Ronald Soetaert

Culture and Pedagogy in Teacher Education

If, as Raymond Williams has asserted, culture is ‘‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’’ (Williams 1976, 76) then education probably is one of the other two or three most complicated words. If culture can be conceptualized variously as ‘a way of life’, as cultivation of the mind, or as learnt behaviour it becomes also clear that both words share a lot of ‘meanings’. In his work, Giroux described culture as the site where identities are constructed: it is ‘‘the site where young people and others imagine their relationship to the world; it produces the narratives, metaphors, and images for constructing and exercising a powerful pedagogical force over how people think of themselves and their relationship to Others’’ (Giroux quoted in Kellner 2001, 233). Hence, culture is intrinsically pedagogical. Describing what cultural studies or what pedagogy is all about is very complex because there are many contradictory perspectives and paradigms in both disciplines. There is no single object of study, no unified body of theory, no one-and-only methodology that defines cultural studies or pedagogy completely. As far as cultural studies is concerned, Hall argues: ‘‘Cultural studies has many multiple discourses; it has a number of different histories. . . . It includes many different kinds of work’’ (Hall 1992, 278). Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, we find it difficult if not dangerous to attempt to provide a unified or coherent definition of either cultural studies or radical education. Yet, in our daily work in the Department of Teacher Education, and the Department of Pedagogy and in special courses about language teaching, we are confronted with the problem of addressing the distinctions and relationships between cultural studies and education. We do not teach a separate cultural studies course, but we introduce The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 26:155–174, 2004 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc. ISSN: 1071-4413 print DOI: 10.1080=10714410490480421

Revisiting the ethnographic turn in contemporary art

Abstract An increasing wave of art events has occurred since the 1990s that have displayed significant similarities with anthropology and ethnography in their theorisations of cultural difference and representational practices. In this theme issue the authors aim to revisit the ethnographic turn in contemporary art by focusing on practice-led research. Contributions were collected from theorists, artists and critics, to engage critically with the ethnographic perspective in their work. Next to full research papers the authors also invited short statements and reflections by artists about their practice. In this introductory article, the issues at stake in the ethnographic turn in contemporary art are explored in greater detail.

Revisiting the rhetorical curriculum

The aim of the special strand on ‘Revisiting the rhetorical curriculum’ is to explore the educational potential of a new rhetorical perspective, specifically in relation to different traditions within educational and rhetorical studies. This implies that we do not only look at education in rhetoric, but that we position education also as a rhetorical practice. In this introductory article, we introduce a broad perspective on rhetoric by exploring concepts from new rhetoric to set the scene for this special strand. We elaborate briefly on the relationship between rhetoric and education, which is reflected in the classical concept of paideia. We specifically relate the new rhetorical perspective to curricular issues and introduce the different contributions that are part of this special strand. The article ends by discussing what can be learned from (new) rhetoric about language, culture and education in a post- (or anti-) foundational world.

The rhetorical construction of the nation in education: the case of Flanders

This paper examines what can be learnt from ‘new rhetoric’ (focusing on the work of the American rhetorician Kenneth Burke [1897–1993]) about (national) identity and discusses how nationalism can be taught from such a rhetorical perspective. Despite the ‘deconstruction’ of nation(alism) as a grand narrative, there is a new tendency towards emphasizing national identity, caused by trends such as globalization and multiculturalism. In the language and literature teaching curriculum, this paradoxical situation often causes frictions for teachers who very often are expected to teach standard language and national literature. The hypothesis is that rhetoric is a tool to deal with these tensions in the curriculum. This paper focuses on Flanders as a case‐study. Together with pre‐service teachers it analysed the rhetorical construction of Flanders from a dramatistic perspective. It is argued that Burke’s concepts are useful tools to make students ‘symbol‐wise’: to understand the way national symbols work, and to develop critical engagement with, as well as on behalf of, those symbols.

