There seems a parallel between Mignolo’s “Delinking” (the uncoupling of the western narrative of history from the narrative of colonialism) and Cathy Davidson’s “New Education.” Across eight chapters, Davidson tracks the history of the University system and its operational tentacles (course specialization, admissions processes, tuition fees, grading systems, etc.). She counters these educational traditions by offering case studies of new pedagogical methods and organizational structures she believes prepare students for the careers and challenges of our contemporary world-in-crisis.
Whether at Red House, Asheshi University, students of Sha Xin Wei at Arizona State University, Sara Hendren at Olin College, or Alexander Coward formerly at Berkeley State, Davidson highlights cases that turn the educational model upside down. Instead of focusing on mastery of a single skill, these approaches often focus on a greater question and then encourage students to develop various skills to tackle the problem. An example of this is what Ann Pendleton-Jullian calls Wicked Problems:
No one is outside a wicked problem–even if you aren’t protesting it, trying to solve it, you are part of the problem. If you don’t think it’s your problem too, then it’s either not truly wicked or your are naive and not thinking deeply enough. If you aren’t in the thick of the wicked problem, there is little hope that the solution you propose will be relevant or significant (238).
In case study after case study, problems are front loaded and drive the need to acquire skills. The education acquires intrinsic value (as opposed to existing as a means to acquire accrue wealth) due to its deep and relevant connection to practice.
Maybe I’m viewing Davidson’s writing through the gaze of a navel but I can help but consider all these case studies of innovative pedagogy as Performance Studies pedagogy. Students learn to live and work in the in-betweenness, defying the borders of disciplines and striving to bridge the gaps between theory and practice, virtuosity and dilettantism, individual and group skills. A new education generates palpable impact, it performs.
Davidson, Cathy N.. The New Education. United States of America: Basic Books, 2017. Print.