Critical Studies of Education

Critical Studies of Education Volume 3 Series Editor Shirley R. Steinberg, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada Editorial Board Rochelle Brock, University of North Carolina, USA Annette Coburn, University of the West of Scotland, UK Barry Down, Murdoch University, Australia Henry A. Giroux, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada Tanya Merriman, University of Southern California, USA Marta Soler, University of Barcelona, Spain John Willinsky, Stanford University, USA We live in an era where forms of education designed to win the consent of students, teachers, and the public to the inevitability of a neo-liberal, market-driven process of globalization are being developed around the world. In these hegemonic modes of pedagogy questions about issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism, religion, and other social dynamics are simply not asked. Indeed, questions about the social spaces where pedagogy takes place—in schools, media, corporate think tanks, etc.—are not raised. When these concerns are connected with queries such as the following, we begin to move into a serious study of pedagogy: What knowledge is of the most worth? Whose knowledge should be taught? What role does power play in the educational process? How are new media re-shaping as well as perpet- uating what happens in education? How is knowledge produced in a corporatized politics of knowledge? What socio-political role do schools play in the twenty-first century? What is an educated person? What is intelligence? How important are socio-cultural contextual factors in shaping what goes on in education? Can schools be more than a tool of the new American (and its Western allies’) twenty-first century empire? How do we educate well-informed, creative teachers? What roles should schools play in a democratic society? What roles should media play in a democratic society? Is education in a democratic society different than in a total- itarian society? What is a democratic society? How is globalization affecting education? How does our view of mind shape the way we think of education? How does affect and emotion shape the educational process? What are the forces that shape educational purpose in different societies? These, of course, are just a few examples of the questions that need to be asked in relation to our exploration of educational purpose. This series of books can help establish a renewed interest in such questions and their centrality in the larger study of education and the prepa- ration of teachers and other educational professionals. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13431 Jennifer M. Gidley Postformal Education A Philosophy for Complex Futures Jennifer M. Gidley, PhD Institute for Sustainable Futures University of Technology Sydney Ultimo, NSW, Australia Critical Studies of Education ISBN 978-3-319-29068-3 ISBN 978-3-319-29069-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29069-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016932891 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland I dedicate this book to the memory of Joe L. Kincheloe (1950–2008) who invited and encouraged me to write this book a few months before his untimely death. Joe’s radical love for the disenfranchised, his lively enthusiasm and the crazy wisdom in his writings on postformal education have inspired many of the ideas in my book. Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the influence of some of the brightest lights of last century: especially Rudolf Steiner, Jean Gebser and Sri Aurobindo for the gift of their inspirational integral evolutionary ideas; Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze for their spiritual courage to write living philosophy. I thank the pioneers of postformal reasoning, especially Michael Commons and Jan Sinnott, for challenging the orthodoxy of developmental psychology in the late 1970s and pushing forward with their research on postformal reasoning. I also thank the founders of postformal education Joe Kincheloe and Shirley Steinberg for their innovation and courage in extending critical pedagogy into multiple terrains. I am grateful to innovative contemporary educators, such as Ron Miller, Tobin Hart, Kieran Egan and many others who think, write and work with the best interests of young people in mind, and creative and complex contemporary thinkers such as Ken Wilber, Ervin La´szlo´,He´le`ne Cixous, Edgar Morin, Julia Kristeva, Basarab Nicolescu and many others whose work I have cited and for their inspiration. I acknowledge with thanks the permission to use copyright images of Robert Bednarik for the palaeoart sections of Chapter 4. I am deeply grateful to Earl de Blonville for his support and generosity of spirit throughout “the Springer book years” and for many illuminating dialogues about postformal reasoning and its significance for navigating uncertain, turbulent and complex futures. Last but not least, I thank my daughter Raina and my son Jesse for their love and ongoing encouragement of me and of my work. vii Endorsements It is with great enthusiasm that I read Jennifer Gidley’s masterful work that develops thought about education to a new level! The old, almost mechanistic, view of education must make way for what Gidley calls “postformal education” if we are to shape a rich future for human development. I’m surprised it took only ten years to write this amazing book, one that could turn thinking about education around. I could not ask for a better application of postformal theory! – Jan D. Sinnott, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Towson University, Maryland, USA. Author of The Development of Logic in Adulthood: Postformal Thought and Its Applications (1998) Springer. This is the book we have all been waiting for and should be read by educators, policy makers and everyone interested in the future through the transformative power of education in creating a wiser, more caring world with a vibrant future. This path-breaking book synthesizes the new thinking of philosophers in diverse areas of knowledge of the 20th century into a new model of integral education for a 21st century Integrative Age. There are many books on what is wrong with education but few on how to make fundamental systemic change. – David K. Scott, PhD, Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Leading thinker on integrating science and spirituality. Co-editor: Integrative Learning and Action: A Call to Wholeness (2006) Peter Lang Publishers. Jennifer Gidley is one of the most provocative and important thinkers in education today. Her vision draws on the epic story of the evolution of consciousness as she presents us with the past, present and possible future of education. Interweaving ancient wisdom and the latest research, Gidley articulates an inspiring new and radical revisioning of the nature, mission, and role of education. – Alfonso Montuori, PhD, Professor Transformative Studies Department, School of Consciousness and Transformation, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. Editor: Journeys in Complexity (2014) Routledge. ix x Endorsements An extraordinary triumph of scholarship that builds a bridge from the past to the future. It envisions futures of wisdom and gifts readers with everyday applicable concepts, empowering them to articulate a new world and language it into being. – Earl de Blonville, FRGS, Founder Postformal Leadership “One of the top six leadership thinkers in Australia” – BRW 2012 This important book is a labour of love that brims with profound thought, wide ranging research, an overarching spiritual vision and commitment to an educational renaissance that is desperately needed around our troubled world. By linking the evolution of consciousness, aesthetic values, child-development, the art of teaching, post-formal thinking, contempla- tive insights and social commitment it is a resource of great value. For today’s educational activists, who are concerned about the narrowness and over-competiveness that passes as educational policy in so many countries, it provides a solid and inspiring foundation for us to continue working in order to create an education that our children really need and deserve. – Christopher Clouder, FRSA, Co-editor: The Future of Childhood (2000) Hawthorn Press. CEO – European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (1991–2011). Pedagogical

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