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Bourdieusian meditations

Bourdieusian meditations
Bourdieusian meditations
The paper discusses the work of the French Social Theorist Pierre Bourdieu who died in 2002. It gives a background to the work of Bourdieu and argues for its pressing relevance for philosophers of Education. Reference is made to both structuralism and phenomenology which shaped Bourdieu’s theories and his work in education. It sets out the main tenets of his epistemology and the concepts he used. It considers the critique he made of the philosophical field and ‘scholastic reason’. The paper addresses the principal aspects of Bourdieu’s philosophical approach and relates it to such issues as objectivity, reflexivity, warranty, truth and practical reason. The paper considers these in the light of a selection of issues for philosophers of education, such as authority, power, and educational knowledge. Some reference is made to the relationship between educational knowledge and action, and the implications this has for teachers, pupils and policy makers. It sets the discussion within a historical context of ongoing concerns over theory and practice. It reflects on the methodological implications for educational research and its relationship with policy. The paper is offered as a series of ‘meditations’, as a way of assessing the relevance of Bourdieu’s theoretical approach for educationalists and philosophers of education.
Bourdieu, Philosophy, Education
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1

Grenfell, Michael (2005) Bourdieusian meditations. Conference of the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER 2005), Dublin, Ireland. 07 - 10 Sep 2005. 20 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

The paper discusses the work of the French Social Theorist Pierre Bourdieu who died in 2002. It gives a background to the work of Bourdieu and argues for its pressing relevance for philosophers of Education. Reference is made to both structuralism and phenomenology which shaped Bourdieu’s theories and his work in education. It sets out the main tenets of his epistemology and the concepts he used. It considers the critique he made of the philosophical field and ‘scholastic reason’. The paper addresses the principal aspects of Bourdieu’s philosophical approach and relates it to such issues as objectivity, reflexivity, warranty, truth and practical reason. The paper considers these in the light of a selection of issues for philosophers of education, such as authority, power, and educational knowledge. Some reference is made to the relationship between educational knowledge and action, and the implications this has for teachers, pupils and policy makers. It sets the discussion within a historical context of ongoing concerns over theory and practice. It reflects on the methodological implications for educational research and its relationship with policy. The paper is offered as a series of ‘meditations’, as a way of assessing the relevance of Bourdieu’s theoretical approach for educationalists and philosophers of education.

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More information

Published date: 2005
Venue - Dates: Conference of the European Conference of Educational Research (ECER 2005), Dublin, Ireland, 2005-09-07 - 2005-09-10
Keywords: Bourdieu, Philosophy, Education

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 24005
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/24005
PURE UUID: 964f723a-20a2-4eca-9322-e52e58f2b749
ORCID for Michael Grenfell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2038-0317

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Mar 2006
Last modified: 09 Nov 2022 02:33

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Author: Michael Grenfell ORCID iD

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