The Case of the Disappearing/Appearing Slow Learner: An Interpretive Mystery
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11575/jah.v0i0.53227Keywords:
fiction, hermeneutics, mysteryAbstract
This interpretive essay attempts to demonstrate the potential good that might come from approaching a hermeneutic phenomenological study as a hard-boiled detective story in the tradition of Raymond Chandler. The authors attempt to explain the hermeneutic warrants for such an adventure—that is, for how and why a topic like the categorization and treatment of students in the public education system as “slow learners†might be approached as a detective story. The parallels between detective fiction, Chandler’s work as a noir novelist, and hermeneutics are drawn out. Attention is drawn to the ground of our interpretive relationship with the world in Heidegger’s notion of the “as structure†of interpretation. A case is made for seeing the hard-boiled detective story as a hermeneutic venue for shaking up commonsense understandings of how we have come to see and do education with those students designated as slow in their learning.
Â
Â
References
Alberta Learning (2003). Registered apprentice program information manual. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Crown in Right of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2004). Standards for special education. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Crown in Right of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2008). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2008). Information manual for knowledge and employability courses. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Alberta Education Curriculum Branch.
Alberta Education. (2009). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2010). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2013). Programs of study. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program.aspx.
Alberta Teacher's Association (2009). Mr. Chase asks Minister of Education multiple choice questions during question period. Retrieved from Alberta Teacher's Association: http://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/EyeOnTheLegislature/Highlights%20from%20the%20Assembly/2009/Fall2009/Pages/05-Nov-2009.asp
Bernstein, R. (2002). The constellation of hermeneutics, critical theory, and deconstruction. In R. Dorstal (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Gadamer (pp. 267-282). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Britzman, D.P. (1998). Lost subjects, contested objects: Toward a psychoanalytic inquiry of learning. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Caputo, J.D. (1987). Radical hermeneutics: Repetition, deconstruction, and the hermeneutic project. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Chandler, R. (1942). The high window. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Chandler, R. (1949). The little sister. New York, NY: Penguin.
Chandler, R. (1950). The simple art of murder. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Chandler, R. (1992). Farewell, my lovely. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Chandler, R. (1992). The long goodbye. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Claypool, T., Murusiak, C., & Janzen, H. (2008). Ability and achievement variables in average, low average, and borderline students. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 54(4), 432-447.
Couture, J.C. (2012). Inclusion—Alberta’s educational palimpsest. ATA Magazine, 92(3), Retrieved from http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/ATA%20Magazine/Volume%2092/Number3/Pages/Research-roundup.aspx
Danforth, S. (2006). Learning from our historical evasions: Disability studies and schooling in a liberal democracy. In S. Danforth & S. Gabel, Vital questions facing disability studies in educa-tion (pp. 77-90). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Davey, N. (2006). Unquiet understanding: Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Derrida, J. (1988). Structure, sign and play in the discourse of the human sciences. In D.E. Lodge (Ed.), Modern criticism and theory (pp. 108-124). New York, NY: Longman.
Derrida, J. (1994). Of grammatology (G.C. Spivak, Trans.). Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins Books.
Dewan, P. (2010). The golden age of detective fiction. Retrieved from Mystery Page Turners: http://mysterypageturners.blogspot.ca/2010/04/golden-age-of-detective-fiction.html
Dostal, R.J. (2002). Introduction to the Cambridge companion to Gadamer. In R.J. Dostal (Ed), The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
Dunn, P. (2010). ReSeeing (Dis)ability: Ten suggestions. English Journal, 100(2), 14-36.
Ervin, M. (2012). Coulda Beena Borted. Retrieved from http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2012/07/coulda-beena-borted.html
Ervin, M. (2013). Life lessons learned at SHIT. Retrieved from
http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2013_05_31_archive.html.
Ervin, M. (2013). The legend of crippled eastwood. Retrieved from
http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2013_05_31_archive.html.
Ervin, M. (n.d.). Smart ass cripple. Retrieved from http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/
Foucault, M. (2003) Abnormal: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1974-1975, Marchetti V and Salomoni A (Eds), Burchell G (Trans). New York, NY: Picador.
Gadamer. H-G. (2004). Truth and method. (J. Weinsheimer & D.G. Marshall, Trans.)
London, UK: Continuum.
Gilham, C., & Williamson, W.J. (in press) Inclusion's confusion in Alberta. International
Journal of Inclusive Education, Published first online July 2013. doi: 10.1080/13603116.2013.802025
Gould, S.J. (1981). The mismeasure of man. New York: WW. Norton.
Graham, L., & Slee, R. (2008). An illusory interiority: Interrogating the discourse/s of inclusion. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40(2), 277-293. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-
5812.2007.00331.x
Hamilton, C. (1987). Western and hard boiled detective fiction in America. Hong Kong:University of Iowa Press.
