Current Research on Industrial Relations Regulation, Bargaining Theory, Progressive Discipline, and Occupational Influences on Unionism

We are pleased to be able to present, in this third volume of the Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations series, some original, important, and in some cases provocative research on industrial relations regulation, bargaining theory, progressive discipline, and occupational influences on unionism. In what follows we will briefly review each of the papers in the volume and pinpoint what we believe to be the major contributions each makes to the advancement of research in industrial relations. Where relevant, we will also mention questions left unresolved by the research at hand and potential directions for future research on the subjects under study

Simplicity of 2-graph algebras associated to Dynamical Systems

We give a combinatorial description of a family of 2-graphs which subsumes those described by Pask, Raeburn and Weaver. Each 2-graph $\Lambda$ we consider has an associated $C^*$-algebra, denoted $C^*(\Lambda)$, which is simple and purely infinite when $\Lambda$ is aperiodic. We give new, straightforward conditions which ensure that $\Lambda$ is aperiodic. These conditions are highly tractable as we only need to consider the finite set of vertices of $\Lambda$ in order to identify aperiodicity. In addition, the path space of each 2-graph can be realised as a two-dimensional dynamical system which we show must have zero entropy.Comment: 19 page

The middle voice in Eckhart and modern continental philosophy

The recurring narrative of the relinquishment of human will animates the spiritual discourses of almost every mystical tradition. But contemporary discussions of spirituality gravitate towards exasperation when acknowledging the radical impotence of human agents, while much modern philosophy has found itself unable to think beyond the aporia of freedom and determinism. The ability to mediate between total subjective autonomy and radical dissolution in God is vital if we are to avoid the dualism that Meister Eckhart subverts with his conception of detachment (Gelassenheit). Heidegger takes up the terminology of Eckhart here, but provides a more philosophically astute sense of releasement. This article argues that both Heidegger and Eckhart draw upon the middle voice, an ancient linguistic mode that places agency between activity and passivity. By uncovering traces of the middle voice, I propose that philosophy and theology bear with a grammatical cleavage that constitutes our experience of the world

The pharmakon of educational technology : the disruptive power of attention in education

Is physical presence an essential aspect of a rich educational experience? Can forms of virtual encounter achieve engaged and sustained education? Technophiles and technophobes might agree that authentic personal engagement is educationally normative. They are more likely to disagree on how authentic engagement is best achieved. This article argues that educational thinking around digital pedagogy unhelpfully reinforces this polarising debate by failing to recognise that digitalisation is, as Stiegler has argued, pharmacological: both a poison and a cure. I suggest that Biesta’s critique of learnification can be applied to online learning, but that any such application does not sufficiently acknowledge the pharmacological nature of modern technology. While Stiegler has something important to contribute on the relation between technology, attention and education, I suggest his account is rather too bound up with critical theories of technology. In the end I turn to philosophers of religion, such as Eliade and Smith to suggest different ways of conceiving the role of attention in education that does set technologies up over/against the formation of attention essential to education

Review of 'Reconstructing 'Education' through Mindful Attention: Positioning the Mind at the Center of Curriculum and Pedagogy,' Oren Ergas

This paper provides a review of Reconstructing ‘Education' through Mindful Attention: Positioning the Mind at the Center of Curriculum and Pedagogy by Oren Ergas. The review examines the central argument of the book, namely that present educational theory and practice avoids substantial self-inquiry, paying lip service to reflective practice but stopping short of any real encounter with the complex dynamics of the self. In Ergas’ bold inquiry, we are invited to attend and to see for ourselves by considering perspectives and practices rooted in contemplative traditions. The educational context becomes clear as attention to the self entails formation of the self. However, I argue that it is not clear why contemplative traditions (or mindful attention defined by the text) are best placed to engage in such formation. I suggest that a central problem with the book is the conflation here of education and socialisation, and that more systematic treatment of educational questions might obviate some of the troubling issues around the failures of what is called the inner curriculum

The sky is not a cow : interpreting religion beyond the propositional frame

How does our understanding of religion frame discourse about the place of religion in education? Debates between Michael Hand and Trevor Cooling illustrate a tendency within philosophy of education: religion is understood in terms of what I characterize as the ‘propositional frame’. The propositional frame involves a reductive identification of religion with truth claims, belief systems or worldviews. Drawing on philosophers and theologians such as Charles Taylor, Rowan Williams and Wilfred Cantwell Smith, I argue that the ‘problem’ of religion and education is not best understood as involving competing and irreconcilable worldviews. The propositional frame tends to draw the discussion towards questions of indoctrination, or competing rights between parents and children, or parents and the state. In order to move beyond this propositional framing of religion, I suggest we need to see the religion embodied and embedded in practices that James Smith calls ‘cultural liturgies’. Those liturgies – whether religious or secular – are formative and therefore educational. The dangers of leaving formation to the liturgies of secular culture will be briefly explored. The wider context of the paper is to show the sense in which there is no such thing as secular education

What's the use of ethical philosophy? The role of ethical theory in special educational needs

This article examines the relevance of modern moral philosophy to education, with particular reference to special educational needs. Where moral philosophers explore the tension between utilitarian and deontological reasoning, they often consider the balance between the rights of the individual and the benefits or costs for the majority. I argue that the debate is predicated on a false dichotomy between minority and majority which is best overcome by a return to virtue ethics. In exploring this ethical debate, I draw on a case study from Australia of a student excluded from mainstream education on the basis that inclusion will not serve the greater good of the majority of students. My intention here is not to offer practical guidance in the complex day-to-day deliberations of educators dealing with issues of inclusion, but to elaborate the structure of the present thinking about inclusion. It is hoped that an appreciation of the deeper basis of ethical reasoning will itself lead to a greater recognition of the need for exploring the ethical grounds of teaching and learning. I will argue that any dichotomy between the utilitarian happiness of the many and the deontological commitment to the rights of the individual is based on a misconception of human identity. The false choice between the many and the one rests upon the assumption that morality is fundamentally about restricting personal preferences in favour of the good of the majority, that there exists a fundamental conflict between what is good for the individual and what is good for society as a whole. This will lead me to argue that we need to reinterpret human identity as constituted by its social relations and that this reorientation is best achieved by reference to virtue ethics

Constructing God : educational implications of two framings of religion

Many discussions of the relations between religion and education develop critical accounts either of certain religious ideas or educational assumptions. This paper takes a different tack by resisting assessment of particular religious views or framings of religion within education. Rather the paper attempts to elaborate some of the educational implications that certain views of religion entail. The discussion focuses on two conceptions of religion: one a propositional or worldview framing of religion, and the other characterised here as a hermeneutic or aesthetic view of religion. Many of the typical problems of religions influence on education, such as indoctrination and the competing rights between various agents, are solved if we shift from the former view of religion to the latter. Furthermore, the implications of the two are suggestive of a particular conception of subjectivity as a free agent that make choices. It is that conception of subjectivity that is influential both within religion and education: within religion as the idea of a subject who chooses to believe certain religious doctrines, and within education as the ultimate goal being understood as the development of rational autonomy