Theorising Education as a Practice

A School of Education seminar presented on May 18th by Professor Stephen Kemmis

Stephen Kemmis is Research Leader (part-time) and Adjunct Professor at the Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.

Professor Kemmis will briefly introduce practice theory as offering a powerful way of understanding social phenomena and the theory of practice architectures, which he has been developing with colleagues, as a variant of practice theory. (The theory of practice architectures has some affinities with the practice theory of Theodore Schatzki.) He will also introduce the subsidiary theory of ecologies of practices which deals with how practices are sometimes interdependent. Finally, he will suggest that the theory of practice architectures is compatible with a particular view of Education, with its double purpose of helping people to live well, and fostering a world worth living in. From this perspective, education is an initiation, not just into knowledge, but into practices.

Presentation