Paper 1: Linking Paper Table of Contents: Linking Paper 1. Introduction 4 2. The argument of the Portfolio Papers 4 3. Methodology 6 a) Philosophical perspective 6 b) Positioning of the author in the Portfolio 7 3 Paper 1: Linking Paper 1. Introduction This Portfolio consists of seven closely related Papers, of varying length, which propose an approach towards the Philosophy of Education congruent with Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as it has come to be practised in the State of New South Wales, Australia. 2. The argument of the Portfolio Papers Each Paper in the Portfolio develops a particular concept and that concept then, is integrated into the broad concept of education being proposed. i) This first Paper provides an overview that links the Papers of the Portfolio as an integrated project; it also provides relevant information about this author that positions the writer’s professional context in the Portfolio. ii) The second Paper examines three background matters relevant to any discussion of CPE as professional education. It begins by noting what is common in the practices of medical doctors and hospital Chaplains and what is distinctive in those practices before concentrating upon the role of the hospital Chaplain and outlining the current practice for the training and formation of Chaplains in the State of New South Wales. After a short comment on the issue of Modernity, the Paper notes the contribution of key figures in the history of CPE in the United States of America and the formulation of the signature pedagogy of the profession of the hospital Chaplain. It is against that background that the following Paper unfolds. iii) The third Paper develops a concept of education drawing heavily upon the work of the English Analytical Philosopher of Education, R.S. Peters, and contends that Clinical Pastoral Education programmes offered by the New South Wales College of Clinical Pastoral Education Incorporated (NSWCCPE Inc.—an Inter-Christian Association for the education of Christian Chaplains for Denominational pastoral care in hospitals, aged care facilities, prisons and factories) is an initiation into three worthwhile traditions, namely the traditions of Clinical Pastoral Education, of Denominational Christian Pastoral Care, and of Liberal Education. Drawing upon Aristotle it is maintained that the initiation is through a rhetorical strategy; in the first place it is a rhetoric of identity and a rhetoric of invitation, and secondly, the key rhetorical proof is the ethos of the CPE Supervisors for the CPE Unit. The signature 4 pedagogy of CPE methodology consists in the use of Verbata in the Supervisory Sessions, both individual and group, and the Verbata are the rhetorical tactic of the persuasion. The Verbata share a family resemblance to both case reasoning and case studies of qualitative research methodology. iv) The fourth Paper recognises that the educational context of CPE is tertiary and so there is an examination of what the heart of Liberal Education is at that level. Given that the work of Philosophers of Education used in developing a concept of education had been focussing on School Education, it is relevant to show what the key dimension of Liberal Education is in the context of Higher Learning. Further, given the practice of CPE Units being part of the Master of Arts (Chaplaincy) degree, the New South Wales College of Clinical Pastoral Education Incorporated (NSWCCPE Inc.) grants a raft of awards as a member of the Sydney College of Divinity, a Commonwealth recognised tertiary institution, it is relevant to examine what is the core of Liberal Education in that context of tertiary education. This Paper draws on the insights of J. H. Newman to argue that it consists in being able to reason clearly and accurately. But CPE does not focus upon theoretical academic disciplines but on teaching and forming the student to be a wise practitioner in the concrete situation of pastoral care as a denominational Chaplain. v) The fifth Paper uses insights from case reasoning on the one hand, and on the other, from case studies in Qualitative Research Methodology, to contend that the knowledge generated through the use of the Verbata, is trustworthy. Therefore the educational methodology of the student’s Verbatim, presented and discussed in the supervisory sessions, is a trustworthy tactic that complements the rhetorical strategy of initiation. vi) The sixth Paper develops the concept of educating the wise practitioner drawing heavily upon the long practice of Harvard University Medical and Business Schools and utilising the phronesiology of Aristotle, Aquinas and Newman. The argument is that “wisdom” is not “taught” but is honed through reflective practice under the guidance of a mentor. That learning can be understood more deeply through the use of Vygotsky’s “zone of proximal development” for the individual student, and in the group setting of CPE supervision, insights from Winnicott, Klein, and Bion further enrich the educational concept being proposed. 