‘The Ignorant Schoolmaster’: Jacotot/Rancière on Equality, Emancipation and Education

TL;DR: In this article, the authors find that when one looks for rigorous engagement with Ranciere's thoughts on education, one finds a relative indifference on the part of educationists, which is surprising given that "equality" as a concept has not only received focused attention from educationists for long, inviting reflections that have varied in their elaboration of the concept, but also has a specific import in current educational scenarios across the world, such that it has heightened the imperative to revisit this concept.

Abstract: Jacques Ranciere (born 1940), much like his contemporary Michel Foucault, has an academic oeuvre that defies neat classification within established disciplinary boundaries. This is due to the cross-disciplinary nature of his work, with a strong orientation towards history and philosophy. Although he trained as a philosopher (studying with Louis Althusser and contributing to the latter’s Reading Capital), Ranciere’s work has been more a series of explorations in the archives of subaltern workers of early nineteenth-century Europe. His work has received the attention of scholars from across a number of disciplines such as cultural studies, history, philosophy and political science. However, when one looks for rigorous engagement with Ranciere’s thoughts on education, one finds a relative indifference on the part of educationists. This is surprising given that ‘equality’ as a concept has not only received focused attention from educationists for long, inviting reflections that have varied in their elaboration of the concept, but also has a specific import in current educational scenarios across the world, such that it has heightened the imperative to revisit this concept.