250436 Utopias in education (S) (WiSe 2021/2022)

“The utopian mode is to the existence of society what invention is to scientific knowledge. The utopian mode may be defined as the imaginary project of another kind of society, of another reality, another world.” (Ricoeur, 1976, 24)

First used in a book by Thomas More (1516), utopia is commonly defined as an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The term, based on the Greek ou ‘not’ and topos ‘place’ (= no place), has known multiple interpretations, uses and modifications over time.
By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this seminar draws on literature, history, sociology, and philosophy in order to uncover the multiple meanings and importance of utopias and utopian thinking applied to the educational sphere. We will have a look at both classical literary and modern utopias in relation to education and school. We will then identify and analyse together current innovative projects in education, and aim to understand to which extent they are “(partially) realised utopias” (Ricoeur, 1976). Moreover, examples of intentional communities, utopian pedagogies (Freire, 1972), and progressive education will be discovered in detail.
The seminar is partially grounded in past experiences from Bielefeld. It takes a closer look at the creation of the 'LaborSchule', and briefly explores the international interdisciplinary project “History of the Function of Literary Utopias in the Early Modern Period” (1980-1981, Center for Interdisciplinary Research - ZiF).

During the semester, we will discuss questions such as:
• How has the image of ideal education changed over time?
• How is education described in the utopian texts, such as books, articles or movies? What do these texts teach us about the best world(s) possible?
• How do the utopian experiments in education transform the contemporary societies? How can one understand educational utopias in countries from the Global South?
• To which extent contemporary inclusive education could be considered as a utopian project?

The seminar aims:
• to provide a shared space for critical thinking about present and future alternative practices in education.
• to allow the participants to discover and further build on forgotten ideas about teaching and learning.
• to support a thorough analysis of utopian discourses in/about education, understood as articulations of “spaces of experience” and “horizons of expectations” (Koselleck, 2004).

In dieser Veranstaltung findet ein Platzvergabeverfahren statt. Bitte informieren Sie sich hier über den Ablauf: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/erziehungswissenschaft/studium-und-lehre/einrichtungen/bie/faq-stundenplan/