Derrida, Butler and an Education in Otherness

Abstract

First paragraph: In recent years much stress has been put on accommodating 'difference' in British education. This ranges from trying to tackle assumed differences between the ways in which boys, girls and children from ethnic minorities learn, to teaching tolerance of different/other cultures. Attempts to accommodate such differences form part of a liberal/progressive approach to providing a just education that does not simply cater for the dominant group (white) or the highest achieving group (white girls). This push towards providing equitable treatment in education manifests itself in both pedagogical strategies and, more importantly for this paper, the inclusion of curricular content that will incorporate an understanding of 'other' cultures. The thinking on these issues tends to reflect a set of metaphysical assumptions about difference: differences across ethnicity and gender are seen as being 'present'.