Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Diversity, openness and the moral necessity of dialogue
Author: David Mossley
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN: 1741-4164
ISSN-L:
Volume: 5
Number: 2
Start page: 4
End page: 5
Return to vol. 5 no. 2 index page
This issue contains papers from internationally renowned scholars in theology and religious studies, alongside a discussion of non- Western texts and uses of online teaching in philosophy. During editorial stages in preparing the journal, I was struck by the quality of material we are publishing in Discourse and the high level of academic reflection that these papers represent. What education is, how it is conducted, how student learning is nurtured, and so on, are questions that engage issues that lie right at the heart of our disciplines. Our understanding of the self and society, of truth, of change, of morality and spirituality, of the other and the world, of language and meaning, of thought and emotion, and of being and becoming, all inform our theory and practice of education in some way or other. In these times of increasing quantification and standardisation of education, where models of what a person in education is are used by implication rather than being examined, pedagogical research in our communities is vital to maintain diversity, openness and appropriateness in university education. We can contribute, not just to discussions about our own disciplines, but to wider academic and national dialogue on university education. Many of the papers in this issue present engagement in this way as a moral necessity.
The interview with Ursula King, and Loades' overview and analysis of the current state of theology and religious studies, provide different perspectives on the past and present of the disciplines. They show how academic life has changed in the UK, highlighting many of the features that have made it valuable and unique and that need rigorous intellectual defence if they are to flourish in the future. Bird makes these themes explicit in her discussion of the value of our openness to 'not knowing' in education. Dolin's paper then examines the role of tradition and openness in the Japanese context, demonstrating further how fundamental stances on the nature of the self in the world dramatically affect basic attitudes in and to education.
All these papers also demonstrate the overlapping nature of philosophy and
discussions of religion, a theme continued by I’Anson and Jasper, who
give us a picture of how religious studies might be understood in the future,
through the application of the philosophy of Deleuze. Lawrence then further
analyses the community basis of education through an account of biblical study
in Scotland. Panza’s paper continues Dolin’s themes in moving
us beyond Western subject boundaries and looks at the use of non-Western sacred
and philosophical texts in philosophy teaching. Finally, Carusi looks at how
texts and group discussion are changed in fundamental ways by being taken
on-line because of the nature of hypertext creation. These issues will have
a profound impact on the nature of teaching in the future given technological
development. As always, we have strived to provide a range of interesting
material of high quality and welcome feedback on any aspect of the journal.
David J Mossley
Editor
Return to vol. 5 no. 2 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
