Initiation, not Indoctrination
Confronting the grotesque in cultural education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8858231 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tim McDonough (a Unit One/Allen Hall, University of Illinois at Champaign, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 706-723 |
| Publication date | 2009-09-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Educational Philosophy and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-1857 • E-ISSN: 1469-5812 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2009.00554.x |
| OpenAlex | W2066433629 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 8 |
The goal of this article is to differentiate initiation from indoctrination, and to return a positive significance to the notion of initiation, as a pedagogy that contributes not only to the perpetuation of a particular form of life or community, but that provides the next generation with means to advance that knowledge beyond its existing boundaries. When we conflate the terms ‘initiation’ and ‘indoctrination’ or only mark a minor difference between the two, we lose meaning. The explanatory and predictive power of our statements is weakened by this failure to take seriously the difference between these two terms. By ignoring the progressive potential in initiation, and condemning that pedagogy as uncritical, educational theorists fail to recognize the intermediate steps that need to be taken in educating a student to be a creative and responsive thinker within a cultural, i.e. symbolic, context. Within the pedagogy of initiation crucial methods for teaching students to engage existing representations of truth, rules of practice, and principles of meaning‐making are employed. This article draws upon case studies and theorists in anthropology to offer a description of initiation that holds progressive potential, and explains the possible relevance of initiatory pedagogy for multicultural education
Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ideology · Indoctrination · Meaning (existential · Multiculturalism · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Diverse Music Education Insights · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Law · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics
Self-selection or indoctrination in the study of (standard) economics
La educación y lo público en la Pedagogía liberal y en la Pedagogía crítica
Teaching Children to Ignore Alternatives is—Sometimes—Necessary
Anarchist education and the paradox of pedagogical authority
Embodied performativity and agricultural identity
| Citations per year | 0.71 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2026 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |