Anthropology and/as Education

by Tim Ingold

Anthropology is a generous, open-ended, comparative and yet critical inquiry into the conditions and possibilities of life in the one world we all inhabit. This book is premised on the claim that these principles of generosity, open-endedness, comparison and criticality are also cornerstones of the discipline of education. Thus it goes beyond an exploration of the interface between the disciplines of anthropology and education to argue for their more fundamental identity. This argument, however, calls for a reassessment on both sides. On the side of anthropology, we have to depart from the established view that it is about making studies of different peoples and their worlds, and recognise that it is about going to study with them: it is, in that sense, to undergo an education. On the side of education, it is necessary to overturn the traditional view of teaching and learning as the transmission of authorised knowledge from one generation to the next. We argue instead for a view of education as a leading out (from the Latin, ex-ducere) of novices into the world that opens up paths of intellectual growth and discovery, without predetermined outcomes or fixed end-points. I conclude that by joining forces, and by recognising their common purpose, anthropology and education have the power to transform the world.

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Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Tim Ingold (born 1948) is a British social anthropologist, currently Chair of Social Anthropology at the University of Aberdeen. He was educated at Leighton Park School and Cambridge University. He is a fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His bibliography includes The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill, Routledge, 2000, which is a collection of essays, some of which had been published earlier.

Reviews

[Rebeka Mlacović]

prebrala za seminarsko ne vse

[Amanda Kingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cannot anthropologists also be poets? ...we might find, in our writing, a way of opening up to the world, as we do in dreams, where imagination and reality are one.”
•••
Taking a graduate class this term, and this was our first read. It is short and dense and amazing. Ingold argues for an education and anthropology that is less about the transmission of knowledge, but instead focuses on vulnerable, attentive fields centered on being “with” others and the world. I loved this a lot! If you’re in education you may want to look into his work!

[Margarida · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Something always escapes.'' The multiverse, in short, is defined, not by what its participants have in common but by their commoning. It is in the course of education – of leading life – that this commoning is carried on. Let the coming university, then, be a place of commoning; let it be a multiversity! And let anthropology, as the beating heart of the university, be multiversal in its scope! But let us also never lose sight of the principle that the multiverse is one world nonetheless, that it is a singular plural, bound together rather than divided by its differences. This one world, opening up in the midst of its differentiation, in all its richness and profundity, is where we study. The one world is our multiversity."

[Franco Bernasconi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es difícil de digerir este libro, hay que tener paciencia. Son 4 ensayos breves, de los cuales el primero es buenísimo. El segundo y el cuarto igual están bien, pero el tercero me pareció muy fome y no lo terminé. Sin embargo, después de un rato le di una segunda oportunidad y ahí me enganchó. Al final igual me llevo varias cosas de la lectura, así que 4 estrellas.

[Sara D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veramente interessante. Un po' difficile in alcuni punti ma ne consiglio la lettura a tutti gli insegnanti che vogliono ragionare sul loro agire.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ele é muito simpático e isso aparece várias vezes no livro. Adoro essa escrita mais franca e com alguns elementos imagéticos poéticos como quando fala de paisagens, passeios, caminhadas. Acho que com o tempo os antropólogos vão se soltando e experimentando a escrita de forma mais leve, isso é ótimo, ele não deixa de passar sua mensagem por falar por não usar aquela linguagem clássica.
Realmente foi um passeio essa leitura.
Tive dificuldade com o capítulo 2 que ele pega mais em teoria, teria que me aprofundar mais.

Uma citação sobre a interdisciplinaridade: A disciplina (divisão do conhecimento) deveria ser "uma conversa entre companheiros de viagem seguindo linhas convergentes de interesse." p.107.