Martin Buber is considered one of the 20th centuryes greatest thinkers and his contributions to philosophy, theology and education are testimony to this. His thought is founded on the idea that people are capable of two kinds of relations, namely I-Thou and I-It, emphasising the centrality of dialogue in all spheres of human life. For this reason, Buber is considered by many to be the philosopher of dialogue par excellence. After Buberes death the appreciation of his considerable legacy to the (...) various disciplines in which he had worked became rather muted, but was never completely forgotten. There is now a renewed and growing interest in Buberes thought, especially in his philosophy of education. This book brings together aspects of Buberes philosophy and educational practice, and explains their significance for peace dialogue and for conflict resolution, both between individuals and communities. Buber's philosophy of dialogue and views on education are pivotal in demonstrating the personal and social benefits of dialogical education as well as the dangers of non-dialogical education. The book will be valuable reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in Martin Buber, education, peace dialogue and conflict resolution. (shrink)

A defining aspect of our modern age is our tenacious belief in technology in all walks of life, not least in education. It could be argued that this infatuation with technology or ‘techno-philia’ in education has had a deep impact in the classroom changing the relationship between teacher and student, as well as between students; that is, these relations have become increasingly more I–It than I–Thou based because the capacity to form bonds, the level of connectedness between teacher and students, (...) and between students has either decreased or become impaired by the increasing technologisation of education. Running parallel to this and perhaps exacerbating the problem is the so-called process of ‘learnification’, which understands that teachers are mere facilitators of the learning process, rather than someone with an expertise who has something to teach others. In this article, I first assess the current technologisation of education and the impact it has had in relations within the classroom; second, I characterise Buber’s I–It and I–Thou relations and its implications for education; finally, I investigate through a thought experiment if the development of AI could 1 day successfully replace human teachers in the classroom. (shrink)

There has been a shift from teaching to learning, the so-called process of ‘learnification’, which promotes the idea that teaching should be primarily concerned with the creation of rich learning environments and scaffolding student learning. In doing so, this process of ‘learnification’ has also attacked the idea that teachers have something to teach and that students have something to learn from their teachers. The influence of constructivism, and thinkers like Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner in this paradigm shift is quite evident; (...) however, this gives rise to a tension in what a teacher is and what teaching entails, because the teacher, by definition, is someone who has something to teach students, and not merely a facilitator of the learning process. Moreover, because of constructivism and ‘learnification’, current educational practices and policies seem to pay little attention to the importance of ‘relations’ and ‘the encounter with the Other’, which become merely desirable by-products. In this article I criticise constructivism and ‘learnification’ by proposing that the teacher is a community ‘builder’ and teaching a ‘situational revelation’, while also emphasising the importance of ‘relations’ in the educational process. The starting point for my discussion is a much neglected passage of I and Thou where Martin Buber discusses the importance of the ‘living centre’ [lebendigen Mitte] for ‘true community’ [Die wahre Gemeinde] formation. (shrink)

Most of what has been written about Buber and education tend to be studies of two kinds: theoretical studies of his philosophical views on education, and specific case studies that aim at putting theory into practice. The perspective taken has always been to hold a dialogue with Buber's works in order to identify and analyse critically Buber's views and, in some cases, to put them into practice; that is, commentators dialogue with the text. In this article our aims are of (...) a different kind. First and fundamentally, we demonstrate the political and social ontological basis of Buber's thought; that is, we show that Buber, the philosopher of dialogue, held an authentic dialogue with his time, and demonstrate that Buber's work, in this case I and Thou, holds a dialogue with its Zeitgeist; that is the text dialogues with its Zeitgeist. This approach leads us to our second aim, which is to demonstrate that Buber's thought remains relevant to our times, particularly when it serves as a dialogical educational tool with which to resolve conflict of all types and to aid dialogue towards peace in inter-community relations. (shrink)

