them, but also in the type of institutions that now offer higher education.

In addition to this higher education faces many epistemological and philosophical challenges which not only bring into question its foundations and its past, but also bring into question and perhaps even threatens its future. Ironically, it is from within the Academy that these challenges are often brought. In recent, postmodern times, ideas of universal truth, reason and knowledge on which the traditional university and higher education are founded have been met with increasing scepticism and incredulity. No longer can higher education claim to offer a vision of education it seems. The search for truth, the teaching of knowledge and the development of reason can no longer claim to be its purpose in the way that it once could.

Not only do these philosophical and theoretical challenges have implications for the University, they also have many implications for subjectivity (how we think about ourselves), for who we are and how we are.

Some of the thinkers we will meet in the module argue that the traditional principles of higher education are outdated relics from the past. However, such arguments still leave higher education with a dilemma, if the principles of higher education are outdated and no longer acceptable in a world characterised by uncertainty, difference and incredulity, what are they to be replaced with?

We will begin the early weeks of the module amidst the fragmentation and uncertainty that the postmodern challenges to knowledge, truth, reason and subjectivity bring and consider some of their implications for higher education. From Week 5 onwards, we will explore the ideas of thinkers who have very different views about higher education and who, in one way or another, do offer us a vision of higher education, some directly in association with the university and some not.

Assessment

There will be two essays for this module, the first counts for 25% of the overall module mark, the second for 75%.

Essay 1:

Offer a postmodern critique of the University and higher education (1250 words).

Deadline: Tuesday Week 5

Hand back: Monday Week 8

Essay 2:

Critically analyse the view that there can never be a single coherent vision of higher education (2500 words).

You can negotiate your own essay title with me. Contact me by the end of Week 10 to discuss this.

Deadline: Friday of Week 12

Hand back: after Week 15

Reading packs

Packs will be available in the first session

Weekly outline

Week 1 – Introductions: Rorty and Subjectivity

This week we will introduce some of the themes of the module and begin to explore Richard Rorty’s arguments about subjectivity. We will begin to consider what this might mean for higher education as well as for how we think about ourselves.

Essential Reading:-

MacMurray, J. (Unpublished) Education in the Universities,

Rorty, R. (1993) Contingency Irony and Solidarity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp.xiii – xvi and pp.3-22)

Further Reading:-

Arcilla, R. (1995) For the Love of Perfection: Richard Rorty and Liberal Education, London: Routledge

Bauman, Z. (1989) Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge: Polity

Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R. and Standish, P. (Eds) (1998) Thinking again Education after postmodernity Westport: Bergin and Garvey (especially p1-6, Chapter 2 and p69-73)

Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R. and Standish, P. (2002) The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, London: Blackwell (Introduction)

Derrida, J. (2004) Eyes of the University: Right to Philosophy 2, California: Stanford University Press

Malachowski, A. (2002) Richard Rorty, Chesham: Acumen

Peters, A. and Ghirildelli, P. (Eds) (2001) Richard Rorty, Education, Philosophy and Politics, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield

Newman, J. H. (1996) The Idea of a University, London: Yale (Discourse V Knowledge its Own End)

Oakeshott, M. (1989) The Voice of Liberal Learning, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc.

Rorty, R. (1991) Objectivity, Relativism and Truth, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Rorty, R. (1993) Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Chapter 2)

Rorty, R. (1998) Truth and Progress, Philosophical Papers (Vol.3), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Rorty, R. (1999) Philosophy and Social Hope, London: Penguin (Chapters 3 and 4)

Usher, R. and Edwards, R. (1994) Postmodernism and Education London: Routledge (Chapter 1)

Wain, K. (2000) The Learning Society: Postmodern Politics International Journal of Lifelong Education, Vol. 19. No 1 (January – February 2000) 36-53 (This is available through the ejournal system)

Week 2 - The Function of Higher Education

Following on from last week we will consider Rorty’s claim that we should be cautious about the relationship between philosophy and education. We will also consider Lyotard’s argument that higher education’s primary concern is now performance and efficiency.

