The Trickster archetype: education to stupefy

Dhillon, S. (2024) The Trickster archetype: education to stupefy. Journal of Philosophy of Education. ISSN 1467-9752

Text Dhillon_The trickster archetype_2024.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 12 November 2025. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (485kB)

Abstract

Contra the teleological paradigm of the Hero (Chinen, 1993), it is argued that incorporating an ethic of the Trickster archetype (Bassil-Morozow, 2015) may facilitate greater critical thinking and metacognition within contemporary, neoliberal, Education Studies learning environments in UK Higher Education. Echoing Lewis’ (n.d.) call for an education to stupefy, as well as Bojesen’s (2019) argument for Education Studies as a labour of the negative, the Trickster archetype is proposed as a valuable manner of educational engagement in paradoxical fashion, for it cannot be neatly prescribed. In this manner, the ethos of Trickster practices is presented as one of generativity and ‘releasing the imagination’ (Greene, 2000) to consider radical alternative possibilities from within normative discourse through immanent critique (Antonio, 1981), as opposed to any supposed Archimedean standpoint. It is argued that the Trickster ethic foregrounds contingency over apparent necessity. The Trickster is also, paradoxically, given a concomitant atelic aspiration, linked to Perry’s (1970) linear stages of contextual reasoning, as well as metacognition (Wagener, 2013). The ethical problems and challenge of instantiating a Trickster ethic is also elucidated, with a threat to, and possible repudiation from, those vested in dominant mores.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in the Journal of Philosophy of Education following peer review. The version of record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jopedu/qhae078.
Keywords:	Trickster, Gadfly, Critical thinking, Metacognition, Ignorance
Divisions:	School of Social Science
Depositing User:	Sunny Dhillon
Date Deposited:	17 Jul 2023 10:42
Last Modified:	13 Dec 2024 11:32
URI:	https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1025

Actions (login required)

Edit Item