Volume 28, Number 1, 2021

EN:

This essay elaborates on the notion of risk in relation to democratically challenging situations in education. This refers to situations in which liberal democratic values are potentially challenged, such as in teaching about controversial issues and in moments of expressions of hurtful speech, which can create in teachers an ambivalence for how to act. The essay takes an understanding of risk as holding a plurality, viewing risk as both undesirable and desirable, to be both reduced and embraced. By considering perspectives that implicitly relate to risk in various ways, this essay explores what can be made possible by embracing risk or its reduction in democratically challenging situations. These perspectives envisage tension between different approaches to risk and visualize how risk may be viewed both as possible moments of change and as possible moments of violence. The essay advances the argument that a one-sided approach to risk may thus pose a challenge to the struggle for democracy, arguing instead for a complex approach to risk. Making use of Jonna Bornemark’s work on the “paradox of action,” the essay proposes the viewing of risk as a paradox, spanning our world of action. The paradox formulates a mutual dependence, in which more is required of one side in one moment and more of the other in the next; neither can be neglected. The essay proposes an approach for teachers: “living the paradox of risk,” which is to act in the space between reducing risk and embracing risk in democratically challenging situations.

EN:

What do we mean by the word “education”? How do others know what we mean when the term is under constant revision? Do we even need definitive answers in order to speak meaningfully of it? This paper attempts to explore the potential for education’s meaningfulness via attention to its ordinary usages. In order to justify the need to be attentive to the specific instance of use, I will explore the closing down of conceptual meaning represented by acts of definition. In taking a closer look at what definitions of education try to do when they are articulated, I will follow a line of argument from Cora Diamond that the definition and explanation of a term can constitute a deflection from the difficult “reality” of educational discourse, a reality that poses its own problems in turn, but also should not be ignored. Attending to “education” as a word that appears with particular meanings in particular instances reveals the richness of the various forms it can assume. I describe this as a conceptual aesthetics of education.

EN:

In this article, we aim to extend the existing literature on the theory of transformational school leadership through a neo-Daoist lens. Focussing on the writings of the third-century Chinese philosopher Wang Bi, we make three arguments. First, his ideas promote a transformational leader who effects change through ziran (spontaneity or natural actions). Second, such leaders inspire all of their staff to work towards a communitarian vision by exercising situational judgement and wuming (namelessness). Third, Wang’s philosophy has the potential to address a major criticism concerning the abuse of power in transformational leadership. A neo-Daoist leader does not seek to push for changes in an autocratic, divisive, and hurried manner. Instead, such a leader draws strength from contemplative practice and contextual sensitivity to foster harmonious relationships.

EN:

A continued gap exists in student achievement between Indigenous and non- Indigenous students in the British Columbia school system. This article analyzes the balance of success and failure of the Accountability Framework, a provincial program designed to increase graduation rates in the province. In order to understand the successes and failures of this initiative, we draw upon the principles of John Rawls to consider the implications of rising graduation rates of those occupying the lowest standard of living in society. One of the primary findings is the necessity of policy makers and educational leaders to refrain from considering data regarding Indigenous student success in isolation and instead consider the shifts in disparity compared to non-Indigenous learners. Shifting the level of analysis from the school system to the overall well-being of a population unearths serious concerns regarding indicators of success within school systems. We contend that the initiative to solely draw upon high school completion rates as an indicator of success is misleading and further exacerbates existing problems of marginalization of Indigenous people in education.

EN:

Concerns are raised regarding the place of the arts in education, specifically as they are used in the social science context of educational research under the title ‘arts-based research’. An examination of Elliot Eisner’s claim that art is research concludes that, though the arts may be used for display, data, or heuristic in educational research, they are not being recognised for their distinctive characteristics. John White’s critique of the theory of multiple intelligences is revisited to mitigate common claims for the arts based upon Gardner. Given the dominance of scientism in today’s research climate, it is argued that the arts should take their rightful place to balance research in its quest for certainty; that they be the antagonist mode of thought called for by John Stuart Mill.