Contemporary education and guiding pedagogical principals: the prospects for an embodied and intersubjective interpretation of phenomenology

This critical paper posits that an ongoing reconceptualising of educational aims and values is necessary and desirable, especially so given the multiple complexities of current times and the associated need to reappraise the overarching pedagogical principles that inform contemporary education. We propose that phenomenology can yield incisive insights that can inform and shape students' holistic learning experiences. We focus specifically on the contribution of Merleau-Ponty, as his work concentrates on an intersubjective interpretation of experience which constructively draws on a mix of self and shared, and cultural and environmental occurrences children share. We analyse the seldom explored content of Merleau-Ponty's Sorbonne Lectures on Child Psychology and Pedagogy and discuss these in relation to embodiment and intersubjectivity; matters which we see as pivotal to the realisation of a more rounded and nuanced education of the mind and body. We then conduct a review of methodological and pedagogical insights which highlight how embodied and intersubjective aspirations could be taken forward in contemporary school education. We argue that if effective, more eventful and at times optimistic pedagogical episodes could support whole school attempts to recover and construct new and enlivening educational opportunities.

Automated summary

The paper suggests ongoing reconceptualizing of educational aims and values is necessary, especially given the complexities of current times. By studying Merleau-Ponty's work, it emphasizes the importance of subjective interpretation of experience for achieving a more comprehensive and nuanced education of the mind and body.