ABSTRACT

This article questions some of the premises undergirding the discourse of self-study, particularly focusing on its treatment of ‘self’. We examine the ontology, authority and ethics of self as they emerge from Oren’s reading of self-study literature in light of his scholarship of and experience in contemplative education. Having focused on studying and teaching mindfulness in teacher education, Oren had been an insider to ‘the study of self’ yet an outsider to ‘self-study’ when he stumbled upon the S-STEP SIG during AERA 2018. His hopes of finally finding a SIG focused on the self were high; however, during the presentations he attended, he became perplexed and disappointed as ‘self’ emerged as somewhat peripheral to the matter he had assumed to be at stake. Written as an autoethnography, this paper describes his search for the sources of his discontents aided by Jason, a self-study insider who shares some of his ideas. Responding to calls for self-study that advocate educational change in a broad sense, we point to some ontological, epistemological and ethical commitments centering around self that may have been limiting self-study. We suggest that some of them can be rethought and point to ways in which this can lead to new possibilities for self-study and its expanded impact.

摘要

本文质疑了一些关于自学话语的前提，特别是侧重于对“自学”的对待。我们根据奥伦对自学文学的研究和经验，从奥伦对自学文献的阅读中发现了自我的本体论，权威和伦理。Oren专注于在师范教育中学习和教授正念，因此当他在AERA 2018期间偶然发现S-STEP SIG时，一直是“自我研究”的内幕人士，还是“自学”的外来者。他的希望终于找到了专注于自我的SIG很高；然而，在他参加的演讲中，他变得困惑和失望，因为“自我”出现在他认为已危在旦夕的事情的边缘。作为民族志写成的，这篇论文描述了他在寻找自己不满情绪的根源的过程中所得到的帮助。在回应广泛倡导教育变革的自学要求时，我们指出了一些围绕自我的本体论，认识论和道德承诺，这些承诺可能已经限制了自学。我们建议对其中一些进行重新思考，并指出可以通过哪些方式带来自学及其扩展影响的新可能性。