Understanding life in school : from the academic classroom to outdoor education

Attending school is an experience that most people share but this leads us to accept rather than question the experience. Using the philosophies of Heidegger and Dewey, John Quay explores life in schools and juxtaposes the environment of a school camp with that of an academic classroom. We've all been to school, so what could be simpler than understanding life in school? The problem is that we take school for granted, accepting it for what it is without asking too many questions. This leaves us tinkering around the edges when it comes to school reform. A deeper understanding of life in school is required, which this book seeks to offer by going to the source of the matter itself 6 the young people who are in the midst of the day-to-day routines of school life. Much is revealed by contrasting their experiences in academic classrooms and school camp, insights that remain invisible without this juxtaposition. Key to analysis of these experiences is an understanding of life as occupational, constituted through many and various ways of being. This highlights the importance to teaching and learning of addressing the issue of who we are, not just what we know Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Understanding Life so as to Understand Life in School....Pages 1-21 Investigating Life in School....Pages 22-38 Life in School: Occupations and Outdoor Education....Pages 39-99 Life in School: Occupations and Academic Classrooms....Pages 100-143 Life in School Is Occupational....Pages 144-165 Back Matter....Pages 166-173