Diverse Dwellings "on" and "in" Mystery
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40841Keywords:
collaborative self-study, mystery, unknown, a-rational, epistemology, multiple ways of knowing, existential, ontology, neoliberalism, climate crisis, uncertaintyAbstract
Practitioner self-study narratives play an important role in the engagement of Mystery, particularly in neoliberal educational contexts, which tend to prioritize rational goal-settings and answers as compared to Mystery’s a-rational ways of knowing (i.e., ways beyond rational knowledge) that dwell in our Being. As two educators, we share our curricular and pedagogical dwellings “on” and “in” Mystery. This inquiry stems from our desire to create generative curricular spaces for students to explore Mystery within their Being, with the Whole of existence, and with respect to their interconnectivity to global-local contexts and currents of struggle. The study’s three thematic findings are communicated via a multi-voiced text of narrative, poetic and academic writing. First, we lament the insufficient engagement of Mystery in education, while coming to know the strengths of such lament for transformative educational work. Second, we narrate our diverse dwellings “on” Mystery, which articulate our understandings and practices of Mystery. Third, we explore the value of an existential-ontology of education as a means to enhance engagement in Mystery with students, within the complexity of their whole selves and the Whole of life.
References
Adorno, T., & Horkheimer M. (1989). Dialectic of enlightenment: Philosophical fragments. (J. Cumming, Trans.), Continuum. (Original work published 1944)
Bailin, S., & Siegel, H., (2003), Critical thinking. In Blake et al. (Eds.), The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of education (pp. 181-193). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470996294.ch11
Baert, P. (2015). The existentialist moment: The rise of Sartre as a public intellectual. Polity.
Bilgiz, S., & Peker, A. (2021). The mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between school burnout and problematic smartphone and social media use. International Journal of Progressive Education, 17(1), 68-85. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2021.329.5
Brakel, L. A. W. (2023). A-rationality: The views of Freud and Wittgenstein explored. In A. Govrin & T. Caspi (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of psychoanalysis and philosophy (pp. 403-416). Routledge.
Bullock, S. M., & Christou, T. (2009). Exploring the radical middle between theory and practice: A collaborative self-study of beginning teacher educators. Studying Teacher Education, 5(1), 75-88. https://colab.ws/articles/10.1080%2F17425960902830468#
Carse, N., Jess, M., McMillan, P., & Fletcher, T. (2022). The “we-me” dynamic in a collaborative self-study. In M. Butler & S. M. Bullock (Eds.), Learning through collaboration in self-study (pp. 127-141). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2681-4_10
Cooper, D. (2012). Living with mystery: Virtue, truth, and practice. European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 4(3), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v4i3.273
Coixet, I. (Director). (2017). The bookshop [Film]. Diagonal Televisió, A Contracorriente Films, Zephyr Films, and One Two Films.
Cotkin, G. (2003). Existential America. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Craig, C., & Goodson, I. (2020). Theoretical roots of self-study research. In J. Kitchen, A. Berry, S. M. Bullock, A. R. Crowe, M. Taylor, H. Guðjónsdóttir, & L. Thomas (Eds.), The 2nd international handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1710-1_3-2
Critchley, S. (1999). With being-with? Notes on Jean-Luc Nancy’s rewriting of Being and Time. Studies in Practical Philosophy 1(1): 53-67. https://doi.org/10.5840/studpracphil1999115
Daly, M. (1998). Quintessence... Realizing the archaic future: A radical elemental feminist manifesto. Beacon Press.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2005). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research.
Deleuze G., & Guattari F. (2013). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Bloomsbury Academic. (Original work published 1980)
Descartes, R. (1993). Meditations on first philosophy (3rd ed.; D. A. Cress, Trans.). Hackett Publishing. (Original work published 1641)
Feldman, A., Paugh, P., & Mills, G. (2004). Self-study through action research. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 943-977). Kluvar.
Friedman, V., & Rogers, T. (2009). There is nothing as theoretical as good action research. Action Researcher, 7(1), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476750308099596
Gadamer, H. (2004). Truth and method. Continuum Impacts. (Original work published 1960)
Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty: The rise of the all-administrative university and why it matters. Oxford University Press.
Guðjónsdóttir, H., & Jónsdóttir, S. R. (2022). Collaboration in self-study to foster professional and personal agency. In B. M. Butler & S. M., Bullock (Eds.), Learning through collaboration in self-study (pp. 117-126). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2681-4_9
Haas, (2002). The way of wonder: A return to the mysteries of ourselves [Kindle e-reader]. Iconoclast Press.
Hauge, K. (2021). Self-study research: Challenges and opportunities in teacher education. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96252
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927)
Heidegger, M. (1971). Building, dwelling, thinking. In Poetry, language, thought (A. Hofstadter Intro. & Trans.; pp. 145-161). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1954)
Heidegger, M. (1971). What are poets for? In Poetry, language, thought (A. Hofstadter, Intro. & Trans.; pp. 91-142). Harper & Row. (Original work published 1946)
Horkheimer, M. (2004). Eclipse of reason. Continuum Press. (Original work published 1947)
Ho, K., Chiang, V., & Leung (2017). Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis: The ‘possibility’ beyond ‘actuality’ in thematic analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(7), 1757-1766. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13255.
