A Subversive Role for Collaborative Inquiry in Academia Today

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to speculate about the application of John Heron’s concept of Co-operative Inquiry in the context of present day western academic institutions. While this article was written in two institutional locations - one in Canada and the second in Australia, academic contexts in the rest of North America, the UK, and Australia are striking in their similarities. Given the current context of neoliberal policy enacting algorithmic governmentality in education, an application of Co-operative Inquiry as an institutional organizing framework for the work of academics in the humanities, while desirable and possible, would be highly improbable. Since protests and criticisms of the currently ubiquitous policy tend to be muted in view of the risks involved for the protesters, it is suggested that Co-operative Inquiry could be used as a subversive strategy for saving human creative capacity. Keywords: Algorithmic governmentality; corporate university; Co-operative Inquiry; Integral Model; research planning in education