Dr Debra Kidd
Kidd describes some of the implications of policies and practices in schools that aim to eliminate unpredictability and ensure linear progress, measurable outcomes and control. She draws on philosophers Deleuze and Guattari, arguing that teachers can and should learn to embrace uncertainty and complexity; that they should seek to become pedagogical activists working within a system while remaining outside of it, becoming like a Mobius strip: both in and out.
She argues that the obsession around certainty – a fixed stock of knowledge and values – constrains teaching practice. Uncertainty should be welcomed as the source of novelty, surprise and transformation.
She concludes by saying that while politicians tend to seek to remove risk and uncertainty, such reforms are not necessarily a good thing.
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