(Un)confining spaces: reconsidering contemporary educational assumptions through "pedagogy's hinge"

Abstract

Contemporary educational assumptions that inform current social imaginaries are examined through the theoretical framework offered by Elizabeth Ellsworth's (2005) concept, "pedagogy's hinge". Described as a transitional moment during which the becoming self experiences the generation of her own "knowledge in the making" (Ellsworth, 2005, p. 1), the open space enabled by pedagogy's hinge allows for a multiplicity of experiences to inform the self's pedagogical agency and epistemological considerations. To assist in exploring pedagogy's hinge and its implications for reconsidering contemporary educational assumptions, Nic Nicosia's silver gelatin print, Real Pictures #11, was used as a catalyst to examine the meaning held by an experience with an artwork. Engaging with an aesthetic experience and pedagogy's hinge suggests that acknowledging the complexity of the learning self encourages recognition of multiple, rather than one, ways of approaching knowledge within the contemplation of contemporary educational assumptions.