The human image of global learning: The ethics and aesthetics of an educational idea

The concept of “global learning” has become a pervasive buzzword in higher education in the United States. While the term is well-known, its meanings are multiple. In some instances, global learning refers to a modernization of liberal education initiatives, while in others it refers to the implementation of global experiences abroad. In developing my account of cosmopolitan moral education for adults, I construct a framework for thinking about global learning that emphasizes the process of adult re-learning. Using the ethical and aesthetic thought of Immanuel Kant as a resource, I put forward an account of global learning focused on the development of autonomy, self-identity, and vocation, within the context of re-learning processes adults undergo, and aided by moral and aesthetic examples. Kantian adult moral education is an underutilized aspect of Kant’s philosophy, a philosophical understanding critical to articulating global learning in its fullest capacity. This philosophical examination is aided by an empirical examination of the 2014-2015 Global Perspectives Collaborative Pilot at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Through interviews and in-classroom observations, I collected data on the first semester of the social studies methods course in the Global Perspectives cohort. I utilized the data collection and analysis technique of Public Reflective Equilibrium to bring empirical data into conversation with philosophical analysis. In doing so, the empirical data challenged and strengthened my philosophical account. I argue that it is the form of the example that is critical to aiding the process of re-learning. In particular, I use Kantian aesthetics to argue that non-narrative examples enable the learner to lay his/her understandings alongside those provided in the example and thus deepen their ability for reflective judgment and further their own re-learning. Evidence from the empirical data is presented in the form of poems in order to provide one concrete representation of the form of the example for which I argue philosophically. In concluding this study, I suggest that my account of global learning be used by faculty, programs, and institutions seeking to “globalize” the curriculum.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2018

Author dc:creator

• Keitges, Mark Joji

Contributors dc:contributor

• Burbules, Nicholas
• Dhillon, Pradeep
• Feinberg, Walter
• Parsons, Marilyn

• global learning
• higher education
• cosmopolitanism
• Immanuel Kant
• autonomy
• moral education
• aesthetic education
• preservice teacher education

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Mark Keitges

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/100948

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/100948