How should we recognize the otherness of learners?
Hegelian and Wittgensteinian views
pp. 353-363
in: Michael A. Peters, Jeff Stickney (eds), A companion to Wittgenstein on education, Berlin, Springer, 2017Abstract
In order to specify how the otherness of learners appears and disappears in educational situations, I will compare the discussions of Georg W. F. Hegel and Ludwig Wittgenstein . Hegel and his successors are concerned about the master–slave dialectic, in which the two reverse their relationship. Self-Consciousness is described as a struggle with the other for recognition from the beginning. Wittgenstein , on the other hand, does not describe "the other" as either a fighter or an oppressed person. He specifies grammatical features of "the other" in educational relationships. The otherness of learners appears when they make the teaching –learning language games break down. Their otherness merely disappears when they agree over our practices or forms of life, and it can appear again anytime. It is argued that it is not the Hegelian concept of Otherness but the Wittgensteinian one which explains features of "the other" in educational relationships. I will finally elaborate on what Wittgenstein's consideration could tell about the recognition of the otherness of learner .
