Education as Pre-Political and The Living Curriculum

If we think of politic as involving the recruitment of support for a particular perspective, idea or project amongst a group of people – a polis – then the state of education can be understood as pre-political. This is in juxtaposition to indoctrination – the use of intrigue through rhetoric, eristics, misinformation and peer pressures. For the learner not having the sufficient knowledge on a given matter may be understood as in a pre-political state – undecided, uninformed, unaware. Read more…

the book Further Education and Twelve Dancing Princesses

Introduction: How Grimm is Further Education? by Joel Petrie

The following is an annotated version of the introduction chapter to the book ‘Further Education and the Twelve Dancing Princesses‘ as an accompaniment to the talk he is giving in Liverpool on oppressive management practices, the birth of the ’12 Dancing Princesses’ project, Fairy tales, and what they tell us, hope and utopia and future goals (Trentham Productions).The reader will find excerpts from the highlighted references in the original text contained within the grey highlighted boxes along with download links for the documents where possible. Read more…

Cult Behaviours: Devaluing the Outsider – Reviewing Prof Arthur J. Deikman’s Work

This is the third part of a review and digest of the work of Professor Arthur Deikman who published on cult behaviours examining how they manifest in every day circumstances.  He likened the natural pull in everyone towards cult behaviour to the comfort of being a passenger of a car and being driven along without having to think about where the journey is going or how they are getting there. Read more…