Hursthouse, R. (1991). Arational actions. Journal of Philosophy 88(2), 57-68. https://doi.org/10.2307/2026906
Husserl, E. (1983). Ideas pertaining to a pure phenomenology and to a phenomenological philosophy (S. Kersten, Trans.). Kluwer Boston. (Original work published 1913)
Jones, B. M., & Ball, S. J. (2023). The neoliberal dispositif: Understanding the transformation of the social and ethical space of education. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Ercikan (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (4th ed., pp. 60-60). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.01009-5
Kidd, I. J. (2012). Receptivity to mystery: Cultivation, loss and scientism. European Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 4(3), 51-68. https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.v4i3.276
Kierkegaard, S. (2004). Either/Or: A fragment of life (V. Eremita & A. Hannai, Trans.). Penguin House. (Original work published 1843)
Lefler, L., & Wiethaus U. (2009). The Eastern band of Cherokee: Cultural revitalization and demedicalized death. In L. Bergman (Ed.). Religion, death, and dying (Vol. 3). Praeger.
Louie, B. Y. (2003). Advancing the scholarship of teaching through collaborative self-study. The Journal of Higher Education (Columbus), 74(2), 150-171.
Magrini, J. M. (2015). Phenomenology and curriculum implementation: Discerning a living curriculum through the analysis of Ted Aoki's situational praxis. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(2), 274-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272/2014/1002113
Marcel, G. (1951). The mystery of being, Volume 1: Reflection and mystery, (G. S. Fraser, Trans.). The Harvill Press.
McClay, W. M. (2022). Mystery. The Hedgehog Review, 24(1), 141-143. https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/political-mythologies/articles/mystery
Melanson, C. C. (2023). A clash of interest: Neoliberalism in education. One World in Dialogue, 7(1), 4-8. https://ssc.teachers.ab.ca/publications/pages/oneworldindialogue.aspx
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1969). The visible and the invisible (C. Lefort, Ed.; A. Langis, Trans.). Northwestern University Press.
Mohanty, J. N. (2008). The philosophy of Edmund Husserl: A historical development. Yale University Press.
Nuttall, J., & McEvoy, J. G. (2019). Theological-relational pedagogy: Winnicott, Rahner, and the development of a theological perspective on relational pedagogy. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 52(5), 720-731. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1686180
Oxford English Dictionary. (2024). Lament. In Oxford English dictionary https://www.oed.com/dictionary/lament_v?tl=true
Ozuem, W., Willis, M., & Howell, K. (2022). Thematic analysis without paradox: Sensemaking and context. Qualitative Market Research, 25(1), 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-07-2021-0092
Palmer, P. (1990). Good teaching: A matter of living the mystery. Change, January/February, 11-16.
Papacoscta, P. (2008). The mystery in science: A neglected tool for science education. Science Education International, 19(1), 5-8. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ890622.pdf
Pelzer, K. (2022, October 27). The man behind the theories and equations. Parade. https://parade.com/1240718/kelseypelzer/albert-einstein-quotes/
Plato. (1993). Republic. (R. Waterfield, Intro. & Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Originally written ca. 380-360 B.C.E.)
Portelli, J. P., & Oladi, S. (2018). Neoliberal elements in Canadian teacher education: Challenges and possibilities. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 64(4), 378-392. https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v64i4.56375
Priyadarshi, T., & Houshmand, Z. (2021). Running toward mystery: The adventure of an unconventional life. [Kindle e-book]. Random House
Rahner, K. (1978). Foundations of Christian faith: An introduction to the idea of Christianity. (W. V. Dych, Trans.). Darton Longman & Todd. (First published in 1976)
Radhakrishnan S., & Moore, C. A. (Eds.). (1989). Vedanta. In A sourcebook in Indian philosophy (pp. 506-572). Princeton.
Schinkel, A. (2018). Wonder and moral education. Educational Theory, 68(1), 31-48.
Shelvock, M. (2023, January 17). What is ecological grief and trauma? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/navigating-the-serpentine-path/202301/what-is-ecological-grief-and-trauma
Smith, D. G. (1991). Hermeneutic inquiry: The hermeneutic imagination and the pedagogic text. In E. C. Short (Ed.), Forms of curriculum inquiry (pp. 187‐209). State University of New York Press.
Smith, D. W. (2013). Husserl (2nd ed.). Routledge. (Original work published 2007)
Stace, W. T. (1960). The teachings of the mystics. The New American Library.
Sundler, A., Lindberg, E., & Nilsson, C. (2019). Qualitative thematic analysis based on descriptive phenomenology. Nursing Open, 6(3), 733-739. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.275
Vallier, K. (2021). Neoliberalism. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/neoliberalism/
Wein, S. (2022). Mystery prevails over absurdity. Palliative & Supportive Care, 21(6), 1087-1088. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951522001365
West, D. (2010). Continental philosophy: An introduction. Polity Press.
Wood, R. E. (2009). Living with the mystery. Philosophy and Theology, 21(1-2), 199-207. https://doi.org/10.5840/philtheol2009211/29
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Morgan K. Gardner, Monika Judith Mandoki
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright for work published in JCACS belongs to the authors. All work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
