“An extremely provocative, original, and engaging book, it raises questions of great relevance and urgency about the process of cultural se... read full description
reviews
May 29, 2007
adam
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The basic premise of Rancière’s work is to provide a history of the early nineteenth century French schoolmaster, Joseph Jacotot. Jacotot found himself in a position where he was asked to teach French to a group of Flemish students. The problem, however, was that the students knew no French and he knew no Flemish. In devising a method of teaching these students French by having them read and recite a book in French until they could understand and discuss it, Jacotot developed a “pedagogy” (in
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Nov 29, 2008
Stevphen
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I quite enjoyed this book. The main reason I read it is to be able to understand the ways that Colectivo Situaciones, the Argentinean militant research and political theory group, draw from and extend upon his work. So that's the context I read this within. The basic gist that stood out for me is the idea of a kind of equality that one takes as a presupposition to start from rather than as a goal to be worked towards. So that's why you have the notion on radical self-education that comes out thr
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Jun 01, 2010
Chris
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This is, quite literally, one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. Ranciere basically tells the story of one Joseph Jacotot, a professor who, during the restoration in early 19th century France was forced to leave the country, wound up in Flanders, and found himself asked to teach local students the French language, which they did not know. Unfortunately, Jacotot himself knew no Flemish and was without a common language with his students. Not to be dissuaded, he left his students with a
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Sep 08, 2009
James
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Amazing book about the human mind and its ability to think and learn. Ranciere posits that people have the unique ability to teach themselves and this ability gives everyone the ability for educational and political equality and participation. This is a gross over simplification but he rejects the standard student teacher relationship and rejects the idea of inborn class sorting. Much of the work is based on an obscure French educator of the 1820's who was able to teach his students stuff he
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 17, 2008
Geo
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ranciere's incisive critique of the self-perpetuating inequality in traditional explanatory pedagogy.
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May 22, 2008
Nate
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In his book The Ignorant Schoolmaster, Jacques Ranciere reads the work of a 19th century French teacher, Jacotot. Jacotot ended up having Flemish students with whom he could not adequately communicate, as they did not speak French and he did not speak Flemish. In order to instruct them in French, he had them each get a copy of Telemachus in Flemish and in French. He had them read the book in their own language until it was very familiar. Then he had them read the book in French and compare the t
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Nov 05, 2011
Leonard
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Was The Ignorant Schoolmaster inspiring? Yes. Is any of it largely practicable in education? Likely not.
Mar 03, 2011
Mia
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Rancière has interesting ideas on the power of ignorance and its role in creativity.
However, his oversimplified and limited understanding of education and his apparent bias lead him to make illogical correlations.
However, his oversimplified and limited understanding of education and his apparent bias lead him to make illogical correlations.
Dec 16, 2009
litherland
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Read in French (Le Maître ignorant). Pragmatic and optimistic pedagogy. Assume that everyone can learn, that everyone can understand, that everyone can succeed. Let that be your point of departure.
Aug 21, 2008
Andreas
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A thought-provoking take on learning and education in general. I choked a bit on the style of writing, though.
Dec 06, 2008
Penny
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An interesting concept that I was actually able to put into practice when I taught a class!
Jul 16, 2009
Heath
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I found the analysis interesting and helpful, but really disliked Ranciere's solution.
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