ENGAGEMENT AND PHILOSOPHY

  • Lindsay Scott Davidson Embassy International School
Keywords: School, engagement, community, organisation, philosophy, parents, pupils, stakeholders, 'school as a verb', Schopenhauer, socially constructed knowledge, orthodoxy and orthopraxy

Abstract

This article explores these two keywords through the approach of placing “school” on a continuum between the two extremes of a transactional, instrumental organisation and a transformational community. The variety of stakeholder groups are redefined to include personification of abstract concepts and the model of community is considered including these stakeholders. School is looked at here as a verb rather than a noun and the extent to which school must by definition be, or have the form of, an organisation, is seen as a manifestation of the will of the community, with the levers of transaction pulled by the Head on behalf of the community. The 1994 UNESCO international conference on education provides a framework for discussion about culture and the purpose of education, which is reconciled with the evolving model described and envisioned in this short paper.

Author Biography

Lindsay Scott Davidson, Embassy International School
Embassy International SchoolDirector of Education

References

Boylan, M.. (2010). Ecologies of participation in school classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education. 26, pp. 67-70.

Bernstein, B., Elvin, H. L., Peters, R. S. (1966), Ritual in Education, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 251, pp429-436

Borzillo, S., Aznar, S., Schmitt, A., (2011), A journey through communities of practice: How and why members move from the periphery to the core, European Management Journal, 29, pp25-42

Busher H., Hammersley-Fletcher L. & Turner C. (2007) 'Making sense of middle leadership: community, power and practice'. School Leadership & Management. Vol 27 No 5 pp 405-422.

Chowdhury, P. (2014), Value Education in the Light of Culture Quotient: A Step Towards a Peaceful World, International Educational E-Journal, III:I

Dimmock C & Walker A, 'School Leadership in Context - Societal and Organisational Culture', in Bush T & Bell L (2003), The Principles and Practice of Educational Management, London: Paul Chapman

Hayden, M., Thompson, J., Walker, G., 2004., International Education in Practice. [online]. Routledge. Available from:<http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=2471> 9 July 2014

Hayden, M., (2012), Mission statement possible: International schools and cosmopolitanism, The International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives, 11(2), pp. 5–26

Hill, I., (2006), Do International Baccalaureate programs internationalise or globalise?, International Education Journal 7 (1), pp.98-108

James C., Connolly M., Dunning G. & Elliott T. (2006) How very effective primary schools work. Paul Chapman Publishers, London. (Chapter 12)

Keesing RM (1976) Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston.

Kelly, A.V.. 2004., Curriculum, The: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications. Accessed <http://lib.myilibrary.com?ID=37096> 26 December 2012

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Leithwood K., Day C., Sammons P., Harris A. & Hopkins D. (2006) Seven strong claims about successful school leadership. National College for School Leadership,Nottingham.

Morais, A. M., (2002), Basil Bernstein at the Micro Level of the Classroom, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23:4, 559-569

Nikolakaki, M., Dossa, K., Moraiti. T., (2012), School knowledge, cross-curricularity and teamwork teaching in the Greek primary school: mathematics education as discursive practice, Curriculum Journal, 23(2), pp.247-260

Rathod, S.S, (2013), Concept mapping – a technique for improving Cognitive skills, International Educational E-Journal, II:I

Rost J.C. (1991) 'Leadership and Management', in Rost J.C. (1991) Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, Westport CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, pp.97-114

Sergiovanni, TJ, (1994), 'Organisations or Communities? Changing the metaphor changes the theory', Educational Management and Administration, 30, pp.214-66

Sullivan, A. (2009), Academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling, British Educational Research Journal, 35:2, pp 259-288

UNESCO, International Conference on Education, 44th Session, Geneva, 3-8 October 1994

Van Oord, L.. (2005). Culture as a configuration of learning. Journal of Research in International Education . 4 (2), 173.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Walker, G. (2005), “What have I learned about international education?” transcript of speech from 9 September 2005, Stockholm, Biennial Conference of IB Nordic Schools.

Warries, E., (1982), Relative measurement and the selective philosophy in education, Evaluation in Education, 5 (2), pp191–202

ZHONG, J.. (2012). Different Images of Knowledge and Perspectives of Pedagogy in Confucius and Socrates. Complicity: An International Journal of Complexity and Education. 8 (1), pp. 75-81

Published
2019-12-09
How to Cite
Davidson, L. S. (2019). ENGAGEMENT AND PHILOSOPHY. Multidisciplinary Journal of School Education, 8(1 (15). https://doi.org/10.35765/mjse.2019.0815.03