Art and Literature in Environmental Education: two research projects

Summary This paper deals with environmental education from the perspective of literature teaching. We discuss two research projects, one focusing on descriptions, interpretations and evaluations of landscape paintings and the other on the concept of ‘nature’ in Robinson Crusoe, a prototypical example of modern European literature. In both cases, the teaching materials were developed, implemented and evaluated through feedback (action research) in teacher training (pre‐service and in‐service). The article seeks to illustrate the importance of art and literature for developing environmental literacy and awareness.

Players’ perspectives on the positive impact of video games: A qualitative content analysis of online forum discussions:

On game forums, players often discuss the positive impact of video games on their lives. We collected 964 messages from top ranked game forums (viaAlexa.com) and analyzed them using a coding scheme based on an existing taxonomy about the impact of the arts. This directed qualitative content analysis resulted in an exploration of how players’ talk about the impact of video games reflects broader cultural rhetorics. By analyzing players’ positive experiences using a theory-based coding scheme that is attentive to the wide array of effects that have been ascribed to the arts, this study offers a broad perspective on the attributed impact of video games.

Film choices for screening literacy: the 'Pygmalion template' in the curriculum as contact zone

This study discusses the representation of (the) literacy (myth) in popular movies and a teaching and research project on cinematic literacy narratives. It attempts to reveal the existence of a powerful ‘Pygmalion template’ in contemporary movie culture. Focusing on a discourse or culture clash ‘Pygmalion movies’ simultaneously contribute to the discursive construction and deconstruction of the literacy myth. Because of their polysemic character, these films offer fertile grounds for inquiring into the problematic nature of literacy acquisition and discourse or culture clashes. Inviting pre‐service teachers to reflect on these issues, the authors created a curriculum as contact zone in which films are used as a primary source of knowledge and insight together with students’ movie analyses and interpretations, personal narratives, and theoretical readings. This exploratory study of on‐line discussion groups revealed the students’ contradictory and competing movie readings. Organizing the curriculum as a contact zone deepened the students’ and one’s own understanding of literacy as an ideological site of struggle in (movie) culture.

The rhetorical turn in contemporary art and ethnography

Abstract This special themed issue, published over two consecutive issues of Critical Arts (October and December 2013), aims to revisit the ethnographic turn in contemporary art by inviting papers from theorists, artists and critics, to engage critically with the ethnographic perspective in their own work or in the work of other contemporary artists. This introductory article briefly recapitulates some of the issues explored in the first themed issue and introduces the second by situating the ethnographic turn as part of a larger rhetorical turn within the human and social sciences. The main argument is that the crisis of representation can be reframed as a focus on the inevitable rhetoricity of representation, implying that one cannot avoid rhetoric in the description and delegation of culture. This argument is related to the different contributions that constitute this issue.

From Counter-Strike to Counter-Statement: using Burke's pentad as a tool for analysing video games

As video games increasingly become an important frame of reference and as they are more and more taken seriously in education and research, there is a growing need for a methodological tool for video game analysis. In this paper, rhetorical theory in general and pentadic analysis in particular are introduced as useful means to stimulate a critical approach to video games. A case study is presented in which a popular video game (Bioshock) is analysed using this rhetorical approach. It is argued that pentadic analysis can overcome a number of binary discussions within the contemporary field of video game criticism, thus offering interesting perspectives for research and education (e.g. as a reflection tool).

Fictional narratives as didactical tools: using Frank McCourt's Teacher Man in pre‐service teacher education

In this article we describe a teaching project that focuses on the introduction of fictional narratives as basis for critical reflection about major issues in the teaching profession. Our main aim is to help pre‐service teachers to make appropriate decisions at particular moments of interaction in their classroom. From a theoretical perspective we are inspired by the cultural and narrative turn in the humanities and the social sciences. In our project pre‐service teachers were invited to read Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, a major novel about teaching, and were asked to comment on key topics and scenes. We argue that using fictional narratives offers a unique opportunity for imaginative engagement, perhaps even empathy in the ways that theoretical textbooks do not provide.