To a middle ground: praxis and ideology in adult education

Abstract

Whether we are lost to flagrant and groundless subjectivism or whether we can actually sustain and support our actions by appealing to discovered, transcendental truths is perhaps the chief angst of the modern and postmodern ages. In this paper it is argued that by seeking a middle ground through praxis, a ground neither lured by false foundationalism nor racked by relativism, we can sustain our social practices as educators only by critical encounters with the traditions and ideologies from which those practices emerge. To pursue this argument, it is suggested that because science does not well ground our practices we must therefore seek a sounder basis. To that end, a revitalized form of praxis is proposed, one that retrieves its central concerns with the moral dimensions of human action. Thus, in opposition to dominant interests in technical forms of educational practice based on empirically ‘discovered’ regularities, it is suggested that ‘practical’ reasoning provides a more useful understanding of how we conduct our practices as educators. In this respect we can understand our educational practice as requiring choice and deliberation in specific circumstances where courses of action are variable and debatable. Such a focus then allows us to consider the value‐laden and community bases of practice and encourages improvement of practice through encounters with its normative nature. It is in this context that our views of what we believe to be right and why become the reasons for our actions as educators. Consequently, praxis has to be focused on the ideology of our practice. It is here that the final discussion of the paper considers the ultimate project of praxis which is to distinguish bad practice based on false beliefs from that which is sustained by continuing critical dialogue.

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Arthur L. Wilson

Arthur L. Wilson is an assistant professor of adult education in the Department of Educational Leadership at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He has worked as a literacy instructor, has designed and instructed literacy staff development projects, and has worked in continuing education for the professions. He is co‐author, with Ronald M. Cervero, of Planning Responsibly for Adult Education as well as consulting editor for the Adult Education Quarterly and the Journal of Adult Basic Education. His research interests include programme planning practice in adult education, the history and philosophy of adult education, and adult learning.