- Title
- Habermas's three forms of knowledge, active citizenship, and the Australian (history) curriculum
- Creator
- Sharp, Heather
- Relation
- Agora Vol. 50, Issue 1, p. 28-34
- Publisher
- History Teachers' Association of Victoria
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Critical theorist Jürgen Habermas has theorised about history in ways that may resonate with teachers. Although not extensively referred to by current teachers, Habermas's work is, nevertheless, still used to inform the pedagogical theories and can be found in current textbooks written for pre-service teachers in Australia and internationally. Habermas's theory of 'forms of knowledge' remains influential and applicable in contemporary curriculum contexts. Habermas classifies three forms of knowledge: technical, practical, and emancipatory. Gilbert and Hoepper argue that Habermas 'insisted that all three forms are essential in human affairs - including in education.' These three forms share some common philosophical ground with 'critical literacies' - understanding that texts are not neutral, and all have ideological bases. Habermas's work supports critical inquiry, encouraging students to investigate - beyond the surface - in order to understand the world around them. Habermas's forms of knowledge can be explored in the history classroom (and, indeed, English, mathematics, science and so on) through a critical, or transformative, pedagogical lens. This article offers an introduction to Habermas, and, in considering the ideological bases of the history curriculum for informed and active citizenship, links Habermas's work on the three forms of knowledge to classroom teaching and learning activities. Habermas's thinking connects with mainstream ideas in education about inquiry and active citizenship, but his thought also challenges how such ideas are understood and enacted in the classroom.
- Subject
- Jürgen Habermas; history; teaching; forms of knowledge; critical inquiry
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1339944
- Identifier
- uon:28374
- Identifier
- ISSN:0044-6726
- Language
- eng
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