Essential Reading:-

Lyotard, J. (1999) The Postmodern Condition, Manchester: Manchester University Press (pp.47-53)

Rorty, R. (1990) The Dangers of Over-Philosophication – Reply to Arcilla and Nicholson, Educational Theory, Winter 1990, Vol. 40, No.1

Further Reading:-

Arcilla, R. (1995) For the Love of Perfection: Richard Rorty and Liberal Education, London: Routledge

Barnett, (2000) Realizing the University in the Age of Supercomplexity, Buckingham: Open University Press (pp35-46)

Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R. and Standish, P. (2002) The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, London: Blackwell (Chapter 9)

Cowen, R. (1996) Performativity, Post-modernity and the University Comparative Education, Volume 32 No. 2 1996 pp245-258 (This is available through the ejournal system)

Dhillon, P. and Standish, P. (2000) Just Education, London: Routledge (especially Chapter 13)

Fischman, G., McLaren, P., Sunker, H. and Lankshear, C. (2005) Critical Theories, Radical Pedagogies and Global Conflicts, Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield (Chapter 4)

Kwak, D. (2004) ‘Reconsideration of Rorty’s View of the Liberal Ironist and its Implications for Postmodern Civic Education’ Educational Philosophy and Theory, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2004 pp347-359

Lyotard, J. (1984) The Postmodern Condition, Manchester: Manchester University Press

Lyotard, J. (1992) The Postmodern Condition Explained to Children, London: Turnaround

Peters, M. A. and Ghiraldelli, P. Jr. (eds) Richard Rorty, Education and Philosophy, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, Inc. (Chapter 8)

Rorty, R. (1998) Truth and Progress, Philosophical Papers (vol. 3), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Tubbs, N. (2005) Philosophy of the Teacher, London: Blackwell (Chapter 7)

Usher, R. and Edwards, R. (1994) Postmodernism and Education London: Routledge (Chapter 1)

Week 3 - The Undermining of Higher Education

Barnett (1990) tells us that on the one hand higher education is going from strength to strength but on the other it is in a crisis of sorts. The university, he says, faces difficult challenges and, many ways is experiencing an undermining. We will also consider Barnett’s argument that the enlightenment ideals of the University have been taken over by a new kind of enlightenment.

Essential Reading:-

Barnett, R. (1990) The Idea of Higher Education, Buckingham: Open University press (pp3-6 and pp10-12)

Barnett, R. (2000) Realizing the University in the Age of Supercomplexity, Buckingham: Open University Press (pp23-34)

Further Reading:-

Aviram, A. (1992) The Nature of University Education Reconsidered (a response to Ronald Barnett’s The Idea of Higher Education) Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 26. No. 2, 1993

Barnett, R. (1988) ‘Does Higher Education have Aims?’ Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol 22, No. 2, 1988

Barnett, R. (1997) Higher Education: A Critical Business, Buckingham: Open University Press (Chapter 2)

Barnett, R. (1999) ‘The Coming of the Global Village: a tale of two inquiries’ Oxford Review of Education Vol. 25 (3) pp. 302-305

Barnett, R. (2000) Realizing the University in the Age of Supercomplexity, Buckingham: Open University Press (Chapters 2, 3, 6 and 12)

Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R. and Standish, P. (2002) The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, London: Blackwell (Chapter 12)

Blake, N., Smith, R. and Standish, P. (1998) The Universities We Need, London: Kogan Page

Giroux, H. (2001) Beyond the Corporate University, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield (Chapter 3)

Lyotard, J. (1984) The Postmodern Condition, Manchester: Manchester University Press

Lyotard, J. (1992) The Postmodern Condition Explained to Children, London: Turnaround

Week 4 – The Excellence of Higher Education

Bill Readings (1996) argued that the modern university is characterised by three things: reason, culture and excellence. This week we will explore his critique of excellence, which he argued, has become the ‘currency’ of higher education.

Essential Reading:-

Readings, B. (1999) The University in Ruins, London: Harvard University Press (pp21-43)

Further Reading:-

Giroux, H. (Ed) (2001) Beyond the Corporate University, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield (expecially Chapter 3)

Fischman, G., McLaren, P., Sunker, H. and Lankshear, C. (2005) Critical Theories, Radical Pedagogies and Global Conflicts, Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield (especially Chapter 4)

Readings, B. (1999) The University in Ruins, London: Harvard University Press

Readings, B. (1960) Introducing Lyotard, Art and Politics, London: Routledge

Wortham, S. (1999) Rethinking the University, Leverage and Deconstruction, Manchester: Manchester University press (Chapter 3)

Week 5 – Plato, Aristotle and the Ethical

This week we return to explore some of the more traditional approaches to higher education. We will begin this second part of the module with some very early views about higher education that continue, in one way or another, to have a great influence on the university.

