Critical Theories in Education
New issue of Critical Education just published:
“Anthropocentrism’s Antidote: Reclaiming Our Indigenous Orientation to Non-human Teachers” by Don “Four Arrows” Jacobs, Jessica London Jacobs, and Sage Ryan.
This is the second article in the Critical Education series “The Lure of the Animal: Addressing Nonhuman Animals in Educational Theory and Research”.
With the current issue (Volume 1, Number 2), Critical Education launches a new series of articles titled “The Lure of the Animal: Addressing Nonhuman Animals in Educational Theory and Research.”
The inaugural article is by series editor Abraham P. DeLeon of the University of Texas, San Antonio and titled “The Lure of the Animal: The Theoretical Question of the Nonhuman Animal.”
Call for Manuscripts: Special Section of Critical Education
The Lure of the Animal: Addressing Nonhuman Animals in Educational Theory and Research
Special Section Guest Editor:
Abraham P. DeLeon
University of Texas at San Antonio
Critical Education is seeking manuscripts that address the question of the nonhuman animal in educational research, theory and praxis. Examining the representations of nonhuman animals provides opportunities to explore ideology, discourse, and the ways in which the construction of nonhumans mirrors the representation of the human Other in contemporary and historical contexts. Schools are filled with social practices concerning nonhuman animals, whether that is the food served in the cafeteria, dissection in Science classrooms, or representations in textbooks. Linked to an agenda of social justice that has emerged in the educational literature over the past decade, the treatment of nonhuman animals needs to be addressed by critical theorists in education that seek to change structures of oppression for all of life on this planet. Traditional representations of the animal persist (unfettered desire, wild, barbaric, brutish, and savage), despite the fact that we know little outside of Western empirical science. To be animal then is to be wild and something apart from supposedly human traits of rationality, language, and logic. In turn, this allows highly exploitive and torturous industries to emerge and flourish that exploit nonhumans. However, ruptures existed that threw into question what it meant to be human, such as the case of wild people and feral children. As the category of human is often reified in educational scholarship unquestioningly, this provides a unique opportunity to deconstruct these categories and their exclusionary functions.
The recent literature surrounding eco-pedagogy and critical animal studies (Andrzejewski, et. al., 2009; Best, 2009; Bowers, 2001; Kahn, 2008; Martusewicz & Edmundson, 2005; Riley-Taylor, 2002) and the cultural politics of nature (Shukin, 2009) begs us to examine how the question of the animal is tied to the larger project of educational theory and practice. Published over a series of issues, this section will allow scholars to explore what this means for education. Some possible topics can include:
The guest editor seeks theoretical, conceptual, and qualitative papers addressing the central theme and any work submitted will be peer-reviewed.
Nonhuman animals need to be accounted for within the broader educational literature and this special section allows scholars to explore this important and timely topic.
Any questions can be directed to Dr. Abraham DeLeon, University of Texas at San Antonio, abraham.deleon@utsa.edu.
_________________________________
Critical Education is an international peer-reviewed journal, which seeks manuscripts that critically examine contemporary education contexts and practices.
Please see, http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/criticaled/index for more information and submission information.
Follow
