Full Description
In education, as in other areas of human endeavour, we often strive for what is easiest, least troubling and most certain. We want clear, definitive answers to our questions. Ambiguity and complexity may be viewed as impediments to our progress as learners, and doubt will sometimes be portrayed as a sign of weakness. This book pushes back against these tendencies. Informed by the work of Giacomo Leopardi, Arthur Schopenhauer, Simone Weil, Maxine Greene, Miguel de Unamuno, and Simone de Beauvoir, it explores some of the uncomfortable, unsettling, less frequently visited 'edges' of education. These conceptual and lived spaces often blur the boundaries between the possible and the impossible, setting limits while also opening up unexpected opportunities for teaching and learning. They are there for us all to experience, if only we can open our eyes to see them and muster the courage to investigate them.
Contents
Introduction
The Edges of Education: Limits and Possibilities
Chapter 1
Nature, Reason and Education: Learning with Leopardi
Chapter 2
'The Clear Eye of the World': Schopenhauer on Pure Contemplation
Chapter 3
Education and the Ethics of Attention: The Work of Simone Weil
Chapter 4
The Stranger as Teacher: Maxine Greene, Madness and the Mystery of Education
Chapter 5
Education, Death and Immortality: From Unamuno to Beauvoir and Beyond
Credits
