Abstract
This article argues that children represent one vanguard of an emergent shift in Western subjectivity, and that adult-child dialogue, especially in the context of schooling, is a key locus for the epistemological change that implies. Following Herbert Marcuse's invocation of a 'new sensibility', the author argues that the evolutionary phenomenon of neoteny-the long formative period of human childhood and the pedomorphic character of humans across the life cycle-makes of the adult-collective of school a primary site for the reconstruction of belief. After exploring child-adult dialogue more broadly as a form of dialectical interaction between what Dewey called 'impulse' and 'habit', three key dimensions of dialogic schooling are identified, all of which are grounded in a fourth: the form of dialogical group discourse called community of philosophical inquiry (CPI), which is based on the problematisation and reconstruction of concepts through critical argumentation. As a discourse-model, CPI grounds practice in all of the dialogic school's emergent curricular spaces, whether science, mathematics, literature, art, or philosophy. Second, it opens a functional space for shared decision-making and collaborative governance, making of school an exemplary model of direct democracy. Finally, CPI as a site for critical interrogation of concepts encountered in the curriculum (e.g. 'alive', 'justice', 'system', 'biosphere') and as a site for democratic governance leads naturally to expression in activist projects that model an emergent 'new reality principle' through concrete solutions to practical problems on local and global levels.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 100-117 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Philosophy of Education |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Feb 2014 |
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Neoteny, dialogic education and an emergent psychoculture : Notes on theory and practice. / Kennedy, David.
In: Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 48, No. 1, 01.02.2014, p. 100-117.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Neoteny, dialogic education and an emergent psychoculture
T2 - Notes on theory and practice
AU - Kennedy, David
PY - 2014/2/1
Y1 - 2014/2/1
N2 - This article argues that children represent one vanguard of an emergent shift in Western subjectivity, and that adult-child dialogue, especially in the context of schooling, is a key locus for the epistemological change that implies. Following Herbert Marcuse's invocation of a 'new sensibility', the author argues that the evolutionary phenomenon of neoteny-the long formative period of human childhood and the pedomorphic character of humans across the life cycle-makes of the adult-collective of school a primary site for the reconstruction of belief. After exploring child-adult dialogue more broadly as a form of dialectical interaction between what Dewey called 'impulse' and 'habit', three key dimensions of dialogic schooling are identified, all of which are grounded in a fourth: the form of dialogical group discourse called community of philosophical inquiry (CPI), which is based on the problematisation and reconstruction of concepts through critical argumentation. As a discourse-model, CPI grounds practice in all of the dialogic school's emergent curricular spaces, whether science, mathematics, literature, art, or philosophy. Second, it opens a functional space for shared decision-making and collaborative governance, making of school an exemplary model of direct democracy. Finally, CPI as a site for critical interrogation of concepts encountered in the curriculum (e.g. 'alive', 'justice', 'system', 'biosphere') and as a site for democratic governance leads naturally to expression in activist projects that model an emergent 'new reality principle' through concrete solutions to practical problems on local and global levels.
AB - This article argues that children represent one vanguard of an emergent shift in Western subjectivity, and that adult-child dialogue, especially in the context of schooling, is a key locus for the epistemological change that implies. Following Herbert Marcuse's invocation of a 'new sensibility', the author argues that the evolutionary phenomenon of neoteny-the long formative period of human childhood and the pedomorphic character of humans across the life cycle-makes of the adult-collective of school a primary site for the reconstruction of belief. After exploring child-adult dialogue more broadly as a form of dialectical interaction between what Dewey called 'impulse' and 'habit', three key dimensions of dialogic schooling are identified, all of which are grounded in a fourth: the form of dialogical group discourse called community of philosophical inquiry (CPI), which is based on the problematisation and reconstruction of concepts through critical argumentation. As a discourse-model, CPI grounds practice in all of the dialogic school's emergent curricular spaces, whether science, mathematics, literature, art, or philosophy. Second, it opens a functional space for shared decision-making and collaborative governance, making of school an exemplary model of direct democracy. Finally, CPI as a site for critical interrogation of concepts encountered in the curriculum (e.g. 'alive', 'justice', 'system', 'biosphere') and as a site for democratic governance leads naturally to expression in activist projects that model an emergent 'new reality principle' through concrete solutions to practical problems on local and global levels.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84894321656&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9752.12054
DO - 10.1111/1467-9752.12054
M3 - Article
VL - 48
SP - 100
EP - 117
JO - Journal of Philosophy of Education
JF - Journal of Philosophy of Education
SN - 0309-8249
IS - 1
ER -