Papers by Peter Lilja
Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 2021
Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i e... more Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i en aktuell skoldebatt om vilka uppgifter som egentligen ingår i lärares arbete och vad det betyder att vara lärare. Diskussionen om vad det innebär att vara lärare utgår i regel från att undervisning är kärnan i lärares arbete, men undervisningsbegreppet i sig är sällan föremål för diskussion. I denna essä gör vi en filosofisk undersökning av undervisningsbegreppet utifrån ett antal kriterier som vi menar vara centrala för att förstå den pedagogiska relationens olika roller. Vi föreslår begreppet lärarskap som beteckning för lärares liv och arbete.
Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i e... more Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i en aktuell skoldebatt om vilka uppgifter som egentligen ingår i lärares arbete och vad det betyder att vara lärare. Diskussionen om vad det innebär att vara lärare utgår i regel från att undervisning är kärnan i lärares arbete, men undervisningsbegreppet i sig är sällan föremål för diskussion. I denna essä gör vi en filosofisk undersökning av undervisningsbegreppet utifrån ett antal kriterier som vi menar vara centrala för att förstå den pedagogiska relationens olika roller. Vi föreslår begreppet lärarskap som beteckning för lärares liv och arbete.
Studies in Philosophy and Education, 2018
For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to... more For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to foster the next generation in core democratic values in order to prepare them for future political responsibilities. In spite of this, general trust in the liberal democratic system is in rapid decline. In this paper, the tension between the ambitions of liberal-democratic educational systems and contemporary challenges to central democratic ideas is approached by reconsidering Hannah Arendt's critique of political education. This will be done informed by her analysis of the tension between the concepts of state and nation. By showing how education, depending on its role as a tool of the state or the nation, may be a fundamental requirement for the establishment of a common world or the most effective tool for its destruction, the paper argues for the need to understand Arendt's educational thinking in light of her wider political analysis. Rather than downplaying the provocative aspects of her critique, the paper argues for the need to use it as a starting point for thinking again how education may become an emancipatory undertaking capable of disarming contemporary threats to human plurality and freedom.
Studies in Philosophy and Education, 2018
For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to... more For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to foster the next generation in core democratic values in order to prepare them for future political responsibilities. In spite of this, general trust in the liberal democratic system is in rapid decline. In this paper, the tension between the ambitions of liberal-democratic educational systems and contemporary challenges to central democratic ideas is approached by reconsidering Hannah Arendt's critique of political education. This will be done informed by her analysis of the tension between the concepts of state and nation. By showing how education, depending on its role as a tool of the state or the nation, may be a fundamental requirement for the establishment of a common world or the most effective tool for its destruction, the paper argues for the need to understand Arendt's educational thinking in light of her wider political analysis. Rather than downplaying the provocative aspects of her critique, the paper argues for the need to use it as a starting point for thinking again how education may become an emancipatory undertaking capable of disarming contemporary threats to human plurality and freedom.
Pedagogisk forskning i Sverige, 2021
Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i e... more Detta är en essä om hur vi bättre kan förstå vad det innebär att vara lärare. Den tar avstamp i en aktuell skoldebatt om vilka uppgifter som egentligen ingår i lärares arbete och vad det betyder att vara lärare. Diskussionen om vad det innebär att vara lärare utgår i regel från att undervisning är kärnan i lärares arbete, men undervisningsbegreppet i sig är sällan föremål för diskussion. I denna essä gör vi en filosofisk undersökning av undervisningsbegreppet utifrån ett antal kriterier som vi menar vara centrala för att förstå den pedagogiska relationens olika roller. Vi föreslår begreppet lärarskap som beteckning för lärares liv och arbete.
The Impacts of Neoliberal Discourse and Language in Education: Critical Perspectives on a Rhetoric of Equality, Well-Being, and Justice, 2021
In this chapter we use the Swedish example of entrepreneurial learning as a springboard to discus... more In this chapter we use the Swedish example of entrepreneurial learning as a springboard to discuss the curious alliance between student-centered progressive education and the economization of education. In doing so we wish to highlight the effects of this alliance on the relationship between teaching and learning and, consequently, on the teacher-student relation. In order to do this, we will first examine the conditions for the economization of contemporary education, and its impact on the teacher-student relation. Having done so, we will turn to progressive education, examining the link between the ideal of student-centeredness and the economization of the role of the student, as well as looking closer at the contradictory figure of the entrepreneurial teacher. The chapter concludes with a discussion on some inherent tensions visible in entrepreneurial learning, being at once an effect of the economization of education and a pedagogical project firmly rooted in progressive ideals.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2019
Taika Waititi's recent film 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' (2016) portrays the coming-of-age of a yo... more Taika Waititi's recent film 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' (2016) portrays the coming-of-age of a young boy, Ricky, in a world with few recognisably responsible adults. While the film does not engage explicitly with formal education, it raises several questions central for understanding education as formation, highlighting the generational aspects of educational relations and pointing to the importance of an adult world taking responsibility for the formation and upbringing of the younger generation. Departing from a discussion on the role of formation and intergenerational relations in Rousseau and Arendt, we will draw on the film's portrayal of an adult world in crisis in order to discuss some of its possible consequences for understanding education in terms of intergenerational relations and formation. This involves raising questions about the educational consequences of the absence of recognisably responsible adults and it involves investigating how this absence might impact our understanding of education as the formation and upbringing of educated human beings. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgement. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education (Emile, Rousseau, 1979, p. 38).
