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Books by Chris Higgins

Drawing on contemporary critiques of modern moral philosophy (Williams and Taylor) and philosophi... more Drawing on contemporary critiques of modern moral philosophy (Williams and Taylor) and philosophies of practice (MacIntyre, Arendt, and Dewey), Higgins argues for a virtue-theoretic approach to professional ethics and the ethics of teaching that challenges two key assumptions of mainstream professional ethics: that it is an application from theory to practice; and that it focuses on obligations and proscriptions. In contrast, a virtue ethics of work considers practices as moral sources rather than mere targets of application, and it foregrounds questions about the place of the practice in the practitioner’s own quest to lead a rich, meaningful, and excellent life. This leads Higgins to (1) offer a critique of the asceticism implicit in talk of the “helping professions” and teaching as service; and (2) to investigate the goods internal to the practice of teaching, from the existential enactment of teacher to their apprenticeship to age-old questions about human nature and growth.

Papers by Chris Higgins

Action research began as an ambitious epistemological and social intervention. As the concept has... more Action research began as an ambitious epistemological and social intervention. As the concept has become reified, packaged for methodology textbooks and professional development workshops, it has degenerated into a cure that may be worse than the disease. The point is not the trivial one that action research, like any practice, sometimes shows up in cheap or corrupt forms. The very idea that action research already exists as a live option is mystifying, distracting us from the deep challenge that action research ultimately represents. Though Joseph Schwab is sometimes credited as a forerunner of action research, it is likely that he would see the new talk of ‘the teacher as researcher’ as indicative of the very epitomization of which he warned. Dewey’s new conception of knowledge, action, and communication – and the vision of the teacher as learner it entails – requires nothing short of a radical rethinking of teaching and inquiry, schooling and teacher education. This essay recalls the promise of action research, explores its pitfalls, and attempts to get clear on the ongoing challenge it represents.

In this programmatic essay, I approach the question "What is open-mindedness?" through three more... more In this programmatic essay, I approach the question "What is open-mindedness?" through three more specific questions, each designed to foreground a distinct dimension along which the analysis of open- mindedness might proceed: When is open-mindedness? What is not open-mindedness? and, Where is open- mindedness? The first question refers to the temporal dimension of open-mindedness, which I analyze in terms of Dewey’s distinction between recognition and perception and the psychoanalytic concept of disavowal. The second question refers to the dialectical dimension of open-mindedness, to what the many aspects of closed-mindedness reveal about open-mindedness. Here I recall Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean. The third question refers to the dimension of scale, asking what open- and closed-mindedness look like on the interpersonal and social levels. To bring out this third dimension, I draw on Jonathan Lear's reading of the Republic and psychoanalytic group dynamics theory. Through these three related inquiries I show the range of this central intellectual virtue and bring out its connections to two central, related features of the moral life: the need for integration and the need for openness to newness and complexity.

Whose motivations are displaced in progressive education? Higgins puts Noddings and Oakeshott int... more Whose motivations are displaced in progressive education? Higgins puts Noddings and Oakeshott into dialogue with Plato and Zen Koans to develop an answer.

Compares Martin Buber and Jessica Benjamin on the mutuality of recognition within the teacher-stu... more Compares Martin Buber and Jessica Benjamin on the mutuality of recognition within the teacher-student relationship.

In order to demonstrate that philosophy of education has a distinctive role to play in teacher ed... more In order to demonstrate that philosophy of education has a distinctive role to play in teacher education, the concept of liberal teacher education is developed. Liberal teacher education aims to cultivate the practical wisdom of teachers, but how is this possible when Aristotle suggests that phronesis is developed through practice. If, following Gadamer, phronesis involves the ability to see the newness in new situations, then practical wisdom is the ability to avoid repetition. An analysis of repetition reveals three main sources of repetition, each suggesting its own remedy and in turn its own variety of liberal teacher education: hermeneutic, psychoanalytic, and aesthetic.

Sexual relationships between teachers and students are typically proscribed for reasons related t... more Sexual relationships between teachers and students are typically proscribed for reasons related to the impossibility of consent in the context of age- and power-differentials. Lurking in the background of such denunciations is the thought that such relationships introduce a foreign, erotic element into the scene of pedagogy. This article argues that even if we bracket questions of power and consent, and even if we insist that Eros is in fact a part of teaching and learning, we will still have reasons for thinking it better that teachers and students do not literalize their love relationships. Drawing on Freud's account of transference, I develop this ethical (if not strictly moral) and distinctively educational case against teacher-student romance.

Reference Works by Chris Higgins

Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies, 2010

Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies, 2010

Teaching Documents by Chris Higgins

A 3-page introduction to hermeneutics disguised as a handout on the (humanities) essay form (with... more A 3-page introduction to hermeneutics disguised as a handout on the (humanities) essay form (with special reference to philosophy).

A hortatory protest against the reigning methodolatry in ed schools and beyond; a hermeneutic, ex... more A hortatory protest against the reigning methodolatry in ed schools and beyond; a hermeneutic, existential approach to graduate study; doctoral education as Bildung.

