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- Hachem, Hany, PhD Candidate, 1987-
(författare)
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Educating older adults : Theoretical and empirical examinations of the learning philosophies in older age
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, I theoretically and empirically examine the dominant learning philosophies in older age. Three statements of principles of educational gerontology coalesce into two notorious learning philosophies in older age: humanist and critical. They formulate answers to vital questions about the education of older people. Written in 1990 from a political economy perspective that heavily draws on Freirean pedagogy, the first statement provides a moral and philosophical backing for the practices and aims of a (then) flourishing field by examining the marginalisation of older people in societies. In the same year, the second statement responds to the first with a humanist individualist perspective on the education of older people. It provides a different view on why they choose to learn, the goals for their education, and the role of teachers in enacting said educational goals. Two decades later, the third statement is born. This time, it invigorated a critical but culturalist-leaning perspective. It engages with the focal points in the previous statements and remains loyal to Freirean ideals in the face of an increasingly individualistic and globalised world. Over time, the three statements of principles fuelled a polarising debate around central questions in the education of older people.In this methodologically rich thesis composed of four articles, I recommend and draft a fourth and late modern statement of the principles of educational gerontology, which overcomes agency/structure dualisms characterising the debate surrounding the current principles. First, this thesis confirms that leisure and liberal arts education empowers older people. Second, it attributes to the motives for learning in older age a reflexive ontological security nature that may go hand in hand with that of non-conscious class struggles. Third, it challenges the logic of emancipation embedded in critical educational gerontology and refutes the assumption that older learners are naïve. Finally, it envisages the teachers’ role as emancipators from a less coercive departure point.
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| 2. |
- Rosén, Maria, 1976-
(författare)
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Juridifiering som demokratiseringsprocess? : Fallet likabehandling i svensk skola
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The relationship between education and democracy has long attracted political interest. This thesis takes an interest in the political initiative to democratize education through legal means. This initiative is viewed as a wider national and global societal phenomenon. More precisely the thesis aims at developing knowledge on juridification as a process of democratization in education, by studying the Swedish case of equal treatment in school. Through the introduction of the Child and School Student Protection Act (SFS 2006:67) in 2006, discrimination and degrading treatment were prohibited and new legal accountability measures were introduced. Theoretically, juridification is treated as a multidimensional concept, encompassing different empirical processes of shifts towards law (Blichner & Molander, 2008; Brännström, 2009). Juridification as a process of democratization is approached as a multifaceted phenomenon involving potentially both desirable and undesirable consequences (Habermas, 1987; Teubner, 1987). This complexity also justifies the use of a plurality of perspectives and approaches in the thesis. Through and abductive research process (Peirce, 1931; Andersson & Balldin, 2022) the aim is explored through three sub-studies, using critical policy analysis (Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016), abduction (Schwartz-Shea & Yanow, 2012) and an educational philosophical approach (Smith, 2010). The results show how the Child and School Student Protection Act was made possible through an active political practice in which EU-directives on discrimination influenced Swedish education policy. The thesis illustrates a paradox (Brown, 2000) inherent in specifying legal discrimination grounds in the legislation. Furthermore, the thesis proposes a conceptual framework based on six dimensions of juridification, together with an overall understanding of juridification of and in education. This multidimensional concept contributes to an understanding of how different processes are interrelated, which illustrates the complexity and width of the phenomenon of juridification as democratization. Another important contribution is a theoretical illustration of how juridification can enable certain democratic values and processes in school practice at the expense of others, jeopardizing its intended goal.In the discussion I argue that the new legislation can be understood as part of a broader shift towards a juridified liberal democratic tradition and that the juridification of education should be perceived as a new shift in Swedish educational policy. Overall, the thesis contributes insights into the ways in which juridification may enable and hinder democratization, depending on how law is done. Consequently, it contributes to thinking both with and against – as well as beyond – juridification as a process of democratization in school and society.
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