For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to... more For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to foster the next generation in core democratic values in order to prepare them for future political responsibilities. In spite of this, general trust in the liberal democratic system is in rapid decline. In this paper, the tension between the ambitions of liberal-democratic educational systems and contemporary challenges to central democratic ideas is approached by reconsidering Hannah Arendt's critique of political education. This will be done informed by her analysis of the tension between the concepts of state and nation. By showing how education, depending on its role as a tool of the state or the nation, may be a fundamental requirement for the establishment of a common world or the most effective tool for its destruction, the paper argues for the need to understand Arendt's educational thinking in light of her wider political analysis. Rather than downplaying the provocative aspects of her critique, the paper argues for the need to use it as a starting point for thinking again how education may become an emancipatory undertaking capable of disarming contemporary threats to human plurality and freedom.
Philosophy of Education 2017, 2019
In this paper we aim to use the Swedish example of entrepreneurship in education as a springboard... more In this paper we aim to use the Swedish example of entrepreneurship in education as a springboard to discuss the unexpected alliance between student-centered progressive education and the commercialization of schools. In doing so we wish to highlight the effects of this alliance on the relationship between teaching and learning and, consequently, on the teacher-student relation. In order to do this, we will first examine the conditions for the commercialization of contemporary education, and its impact on the teacher-student relation. Having done so, we will turn to progressive education, examining the curious link between the ideal of student-centeredness and the economization of the role of the student. The paper will conclude with a discussion on some inherent tensions visible in entrepreneurial learning, being at once an effect of the commercialization of schools and a pedagogical project firmly rooted in progressive ideals.
Policy Futures in Education, 2014
Taking the latest reform of Swedish teacher education as a point of departure, the aim of this ar... more Taking the latest reform of Swedish teacher education as a point of departure, the aim of this article is to analyse the way Swedish teacher unions construct a knowledge base for teaching as a strategy of professionalisation. The analysis shows that the unions construct such a knowledge base from opposing points of departure. Their professional ambitions are, thus, challenged by processes of intraprofessional boundary work complicating the construction of a unanimous 'voice' of teachers in Swedish education policy debates. This intraprofessional struggle over the meaning of teacher professionalism underlines the political nature of the use of professionalism in the transformed welfare sectors of today. In this respect, the article also underlines the importance of tradition in discussions of what is to be considered a professional teacher. Despite decades of political ambitions to unite Swedish teachers into one single profession, the historical differences between two separate teacher identities continue to fundamentally affect the policy positions of the teacher unions -a development that the recent reorientation of Swedish education policy seems to reinforce. As a result, the usefulness of talking about Swedish teachers as a single profession in the future may be questioned.
Journal of Education Policy, 2014
ABSTRACT
Philosophy of Education 2016, 2017
In 1958, Hannah Arendt published “The Crisis in Education” addressing what she considered to be t... more In 1958, Hannah Arendt published “The Crisis in Education” addressing what she considered to be the poor state of contemporary American education. While the causes of this educational crisis were identified as being part of much broader processes of social and political change, education stood out as the social arena where the effects of these transformations were most obvious. The lack of authority in modern societies, in particular, was one of the most manifest symptoms of the crisis in education. Arendt claimed that this lack of authority eroded the fundamental relation between teacher and student and the mutual trust necessary for safeguarding the social position of the teacher. In this paper, we aim to use Arendt’s concept of authority in order to diagnose a current crisis in Swedish education, and to argue that this may help us understand the role of the teacher from a perspective that is missing in the current debate on Swedish education.
Conference Presentations by Peter Lilja
When approaching the question of the role of the state in education from the perspective of Arend... more When approaching the question of the role of the state in education from the perspective of Arendtian thought, two problems present themselves. First, Arendt never formulated any comprehensive theory of the state of her own, even if she devoted a lot of attention to the shortcomings of the nation-state order that emerged in Europe between the two world wars. Second, some of the most distinctive ideas of her writings on education centers on the need for education to be conservative, non-political in character and kept apart from the world of politics. This may seem controversial in relation to contemporary debates on education. Recent attempts, however, to construct an Arendtian theory of the state provide some additional arguments for her insistence on the importance of keeping education non-political and sheltered from the world of politics.
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Papers by Peter Lilja
Conference Presentations by Peter Lilja