Education as Mediation Between Child and World: The Role of Wonder

Abstract

Education as a deliberate activity and purposive process necessarily involves mediation, in the sense that the educator mediates between the child and the world. This can take different forms: the educator may function as a guide who initiates children into particular practices and domains and their modes of thinking and perceiving; or act as a filter, selecting what of the world the child encounters and how; or meet the child as representative of the adult world. I look at these types of mediation (or aspects of the mediating role of the educator) at the hand of the work of John Dewey, Martin Buber, Hannah Arendt, and Richard Peters. The purpose of this paper is to explore the bearing that the mediating role of the educator-as interpreted by these authors-has on the role wonder may play in the educational process. I suggest that initiation highlights the familiarizing function of wonder, and is most readily associated with inquisitive wonder; representation draws attention to the defamiliarizing role of (in particular contemplative) wonder, as well as to its worldaffirming role; and selection (the educator as 'filter') foregrounds the distinction between momentary and dispositional wonder.

El asombro: una emoción para el acceso a la sabiduría

“…Una de las estrategias más relevantes en el acceso a la sabiduría y, al mismo tiempo, menos habitual en la actualidad, es lo que podemos denominar como asombro. El asombro es una emoción compleja susceptible de aparecer ante un amplio abanico revista española de pedagogía año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 77-93 El asombro: una emoción para el acceso a la sabiduría de estímulos y experiencias grandiosas (Schinkel, 2020), que tienen la capacidad de trasladar nuestra atención desde nosotros mismos hacia el exterior, tomando conciencia de que somos parte de algo más grande que nos trasciende . Supone reconocer el pequeño papel que tenemos ante la inmensidad del mundo, percibir las limitaciones de nuestras capacidades de pensamiento y acción , nuestra escasa influencia en lo que sucede en una realidad extremadamente compleja, que no depende de nosotros para existir, sino que posee una dinámica propia, la cual, nos resulta en muchos casos incomprensible, misteriosa e inabarcable.…”

“…Aunque se encuentran vinculados y a veces aparecen de manera simultánea, cabe distinguir el asombro de otros conceptos similares como la sorpresa, que ocurre de manera repentina e inesperada, pero que no tiene por qué ser motivada por algo excepcional y se diluye rápidamente cuando es descubierta. La curiosidad es otro concepto cercano al asombro que, sin embargo, posee un carácter más genérico que no requiere del conflicto cognitivo que implica el asombro (Schmitt y Lahroodi, 2008), el cual, se focaliza en los límites de nuestros propios marcos y categorías de entendimiento, abriendo la posibilidad de ir más allá de ellos (Schinkel, 2020). De alguna manera, puede decirse que la ruptura con lo previamente establecido que provoca las experiencias de asombro, esta discontinuidad en el pensamiento que demanda nuevas categorías y genera algo nuevo -lo que algunos denominan hoy experiencias epifánicas-, altera momentáneamente nuestra conciencia, nos separa de nosotros mismos, nos transciende.…”

“…One of the most important -and at present least common -strategies for accessing wisdom is what we might call awe. Awe is a complex emotion that Awe: An emotion for accessing wisdom revista española de pedagogía year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 77-93 tends to appear when we encounter a wide range of imposing stimuli and experiences (Schinkel, 2020), that have the capacity to shift our attention away from ourselves towards the exterior, making us aware that we are part of something bigger that transcends us . It involves recognising the small part we play when faced with the immensity of the world, perceiving the limitations of our capacities for thought and action , our limited influence on what happens in an extremely complex reality, which does not depend on us for its existence but which has its own dynamic that is in many cases incomprehensible, mysterious, and unfathomable for us.…”

“…Although there are connections between them and they sometimes appear together, awe should be distinguished from other similar concepts such as surprise which occurs suddenly and unexpectedly but does not have to be motivated by something exceptional and quickly fades when it is discovered. Curiosity is another similar concept to awe, which nonetheless has a more generic character that does not require the cognitive conflict awe entails (Schmitt & Lahroodi, 2008), a conflict which focusses itself on the limits of our own frameworks and categories of understanding, opening the possibility of transcending them (Schinkel, 2020). In some way, it could be said that the break with what has been previously established caused by experiences of awe -this discontinuity in thought that demands new categories and creates something new, which some now call epiphanic experiencesmomentarily alters our conscience, separates us from ourselves, transcends us.…”

A theoretical framework and questionnaire for wonder-full education

“…There is an increasing body of theoretical studies that elaborates on the importance of stimulating and fostering wonder in education (e.g. Egan et al, 2014;Geller et al, 2020;L'Ecuyer, 2014;Di Paolantonio, 2019;Schinkel, 2017Schinkel, , 2019. Other studies discuss the specific value of wonder in science education (e.g.…”