nerd teacher [books] reviewed Beyond Education by Eli Meyerhoff
Infuriating.
2 stars
I thought I'd like this book, even though the title put me off. I don't think it's possible to go "beyond education" because the word 'education' means 'learning' and 'cultural transmission' and has been a word that, in a lot of ways, has found a 'subverted' meaning beyond what the original intention might have been. The author explicitly uses it to mean institutionalised learning, such as schooling. I disagree with him on that point.
But as a result of reading this book, there are two phrases I'd like to avoid for the rest of time: "I contend" and variations on "take the baton." Both of these phrases were used often enough for it to be annoying.
The lack of cohesive definitions makes this book frustrating to read. There's a lot of jumping between phrases, which is just annoying. There's also a point where he's used versions of "modernist/colonial" to describe …
I thought I'd like this book, even though the title put me off. I don't think it's possible to go "beyond education" because the word 'education' means 'learning' and 'cultural transmission' and has been a word that, in a lot of ways, has found a 'subverted' meaning beyond what the original intention might have been. The author explicitly uses it to mean institutionalised learning, such as schooling. I disagree with him on that point.
But as a result of reading this book, there are two phrases I'd like to avoid for the rest of time: "I contend" and variations on "take the baton." Both of these phrases were used often enough for it to be annoying.
The lack of cohesive definitions makes this book frustrating to read. There's a lot of jumping between phrases, which is just annoying. There's also a point where he's used versions of "modernist/colonial" to describe actions a ridiculous number of times, but he suddenly remembers on page 155 to define what he means. I bring this up, because him doing this turns a lot of people in the 1500-1600s into "modernists" despite the movement not developing until the 19th century. It's weird.
He tries to claim that he's written "genealogies" for aspects of schooling, but it comes across as confused history. While much of it isn't incorrect, a lot of it has interpretations that I also don't recall existing in sourced material; much of it is conjecture. With regards to school movements and pedagogical theorists, some basic facts get distorted by careless phrasing (such as Paulo Freire "developing" popular education, when popular education had been largely developed after the French Revolution in 1789 -- he contributed to it).
The parts this book could've been really good at are left to the end with minimal discussion. Apparently, the author was part of organising a 'free university' called EXCO. There were a lot of lessons that he could've drawn upon and written about. If the book was framed more around EXCO, drawing upon theoretical and historical inspiration to either explain why EXCO did something or why EXCO should've tried something? It would've been fantastic.
It's unfortunate. The part that would've been more engaging and useful for the overwhelming majority of the audience is the bit he shrugged off for the most part.
Oh, and another thing: He opens and closes this book by saying it is him "snapping" at education. In the introduction, he sort of analogises himself (writing a book to be published at a university press house) to Sara Ahmed (resigning in frustration after she called out harassment at her university and their lack of response) and Corey Menafee (the Black man who smashed a stained-glass window that depicted slavery at Yale). This book is not "snapping," especially not since he's still retained a university position when both of those people's actions have either seen them removed from post or entirely silenced.