‘THIS is Produced by a Brain-Process!’ Wittgenstein, Transparency and Psychology Today

Abstract

This paper examines sections of Wittgenstein's PhilosophicalInvestigations with a view to exposing trail-effects of psychology in educational and social practice today. These are seen in understandings of the relations between mind and body, and language and thought, and their influence is identified in such contemporary preoccupations as accounting transparency and the new science of happiness. A Wittgensteinian critique is offered, with attention paid to the idea that 'nothing is hidden'. Finally a question is raised as to how far it is the imperviousness of these practices to criticism that is the key to understanding them.

The problems of ‘competence’ and alternatives from the Scandinavian perspective ofBildung

“…The concept of skills reflects this drive. Hence, two educational problems occur as a result of emphasising skills in education, when competence turns into performance, learning outcomes and skills: first, our ordinary confidence in the practice of instruction is devalued, as instruments and technical language presumed to be more 'true' are favoured in the discourse, replacing the systems of inspection that rely on accumulated experience and professional teacherjudgement (Standish, 2012) and second, in a skills-training process, substantial repetition and automation is needed (Westera, 2001). It may even be claimed that handling complex situations demands conscious thinking, skills training is useless because automation means less thinking, and the question of indoctrination becomes relevant (Bull, 1985;Westera, 2001).…”

“…The idea is that there are 'hidden' processes in the human mind, and that they can be made manifest, explicit and accountable beyond our daily language use and reactions to the world. According to Standish (2012), in the case of education there is a drive to 'see' learning laid open to view, resulting in the construction of tests to verify that the intended learning outcomes are reached. The concept of skills reflects this drive.…”

“…The theoretical problems facing competence as an educational concept and as a basis for reform are: (1) that people do not have competence independent of context and (2) as a consequence of the first problem, the term loses its meaning when implemented into practice and simply designates performance and skills (Bull, 1985;Hyland, 1991Hyland, , 1992Standish, 2012;Weinert, 2001;Westera, 2001). The first theoretical problem refers to the challenge of bridging the gap between school and reality, between education and future employment, factors which are quite important in the knowledge society.…”

Bringing teaching back in: The Norwegian NOUThe school of the futurein light of the Allgemeine Didaktik theory of Wolfgang Klafki

“…From an epistemological point of view, both Young and Klafki are striving to reach an epistemology of schooling avoiding the pitfalls of material Bildung (epistemological objectivism, cultural elitism) and the 'other extreme': formal theories of Bildung, presently in the form of competences, skills and qualification frameworks. Klafki's perspectives can reveal an alternative epistemological explanation as to why 'talents' and 'abilities' can be a cover for elitism: It draws the attention away from the practical teaching in classrooms; the interaction between teachers and students; how they talk about and work with content knowledge (Klafki, 2001b); and over to the 'hidden inner life' of humans (Standish, 2012;Willbergh, 2015). As the 'inner life' of humans is hidden to others (and from a humanist educational perspective it should remain so, or else it would lead to loss of autonomy and repression!…”

“…These abilities can only be observed when they are expressed and acted upon in relation to 'something' outside the person, in the world. From a curriculum-making perspective, the drive to reveal the 'hidden inner life' of humans threatens to take attention away from the important question of what children should learn in school, as well as away from the practical interaction of teacher and students in classrooms (Standish, 2012;Willbergh, 2015). Moreover, curricula focused on functional Bildung raises the question: How can a teacher motivate students to develop powers without engaging in specific content (Klafki, 2001b)?…”