Loading...
An ontological turn in critical thinking in higher education
Pollard, Vikki
Pollard, Vikki
Citations
Altmetric:
Author
Abstract
It has been argued that higher education pedagogy needs to take an ‘ontological turn’ because the focus on the development of generic skills does not enable students to face the ontological challenge of a ‘supercomplex’ world (Barnett, 2004, 2005). This challenge requires that students are able to develop a sense of an ethical self in relation to competing discourses and perspectives. Higher education is, as yet, ill- equipped to prepare students for this ontological challenge (Barnett, 2004). There is a need, therefore, to review current teaching practices and to develop practices more able to support students in meeting this challenge. Critical thinking is an appropriate teaching and learning area for this type of review, as it is concerned, at least in theory, with teaching students skills to analyse competing discourses.
This paper examines critical thinking in professional education and finds little evidence of an ontological turn. The focus is, instead, on critical thinking as the skill of making judgements. Drawing from theorists who argue against critique being directed at making judgements (Butler, 2001), the paper reviews the limitations of this focus. It is argued that Michel Foucault’s (1984) ‘critical ontology’ can be adapted as a method in critical thinking that addresses the need for an ‘ontological turn’. Further research in this area is warranted in order to develop ontological teaching and learning methods.
Keywords
ontological turn, critical ontologies, critical thinking
Date
2014
Type
Conference paper
Journal
Book
Refereed papers from the 37th HERDSA Annual International Conference
Volume
Issue
Page Range
266-273
Article Number
ACU Department
Centre for Education and Innovation
Collections
Relation URI
DOI
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled
Notes
Copyright © 2014 HERDSA and the author.