Bloomsbury Education and Conversation: Exploring Oakeshott’s Legacy

Since Michael Oakeshott spoke of education as initiation into the conversation of mankind more than fifty years ago, the idea has inspired a diverse array of thinkers and continues to be invoked today by those seeking to resist the influence of managerialism and narrow instrumentalism in educational policy and practice. Education and Conversation draws together papers written by scholars from both the analytic and continental philosophical traditions to offer a variety of perspectives on the implications of Oakeshotts educational ideas. The metaphor of the conversation of mankind is explored, together with the roots of Oakeshotts thinking in his early philosophical work, the relevance of his ideas to the concept of Bildung, and the significance of his political conservatism in evaluating the seemingly progressive potential of his educational ideas. In addition, concepts prominent in Oakeshotts thought are taken up and brought to bear on contemporary philosophical discussions about education, learning and development, including the nature of initiation, the phenomenology of listening, and the value of the liberal arts tradition. Education and Conversation shows how the idea of conversation illuminates both the character and the ends of education, yielding insight into the scope and limits of the philosophy of education and the character of philosophical inquiry more generally. Review Drawing together leading figures from philosophy and education, Bakhurst and Fairfields Education and Conversation positions Oakeshotts work within a contemporary context, offering not only an important contribution to the understanding of Oakeshotts own thinking, but also showing why his work remains relevant today. The conversational vision that Oakeshott enunciates, and upon which Bakhurst and Fairfields contributors elaborate, provides a compelling alternative to the unthinking instrumentalism and reductionism that seems currently to hold sway in business, governmental, and even in many educational circles. This is a valuable book on an important theme. --Jeff Malpas, Distinguished Professor, University of Tasmania, AustraliaInspired by a famous essay of Michael Oakeshott, these essays argue for conversation as the most fertile metaphor for understanding the life of mind. They elucidate and scrutinise Oakeshotts thought by enacting a conversation of their own in which his singularly eloquent voice is brought into play with a fascinating array of other voices. While offering much to pique the philosophical imagination, the collection succeeds admirably in its main aim: to expose the hollow claims and to resist the insidiously growing power of a whole plethora of efficiency-blinded, outcomes-driven and technology-boosted approaches in contemporary education. --Joseph Dunne, Cregan Professor of Philosophy and Education, Emeritus, Dublin City University, Ireland About the Author David Bakhurst is Charlton Professor of Philosophy, Queen’s University, Canada, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Education, University College London, UK. He is the author, among other works, of The Formation of Reason, and editor of The Social Self (with C. Sypnowich), Jerome Bruner (with S. Shanker) and Thinking about Reasons (with B. Hooker and M. O. Little).Paul Fairfield is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University, Canada.