Re–Imagining Relationships in Education: Ethics, Politics and Practices

Is “education” simply a faceless enterprise concerned with the sterile transmission of knowledge? Or is it that the sum of interpersonal connections, attachments, and affiliations between teachers and students better represents the pinnacle of a true education?  Bringing state–of–the–art theoretical and philosophical insights to bear on current teaching practices, Re–Imagining Relationships in Education offers a fundamental reconsideration and re–imagining of relationships in contemporary education. Featuring contributions from a wide range of international theorists of varying philosophical specialties, the majority of essays reframe the issue of relationships between teachers and students as intrinsically linked with the ethical and political nature of education. Others extend our conceptions of relationships beyond the humanist enterprise and analyse how relationships matter a great deal to the larger demands currently placed on educational practices—those by the state, community, local traditions, and global trends. Authors draw on a wide range of philosophical traditions—from Arendt, Beckett, Irigaray and Wollstonecraft to name but a few—while exploring themes of dependence, performativity, embodiment, sexual difference, and social justice. Innovative and thought–provoking, Re–Imagining Relationships in Education offers illuminating insights into the potential of relationships in education to reshape the practice of 21st–century learning.

Notes on Contributors Editorial Morwenna Griffiths, Marit Honerød Hoveid, Sharon Todd and Christine Winter 1 Re–reading Diotima: Resources for a Relational Pedagogy Rachel Jones 2 Towards a Thinking and Practice of Sexual Difference: Putting the Practice of Relationship at the Centre Caroline Wilson 3 ‘New Fatherhood’ and the Politics of Dependency Amy Shuffelton 4 Between Body and Spirit: The Liminality of Pedagogical Relationships Sharon Todd 5 ‘You Have to Give of Yourself’: Care and Love in Pedagogical Relations Marit Honerød Hoveid and Arnhild Finne 6 Another Relationship to Failure: Reflections on Beckett and Education Aislinn O′Donnell 7 Curriculum Knowledge, Justice, Relations: The Schools White Paper (2010) in England Christine Winter 8 Re–Thinking Relations in Human Rights Education: The Politics of Narratives Rebecca Adami 9 Happiness Rich and Poor: Lessons From Philosophy and Literature Ruth Cigman 10 Guattari′s Ecosophy and Implications for Pedagogy Heather Greenhalgh–Spencer 11 Educational Relationships: Rousseau, Wollstonecraft and Social Justice Morwenna Griffiths Index

Morwenna Griffiths is the Chair of Classroom Learning in the Moray House School of Education at Edinburgh University. Her books include Feminisms and the Self (1995), Educational Research for Social Justice (1998), and Action for Social Justice in Education (2003).  Marit Honerød Hoveid is an Associate Professor at Department of Education at NTNU, Trondheim and is currently the Secretary General of EERA (European Educational Research Association). Hoveid was involved in S–TEAM a 7th framework EU Project on inquiry based methods in science and science teacher education and co–edited a book from this project.  Sharon Todd is Professor of Education at Stockholm University. She is the author of Learning from the Other: Levinas, Psychoanalysis and Ethical Possibilities in Education (2003) and Toward an Imperfect Education: Facing Humanity, Rethinking Cosmopolitanism (2009). Christine Winter is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Sheffield. She is Sheffield Education Pathway Lead for the White Rose Doctoral Training Centre and the former Director of the University of Sheffield EdD Programme.