Education, Culture and Epistemological Diversity - Mapping a Disputed Terrain

In the recent educational research literature, it has been asserted that ethnic or cultural groups have their own distinctive epistemologies, and that these have been given short shrift by the dominant social group. Educational research, then, is pursued within a framework that embodies assumptions about knowledge and knowledge production that reflect the interests and historical traditions of this dominant group. In such arguments, however, some relevant philosophical issues remain unresolved, such as what claims about culturally distinctive epistemologies mean, precisely, and how they relate to traditional epistemological distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. Furthermore, can these ways of establishing knowledge stand up to critical scrutiny? This volume marshals a variety of resources to pursue such open questions in a lively and accessible way: a critical literature review, analyses from philosophers of education who have different positions on the key issues, a roundtable discussion, and interactions between the two editors, who sometimes disagree. It also employs the work of prominent feminist epistemologists who have investigated parallel issues with sophistication. This volume does not settle the question of culturally distinctive epistemologies, but teases out the various philosophical, sociological and political aspects of the issue so that the debate can continue with greater clarity.

List of contents

About the Authors.- Foreword.- 1. Introduction; Claudia W. Ruitenberg and D.C. Phillips.- 2. A Critical Review of Representative Sources on Multi-Cultural Epistemology; D.C. Phillips._Epistemologists and Educational Researchers in Word and Deed: A Commentary; Claudia W. Ruitenberg.- 3. Charting the Reefs: A Map of Multicultural Epistemology; Jon A. Levisohn and D.C. Phillips.- 4. Epistemological Diversity and Education Research: Much Ado about Nothing Much?; Harvey Siegel.- 5. Taking Subjectivity into Account; Lorraine Code.- 6. Epistemology as Trope: Uses and Effects of Claims about "Ways of Knowing"; Claudia W. Ruitenberg.- 7. Epistemological Diversity: A Roundtable; Lorraine Code, D.C. Phillips, Claudia Ruitenberg, Harvey Siegel, and Lynda Stone._Epilogue 1; Claudia W. Ruitenberg._Epilogue 2; D.C. Phillips.- 8. Second Thoughts; Claudia W. Ruitenberg and D.C. Phillips.- Bibliography.- Index.

Summary

In the recent educational research literature, it has been asserted that ethnic or cultural groups have their own distinctive epistemologies, and that these have been given short shrift by the dominant social group.  Educational research, then, is pursued within a framework that embodies assumptions about knowledge and knowledge production that reflect the interests and historical traditions of this dominant group. In such arguments, however, some relevant philosophical issues remain unresolved, such as what claims about culturally distinctive epistemologies mean, precisely, and how they relate to traditional epistemological distinctions between beliefs and knowledge. Furthermore, can these ways of establishing knowledge stand up to critical scrutiny? This volume marshals a variety of resources to pursue such open questions in a lively and accessible way: a critical literature review, analyses from philosophers of education who have different positions on the key issues, a roundtable discussion, and interactions between the two editors, who sometimes disagree. It also employs the work of prominent feminist epistemologists who have investigated parallel issues with sophistication. This volume does not settle the question of culturally distinctive epistemologies, but teases out the various philosophical, sociological and political aspects of the issue so that the debate can continue with greater clarity.

Additional text

From the reviews:
What do we mean by "epistemological difference?" This timely and useful volume exposes and explores the theoretical issues raised by the encounter of cultures and social experiences that differently shape cognitive pursuits and standards of evaluation.  It is essential reading for thinkers about knowledge, its cultivation, and its communication in our 21st century interconnected world.
Helen E. Longino
Clarence Irving Lewis Professor in Philosophy, Stanford University, USA

“The central focus in this attractive book … as a volume in Springer’s Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education series, is on a concept that has gained substantial popularity in recent years―as well as some notoriety, as a few of the writings here illustrate. … an eminently readable and engaging book, a timely volume that will be of great interest and benefit not only to philosophers and theorists in education, but also to graduate students, and to educators working in multicultural environments.”

Kai Horsthemke, Science & Education, June, 2012


…”The recently published edited collection by Claudia Ruitenberg and Denis Phillips (with the collaboration of Lorraine Code, Jon Levisohn, Harvey Siegel, and Lynda Stone) on epistemic diversity is in more than one sense interesting and unusual. It is interesting, firstly, because of its format—a collection in which the majority of the contributions are written by the two editors. Secondly, it offers comments at various points on the preceding chapters and that not in a single editorial voice; both editors engage themselves with the positions of others but also with each other’s position in what amounts to an internal dialogue.”
Paul Smeyers, Ghent University and KU Leuven, Belgium.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9752

Report

From the reviews:
What do we mean by "epistemological difference?" This timely and useful volume exposes and explores the theoretical issues raised by the encounter of cultures and social experiences that differently shape cognitive pursuits and standards of evaluation. It is essential reading for thinkers about knowledge, its cultivation, and its communication in our 21st century interconnected world.
Helen E. Longino
Clarence Irving Lewis Professor in Philosophy, Stanford University, USA

"The central focus in this attractive book ... as a volume in Springer's Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education series, is on a concept that has gained substantial popularity in recent years as well as some notoriety, as a few of the writings here illustrate. ... an eminently readable and engaging book, a timely volume that will be of great interest and benefit not only to philosophers and theorists in education, but also to graduate students, and to educators working in multicultural environments."

Kai Horsthemke, Science & Education, June, 2012


..."The recently published edited collection by Claudia Ruitenberg and Denis Phillips (with the collaboration of Lorraine Code, Jon Levisohn, Harvey Siegel, and Lynda Stone) on epistemic diversity is in more than one sense interesting and unusual. It is interesting, firstly, because of its format-a collection in which the majority of the contributions are written by the two editors. Secondly, it offers comments at various points on the preceding chapters and that not in a single editorial voice; both editors engage themselves with the positions of others but also with each other's position in what amounts to an internal dialogue."
Paul Smeyers, Ghent University and KU Leuven, Belgium.
Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2013
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9752

Product details

• Assisted by: C Phillips (Editor), C Phillips (Editor), D. C. Phillips (Editor), D.C. Phillips (Editor), Claudia W. Ruitenberg (Editor), Claudi W Ruitenberg (Editor), Claudia W Ruitenberg (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.03.2014
• EAN: 9789400737525
• ISBN: 978-94-0-073752-5
• No. of pages: 162
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 235 mm x 237 mm
• Weight: 272 g
• Illustrations: X, 162 p.
• Series: Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education; Contemporary Philosophies and Theories in Education
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Education system; B, Education, Philosophy, Epistemology, philosophy of education, Education, general, Philosophy & theory of education, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Educational Philosophy, Education—Philosophy, Philosophy, general, Philosophy and social sciences