Faculty of Education - Theses

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Author: Brown, Liane Marise × End date: 1994 × Start date: 1990 × Subject: Education × Subject: Philosophy ×

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    Beyond Goodman
    Brown, Liane Marise ( 1992)
    This minor thesis is an investigation of the educational works of the American writer Paul Goodman. The first chapter includes a brief account of his private life, such as his relatively poor beginnings and his enthusiasm for an idealised version of academic life, and captures the turbulent context in which he was writing. The second chapter delves into Goodman's view of education and the schooling institution. It necessarily includes both his criticisms of the current system and his many proposals for reform. In the light of Goodman's suggested alternatives, the third chapter examines the framework of some Australian, American and British open schools and free schools, as well as the notion of deschooling. Comparisons are drawn between his propositions, practices in the open and free schools, and the concept of deschooling. The fourth chapter critically analyzes Goodman's works, with particular focus on his proposed alternatives to the current schooling system. Where applicable, Goodman's critics are also held up to scrutiny. The fifth chapter concludes the minor thesis with an overall appraisal of Goodman's contribution to the field of education, along with some issues that are relevant to the Victorian-Australian context of the early 1990s. In this minor thesis, one purpose is to reach beyond the words of Goodman, and to investigate his possible influence in the field of education. Notwithstanding many criticisms of Goodman's style of writing and his often sketchy description of ideas, and notwithstanding sentiments for which he deserves no credit (such as being the first 'deschooler'), the quality and extent of Goodman's contribution are considered from the angles of his active participation in the educational movement of the American 1960s, the many practices of open and free schools which strongly resemble his ideas, theory which may have emerged from his works, such as the concept and network components of 'deschooling', and the contemporary publications of educational material that heavily borrow from his writings or specifically refer to them.