Essential Reading:-

Plato (1999) The Republic London: Everyman (especially Book 7) (this is not in the reading pack). The Republic can be accessed online at http://www.literaturepage.com/read/therepublic.html

Aristotle (1931) Ethica Nichomachea London: Oxford University Press (Book 6)

Further Reading:-

Aristotle, Politics, Oxford: Clarendon Press (particularly book VII)

Aristotle, Protrepticus, - this is online at http://branemrys.blogspot.com/2005/06/aristotles-protreptic.html.

Blake, N., Smeyers, P., Smith, R., and Standish, P. (Eds) (2003) The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, London: Blackwell (Chapter 11)

Burnett, J. (Ed) (1967) Aristotle on Education London: Cambridge University Press

Coplestone,

Davidson, T. (1892) Aristotle and Ancient Educational Ideals, London: Heinemann

Dunne, J. (1993) Back to the Rough Ground, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press (Chapter 8)

Jaeger, W. (1971) Paideia, Oxford: Oxford University Press (There are three volumes of Paideia – all have sections on various aspects of Aristotle. These books are useful but you will need to be selective about which sections you read).

Jaeger, W. (1962) Aristotle, Oxford: Oxford University Press (you might find chapter IV particularly relevant).

Week 6 - Enlightened Reason?

This week we will look at how, growing from the humanist thinking of the 14^th and 15^th Centuries, humanity became worthy of thought in its own right (because it has the ability to reason).

Essential Reading:-

Diderot, D. (1992) Political Writings, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp6-11 and 82-85)

Kant, I (1979) The Conflict of the Faculties, London: University of Nebraska Press (pp23-29)

Further Reading:-

Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1997) Dialectic of Enlightenment, London: Verso (particularly The Concept of Enlightenment section)

Appelbaum, D. (1995) The Vision of Kant, Brisbane: Element Books

Bacon, F. (1906) The Advancement of Learning; and, New Atlantis, London: Oxford University Press (This is a long read – focus on New Atlantis and/or pick sections that might be of particular interest)

Caygill, H. (2000) A Kant Dictionary, London: Blackwell

Derrida, J. (2004) Eyes of the University: Right to Philosophy 2, California: Stanford University Press (various chapters of this book might be useful but p83-112 might be particularly significant to this week)

Foucault, M. (1984) What is Enlightenment (in Rainbow, P. (ed) (1984) The Foucault Reader, New York: Pantheon Books)

Kant, I. (1987) Critique of Judgment, Indianapolis: Hackett

Kant, I. (1997) The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals and what is Enlightenment, Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall

Week 7 – The Political

This week we look at the influence German Idealism has had on higher education through the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt and the theory of bildung. This brings us to consider higher education in terms of reason and culture and introduces us to the relation between self and world.

Essential Reading:-

Humboldt, W. von, ‘On the Spirit and Organisational framework of Intellectual Institutions in Berlin’, Minerva; vol 8, 1970 pp242-250 (trans. E. Schills)

Westbury, I., Hopmann, S. and Riquarts, K. (Eds) Teaching as a Reflective Practice, London: Erlbaum (Chapter 3 – Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Theory of Bildung)

Further Reading:-

Educational Philosophy and Theory, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2003 (This is a special edition on Bildung. You might find the Introduction by Walter Bauer and Ruins of Bildung in a Knowledge Society: Commenting on the debate about the future of Bildung by Michael Wimmer particularly useful. Also the articles, Do we (Still) Need the Concept of Bildung? By Jan Masschelein and Norbert Ricken and Perfecting the Individual: Wilhelm von Humboldt’s concept of anthropology, Bildung and mimesis by Christoph Wulf are worth a read)

Fichte, J. (1987) The Vocation of Man, Indianapolis: Hackett

Fichte, J. (1988) The Purpose of Higher Education, Maryland: Nightsun

Humboldt, W. von, (1969) The Limits of State Action, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (particularly Chapter II)

Lovlie, L., Mortensen, K., and Nordembo, S. (Eds) (2002) Educating Humanity, Bildung in Postmodernity, London: Blackwell (there are many relevant chapters in this book you might start with chapter 1 and chapter 5)

Luth, C. (1998) On Wilhelm von Humbolt’s Theory of Bildung, J. Curriculum Studies 1998, Vol 30, No. 1, 43-59

Oakeshott, M. (1989) The Voice of Liberal Learning, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc.