Harrison, R. (2005). Martin Heidegger in conversation with Andrew Mitchell. [Audio podcast.] Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/itunes/store.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.) New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Jardine, D.W. (1998). Awakening from Descartes’ nightmare: On the love of ambiguity in phenomenological approaches to education. In D.W. Jardine, To dwell with a boundless heart: Essays in curriculum theory, hermeneutics and the ecological imagination (pp. 5-32). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Jardine, D.W. (2000). Under the tough old stars: Ecopedagogi-cal essays. Brandon, MN, Canada: The Foundation for Educational Renewal.
Jardine, D.W. (2012). The Descartes lecture. Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, June 16, 2012, Article 8. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10515/sy5pr7n88.
Kearney, R. (2002). On stories. London, UK: Routledge.
Kearney, R. (2003). Strangers, gods, and monsters: Interpreting otherness. New York, NY: Routledge.
King, E. (2006). School psychologist files. Retrieved from http://www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/slowLearnerFaq.html
MacDonald, J.D. (1987). A deadly shade of gold. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall.
Moules, N.J. (2009). A parent’s worst nightmare: Grief, families, and the death of a child. Journal of Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 21(4), 63-69. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1880/48643
Moules, N.J. (2002). Hermeneutic inquiry: Paying heed to history and Hermes – An ancestral, substantive, and methodological tale. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 1(3), Article 1. Retrieved from http://www.ualberta.ca/~ijqm/
Mosley, W. (2005). The writing life. The Washington Post [website]. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701424_2.html
Mystery. (n.d.). Online etymological dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mystery
Risser, J. (1997). Hermeneutics and the voice of the other. New York, NY: SUNY Press.
Rzepka, C.J. (2005). Detective fiction. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Robbins, J.W. (2009). Introduction: After the death of God. In J.D. Caputo, G. Vittimo, & J.W. Robbins (Eds.), After the death of God (pp. 1-26). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Reddy, G.L., Ramar, R., & Kusuma, A. (2006). Slow learners: Their psychology and instruction. New Delhi, India: Discovery Publishing House.
Schwandt, T. (2007). The Sage dictionary on qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Smith, P. (2006). Split-------ting the ROCK of {speci[ES]al} e.ducat.tion: FLOWers of
lang[ue]age in >DIS<ability studies. In S. Danforth & S.L. Gabel (Eds.), Vital questions facing disability studies in education (pp. 33 - 61). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Spillane, M. (1947). I the jury. New York, NY: Dutton.
Titchkosky, T. (2001). Disability: A rose by any other name? — ‘People-first’ language in Canadian society.†Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 38(2), 125–140.
Van Leer, D. (1993). Detecting truth: The world of the Dupin tales. In K. Silverman, The Ameri-can novel: New essays on Poe's major tales (pp. 65-91). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Vilhauer, M. (2010). Gadamer's ethics of play: Hermeneutics and the other. Toronto, ON, Canada: Rowman & Littlefield.
Weinsheimer J. (1985). Gadamer's hermeneutics: A reading of truth and method. London, UK: Yale University Press.
Willet, R. (1992). Hard boiled detective fiction. BAAS Pamphlet No. 23. British Association for American Studies. Retrieved from http://www.baas.ac.uk.
Alberta Education. (2004). Standards for special education. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Crown in Right of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2008). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2008). Information manual for knowledge and employability courses. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Alberta Education Curriculum Branch.
Alberta Education. (2009). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2010). Accountability pillar results for annual education results report (AERR). Edmonton, AB, Canada: Government of Alberta.
Alberta Education. (2013). Programs of study. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program.aspx.
Alberta Teacher's Association (2009). Mr. Chase asks Minister of Education multiple choice questions during question period. Retrieved from Alberta Teacher's Association: http://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/EyeOnTheLegislature/Highlights%20from%20the%20Assembly/2009/Fall2009/Pages/05-Nov-2009.asp
Bernstein, R. (2002). The constellation of hermeneutics, critical theory, and deconstruction. In R. Dorstal (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Gadamer (pp. 267-282). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Britzman, D.P. (1998). Lost subjects, contested objects: Toward a psychoanalytic inquiry of learning. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Caputo, J.D. (1987). Radical hermeneutics: Repetition, deconstruction, and the hermeneutic project. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Chandler, R. (1942). The high window. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Chandler, R. (1949). The little sister. New York, NY: Penguin.
Chandler, R. (1950). The simple art of murder. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Chandler, R. (1992). Farewell, my lovely. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Chandler, R. (1992). The long goodbye. New York, NY: Vintage Crime.
Claypool, T., Murusiak, C., & Janzen, H. (2008). Ability and achievement variables in average, low average, and borderline students. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 54(4), 432-447.
Couture, J.C. (2012). Inclusion—Alberta’s educational palimpsest. ATA Magazine, 92(3), Retrieved from http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/ATA%20Magazine/Volume%2092/Number3/Pages/Research-roundup.aspx
Danforth, S. (2006). Learning from our historical evasions: Disability studies and schooling in a liberal democracy. In S. Danforth & S. Gabel, Vital questions facing disability studies in educa-tion (pp. 77-90). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Davey, N. (2006). Unquiet understanding: Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Derrida, J. (1988). Structure, sign and play in the discourse of the human sciences. In D.E. Lodge (Ed.), Modern criticism and theory (pp. 108-124). New York, NY: Longman.
