To Örebro University

Research topic/aim: This paper constitutes a philosophical response to the recurring discussion about how the cohesion of didactic research can be conceptualized in the face of its diversity and fragmentation (Gundem, 2011; Ligozat & Almqvist, 2018). So far, the challenge posed by fragmentation has been met with efforts to articulate a common ground on which all forms of didactic research can rest. This is most evident from the field’s tendency to define didactics in terms of some core elements or ideas. As a prevailing metaphor in contemporary research (cf. Sfard, 1998), the ‘core of didactics’ has figured in several key publications and has centered on, for instance, the expanded didactic triangle, the didactical questions or the contingent relationship between educational content and meaning (e.g. Hudson & Meyer, 2011; Hopmann, 2007; Klafki, 1995). While defining the field’s coherence is necessary, we argue that the use of ‘core’ as a prevailing metaphor implies an essentialist notion of didactics that risks limiting the originality of future research. As such, this paper aims to challenge the metaphor of a didactic core by providing an alternative way of conceptualizing the cohesion of didactic research. In other words, we aim to suggest and exemplify a new metaphor by which the field’s commonality can be understood in a non-essentialist manner.

Theoretical framework: The suggested metaphor draws on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s (1953/2009) philosophy about language games and how these are interconnected through a series of family resemblances, rather than only a single common feature. As such, we offer a conceptualizaton of didactic research as consisting of many different discourses which are related to each other through a network of similarties.

Methodological design: Although primarily a theoretical study, we exemplify and support our argument by presenting an analysis of empirical research articles published in the journals Acta Didactica Norden and Nordidactica during 2020-2022. By applying a purpose-related selection process (Creswell, 2013), a method of comparative reading (Säfström & Östman, 1999), and a retroductive analytical procedure (Glynos & Howarth, 2018) we tentatively sketch some of the language games and family resemblances that are present in contemporary didactic research.

Expected conclusions/findings: In total, three langauge games are outlined: i) didactics as research on curricular conditions, ii) didactics as research on meaning-making, and iii) didactics as research on teacher reflections. While the language games differ with regards to their objects of study, our analysis shows that their similarities can be sorted into categories based on theoretical, methodological, and practical affinity. The affinities of the language games are consequently used to illustrate and argue that it is reasonable to conceptualize the cohesion of didactic research, not in terms of a common core, but as a network of overlapping family resemblances.

Relevance to Nordic educational research: In sum, the relevance of this paper is two-fold. First, it presents a new and non-essentialist metaphor for conceptualizing the cohesion of the didactic research field. Second, by using examples drawn from the aforementioned journals, the paper can revitalize the current meta-discussion about didactics within the specific context of Nordic educational research.

Considering the current state of our planet, the need for a vibrant environmental and sustainability education (ESE) is arguably more pressing than ever. However, education at large has also become increasingly characterized by accountability, measurements, and high-stakes testing. Consequently, ESE presently finds itself caught in a tension between two competing educational logics, namely an existential one and an instrumental one.

There is undoubtedly a deeply existential dimension to ESE as the content of its educational practices have profound implications for continued human (and non-human) existence (Affifi & Christie, 2019; Vandenplas et al., 2023; Verlie, 2019). ESE involves issues about severe threats to our planet and the extinction of numerous species as well as vast global economic and social inequalities. As such, sustainability issues touch upon the very nerve of what it means to grow up in a society where dreadful visions of the future seem to be closing in. Such visions can spark strong moral emotions in students as well as ignite intense political discussions about the development of society (Sund & Öhman, 2014; Van Poeck et al., 2019). In short, the educational content of ESE carries profound existential implications for both teachers and students that need to be carefully handled in the classroom (Vandenplas et al., 2023).

At the same time, sustainable development is being taught within a broader system of schooling characterized by instrumentalism rather than devotion to existential concerns. Many European educational systems have moved in a direction of increased teacher accountability and a stronger focus on test results and measurable outcomes (Grek, 2020). Taken together, the changing institutional condition of schooling means that teachers and students today face a harsh educational reality where didactical autonomy is being reduced and knowledge requirements are to be met. This means that there is a risk that schoolwork is being presented to students in instrumental terms that encourages them to pursue good grades for the sake of personal benefit rather than a sincere commitment to the survival of life on earth. Put succinctly, teachers and students engaged in ESE are today caught in a tension between two fundamentally different logics – an existential and an instrumental – that pose a serious pedagogical challenge.

