Slogans as an integral part of educational discourse: Two examples

Abstract

Slogans in education have been the subject of critical analysis – at least in the context of philosophy of education – for more than half a century. Some of these slogans are no longer relevant or frequently used, while their analyses and explanations are still an appropriate theoretical basis for understanding new educational slogans. One of these theoretical findings – given by the French philosopher Reboul – that still holds true is that educational slogans almost always try to conceal themselves in educational discourse, that is, to present themselves not as slogans but as something else: educational principles, evidence, factual or rational obviousness. They are mostly words or expressions with ambiguous meaning. Although they can contain an informative element, their abressence is not to inform or explain but rather to persuade or to make us act in a specific way. Usually, they serve the cause of different educational theories. Yet they do so in a rather specific way, as the hidden goal or function of educational slogans in educational discourse is to legitimise or disqualify a certain educational doctrine or practice. The more effective and persuasive the slogans are in this regard, the greater the danger is that they will increasingly replace thinking. The only way that slogans will not determine our thinking is to think about slogans, to take them as an incentive to think and not as a substitute for it. In this article, after a very brief review of the theoretical explanations of the slogans and a mention of some well-known slogans in education, some elements for an analysis of two less known and interlinked contemporary slogans (‘We are the university’ and ‘The university is not an enterprise, knowledge is not a commodity’) related to the critique of the still influential neoliberal ideology in higher education are given.