Remembering to ask “Who are we?” an analysis and theological critique of the ontological and teleological assumptions embedded in Ofsted’s documentation and school practice.

Noble, Richard (2020) Remembering to ask “Who are we?” an analysis and theological critique of the ontological and teleological assumptions embedded in Ofsted’s documentation and school practice. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Narratives of self, although often hidden, are embedded in Ofsted’s documentation, in day-to-day teaching practice and in all educational dialogue and policy. Furthermore, these (hidden) ontological hegemonies – that can never be neutral - affect the wellbeing of those on the frontline of education. It will be argued however that it is possible for staff, policy makers and academics to uncover these hegemonies, explore counter-narratives and transform school curriculum in the light of these reformed narratives of self.

This thesis will also seek to demonstrate the extent to which the faculty of theology can read and respond to contemporary educational ontological axioms with conviction and honesty as a rational and relevant body. This will be exercised via the genealogical analysis of Radical Orthodoxy (RO) – an academic, persuasive and polemical sensibility - and through the prayerful and relational aspiration of the contemplative tradition. It will be argued that both theological bodies offer something unique and profound to educational awareness and reform. Both also assume a particular narrative of self (labelled here as the complex relational self) that will challenge the contemporary hidden ontological hegemony that was uncovered in the research (referred to here as the atomistic economic self).

The test is therefore whether a non-violent, reasoned and fertile theology can successfully challenge normative ontological suppositions in education, encourage action research in school and improve the wellbeing of those on the frontline.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	11 Aug 2021 09:27
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2021 09:27
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/81052
DOI:

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