Trains

Attention, and an ethics of the Other

Bibliographic Data

ID12425293
AuthorsBetzabe Torres Olave (0000-0003-3599-1310, Twitter (United States), corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume46
Issue5
Pages876-890
Publication date2024-02-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Education Pedagogy & Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1071-4413 • E-ISSN: 1556-3022
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10714413.2024.2314867
OpenAlexW4391821150
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited14

In this article, I think with trains to reflect about education, its rhythms, trajectories, and the possibilities that "attentive looking through windows" can afford us in moving toward just futures.Using two of Alfonsina Storni's poems, the yellow train of Cien aos de soledad as well as educational philosophy, I argue that trains can shape a way of thinking that serves standardizing purposes; which do not allow us to see the afflictions of the world.At the same time, trains can be a space in which fugitive time practices can be encouraged.By using Simone Weil's notions of attention, I argue that a practice of attention is needed to attend to world afflictions, advance an ethics of the Other, and bring those afflictions to responsive collective spaces.In this line of thinking, trains that both pull together collective discussion and provide windows to look through are necessary.As educators, an essential task is finding ways to pedagogically value the diversity of such "look-through windows" to find collective conversations that disrupt dominant timescapes and reassert humanity for educators and students through attentive practices as acts of love.Sitting on a train from the airport to central London, I think of my final destination: Leeds.I am preparing for a meeting, mulling over the changes I need to make.I am moving, while at the same time static.I cannot forget the direction I need to take, while at the same time I need to remain focused on the ideas for this meeting as well as the luggage sitting at my feet, and, if I am lucky, I may even manage to catch a glimpse of the landscape through the window.This article is about trains, destinations, and what happens in between.Hopefully, something will be said about the importance of that middle part of the journey, the contemplative period, the practice of attention, and here I am not just talking about trains.Trains have taught me a lot recently; they have been my pedagogical tool to think about time, direction, progress, and particularly about the need for attention: Why is attention important?How can we cultivate attention as educators?I will attempt to advance some answers to these questions (while on) through trains

Archaeology · Cognitive science · Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Geography · Political science · Train · Engineering · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism · Psychology

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