A Goethean way of seeing inclusively?

Abstract

It can be argued that our contemporary view of the world is not at all based on ‘objective’ observation of ‘what is out there’, but rather the result of the application of existing mental frameworks and ways of seeing to the world around us, including the world of human beings. Goethe's way of seeing recognizes the special relationship that exists between parts and wholes, so that, rather than being built up of parts, wholes are indeed non-unified wholes which are fully reflected in the parts. Each part is, as it were, one particular manifestation of the whole. My purpose in this paper is to begin to explore Goethe's way of seeing as a tool for new insights into education and to do so by looking at the area of inclusion. Inclusion is a good place to start exploring because it is so obviously based on a notion of parts and wholes. For example, it is based on particular notions of what classes and schools as wholes should look like in terms of their parts: student population, achievement, assessment, curriculum, etc. Thus, examining inclusion from a Goethean perspective may provide new opportunities for thinking about and dealing with exclusion.