Metaphors help us understand a concept by resorting to the imaginary because it is sometimes difficult to do so through the use of words alone. Thinkers have made use of metaphors to not only describe ‘falling in love’, ‘the pain of losing someone dear to us’, but also to describe particular concepts both in arts and sciences. In fact, the use of metaphors in some disciplines, particularly the sciences, is now regarded as something essential for the development of the field. (...) We note that influential philosophers of education, such as Martin Buber, Paulo Freire, Michael Apple, Gert Biesta and Ilan Gur-Ze’ev have also made use of metaphors to discuss education and specific issues in educational contexts. In this article, we do two things: we discuss the methodological importance of metaphors in helping us make better sense of concepts and particular problems; building on this methodological discussion, we critically discuss the problems posed by the current processes of ‘marketisation’ and ‘learnification’ in education. We conclude by arguing that metaphors do not provide us with ultimate answers to the problems we face; rather, they help us unveil a diversity of novel perspectives and a world of new possibilities. (shrink)

One issue that is often ignored in political theory is the problem of means and modes of communication affecting dialogue between parties. In this age of hyper communication, this is something particularly relevant. The point here is that, despite the ease with which we have access to both means and modes of communication, there remains the problem of truly communicating and truly dialoguing with the Other. Michel Serres’ work Le Parasite is a seminal work on this issue. According to him, (...) in means and modes of communication, the parasite is an unwanted entity that interferes with what would otherwise be a clear connection between a sender and a receiver. But messages must pass through means and modes of communication, and this necessarily interferes with the message. The noise is therefore a constitutive feature of any form of communication. In this article, I assess the implications of Serres’ theory for Buber’s views on dialogue and for conflict resolution between individuals and communities in conflict. My discussion will be centred on informal education and will make reference to concrete instances of Anti-Semitism in the Middle-Eastern media, and how it affects relations between communities in the region. (shrink)

Research into violence in schools has been growing steadily at an international level, and has shown high degrees of violence at various different levels. Given the seriousness of the problem, finding ways of responding to this issue in schools becomes an imperative for educationists. In this article, we engage with this problem by defending the view that whilst violence might be endemic in schools, there are also real possibilities for working towards different ways of being in relationship in schools. Firstly, (...) we discuss Galtung’s understanding of violence and peace, paying particular attention to his concepts of structural and cultural violence, peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding. Secondly, we connect Galtung’s notions of peacemaking to Buber’s philosophy of dialogue, in order to make a case for an ‘epistemological shift’ which might enable individuals and communities to achieve ‘peace’. Finally, we direct our argument to the education context and put forward some concrete proposals for peacemaking in schools. (shrink)

Fichte is the first great Post-Kantian Idealist and his debt to Spinozism has been acknowledged by virtually all of his commentators. However, the extent of Spinoza’s influence on Fichte has not been spelled out in much detail. In response to this I propose to do two things. Firstly, I propose to provide a typology of interpretations of Fichte’s Absolute I, as some commentators seem to get entangled in these different interpretations, which can be very confusing to their readership. Secondly, I (...) wish to demonstrate that the Fichtean system is better understood in the light of its Spinozist influences. (shrink)

Martin Buber is considered one of the twentieth century’s greatest thinkers, contributing to the fields of philosophy, theology and education. After Buber’s death the appreciation of his considerable legacy became rather muted, but was never completely forgotten. Recently, interest in Buber’s thought has increased and a number of journal articles and books dealing with both general and specific aspects of his philosophy have appeared. However, the number of commentaries on the importance of his socio-political thought are still small in number, (...) and it is arguable that only Mendes-Flohr and Avnon have provided significant discussions on this aspect of Buber’s philosophy. This article adds to the debate in this area by referring to Buber’s concept of the ‘living-centre’, and assesses the Mendes-Florian and Avnonian [my terminology] interpretations of this fundamental idea so as to establish which provides a more sustainable reading of Buber’s ideas. (shrink)

Education has two distinct but interconnected layers. There is an outer layer concerned with knowledge transfer and skills and an inner layer concerned with the development of character and relationships with others, both individually and socially. This inner layer provides the individual with the capacity to influence and to change society. In that sense, such an inner layer is ‘political’. In this article we argue that the ‘political’ in education can take two distinct forms: either that of dialogue or of (...) defiance. We claim that the former is epitomised by the philosophy of Martin Buber and the latter by the philosophy of Frantz Fanon. Our analysis contrasting these two philosophies clarifies the implications for education, and thereby for the individual and for society. (shrink)

