Anthropology and/as Education

by Tim Ingold

There is more to education than teaching and learning, and more to anthropology than making studies of other people’s lives. Here Tim Ingold argues that both anthropology and education are ways of studying, and of leading life, with others. In this provocative book, he goes beyond an exploration of the interface between the disciplines of anthropology and education to claim their fundamental equivalence. Taking inspiration from the writings of John Dewey, Ingold presents his argument in four close-knit chapters. Education, he contends, is not the transmission of authorised knowledge from one generation to the next but a way of attending to things, opening up paths of growth and discovery. What does this mean for the ways we think about study and the school, teaching and learning, and the freedoms they exemplify? And how does it bear on the practices of participation and observation, on ways of study in the field and in the school, on art and science, research and teaching, and the university? Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book is intended as much for educationalists as for anthropologists. It will appeal to all who are seeking alternatives to mainstream agendas in social and educational policy, including educators and students in philosophy, the social sciences, educational psychology, environmentalism and arts practice.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

94 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Tim Ingold (born 1948) is a British social anthropologist, currently Chair of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He was educated at Leighton Park School and Cambridge University. He is a fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His bibliography includes The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill, Routledge, 2000, which is a collection of essays, some of which had been published earlier.

Reviews

[Rebeka Mlacović]

prebrala za seminarsko ne vse

[Amanda Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cannot anthropologists also be poets? ...we might find, in our writing, a way of opening up to the world, as we do in dreams, where imagination and reality are one.”
•••
Taking a graduate class this term, and this was our first read. It is short and dense and amazing. Ingold argues for an education and anthropology that is less about the transmission of knowledge, but instead focuses on vulnerable, attentive fields centered on being “with” others and the world. I loved this a lot! If you’re in education you may want to look into his work!

[Margarida · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Something always escapes.'' The multiverse, in short, is defined, not by what its participants have in common but by their commoning. It is in the course of education – of leading life – that this commoning is carried on. Let the coming university, then, be a place of commoning; let it be a multiversity! And let anthropology, as the beating heart of the university, be multiversal in its scope! But let us also never lose sight of the principle that the multiverse is one world nonetheless, that it is a singular plural, bound together rather than divided by its differences. This one world, opening up in the midst of its differentiation, in all its richness and profundity, is where we study. The one world is our multiversity."

[Franco Bernasconi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es difícil de digerir este libro, hay que tener paciencia. Son 4 ensayos breves, de los cuales el primero es buenísimo. El segundo y el cuarto igual están bien, pero el tercero me pareció muy fome y no lo terminé. Sin embargo, después de un rato le di una segunda oportunidad y ahí me enganchó. Al final igual me llevo varias cosas de la lectura, así que 4 estrellas.

[Sara D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veramente interessante. Un po' difficile in alcuni punti ma ne consiglio la lettura a tutti gli insegnanti che vogliono ragionare sul loro agire.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ele é muito simpático e isso aparece várias vezes no livro. Adoro essa escrita mais franca e com alguns elementos imagéticos poéticos como quando fala de paisagens, passeios, caminhadas. Acho que com o tempo os antropólogos vão se soltando e experimentando a escrita de forma mais leve, isso é ótimo, ele não deixa de passar sua mensagem por falar por não usar aquela linguagem clássica.
Realmente foi um passeio essa leitura.
Tive dificuldade com o capítulo 2 que ele pega mais em teoria, teria que me aprofundar mais.

Uma citação sobre a interdisciplinaridade: A disciplina (divisão do conhecimento) deveria ser "uma conversa entre companheiros de viagem seguindo linhas convergentes de interesse." p.107.