The aim of this paper is to theoretically specify the relation between the existential and the instrumental logic in ESE.

The history of physical education has seen the embracing of practices that have promised idealized scenarios and visions of the future. These practices are in many respects ideological and this paper explores the ideological workings in physical education with a particular focus on physical literacy. The purpose is to articulate and discuss a set of discursive logics in research and policy on physical literacy in terms of what is claimed in its name. We draw on the logics of critical explanation framework and use recent research, policy documents and organisational web pages on physical literacy to identify the social and political logics that underpin the practice. Specifically employing the concepts beatific and horrific narratives, we explore the fantasmatic logics of physical literacy to reveal the shared ideological workings of this collection. Fantasmatic logics is applied to grasp the visions of what will come to pass if physical literacy is, or is not, implemented in sports and physical education. Together, the logics reveal an increasing seduction of physical literacy and its operation as an all-inclusive grand narrative through the hopes and fears that policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders attach to the practice of physical literacy. In contrast to previous ideologies in physical education where the horrific narratives were strong, it is an over-investment in beatific narratives that is at the core of physical literacy. It seems to be enacted in a relation between ideals and measurement, and in policy the narratives with grand promises of physically literate citizens also seem more opportunistic, not seldom ignoring conflict without recognition that the claims made are incommensurable. This erasure of conflict can become problematic if we don’t continue the debate around what physical literacy reasonably can be held accountable for. Otherwise the wellintended beatific narratives risks over-investment and as a consequence ideological closure.

This study explores the political and ideological workings of history classroom practices enacted in the context of Swedish upper secondary education. Using the post-structuralist logics of critical explanation framework (Glynos & Howarth, 2007), the paper reports on a series of video-recorded observations and outlines the discursive logics found to constitute the studied practices. At the heart of the analysis are the socially shared assumptions, political relationships of us-and-them, and ideological narratives that alternately furnish the history classroom practices with stability and contingency. The results encompass three case-specific logics: (I) a social logic demonstrating that the stability of the studied classroom practices rests on shared assumptions about historical idealism and partial progress, (II) a political logic indicating that the classroom practices are unsettled when students establish temporal equivalence between past and present us-and-them relationships, and (III) a fantasmatic logic showing that teachers and students become ideologically invested in said practices through narratives emphasizing the need to prevent the repetition of past injustices.

Historically, physical education (PE) has embraced practices that promise an idealized scenario in terms of e.g moral and aesthetic development, and the building of national identity as in Ling gymnastics, or a healthy and fit population seeking to achieve national health objectives through exercise oriented programs (Kirk 2010, Tinning 2011). As Kirk and Tinning highlight, these practices are ideological and this presentation seeks to further explore the ideological workings of PE  with a particular focus on a more recent ‘seductive’ practice  – physical literacy.

In the presentation we draw on Glynos’s (2008) and Mårdh’s (2019) work on logics and ideology to explore the case of physical literacy, and to consider  what an approach that interrogates social,political and fantasmatic logics might reveal about PE practice. 

We begin with a brief overview of dominant PE practices, identifying the manner in which the logics of each practice has resulted in roads to closure and a movement towards ideology. Following this, we focus on physical literacy to investigate how this emerging practice might represent yet another road to closure. Here we provide illustrations from across the PE and sport community to identify the social and political logics that underpin this practice.

Specifically employing Glynos’ (2008) notion of beatific and horrific narratives , we then explore the sport, public health, and educative fantasmatic logics of physical literacy to reveal the shared ideological workings of this collection. Together, the logics show the increasing seduction of physical literacy and its operation as an all-inclusive grand narrative. In conclusion we discuss what is promised in the name of physical literacy and how its ever-expanding purview involves an over-investment in its beatific narratives regarding the physically literate citizen which, potentially, closes down opportunities to engage critically with this recent development in PE policy and practice.