Philosophical reimaginings of educational places and policy: Through the metaphor of a wardrobe
2019 (English)In: Policy Futures in Education, E-ISSN 1478-2103, Vol. 17, no 4, p. 460-473Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The aim of this paper is to challenge the physical and conceptual boundaries of educational places and spaces with the use of metaphor: the story of Professor Kirke’s magic wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia by CF Lewis (1950). By explicating and theorising the concerns that arise, we provoke diverse ways of thinking about the complexities of shifting, expanding, constantly evolving educational spaces and places. In our theorisations, we draw on the philosophy of the life-world through Maurice Merleau-Ponty, on a post-structural approach through Julia Kristeva’s work, and on the new-materialist perspective of Gilles Deleuze. As these three philosophical perspectives draw upon different basic assumptions about humans and the world, they also illuminate different aspects of a variety of phenomena and concepts, which we elaborate on in this paper to reach a more comprehensive understanding of educational spaces and places. Our argument arises from philosophical engagements with the story of the Pevensie siblings’ transformation – and transportation – to Narnia through the wardrobe, with notions of educational openings and opportunities, to explore possibilities for reimagining the conceptions and realities of places and spaces in education. To conclude, citizens of today, including children, students, teachers, politicians and researchers, need to discuss basic assumptions for education and policy to reimagine the entangled complexities of educational spaces and places.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2019. Vol. 17, no 4, p. 460-473
Keywords [en]
Educational places and spaces, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Gilles Deleuze, Julia Kristeva, the magic wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia by CF Lewis
National Category
Pedagogy Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Research subject
Education
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-66665DOI: 10.1177/1478210317739489ISI: 000470323200002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85067210756OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-66665DiVA, id: diva2:1158720
Note
Validerad;2019;Nivå 2;2019-06-24 (johcin)
2017-11-212017-11-212024-07-04Bibliographically approved