‘Prayer’ can be defined as ‘the offering, in public worship or private devotion, of petition, confession, adoration, or thanksgiving to God; also the form of words in which such an offering is made’ (cf. Cohn-Sherbok 2010). In addition to this simple definition it could be said that there are different forms of prayer: some are vocal and articulate and others are only mental in nature; some prayers are communal and liturgical and other prayers are spontaneous or at least composed by (...) the one saying the prayer (cf. Stump 1999). Accordingly, it is evident that there are manifold intricacies involved in any characterisation of ‘prayer’. In this article my aims are twofold. First, I explore the implications of Martin Buber’s philosophy, particularly of his conception of God as Thou for our understanding of ‘prayer’; second, I will argue that Buber’s understanding of ‘prayer’ as dialogue serves as a way for the individual to seek reconciliation with itself, with others, and with God. (shrink)

?Language death? is an undeniable phenomenon of our modern times as languages have started to disappear at an alarming rate. This has led linguists, anthropologists, philosophers and educationists to engage with this issue at various levels in an attempt to try to understand the decline in this rich area of human communication and culture. In this article I refer to some interesting and innovative educational projects in the Amazon region of Brazil, which are revitalizing local languages, cultures and communities. I (...) analyse these projects in the light of some of Paulo Freire?s ideas, particularly his views on conscientization, praxis and contextualization, and will argue that these educational ventures might be viewed as useful templates for other countries and peoples seeking to reverse or avoid ?language-culture? death. (shrink)

Various commentators have acknowledged the fact that Schelling was influenced by Spinoza’s philosophical views (cf. Bowie 1993, 2003; Copleston 1963; Esposito 1977; White 1983; Lawrence 2003; Hegel 1995; Beiser 2002; Richards 2002). However, these commentators have not spelled out in detail this influence, and this situation is particularly true of the Anglo-American tradition. In this article, I investigate Schelling’s Naturphilosophie project in search of its Spinozistic roots and I argue that this provides us with a better understanding of the Schelligian (...) system. (shrink)

Neste artigo aponta-se para uma importante contribuição que o Pacto Nacional pelo Fortalecimento do Ensino Médio introduz no campo da educação, quer dizer, a possibilidade de constituição do professor-improvisador, tão defendido por Ilan Gur-Ze’ev. Como resultado desta pesquisa empírica com análise qualitativa de dados mostra-se que, sem o apoio de tais ações, a oportunidade de os indivíduos expandirem suas capacidades críticas é reduzida, comprometendo o potencial para o surgimento e/ou revelação desse professor improvisador, crítico e encorajador da crítica. Ainda: busca-se (...) destacar a importância desse tipo de ação no que concerne à valorização e à melhoria da escola pública. Palavras-chave: Formação de professores. Educação Continuada. Ilan Gur-Ze’ev. (shrink)

This book brings together ten seminal European philosophers to critically discuss their socio-political and dialogical views, and the implications of these for education. Chapters explore the work of modern philosophers, including Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Lev Vygotsky and Hannah Arendt, positioning their contributions within the European tradition of dialogical philosophy, reflecting on their continuing theoretical relevance to the field of education and critical pedagogy, and offering an analysis of key extracts and points of discussion.

Various commentators have acknowledged the fact that Schelling was influenced by Spinoza’s philosophical views (cf. Bowie 1993, 2003; Copleston 1963; Esposito 1977; White 1983; Lawrence 2003; Hegel 1995; Beiser 2002; Richards 2002). However, these commentators have not spelled out in detail this influence, and this situation is particularly true of the Anglo-American tradition. In this article, I investigate Schelling’s Naturphilosophie project in search of its Spinozistic roots and I argue that this provides us with a better understanding of the Schelligian (...) system. (shrink)

