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Wheels In The Head: Educational Philosophies of Authority, Freedom and Culture From Socrates To Human Rights
This overview of various philosophies and philosophers relevant to Education covers democracy, freedom, political despotism, human rights, and the politics of culture and of gender. Within each of these the text identifies obstacles to achieving freedom and political power. In the second edition a new concluding chapter proposes a solution for the authoritarian tendencies of government-operated schools and addresses the problem that for any school outside groups want to influence the content of instruction.
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 29, 2024
I loved that he did such extensive research on different views of what educating should or not be and wrote about different ideas without being rude. It took me long to read as I took notes through it all.
August 11, 2016
A very good tour of educational philosophies from Plato to Freire's critical pedagogy, though he uses a 'topic' approach, bringing in thinkers who are relevant, for eg. democracy, human rights, authoritarianism, etc. I had first read a copy from my university library and liked it so much as a reference that I ordered my own copy to have. There is also a good amount of comparison between different thinkers which is always helpful. A few interesting pieces:
-Max Stirner makes an interesting point about indoctrination: the test is whether one can get rid of an idea or belief from their mind. If they can, it has not been indoctrinated. The question I have is whether this capacity to unlearn or descent from ideas is different for young and adult people. Youthful naivety (not a bad thing in the grand scheme of development and trusting of your caregivers) means ease of belief but does not seem to suggest more difficulty in unlearning or descent from believing in an idea. An obvious example here is religion, and the strategy of 'getting them while their young' may very well work to captivate the mind to those ideas, vs. adults who can reason.
**-perhaps the most important contribution of the book is from the title and as explained throughout, 'Wheels in the Head', are ideas people hold as fundamental to their outlook on life; so fundamental that it controls them. This concept came from Stirner. He also differentiates between a free person where knowledge expands his choices, and the educated person where knowledge determines his choices (quite an odd formulation). And of course, Stirner believes today we have a vast number of 'educated' people (or people with lots of wheels in their head), and few 'free people', and that this outcome is the ongoing intentional goal of the modern state controlling education (wow!).
-he discussed Rousseau's 5 stages of the "evolution of the state". His essential thesis is that children are born as sharing and caring individuals, but once they begin interacting with society and discover concepts like property, law, and state, they become selfish and hoard things. This was why in his famous 'Emile' he advocating keeping children away from society until adolescence or teen years so as to prevent their losing of their natural state of sharing. This was in an attempt to make a society of sharing, a kind of socialism.
-he talks about early feminist points of view, such as Wollstonecraft, which were quite interesting and very different than modern feminist perspectives. The early views seems to have been on the right track by advocating political liberty for women (incl. education), but also maintaining a virtuous life and a consideration for future happiness (family). Today, imho, feminists have taken a sophistic turn and advocated liberty in the most extreme sense of freedom from any constraints or responsibilities, a hedonistic life. The early points of view of (Mary) Wollstonecraft seems to have been forgotten.
One last point, a long quote, is fantastically interesting on the ideas of Camille Paglia:
p146-"It is in this attempt to create an orderly world that men hoped to find freedom. But, because of the inescapable demonic powers of nature, this quest for freedom is...an illusion. On the other hand, women initially allow men to exert power over them because of the ability of male strength to provide protection. But, similarly to men trying to escape the power of the mother, women try to escape male domination. To gain independence, women try to exercise power over men through sexual attraction. The femme fatale is the symbol of women's struggle against male domination....[S]ex is combat....The more men attempt to control nature, the more the femme fatale reappears"
-Max Stirner makes an interesting point about indoctrination: the test is whether one can get rid of an idea or belief from their mind. If they can, it has not been indoctrinated. The question I have is whether this capacity to unlearn or descent from ideas is different for young and adult people. Youthful naivety (not a bad thing in the grand scheme of development and trusting of your caregivers) means ease of belief but does not seem to suggest more difficulty in unlearning or descent from believing in an idea. An obvious example here is religion, and the strategy of 'getting them while their young' may very well work to captivate the mind to those ideas, vs. adults who can reason.
**-perhaps the most important contribution of the book is from the title and as explained throughout, 'Wheels in the Head', are ideas people hold as fundamental to their outlook on life; so fundamental that it controls them. This concept came from Stirner. He also differentiates between a free person where knowledge expands his choices, and the educated person where knowledge determines his choices (quite an odd formulation). And of course, Stirner believes today we have a vast number of 'educated' people (or people with lots of wheels in their head), and few 'free people', and that this outcome is the ongoing intentional goal of the modern state controlling education (wow!).
-he discussed Rousseau's 5 stages of the "evolution of the state". His essential thesis is that children are born as sharing and caring individuals, but once they begin interacting with society and discover concepts like property, law, and state, they become selfish and hoard things. This was why in his famous 'Emile' he advocating keeping children away from society until adolescence or teen years so as to prevent their losing of their natural state of sharing. This was in an attempt to make a society of sharing, a kind of socialism.
-he talks about early feminist points of view, such as Wollstonecraft, which were quite interesting and very different than modern feminist perspectives. The early views seems to have been on the right track by advocating political liberty for women (incl. education), but also maintaining a virtuous life and a consideration for future happiness (family). Today, imho, feminists have taken a sophistic turn and advocated liberty in the most extreme sense of freedom from any constraints or responsibilities, a hedonistic life. The early points of view of (Mary) Wollstonecraft seems to have been forgotten.
One last point, a long quote, is fantastically interesting on the ideas of Camille Paglia:
p146-"It is in this attempt to create an orderly world that men hoped to find freedom. But, because of the inescapable demonic powers of nature, this quest for freedom is...an illusion. On the other hand, women initially allow men to exert power over them because of the ability of male strength to provide protection. But, similarly to men trying to escape the power of the mother, women try to escape male domination. To gain independence, women try to exercise power over men through sexual attraction. The femme fatale is the symbol of women's struggle against male domination....[S]ex is combat....The more men attempt to control nature, the more the femme fatale reappears"
August 29, 2012
The book that singlehandedly shaped my approach to teaching as a philosophy. Not a how to book mind you, it is a book that reminds you what education is supposed to be and the dangerous pitfalls that teachers can easily embrace. A must read for all educators.
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January 12, 2009another book i read for a democracy and education class
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews