Journal of Educational Sciences

Reviving Education for Human Emancipation According to Horkheimer and Adorno’ Views

https://doi.org/10.22055/edus.2020.30687.2878
Volume 27, Issue 1
June 2020
Pages 51-72
Journal of Educational Sciences

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Masoumeh Ramezani Fini 1
Narges Sajjadiyeh 2

1 Philosophy of Education (Ph.D.), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract
‎ Introduction
‎ Nowadays, the educational system encounters some challenges in achieving to ‎its aims and ‎confliction between its moral and scientific aims. Regarding human existence and ‎agency in the ‎social state, critical theory can help the educational system in returning to its ‎inclusive aims. ‎Analyzing different dimensions of the critical theory as a philosophical view, this ‎paper ‎attempts to trace implications of these dimensions in the education. For this purpose, the views ‎of Horkheimer and Adorno in various philosophical-social fields has been considered
This article seeks to answer three questions‏:‏‎
‎1. What are the characteristics of a critical theory on social issues?‎
‎2. Based on critical theory, in what areas does the education system need reform to revive itself?‎
‎3. What are the ways out of the current educational challenges?‎
Therefore this paper seeks to provide a new way out of the present situation by presenting a new ‎formulation of the views of Horkheimer and Adorno in the form of rotations that link the status ‎quo to the desired situation.‎

‎ Method
The methodological approaches in this paper will be mainly linguistic analysis and deductive ‎method. ‎
‏ ‏At the ‎first part, the linguistic analysis method is applied to In the context of Horkheimer's and ‎Adorno's thought, the concepts re-analyzed for examining the main turns proposed by ‎critical ‎theory and at the second part, for deducting the educational implications of these ‎turns we apply ‎practical deductive method. ‎ ‎

Results
‎ Comparing to previous philosophical approaches, critical theory has proposed new ‎turns. Some ‎of these are: turn from fatalism to human agency, turn from instrumental reason to ‎critical ‎reason, turn from homogenization to differences and, turn from theorizing to ‎conjunction ‎between theory and action. These shifts, in these turn, can cause a series of ‎revolutions in the ‎educational area. Among these, it can be mentioned: examining aims and ‎comparing them with ‎the real educational affairs, sensitivity about ideologies of domination, ‎regarding moral ‎considerations of technological knowledge, preparing appropriate contexts for ‎realistic ‎students agency and regarding layering of human identity.‎

Discussion
We can categorize these turns in ‎three philosophical, policy making and school-class relational ‎levels. It seems that educational ‎system encounters challenges for their realization. Some ‎enterprises like permission to diversity ‎of schools and references of strategies, reinforcement of ‎scientific institution which are external ‎to educational system and, supporting micro-level class-‎school revolutions can be assumed as ‎exit ways of those challenges.‎‏
Key words: Critical education, instrumental reason, critical reason, emancipation, ‎ deductive-‎analytical method

Keywords

Critical education
instrumental reason
critical reason
emancipation
deductive-analytical method
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