Conversation as educational research

Abstract

This article introduces a form of 'conversation' distinct from dialogue or dialectic to the context of educational theory, practice, and research. Through an engagement with the thought of Maurice Blanchot, this paper outlines the conditions he attributes to conversation in the form of plural speech, its relationship to research, how it can be educational, and speculatively concludes by considering how it can operate productively within and around educational institutions. As such, this paper provides an original intervention into educational philosophy and theory, which relies on a close reading of key sections of Blanchot's The Infinite Conversation, and reflections on the distinctiveness of his argument in relation to contemporary theoretical approaches, as well as the significance of his thought and its application here to the broader questions of what nonprescriptive theory might have to offer educational research and practice. ARTICLE HISTORY

Sexuality education and religion: From dialogue to conversation

“…However, one limit to Standish's distinction between conversation and dialogue is that Standish still largely frames conversation in terms of its affordances for the subject's self‐discovery or becoming. Bojesen (2019) takes this up when he writes: ‘While Standish is concerned with subjectivities being too secure in themselves and shoring up their identity, he nonetheless seems primarily concerned with what an individual person can take from a conversation’ (p. 653). Here, Bojesen identifies semblances in Standish's work between dialogue and conversation: like dialogue, conversation gains its significance for Standish in terms of what it offers the subject, which has the effect of sustaining the subject's unity and coherence (even in moments of disagreement or rebuttal).…”

“…Drawing on the works of Todd (2015) and Bojesen (2019), we suggest that conversation offers distinctive possibilities for productively working through antagonisms across religion, sexuality, gender and sexuality education as there is a generative, unpredictable quality to conversation that affords opportunities for teachers, parents, students, and wider school communities to navigate difference in ways that are less about preserving what I am and what I say, think, or believe and more about being receptive to who the other is. We conclude with some notes on the implications of these perspectives on how we understand teachers, parents and processes of policy enactment in school sexuality education spaces.…”

Moving Forward Amidst the Swirls: Reframing The Relational Approach as a Step ‘Beyond’ Leadership

“…This does not imply that RA itself as a theory has to be indeterminate and shrouded in imprecision. However, while locating and asserting its theoretical self-identity on the one hand, it is called to engage in or promote (relational) conversation which, according to Maurice Blanchot's notion of conversation, should lead to deprioritising itself (Bojesen, 2018), on the other hand. As it is explained later on in this commentary, this tension could be resolved by introducing the concept of 'relay point' where RA oscillates between foregrounding and deprioritising its 'at scale' theoretical selfidentity.…”

Educational resistance

“…By 'education', I here mean the dominant and humanistically informed ideologies and practices of education, most obviously manifested in schooling and higher education systems, and the cultural prejudices and orientations that accompany them. Such a shorthand is a little ironic, as most academic research in education takes for granted that these practices and orientations are all that is relevant to their study, while I have argued repeatedly that many forms of educational experience far exceed its scope and are worthy of attention (Bojesen, 2018(Bojesen, , 2019(Bojesen, , 2020. However, the argument presented here is less in aid of any specific form of educational alternative, than a meditation on the possibilities of resisting these dominant forms, albeit in a manner that might, nonetheless, be somewhat educational.…”