Non-affirmative Theory of Education and 'Bildung'

This open access volume explores non-affirmative theory of education and 'Bildung' as a language of education for the 21st century. In this 'Bildung' -centered view of education, discerning thought on knowledge and values are critical objectives of education. To promote these aims, the volume argues that education practice must recognize but not affirm existing conditions or future ideals but pedagogically summon the student. Drawing on contemporary developments of modern education theory, especially as developed by Dietrich Benner in Berlin, the volume highlight how 'educative teaching' invites the student to self-actively work on contents and establish its meaning. 'Bildung' -centered educative teaching aims beyond learning the mere contents, to develop the growth of the individual as a person and citizen.The volume shows how it is possible to identify a position beyond education either as a mere transformative or a reproductive power, that treat schools, teachers and students as objects for policy implementation. Instead of such an instrumentalism, education is seen as a critical societal practice, necessary for reflexive action and democracy. In different ways, the chapters demonstrate how non-affirmative theory offer an alternative to contemporary neo-liberal and conservative policies. The volume argues that non-affirmative approach contributes with an all-encompassing, systems oriented multi-level approach, connecting the interactive level of teaching, studying and learning with the societal level and educational governance. This way of understanding school teaching may guide policy making, evaluation, educational leadership and empirical research.In five complementary sections, the volume highlights how non-affirmative education theory relate to Didaktik, educative teaching, school didactics, democratic education and social justice. The approach is also analysed in relation to phenomenology, sociology, hermeneutics, cultural-historical activity theory, discursive institutionalism, empirical research, educational governance and 21st century competencies.Chapter "On Affirmativity and Non-affirmativity in the Context of Theories of Education and Bildung" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.