The Meaning of an Education
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Meaning of an Education Lifelong Learning and the Blues by LINDSAY C. MITCHELL M.A. The University of British Columbia, 2002 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Curriculum Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2010 © Lindsay C. Mitchell, 2010 ii Abstract All knowledge is individually constructed and contextually situated. Plainly put, different things mean different things to different people, under different circumstances, in different places, and at different times. What then is the meaning of an education? Pragmatic philosophy holds the meaning of something to be intrinsically associated with its functional purpose or effect.1 It is what it does. Education is thus commonly viewed as a way of instructing children and young persons in preparation for their making informed career choices leading to positive and productive participation in mainstream society as responsible adults. Current definitions include the upgrading, retraining and re-certification of mature workers. Long considered a pipeline to social and material prosperity, education is generally programmed to succeed. But no two learners are the same, and everyone’s experience is unique. What about the less well served, the ones that don’t fit in — the ones flushed out the system’s other end? What meaning does education hold for them? This exercise examines one such experience — my own. There is very little difference between one man and another, but what little there is . is very important. 2 William James, 1897 1 “Consider what effects, that conceivably might have practical bearings, we conceive the object of your conception to have. Then your conception of these effects is the whole of your conception of the object” (Peirce, 1905, 5.438) 2 American pragmatist philosopher William James (1842-1910). From The Importance of Individuals” (1897). Found in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (1992, 546, 12) iii Contents Abstract........................................................................................................... ii Contents ......................................................................................................... iii Dedication...................................................................................................... iv The Setup ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................ 2 Inquiry Focus.............................................................................. 7 Mode of Inquiry ......................................................................... 9 Mode of Analysis ..................................................................... 19 The Story....................................................................................................... 26 First Class................................................................................. 27 Hell-ementary School............................................................... 42 Cruel Britannia......................................................................... 59 Sick-ondary School .................................................................. 67 Premature Matriculation........................................................... 84 Circus World ............................................................................ 97 My Home Town ..................................................................... 103 Driving Mr. Dixon ................................................................. 142 The Iceman Cometh ............................................................... 155 T-Bone Shuffle....................................................................... 158 Driftin’ Blues.......................................................................... 163 Rez Blues................................................................................ 173 That’s Entertainment.............................................................. 177 Baldry, Byrnes & Billy .......................................................... 207 Unfinished Business............................................................... 217 Bringing It All Back Home.................................................... 234 Interpretation & Analysis............................................................................ 239 Bibliography ............................................................................................... 277 iv Love to all 1 The Setup 2 Introduction People tend to self-identify with their chosen occupation or profession (Becker & Carper, 1956). While some drive trucks for a living, others cultivate the land, teach school, work in banks, advise on financial matters, etc. I’m a working musician, a guitarist by trade, with more than four decades of experience in the field. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done for a living. As such, it’s who I am. Musicianeering is a “deviant” mode of employment, historically fraught with uncertainty and peril. (Becker, 1963) And blues musicians represent an even further occupational subset — a tribe within a tribe, figuratively akin to itinerant peddlers and carnival folk, with a correspondingly oblique perspective on life. Blues music is traditionally performed late at night, or in the wee hours, on the fringes of society, in commercial establishments licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages. Typically companied by libidinous dancing, raunchy language, and general carousing, lengthy participation has been known to conjure forth a host of unwelcome daemons — like alcoholism, drug addiction, heart disease, mental illness, economic hardship, emotional distress, and domestic discord, etc. (Becker, 1963, 1982; Murray, 1976) What combination of circumstances and events might prompt a rational young person to pursue occupational deviance? How might someone actually go about choosing the other side? What about me? Was I just simply favourably predisposed as a child, innocently attracted by its lurid sheen? Or, was I prodded in that direction. Like everyone, I attended school as a youngster. Might that have played a role? 3 Others in my graduating cohort3 moved on to the standard variety of career pursuits, becoming tradesmen, craftsmen, contractors, salespersons, housewives, clerks, bankers, managers, journalists, bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, real estate agents, doctors, dentists, and lawyers, civil servants, police officers, and politicians, etc., etc. Granted, one became a famous syndicated cartoonist,4 and two went to prison for murdering some poor fellow in Stanley Park, but conversation at a recent class reunion5 indicated that the rest went on to lead relatively normal lives, with most now approaching comfortable retirement. I wasn’t the only budding professional musicians in my class — there were two others (also male). But unlike me (self-taught with modest technical facility), they were conventionally trained, with years of conservatory instruction between them. Not surprisingly, one went on to teach theory and composition at community college, and another became organist and choirmaster at a prominent Vancouver tabernacle. Me? I ran away and joined the circus. In addition to being an occupational deviant, I am also an educational oddity — a sexagenarian apprentice in an area of academic inquiry known as Curriculum Studies. The word “curriculum” is commonly associated with the education of children and young adults in institutionalized group settings, with research primarily focussing on pedagogical practice, and the efficient delivery of skills and information. 3 Class of 1965, North Vancouver Senior Secondary School, North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. 4 Lynn Johnson 5 The 40th, in 2005. 4 But William Pinar posits its Latin root as currere, meaning to “run the course.” (Pinar et al, 2000) Education is thus conceived in more expansive terms — not simply as a customary rite of passage for young people, with emphasis on peak performance and punctual completion, but a lifelong journey, with inquiry focussing more on the expedition itself — the unfolding landscape, and the instructional nature of persons, places, and events encountered along the way. Thus, we have the term curriculum vitae, a formal compendium of one’s educational and work-related achievements. We also have the similarly derived “careering” or “careening” — words paradoxically invoking the more dangerously unpredictable and out-of-control aspects of existence. I put off going to college until age forty-six, then began attending with classmates barely older than my own children. The desks were small and the daily schedule tight, but despite the aching joints and monstrous migraines — I managed to score well. From there I transferred to a full-fledged university (UBC), and in lengthy due course received both B.A. and M.A.certification. There’s a reason why education tends to occur when people are young — because later on it’s much more difficult. (Scheutze, 2001; Rubenson & Xu, 1997) Grown-up people in the world have grown-up problems and responsibilities — family, career, finances, illness, divorce, even death (ideally not one’s own). Yes, the older you are the tougher it gets. (De Beauvior, 1970) Society does tend to privilege younger people’s projects (Biggs, 1993; 1999), thus relatively few choose to embark later on in life, and fewer still prevail. And those who do, buffeted and