slug.com slug.com

4 3

Hi All, I'm a Professor in the College of Education at Boise State. My work crosses the field of the history and philosophy of education. Over the first 28 years of my time in higher ed, I used that knowledge to critique schooling and the neoliberal efforts to privatize/corporatize schools.My interests have since shifted to the broader issue of the human capacity for collective learning, a characteristic that defines homo sapiens as a species and has made us he most dominant species ever to walk this planet.

I'm also a Director with the Zizekian Institute. I'm connecting the notion of collective learning to Zizek's call for a Positive Universal Project. Low and behold, I think the IDW is already engaged in something that aligns neatly with how I envision this Project. I'm especially interested in conversations surround communal sense-making and collective intelligence.

That's basically an introduction to me and what brought me to the IDW. I know longer use the term education very often. I don't find it useful, because the moment we say "education" people think about schools. Schools might be part of what we should be doing in the name of collective learning, or they might not be. I was a student of the late Ivan Illich, for those familar with his Deschooling Society (1970). I really don't find any use in going to education conferences anymore. The conversations there haven't changed much since I was in grad school back in the late 80s. If anything, they're probably just more SJW in orientation.

I was hoping that someone here could direct me to a conference more IDWish. Does anyone know if there is an IDW conference? I know about the festival, but that's a bit out of my travel budget. Anything here in the US? If not, maybe we should start one. I'd be willing to help to get one started if anyone would happen to share that interest.

Best,

David Gabbard

gabbardd 3 Feb 4
Share

Be part of the movement!

Welcome to the community for those who value free speech, evidence and civil discourse.

Create your free account

4 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

Elon Musk recently that his new job hires for his massive projects. do not need education, just creativity. Others have said similar like that crazed Jewish professor with the crazy hair that invented quantum theory and theory of relativity. I'm here coz I got kicked off the Parler site that states it is for FREE SPEECH. Turns out it is their version of FS. One of my tags there was Unchained Speech. I talked about how the deep state is against Trump, but the real brown shirts are the LGBT alphabet soup mafia who do a lot of the Trump Hate dirty work. So if they are gonna kick me off here, do it now.

1

Hmm. Collective intelligence is not really a thing here except perhaps with establishing online relationships or recommending information sources.

I will say that I would appreciate hearing more info from you since:

  • the Zizek position seems radically different from my perspective (Marxism continues to fail and capitalism continues to destroy poverty in the human race)
  • I support the idea of privatizing/corporatizing schools (today's public schools are 1950s schools with AC and computers). Boeing investing in a local community college so that students can learn in a robotics lab seems like a good thing.
  • Collective learning is being elevated in my industry (construction) with the advent of 3D modeling and team software.

Being Zizekian doesn't commit one to embracing everything Zizek believes or says. Before the Zizek/Peterson debate even happened I knew they'd agree on more things than they'd disagree on. Zizek made a strategic error when he embraced the left. I think he miscalculated what the left would become. They've made him pay for his sins. He's not the kind of Marxist they want him to be. I'm in the process of writing a piece arguing that he could have/should have gone further in his support of Trump over Clinton in 2016. Trump's been better to American workers than any Democrat.

I'm not defending public schools, but corporatizing them wouldn't change much beyond placing greater ideological conformity on teachers, and tie students to standardized test since corporatized schools would want to compete on the basis of test scores. We see real estate agents using test scores already to guide parents to the "better schools." We'd become even more like the ancient Chinese imperial model of schooling. If you want to enforce that kind of conformity, be aware that it has consequence. Yong Zhou's done good work in this.

Team software sounds EXACTLY like collective learning.

2

You should look into rebel wisdom on YouTube. There are several conversations along these lines, and there is some contact information available. Maybe reach out to some of those for network opportunities.

I have. And I've taken part in two of their online discussions. I love what David Fuller and others have done with Rebel Wisdom. Turning my students onto it as well. We're using Ken Wilber's integral theory as a framework for analyzing the history of American schooling.

And Thanks.

1

Isn't Zizek a MARXIST?

Yeah, but he's not an ideologue. I wouldn't say he's even a MarxIST. Maybe MarxIAN. He draws from lots of different people. Zizek's sort of a tragic figure. His humor and idiosyncrasies made him an internet wonder, especially within "the left," but few people actually ever read him. The American left viciously attacked him at the New Left Forum back in 2016, and they really rejected him after he and Peterson disappointed them in Toronto. They wanted Peterson's blood, but Peterson and Zizek disappointed them by having an engaging conversation and not a knock down drag out fight on stage. Zizek's pretty thoughtful, I disagree with him on alot, but I do draw from him alot, too. You should read his AGAINST THE DOUBLE BLACKMAIL.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:74251
Slug does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.