Rose, G. (1997) Mourning Becomes the Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Chapter 3)

Thompson, C. (2005) The Non-transparency of the Self and the Ethical Value of Bildung, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2005

Thompson, C. (2006) Adorno and the Borders of Experience: The Significance of the Nonidentical for a “Different” Theory of Bildung Educational Theory Vol 56, Number 1, 2006

Week 8 - The Religious – Faith and Intellect

For Cardinal Newman reason alone cannot lead to a truly higher education. This week we will explore Newman’s ideas about the relation between religion and reason, faith and intellect.

Essential Reading:-

Newman, J. H. (1996) The Idea of a University, London: Yale University Press

(Discourse on Religion in Relation to Learning)

Further Reading:-

Aquino, F. D. (2004) Communities of Informed Judgement, Newman’s Illative Sense and Accounts of Rationality, Washington: The Catholic University of America Press

Athie, R. (2003) Newman: A proposal for lifelong education Christian Higher Education 2:285-301, 203

Arcilla, R. (1995) For the Love of Perfection: Richard Rorty and Liberal Education, London: Routledge

Dunne, J. (1993) Back to the Rough Ground, Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press

Graham, G. (2002) Universities, The Recovery of an Idea, Throverton: Imprint

Kierkegaard, S. (1983) Fear and Trembling, Repetition, New Jersey: Princeton

Newman, J. H. (1996) The Idea of a University, London: Yale University Press

Newman, J. H. (1970) University Sermons London: S.P.C.K. (sections on faith and intellect/knowledge/reason)

Newman, J. H. (1906) Grammar of Assent, London, New York and Bombay: Longman’s Green and Co. (Particularly the sections on the illative sense)

Newman, J. H. (1979) The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, Oxford: Clarendon Press (there are many volumes of Newman’s Letters and Diaries Vol 2 might be particularly useful)

Oakeshott, M. (2001) The Voice of Liberal Learning, Indianapolis: Liberty fund, Inc.

Pelikan, J. (1992) The Idea of a University, a re-examination, London: Yale University Press (Chapter 4, 5, 6,7 in particular)

Humboltd, W. von (1969) The Limits of State Action, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Chapter VII)

Week 9 – The Religious – Self and Other

This week we will look at some ideas from Martin Buber and Rowan Williams and the insights that each offer into how our experiences of our relations with others can be educational.

Essential Reading:-

Hodes, A. (1975) An Encounter with Martin Buber, Harmondsworth: Penguin (pp135 - 152)

Williams, R. (2000) Lost Icons, Edinburgh: T & T Clark (Chapter 4)

Further Reading:-

Buber, M. (2002)The Way of Man, London: Routledge

(this is a very short book. P8-13 might be particularly useful)

Buber, M. (2002) Between Man and Man, London: Routledge

Buber, M. (2000) I and Thou, New York: Scriber

Kierkegaard, S. (1985) Philosophical Fragments, New Jersey: Princeton (especially p37-48 – this might be useful for next week too)

Williams, R. (2000) Lost Icons, Edinburgh: T & T Clark

Williams, R. (2003) Open to Judgement, London: Dartman, Longman and Todd (This is a book of short sermons and addresses by Rowan Williams – some of which are relevant to both this week and next. See The Ray of Darkness – p118-124 in particular )

http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/index2a.html (A wide selection of lectures and sermons by Rowan Williams can be found at this site)

Week 10 – The Relation

We have explored many different views of higher education in the last 9 weeks. All of the theories we have looked at are concerned to a greater or lesser extent, and in very different ways, with the relation. We saw how Richard Rorty considers the relation to be problematic and argues that it is philosophy’s preoccupation with the desire to make the incommensurable commensurable that enables outdated, oppressive educational practices to continue. In later weeks we have looked at thinkers for whom the work of the relation has a very different significance. This week we will start to think about the relation in a little more detail. We will also return now at the end of the module to reconsider some of the questions with which we began and ask ourselves whether a single, whole or coherent vision of higher education is possible.

Essential Reading

Tubbs, N. (2000) Mind the Gap: The Philosophy of Gillian Rose, Thesis Eleven, Number 60, February 2000: 42-60 (This is not in the reading pack but is available through the library ejournal system – http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Issue.asp?IssueID=74488 will take you directly to the edition of Thesis Eleven. Mind the Gap is article number 4.