Abstract
Taking an approach Michael Peters referred to as ‘Writing the Self’ (2000), I deconstruct and reconstruct an investigation into reading silence in the classroom that I presented in Kyoto in 2008. The case I was focusing on then was how a non-Asian teacher like myself could read various performances of silence by his Asian students, who were mostly second and sometimes first-generation immigrants in Canada. Writing during the launch of a character education initiative in Ontario (2008), my concern was that in promoting the Western virtue of ‘courage’ (e.g., to speak in public), educators were simultaneously engaging in a process of effectively closing off space for performances of humility—often considered a virtue among Asian peoples. Harboring similar concerns twelve years later, now with assessing participation of my Teacher Candidates during discussions or seminars at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, I come at this question from another angle, using the same philosophical lens of Wittgenstein and Foucault’s genealogical approaches but this time with more self-scrutiny or examination of my own social-linguistic location. I return to José Medina’s work (2006) to pick up a line I wish I had pursued further in 2008, of more actively bridging the hermeneutical divide I was essaying and then cultivating practices that constructively respond to silence.
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Notes
- 1.
Following convention, titles for Wittgenstein’s works are abbreviated (PI = Philosophical Investigations, Z = Zettel, OC = On Certainty, CV = Culture and Value), with section (§) or page number (p.), with full citation and initials (e.g., RFGB) in the References.
- 2.
The liberal concept of ‘tolerance’ speaks of inclusivity but often masks repugnance for practices merely put up with rather than respected or valued.
- 3.
Wittgenstein was emphatic that recognizing this basis in training did not mean he was a behaviorist (see PI §§307–309).
- 4.
See Butler’s brief Big Think Series talk on gender performativity, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d-87MV05ZY.
- 5.
The concept of the perspicuous representation is of fundamental importance for us. It denotes the form of our representation, the way we see things….
The perspicuous representation brings about the understanding which consists precisely in the fact that we ‘see the connections.’
Hence, the importance of finding connecting links. (RFGB, p. 133).
- 6.
For instance, the Greek concept of ‘virtue,’ aretai, derived from Ares, the god of war, but did not mean that for Socrates. The ancient Greeks used the masculine andreia for ‘fortitude,’ but we do not (necessarily) gender it the same way today.
- 7.
Leonard Waks, in an unpublished paper, ‘Humility in Teaching’ (p. 5; see nt. 5 on questionable attribution to C.S. Lewis), ‘True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.’
- 8.
Spanish is rapidly gaining ground on English, as can be seen from signs along the Great Lakes warning of pollution in the fish, translated into Spanish.
- 9.
See Foucault (1989) on the emergence of the clinical gaze, in diagnosing patients for their maladies.
- 10.
In ‘The Will to Power,’ Nietzsche uses the example of a dinner party, where aristocrats vie for who speaks over whom, thus forming the canopy of this virtual forest.
- 11.
Teaching on-line now through Zoom-meeting classes, many of my students who do not have sufficient bandwidth on their Wi-Fi and those who wish to remain unseen can shut down their video and simply display their name (white letters on a black background). When we go into breakout rooms for small group discussions, I see more students uncloaking but some remain faceless and silent throughout the class. This makes it almost impossible to read silences, as the student could be watching a football match, posting messages on social media, or even be absent from the classroom. Or, listening attentively.
- 12.
Like gaining a nose for good wine or coffee (PI, p. 218).
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Stickney, J. (2021). Ways of Performing and Regarding Practices of Silence in Classrooms: Reflections with Wittgenstein and Foucault. In: Peters, M.A., Besley, T., Zhang, H. (eds) Moral Education and the Ethics of Self-Cultivation. East-West Dialogues in Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8027-3_15
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