5 vii) Then in the seventh and final Paper, the argument developed across this Portfolio is summarised, and improvements for professional practice in light of the philosophical concept of Education articulated are proposed. Observations are offered in regard to some problems associated with Chaplaincy practice in late capitalist society. Some comments are made around student assessment and possible further work is noted. 3. Methodology Two strands of the methodology used in this Portfolio warrant comment, the philosophical perspective and the position of the author in the Portfolio. A brief description of the philosophical position will be offered, and then, at greater length, the position of the author will be presented to provide an authorial warrant for the professional voice of the writer. a) Philosophical perspective The Papers of this Portfolio have been articulated within two broad schools of philosophical thought. On the one hand I have drawn on Aristotelean thought for an epistemic realism and rationalism, both deductive and inductive, along with an understanding of rhetorical thought; on the other hand, the philosophy of education is formulated within the British Analytical Philosophical tradition that focuses upon the analysis of concepts and arguments as used in English language. The philosophical method of analysis itself is as old as Plato (Bowen & Hobson 1974:346) but in the early years of the Twentieth Century philosophers suggested that such analysis belonged to the essence of philosophy (Bowen & Hobson 1974:346). In the 1930s the approach was developed by the Logical Positivist to include accounts of the general structure of human language and thought and there was a critical concern with language and how meaning was constructed. The approach was challenged by Quine (1908–2000) who contended that there were no determinate structures to thought and language for the philosopher to analyse or assess (Baldwin 2006:13), but many were not persuaded by his argument and were of the view that analytical philosophy has values quite sufficient to ensure it a role as a central philosophical method for the foreseeable future (Baldwin 2006:14). The later Wittgenstein and the Oxford ordinary language philosophers were not concerned with the underlying structures of language but analysed the way we speak to establish our concepts. In brief, the approach is accurately described as a style or manner of philosophy and historically the approach was used by R.S. Peters and others to develop an account of the concept of education in the school setting. Here I am following principally R.S. Peters and I will be seeking to 6 examine matters primarily from a philosophical perspective. b) Positioning of the author in the Portfolio The general approach being followed in this Portfolio is that as outlined by Maxwell and Kupczyk-Romanczuk (2009), which includes the positioning of the Portfolio author in the Portfolio’s investigation, indicating the professional background being brought to that Professional Doctorate research study (Maxwell & Kupczyk-Romanczuk 2009:6–7). Muldoon (2010) records how useful she found Maxwell and Kupczyk-Romanczuk’s metaphor of the facade of a Classical Greek Temple building with the writer standing on its steps; my approach is less linear than that of Muldoon. While conceding the recognition of the role of the authorial voice in the project that seeks to contribute to the improvement of the profession, I note the limitation of the metaphor that is one dimensional rather than three and which does not include the time factor, something that is important if an author is seeking to “improve professional practice”. At the same time I note Bourdieu’s (1996) point that the intellectual/researcher is “not ethically neutral” or “an impartial spectator” (Bordieu 1996:257); moving beyond the concept of the “total individual” (Sartre) and the “specific intellectual” Bourdieu proposes the “collective individual” of a collaborative critical effort of a group of scholars (Bourdieu 1996:259). The focus is upon “scholarship with commitment” (Bourdieu 1999), in other words bypassing “the canonical opposition that is made, especially in the Anglo-American tradition between “scholarship” and “commitment” (Bourdieu 1999:180). Following Bourdieu, if one treats educational research as a field, then it follows that it is necessary “to situate the individual researcher within it” (Grenfell 2007:246). Accordingly, while recognising the constraints of the metaphor of the Temple facade, I turn now to outline my professional background which positions me in this project. I am a Roman Catholic Clergyman educated at St Patrick’s College Manly (NSW), graduating from that Pontifical Faculty of Theology with the postgraduate Licentiate in Theology. After fifteen months in Parish pastoral responsibilities at a junior level, I was appointed to supervise Religious Education in the Catholic Schools in the small rural Diocese of Armidale in Northern New South Wales; the Diocese had an area of 91,500 square kilometres (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference 2001:52).