Is intercultural pedagogy possible?” : Theme: Globalization, Interculturality and Interdependence. Identifying and overcoming intellectual barriers to intercultural education in the interface of epistemology and aesthetic learning

• Is intercultural pedagogy possible? Identifyng and overcoming intellectual barriers to intercultural education in the interface of epistemology and aesthetic learning The idea of intercultural education is a peculiar phenomenon. On a rethorical level it seems to float freely powered by good intensions, in practice through intercultural pedagagogy and educational goals are constrained by invisible riverbeds, taking it along in quite other directions than talked of or admitted on the superficial level. In this project in progress we want to identify intellectual barriers to intercultural education and critically discuss it; if it is possible to overcome the barriers and how. Our two main assumption are 1) that the main intellectual barriers to intercultural education are of an epistemic art originating in how we describe and conceptualize the world around us (truth regimes) and how we categorize the Other which is always grounded in relations of power, and 2) that in order to overcome such intellectual (epistemic) barriers, we need to start with a third, aesthetic dimension which is rooted in our relation to our self (aesthetic learning). Our main theoretical inspiration is Foucalt´s research methodology with its critique of the Kantian understanding of eduation which is highly rationalistic and scientistic in the sense that education is reduced to a question of how to study the world around us in an objectice and systematic manner. Pedagogy from this point of view, in order to become scientific, becomes a highly rationalistic enterprise, where the learning subjects are socialized and trained to reproduce the correct answers in a planned and rationalistic manner. In reality such a reductionist view of science and pedagogy reproduces power relations and views of the other which identifies the epistemic subject as the ”west” enlightening the rest of the world. From an archeological point of view a main intellectual barrier to intercultural pedagogy is a view of the other, which is constrained by a historically memory-shortage forgetting the recurrent phenomenon of mass migrations in world history. From its very beginning Homo Sapiens has been a wandering species, originating in Africa and spreading from here to the rest of the world. The present, modern form of mass migration (refugees) should be seen in the context of globalizing forces which have managed to retain the image of the other by power relations dominated by the west. A core recent critique of the Kantian view of science and pedagogy, originated with Kuhn who radically critiqued Kant´s view of science as something uniform and universal. In reality science is as diversified as the world of different cultures and nations. Each discipline can be seen as a riverbed which leads its flows in different, given directions. Another current critique of Kant is reduction of aesthetics to something passive (the analytical observer passing aesthetic judgements) rather than something active and participatory, allowing the exploration of self, other and the world through aesthetic learning. A third critiue concerns the tendency to reduce language to written texts, ignoring other forms of more visual representations and presentations. A forth critique concerns the epistemic position of the child and the role of aesthetic learning which foregrounds the relation to the self as a starting point to become curious about the other and the world.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

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