O presente trabalho reflete sobre a significativa e desigual morte de jovens negros no País. Para tanto, a produção traz uma discussão sobre o teórico martinicano Frantz Fanon que, com suas ideias sobre racismo e colonialismo, nos ajuda a reconhecer o racismo brasileiro e a condição em que vivem os jovens negros do Brasil. Apesar de Fanon afirmar que suas considerações se referem apenas ao momento histórico em que escreve e aos estudos de colonialismo, acreditamos ser fácil fazer um paralelo (...) entre sua obra e o momento histórico brasileiro quanto à morte de jovens negros. Analisamos as três formas de violência trazidas pelo teórico: psicológica, estrutural, e física, dentro das quais vivem e morrem tais jovens. Buscamos, ainda, refletir sobre a construção das identidades e juventudes negras para compreender, onde e de que forma, estão inseridas na sociedade brasileira. Para tanto, acreditamos ser necessário analisar de que modo se dá o racismo brasileiro e conhecer o que denominamos de falso mito da igualdade racial, contra o qual lutamos constantemente, em busca de reconhecimento do problema, para que possamos buscar soluções. O trabalho aborda a Lei n. 10.639/2003 que versa sobre a obrigatoriedade de se trabalhar na escola a cultura africana e afro-brasileira. Consideramos a lei uma importante política pública na promoção de igualdade racial, através da valorização da cultura vinda do continente africano. Acreditamos que a implementação efetiva dessa lei apoia a construção de identidades negro-positivas tanto para negros quanto para não negros e que essa valorização das identidades serve como importante ferramenta na luta contra a significativa morte de jovens negros no País. (shrink)

A Educação Continuada de professores é reconhecida como indispensável e fundamental para a qualificação dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem. Para tanto, neste estudo, levaremos em consideração alguns aspectos dessa temática. Em primeiro lugar, precisamos ter conhecimento das diretrizes que tratam da Educação Continuada de professores, ou seja, compreender de onde viemos e qual é a proposta das legislações nacional e internacional. Em segundo lugar, explanaremos e discutiremos conceitos teóricos que tratam da temática, em especial a visão de Gert Biesta, (...) o importante filósofo da educação. Finalmente, com base nos dois itens citados, entrelaçaremos considerações e indagações para uma Educação Continuada que possa fazer diferença no cotidiano dos professores. Portanto, o principal foco desta pesquisa é analisar, criticamente, essa educação dos professores, à luz das concepções propostas por Gert Biesta. Palavras-chave: Educação Continuada. Professores. Diálogo. Gert Biesta. (shrink)

Martin Buber (1878–1965) is one of the most significant existentialist philosophers and educationalists of the twentieth century, and a leading scholar of the Hasidic tradition. His philosophical and educational views are dominated by the concept of dialogue and, in virtue of this, he is often called the philosopher of dialogue. Throughout his life, Buber advocated dialogue as a way of establishing peace and resolving conflicts, and therefore he is often referred to in both the academic and general literature as an (...) advocate of pacifism. But is this the case? If so, what sort of pacifism was Buber defending? (shrink)

A reflexão parte da tarefa que Benjamin atribui aos que estão vivos: originar um verdadeiro “estado de exceção”. Compreende-se que essa é a tarefa primeira de uma Educação Histórica ética e estética. O artigo está organizado em três partes que compreendem os três elementos indissociáveis que constituem os primeiros movimentos no sentido de superar o “estado de Exceção” da violência sem memória. Na primeira parte, discutimos, a partir de Adorno, o “estado de exceção” da violência sem memória e reafirmamos o (...) dever de memória que se opõe a barbárie. Na segunda parte, comentamos, seguindo Levinas, a ética da responsabilidade. Na terceira, analisamos a estética do Eros contraeducativo de Gur-Ze’ev. Conclui-se que a postura de um pensar histórico ético e estético perpassa a recusa de esquecer e o desenvolvimento de uma atitude crítica para consigo mesmo, para com o Outro, e finalmente para com a realidade. (shrink)

Gilberto Freyre, the great Brazilian historian and sociologist, described Brazil as a ‘racial paradise’, a place where different races and nationalities have come to live together in a sort of ‘racial democracy’. The literature on this topic has become extensive as anthropologists, social scientists and historians felt the need to either prove or disprove such a claim. The argument that Brazil is a racial paradise or democracy is certainly romantic, even utopian; but it is true that Brazil has not experienced (...) the sort of racial friction that has been found in places such as South Africa (e.g. apartheid) or the USA (e.g. segregation laws). This article analyses interculturalism and non-formal education in Brazilian society from the perspective of Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue and demonstrates some of the advantages interculturalism has over multiculturalism. We further suggest that the example of modern and contemporary Brazil follows Martin Buber in ‘pointing the way’ for other countries and for other societies and cultures. (shrink)