Authority and the Teacher

Description

Authority and the Teacher seeks to overturn the notion that authority is a restrictive force within education, serving only to stifle creativity and drown out the voice of the student. William H. Kitchen argues that any education must have, as one of its cornerstones, a component which encourages the fullest development of knowledge, which serves as the great educational emancipator. In this version of knowledge-driven education, the teacher’s authority should be absolute, so as to ensure that the teacher has the scope to liberate their pupils. The pupil, in the avoidance of ignorance, can thus embrace what is rightfully theirs; the inheritance of intellectual riches passed down through time. By invoking the work of three major philosophers – Polanyi, Oakeshott and Wittgenstein – as well as contributions from other key thinkers on authority, this book underpins previous claims for the need for authority in education with the philosophical clout necessary to ensure these arguments permeate modern mainstream educational thinking. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication CONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION: AN EDUCATION FOR WHICH TO BE FEARFUL Rationale, aims and objectives PART ONE THE BACKGROUND 1 THE SOCIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND A sociological perspective 2 THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND The existing arguments for authority in education: Background reading for this book The challenge of progressivism:Right problem, wrong solution 3 A DEFINITION OF AUTHORITY The distinction between authorityand power 4 AUTHORITY: WHY ALL THE FUSS? The implications for learning The Meno paradox: A learning conundrum The implications for the foundations of knowledge: The Aristotelian problem The implications for education PART TWO THE ARGUMENT 5 POLANYI ON AUTHORITY A brief philosophical history of authority and doubt Polanyi’s fiduciary framework The importance of traditions and communities within the fiduciary framework The paradigmatic example: Learning how to speak Polanyi’s ‘theory of knowledge’: A critique Tacit knowledge or guided by rules? A proof by contradiction The rule- following paradox Concluding the proof by contradiction Back to Polanyi 6 OAKESHOTT ON AUTHORITY Teaching and learning: Oakeshott’s definition Information as ‘inert’ knowledge Judgement as ‘dynamic’ knowledge The need for both informationand judgement 7 THE NEED FOR AUTHORITY IN KNOWLEDGE, TEACHING AND LEARNING, AND EDUCATION Authority and knowledge Authority in teaching and learning The inbuilt safeguards of authority 8 WITTGENSTEIN ON AUTHORITY A foundationalist approach The categorial distinction between certainty and knowledge Bedrock certainty: Trust and training How ‘training’ and ‘trust’ depend on authority: Beyond the Wittgensteinian vision CONCLUSION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX