A philosophical defence of the university lecture. (3rd May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fulford, Amanda; Mahon, Áine
• Is Part Of: Oxford review of education. Volume 46:Number 3(2020)
• Page Start: 363
• Page End: 374
• Publication Date: 2020-05-03
• Subjects: Philosophy of education -- higher education -- pedagogy -- the lecture -- Stanley Cavell; Education -- Periodicals; 370
• DOI: 10.1080/03054985.2019.1702013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-4985

Abstract

ABSTRACT: As a host of published books, journal articles and opinion pieces attest, the university lecture is now distinctly out of step with contemporary Higher Education discourse. Academics across university disciplines confidently proclaim the format's obsolescence, arguing that only inertia and familiarity could satisfactorily account for the lecture's survival. We propose in this paper to offer a philosophical revisiting of this most maligned of pedagogical forms. Drawing on the philosophy of Stanley Cavell, we argue for the lecture not as a mode of dissemination but as a mode of address. On this model, the lecture is to be understood as a special form of human encounter where the voice of one is modulated specifically for the hearing of another. Thus, we propose in this paper to offer a philosophical defence of traditional university teaching. We argue that this defence has particular relevance for teaching and learning in the Humanities.