Education after deconstruction

Gert J. Biesta

pp. 27-42

in: James D. Marshall (ed), Poststructuralism, philosophy, pedagogy, Berlin, Springer, 2004

Abstract

Why should educators and educational theorists engage with deconstruction? What could be the point of them reading the complex and controversial writings of Jacques Derrida (1930-), the Algerian-born philosopher whose work has become known under this name? If deconstruction would be just another "philosophy", then to engage with this particular philosophy would only be one option among many. Some educators read Dewey, others prefer Wittgenstein, and still others like Derrida. If, on the other hand, it would be true that "deconstruction is the case" (Derrida, 1990, p.85), that "deconstruction" "is one of the possible names to designate ... what occurs [ce qui arrive], or cannot manage to occur [ce qui n"arrive pas à arriver]" (Derrida and Ewald, 2001, p. 67), then the relationship between deconstruction and education seems to be a different one.

Cited authors

Derrida Jacques

Wittgenstein Ludwig

Dewey John