Drawing on contemporary critiques of modern moral philosophy (Williams and Taylor) and philosophi... more Drawing on contemporary critiques of modern moral philosophy (Williams and Taylor) and philosophies of practice (MacIntyre, Arendt, and Dewey), Higgins argues for a virtue-theoretic approach to professional ethics and the ethics of teaching that challenges two key assumptions of mainstream professional ethics: that it is an application from theory to practice; and that it focuses on obligations and proscriptions. In contrast, a virtue ethics of work considers practices as moral sources rather than mere targets of application, and it foregrounds questions about the place of the practice in the practitioner’s own quest to lead a rich, meaningful, and excellent life. This leads Higgins to (1) offer a critique of the asceticism implicit in talk of the “helping professions” and teaching as service; and (2) to investigate the goods internal to the practice of teaching, from the existential enactment of teacher to their apprenticeship to age-old questions about human nature and growth.

Action research began as an ambitious epistemological and social intervention. As the concept has... more Action research began as an ambitious epistemological and social intervention. As the concept has become reified, packaged for methodology textbooks and professional development workshops, it has degenerated into a cure that may be worse than the disease. The point is not the trivial one that action research, like any practice, sometimes shows up in cheap or corrupt forms. The very idea that action research already exists as a live option is mystifying, distracting us from the deep challenge that action research ultimately represents. Though Joseph Schwab is sometimes credited as a forerunner of action research, it is likely that he would see the new talk of ‘the teacher as researcher’ as indicative of the very epitomization of which he warned. Dewey’s new conception of knowledge, action, and communication – and the vision of the teacher as learner it entails – requires nothing short of a radical rethinking of teaching and inquiry, schooling and teacher education. This essay recalls the promise of action research, explores its pitfalls, and attempts to get clear on the ongoing challenge it represents.

In this programmatic essay, I approach the question "What is open-mindedness?" through three more... more In this programmatic essay, I approach the question "What is open-mindedness?" through three more specific questions, each designed to foreground a distinct dimension along which the analysis of open- mindedness might proceed: When is open-mindedness? What is not open-mindedness? and, Where is open- mindedness? The first question refers to the temporal dimension of open-mindedness, which I analyze in terms of Dewey’s distinction between recognition and perception and the psychoanalytic concept of disavowal. The second question refers to the dialectical dimension of open-mindedness, to what the many aspects of closed-mindedness reveal about open-mindedness. Here I recall Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean. The third question refers to the dimension of scale, asking what open- and closed-mindedness look like on the interpersonal and social levels. To bring out this third dimension, I draw on Jonathan Lear's reading of the Republic and psychoanalytic group dynamics theory. Through these three related inquiries I show the range of this central intellectual virtue and bring out its connections to two central, related features of the moral life: the need for integration and the need for openness to newness and complexity.

Whose motivations are displaced in progressive education? Higgins puts Noddings and Oakeshott int... more Whose motivations are displaced in progressive education? Higgins puts Noddings and Oakeshott into dialogue with Plato and Zen Koans to develop an answer.

Compares Martin Buber and Jessica Benjamin on the mutuality of recognition within the teacher-stu... more Compares Martin Buber and Jessica Benjamin on the mutuality of recognition within the teacher-student relationship.

In order to demonstrate that philosophy of education has a distinctive role to play in teacher ed... more In order to demonstrate that philosophy of education has a distinctive role to play in teacher education, the concept of liberal teacher education is developed. Liberal teacher education aims to cultivate the practical wisdom of teachers, but how is this possible when Aristotle suggests that phronesis is developed through practice. If, following Gadamer, phronesis involves the ability to see the newness in new situations, then practical wisdom is the ability to avoid repetition. An analysis of repetition reveals three main sources of repetition, each suggesting its own remedy and in turn its own variety of liberal teacher education: hermeneutic, psychoanalytic, and aesthetic.

Sexual relationships between teachers and students are typically proscribed for reasons related t... more Sexual relationships between teachers and students are typically proscribed for reasons related to the impossibility of consent in the context of age- and power-differentials. Lurking in the background of such denunciations is the thought that such relationships introduce a foreign, erotic element into the scene of pedagogy. This article argues that even if we bracket questions of power and consent, and even if we insist that Eros is in fact a part of teaching and learning, we will still have reasons for thinking it better that teachers and students do not literalize their love relationships. Drawing on Freud's account of transference, I develop this ethical (if not strictly moral) and distinctively educational case against teacher-student romance.

Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies, 2010

Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies, 2010

A 3-page introduction to hermeneutics disguised as a handout on the (humanities) essay form (with... more A 3-page introduction to hermeneutics disguised as a handout on the (humanities) essay form (with special reference to philosophy).

A hortatory protest against the reigning methodolatry in ed schools and beyond; a hermeneutic, ex... more A hortatory protest against the reigning methodolatry in ed schools and beyond; a hermeneutic, existential approach to graduate study; doctoral education as Bildung.