Education "Without Fear," or a Proper 'Fear' Education?

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dc.contributor.authorFisher, R. Michael
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-24T21:13:08Z
dc.date.available2019-04-24T21:13:08Z
dc.date.issued2001-09-04
dc.descriptionpaper for doctoral examinationsen_US
dc.description.abstractThe author shares decades of experience studying fear and fearlessness. He concludes that educators and teachers tend not to want to discuss "fear" with any depth or consistency. A change in this attitude is required, especially in a post-9/11 era. A critical 'fear' theory, with emphasis not on "fears" but a portrayal of the hidden crisis in fear-knowledge, is the goal of this paper. Yet, there is no conclusion to this exploratory journey into the beginnings of a critical 'fear' theory for education and for the world. There are some important guides we have met along the way in this article: Parker Palmer's admission of a "culture of fear" in contemporary education, Peter McLaren's admission of a "new species of fear" in cultural politics and education, and Deborah Britzman's admission of a "love and hate [fear]" emotional landscape and relationship that modulates all teaching and learning. Britzman is the only educator to lead the way to an in depth and queer theory of fear (feer) [other than the author's work on 'fear' theory]. The author argues that good as these theorists are to lead us in better understanding fear and its role in education, they are not good enough and too often still rely on the psychological basis of meaning for fear (McLaren, less so). Love is not enough either to challenge fear and its rule in education and society. We need a transdisciplinary approach as in fearanalysis, where the emphasis is on the path of fearlessness as the location and process of living a life eternally ambivalent between Love and Fear. We cannot simply get or be Love. There is not simply just Fear either nor are we only fear. There is no formula nor humanistic or theological guarantee for the 'good' without the 'bad,' so to speak. There is a dialectical relation and existential sensibility required that most people are unable or unwilling to bring to awareness in education. I believe a good quality 'fear' education would improve our capabilities to enter this path of fearlessness. It is risky business to each in a culture of fear and a politics that exposes the "glue" of the 'Fear' Matrix of pathological patriarchy, and adultism. This critical location and process, this living a life in such a precarious and ambivalent place, is the most dangerous of all pedagogies, and an impossibility with possibility, a dangerousness with desire for truth at all costs. Simply, the path of fearlessness demands a 'fear' theory which is determined to study fear, feer, 'fear' and any other creative expression that opposes pedagogies of love. This methodological shift in fearanalysis and critical 'fear' theory proposed (and incomplete yet) is toward the "negative" and a counterbalance to the hegemonic fetishism of the current "positive" in today's neo-liberal, neo- conservative climate in North American culture and education. -RMFen_US
dc.identifier.citationFisher, R. M. (2014). Education "Without Fear," or a Proper 'Fear' Education? 1-54en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36386
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110201
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyWerklund School of Educationen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen_US
dc.rightsUnless otherwise indicated, this material is protected by copyright and has been made available with authorization from the copyright owner. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectfear educationen_US
dc.subjectcritical 'fear' theoryen_US
dc.subjectnew species of fearen_US
dc.subjectcultural politicsen_US
dc.subjectaffectiveen_US
dc.subjectloveen_US
dc.subjectfear-knowledgeen_US
dc.subjectcurriculumen_US
dc.subjectpedagogyen_US
dc.titleEducation "Without Fear," or a Proper 'Fear' Education?en_US
dc.typeworking paperen_US
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