Table Of ContentCritical Studies of Education 3
Jennifer M. Gidley
Postformal
Education
A Philosophy for Complex Futures
Critical Studies of Education
Volume 3
Series Editors
Shirley R. Steinberg, University of Calgary, Montreal, Que´bec, Canada
Kenneth Tobin, The Graduate Center, City University of New York,
New York, New York, USA
Editorial Board
Kevin Alderson, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Rochelle Brock, University of Indiana, Gary, USA
Alejandro J. Gallard, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro,
Georgia, USA
Bettina Love, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
Christine Quail, State University of New York, Oneonta, USA
Leila Villaverde, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA
Peter Charles Taylor, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
John Willinsky, Stanford University, USA
Weliveinanerawhereformsofeducationdesignedtowintheconsentofstudents,
teachers,andthepublictotheinevitabilityofaneo-liberal,market-drivenprocess
ofglobalizationarebeingdevelopedaroundtheworld.Inthesehegemonicmodes
of pedagogy questions about issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism,
religion, and other social dynamics are simply not asked. Indeed, questions about
thesocialspaceswherepedagogytakesplace—inschools,media,corporatethink
tanks,etc.—arenotraised.Whentheseconcernsareconnectedwithqueriessuchas
thefollowing,webegintomoveintoaseriousstudyofpedagogy:Whatknowledge
is of the most worth? Whose knowledge should be taught? What role does power
playintheeducationalprocess?Howarenewmediare-shapingaswellasperpet-
uating what happens in education? How is knowledge produced in a corporatized
politicsofknowledge?Whatsocio-politicalroledoschoolsplayinthetwenty-first
century? What is an educated person? What is intelligence? How important are
socio-culturalcontextualfactorsinshapingwhatgoesonineducation?Canschools
be more than a tool of the new American (and its Western allies’) twenty-first
centuryempire?Howdoweeducatewell-informed,creativeteachers?Whatroles
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
fewexamplesofthequestionsthatneedtobeaskedinrelationtoourexplorationof
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-
rationofteachersandothereducationalprofessionals.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13431
Jennifer M. Gidley
Postformal Education
A Philosophy for Complex Futures
JenniferM.Gidley,PhD
InstituteforSustainableFutures
UniversityofTechnologySydney
Ultimo,NSW,Australia
CriticalStudiesofEducation
ISBN978-3-319-29068-3 ISBN978-3-319-29069-0 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-29069-0
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016932891
©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2016
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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’sradicalloveforthedisenfranchised,his
livelyenthusiasmandthecrazywisdominhis
writings on postformal education have
inspired many of the ideas in my book.
Acknowledgements
Iwishtoacknowledgetheinfluenceofsomeofthebrightestlightsoflastcentury:
especially Rudolf Steiner, Jean Gebser and Sri Aurobindo for the gift of their
inspirational integral evolutionary ideas; Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and
GillesDeleuzefortheirspiritualcouragetowritelivingphilosophy.
Ithankthepioneersofpostformalreasoning,especiallyMichaelCommonsand
JanSinnott,forchallengingtheorthodoxyofdevelopmentalpsychologyinthelate
1970sandpushingforwardwiththeirresearchonpostformalreasoning.Ialsothank
thefoundersofpostformaleducationJoeKincheloeandShirleySteinbergfortheir
innovationandcourageinextendingcriticalpedagogyintomultipleterrains.
Iamgratefultoinnovativecontemporaryeducators,suchasRonMiller,Tobin
Hart, Kieran Egan and many others who think, write and work with the best
interestsofyoungpeopleinmind,andcreativeandcomplexcontemporarythinkers
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
BednarikforthepalaeoartsectionsofChapter4.
IamdeeplygratefultoEarldeBlonvilleforhissupportandgenerosityofspirit
throughout “the Springer book years” and for many illuminating dialogues about
postformal reasoning and its significance for navigating uncertain, turbulent and
complexfutures.Lastbutnotleast,IthankmydaughterRainaandmysonJessefor
theirloveandongoingencouragementofmeandofmywork.
vii
Endorsements
ItiswithgreatenthusiasmthatIreadJenniferGidley’smasterfulworkthatdevelops
thoughtabouteducationtoanewlevel!Theold,almostmechanistic,viewofeducation
mustmakewayforwhatGidleycalls“postformaleducation”ifwearetoshapearichfuture
forhumandevelopment.I’msurprisedittookonlytenyearstowritethisamazingbook,one
thatcouldturnthinkingabouteducationaround.
Icouldnotaskforabetterapplicationofpostformaltheory!
–JanD.Sinnott,PhD,ProfessorofPsychology,TowsonUniversity,
Maryland,USA.AuthorofTheDevelopmentofLogicinAdulthood:
PostformalThoughtandItsApplications(1998)Springer.
Thisisthebookwehaveallbeenwaitingforandshouldbereadbyeducators,policy
makersandeveryoneinterestedinthefuturethroughthetransformativepowerofeducation
increatingawiser,morecaringworldwithavibrantfuture.Thispath-breakingbook
synthesizesthenewthinkingofphilosophersindiverseareasofknowledgeofthe20th
centuryintoanewmodelofintegraleducationfora21stcenturyIntegrativeAge.Thereare
manybooksonwhatiswrongwitheducationbutfewonhowtomakefundamental
systemicchange.
–DavidK.Scott,PhD,FormerChancellor,UniversityofMassachusetts
atAmherst.Leadingthinkeronintegratingscienceandspirituality.
Co-editor:IntegrativeLearningandAction:ACalltoWholeness(2006)
PeterLangPublishers.
JenniferGidleyisoneofthemostprovocativeandimportantthinkersineducationtoday.
Hervisiondrawsontheepicstoryoftheevolutionofconsciousnessasshepresentsuswith
thepast,presentandpossiblefutureofeducation.Interweavingancientwisdomandthe
latestresearch,Gidleyarticulatesaninspiringnewandradicalrevisioningofthenature,
mission,androleofeducation.
–AlfonsoMontuori,PhD,ProfessorTransformativeStudiesDepartment,
SchoolofConsciousnessandTransformation,CaliforniaInstitute
ofIntegralStudies,SanFrancisco.Editor:JourneysinComplexity
(2014)Routledge.
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