Bound to the Mimetic or the Transformative?: Considering Other Possibilities

Abstract

Philip Jackson's "The Mimetic and the Transformative: Alternative Outlooks on Teaching" is widely read both inside and outside of philosophy of education circles and courses, and is best known for sketching out the long-standing difference between the mimetic and transformative traditions in teaching. In this paper, I argue that we need to move beyond the mimetic/transformative divide to a new tradition of teaching. I make the case that Jackson's understanding of assessment and adaptive education are unduly limiting, and that this keeps his thinking bound to a dualism that needs to be reconstructed. Once reconstructed, new possibilities for philosophers of education, teacher educators, and teachers are disclosed.