On Education and Initiation

On Education and Initiation

Bibliographic Data

ID11953226
AuthorsMichael Luntley (University of Warwick, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume43
Pages41-56
Publication date2009-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Philosophy of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8249 • E-ISSN: 1467-9752
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9752.2010.00764.x
OpenAlexW1950324139
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited8

In this paper I take up Peters' invitation to think of education in terms of initiation. I argue that the concept of initiation demands much closer scrutiny and analysis in order to provide a substantive thesis about education. A key challenge concerns how we conceive of the initiate. The very idea of initiation suggests that, in some interesting sense, the pupil qua initiate joins in learning activities; their role is more than that of passive recipient of values and belief. But it is a substantive challenge to give a principled account of the trajectory from initiate to full member of a learning community. It requires that we take seriously the question: ‘How can a pupil be engaged in something that they do not yet understand?’. This can be taken as an abstract philosophical question—a ‘How possible’ question closely connected to the paradox of learning—and also as an empirical question about the preferred specifics of a pedagogy for engaging learners. I sketch options for answering the first and review how my preferred option segues into the details of an answer to the latter

Epistemology · Order (exchange · Political science · Scrutiny · Sketch · Sociology · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education · Wittgensteinian philosophy and applications

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