To be as concise as possible, one of my biggest challenges in regards to educational reform is the language and method of discourse. Namely, our method of discourse has become diluted by words of half-meanings. We have locked ourselves into a standstill because of our over reliance on certain concepts and terminologies.

That being said, Beyond Pedagogy is a reading group comprised of educators and those with a vested interest in the field of education. We will not be reading standard education texts. We’re reading broadly but we’re reading purposefully. We’re discussing education but on other fields’ terms.

We’re inviting you to read these texts too. Where can such a “revolutionary ‘exodus’” take us? Let’s find out.

Beyond Pedagogy Meeting Dates (Updated 5/11)

2/28 – Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology by David Graeber
3/20 – Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
4/17 – Blank Slate by Steven Pinker -MEETING CANCELED – WILL RESCHEDULE ON 5/8
5/8 – Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman
6/5 – Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Jay Lifton
6/19 – Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller

7/3 –  Blank Slate by Steven Pinker -Meeting Rescheduled from 4/17

8/28 – Dialectics of Seeing by Susan Buck-Morse

9/4 – Beyond Pedagogy Debriefing

The meetings are all scheduled to run from 5-7 p.m. at the Mentor LA Offices located at 1035 S. Grand Ave., 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90015. Please park in the lot on the corner of Grand and 11th.

All are welcome!

Alternate explanation found here and here.

Thanks to Fritz Haeg and the “Planet of the Humans” book club for the inspiration to form this group.

The Glass Bead Game imagines a futuristic society that is somehow governed by a game whose instructions are never made explicit. However, the basic premise of the game is made clear. Connections are drawn between various themes. They are conducted and organized by the Magister Ludi. They are the innate fabric that contends to hold the society together.

On the other hand, in today’s less than futuristic society, we are a specialized people. I studied English therefore I did not study biology (unless I double-majored, but I definitely did not study Architecture). You studied Political Science therefore you did not study Film Criticism. We’re not programmed to connect themes across the varied fields of academia. And where does that place the role of the educator: I teach English therefore I will not teach (or know) the other fields (unless there is social studies teacher that is willing to team teach).

“Beyond Pedagogy” is a prototyped attempt at donning the role of Magister Ludi – to borrow the title from Hermann Hesse’s novel The Glass Bead Game – and draw the needed connections amongst myriad fields of study to broaden the scope of education dialogue. It is an extensive and unrelenting look at “why” with unwavering to return more than statistics as formulated response.

Beyond Pedagogy Meeting Dates
3/20 – Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
4/17 – Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
5/8 – Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman
6/5 – Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Jay Lifton
6/19 – Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller
7/?? – Dialectics of Seeing by Susan Buck-Morse

The meetings are all scheduled to run from 5-7 p.m. at the Mentor LA Offices located at 1035 S. Grand Ave., 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90015. Please park in the lot on the corner of Grand and 11th.

All are welcome!

Alternate explanation found here.

You are late.

You are running to your car and you are late.

You are late for that presentation that you have been preparing for.

You are splashing through a puddle and the puddle has a rock.

You trip on the unseen rock in the puddle that you are splashing through. Maybe it was an imaginary rock (it probably wasn’t).

Your index cards are all a jumble. That could be a real problem, couldn’t it? The whole purpose is now enfolded upon itself. An accordion with no wind.

Things are out of order. There is no order. You stumble across Pt. 2 of a sandbox that explains the purpose of the sandbox that begins in Pt. 1. But the sandbox is imaginary. You find mention of All Time Educational Buzz Word #1. ATEBW#1 makes you suspicious – this is not my beautiful house!

You’re wary because ATEBW#1 is duplicitous. It and the other ATEBW#1 contenders (“social justice” “culturally relevant” “reform” “standardized” “benchmarks” “engagement” & “authenticity” for instance) are the kinds of words that are fixing us in place. We’re not able to grow from here and you’re the only one who knows this. You’re very sharp, after all. A presentation. A presentation is what’s needed.

You were going to change the world! You made index cards, dammit! Why can’t anyone fix the goddamn potholes in this city anyway?

We need to fix these puddle gaps. We need to fix these puddle gaps because a hole in one’s logic and a hole in the street are just as faulty. Is one any more real than the other? Is there any other way to fill a (w)hole than to supplicate it with the real? How would your request be addressed? A supplication of asphalt? A supplication of new knowledge?

We’ve got the shovels. Let’s fill in some holes. No more puddle splashing and splayed index cards.

Invite a friend. Bring a hard hat (best to also tell your friend to bring a hard hat). It’s time to landfill:

Beyond Pedagogy Meeting Dates
3/20 – Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
4/17 – Blank Slate by Steven Pinker
5/8 – Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman
6/5 – Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism by Jay Lifton
6/19 – Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller
7/?? – Dialectics of Seeing by Susan Buck-Morse

The meetings are all scheduled to run from 5-7 p.m. at the Mentor LA Offices located at 1035 S. Grand Ave., 2nd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90015. Please park in the lot on the corner of Grand and 11th.

All are welcome!