Derrida, J. (1994). Of grammatology (G.C. Spivak, Trans.). Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins Books.
Dewan, P. (2010). The golden age of detective fiction. Retrieved from Mystery Page Turners: http://mysterypageturners.blogspot.ca/2010/04/golden-age-of-detective-fiction.html
Dostal, R.J. (2002). Introduction to the Cambridge companion to Gadamer. In R.J. Dostal (Ed), The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
Dunn, P. (2010). ReSeeing (Dis)ability: Ten suggestions. English Journal, 100(2), 14-36.
Ervin, M. (2012). Coulda Beena Borted. Retrieved from http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2012/07/coulda-beena-borted.html
Ervin, M. (2013). Life lessons learned at SHIT. Retrieved from
http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2013_05_31_archive.html.
Ervin, M. (2013). The legend of crippled eastwood. Retrieved from
http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/2013_05_31_archive.html.
Ervin, M. (n.d.). Smart ass cripple. Retrieved from http://smartasscripple.blogspot.ca/
Foucault, M. (2003) Abnormal: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1974-1975, Marchetti V and Salomoni A (Eds), Burchell G (Trans). New York, NY: Picador.
Gadamer. H-G. (2004). Truth and method. (J. Weinsheimer & D.G. Marshall, Trans.)
London, UK: Continuum.
Gilham, C., & Williamson, W.J. (in press) Inclusion's confusion in Alberta. International
Journal of Inclusive Education, Published first online July 2013. doi: 10.1080/13603116.2013.802025
Gould, S.J. (1981). The mismeasure of man. New York: WW. Norton.
Graham, L., & Slee, R. (2008). An illusory interiority: Interrogating the discourse/s of inclusion. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40(2), 277-293. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-
5812.2007.00331.x
Hamilton, C. (1987). Western and hard boiled detective fiction in America. Hong Kong:University of Iowa Press.
Harrison, R. (2005). Martin Heidegger in conversation with Andrew Mitchell. [Audio podcast.] Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/itunes/store.
Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time. (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.) New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Jardine, D.W. (1998). Awakening from Descartes’ nightmare: On the love of ambiguity in phenomenological approaches to education. In D.W. Jardine, To dwell with a boundless heart: Essays in curriculum theory, hermeneutics and the ecological imagination (pp. 5-32). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Jardine, D.W. (2000). Under the tough old stars: Ecopedagogi-cal essays. Brandon, MN, Canada: The Foundation for Educational Renewal.
Jardine, D.W. (2012). The Descartes lecture. Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, June 16, 2012, Article 8. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10515/sy5pr7n88.
Kearney, R. (2002). On stories. London, UK: Routledge.
Kearney, R. (2003). Strangers, gods, and monsters: Interpreting otherness. New York, NY: Routledge.
King, E. (2006). School psychologist files. Retrieved from http://www.schoolpsychologistfiles.com/slowLearnerFaq.html
MacDonald, J.D. (1987). A deadly shade of gold. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall.
Moules, N.J. (2009). A parent’s worst nightmare: Grief, families, and the death of a child. Journal of Relational Child and Youth Care Practice, 21(4), 63-69. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1880/48643
Moules, N.J. (2002). Hermeneutic inquiry: Paying heed to history and Hermes – An ancestral, substantive, and methodological tale. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 1(3), Article 1. Retrieved from http://www.ualberta.ca/~ijqm/
Mosley, W. (2005). The writing life. The Washington Post [website]. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701424_2.html
Mystery. (n.d.). Online etymological dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mystery
Risser, J. (1997). Hermeneutics and the voice of the other. New York, NY: SUNY Press.
Rzepka, C.J. (2005). Detective fiction. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Robbins, J.W. (2009). Introduction: After the death of God. In J.D. Caputo, G. Vittimo, & J.W. Robbins (Eds.), After the death of God (pp. 1-26). New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Reddy, G.L., Ramar, R., & Kusuma, A. (2006). Slow learners: Their psychology and instruction. New Delhi, India: Discovery Publishing House.
Schwandt, T. (2007). The Sage dictionary on qualitative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Smith, P. (2006). Split-------ting the ROCK of {speci[ES]al} e.ducat.tion: FLOWers of
lang[ue]age in >DIS<ability studies. In S. Danforth & S.L. Gabel (Eds.), Vital questions facing disability studies in education (pp. 33 - 61). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Spillane, M. (1947). I the jury. New York, NY: Dutton.
Titchkosky, T. (2001). Disability: A rose by any other name? — ‘People-first’ language in Canadian society.†Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 38(2), 125–140.
Van Leer, D. (1993). Detecting truth: The world of the Dupin tales. In K. Silverman, The Ameri-can novel: New essays on Poe's major tales (pp. 65-91). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Vilhauer, M. (2010). Gadamer's ethics of play: Hermeneutics and the other. Toronto, ON, Canada: Rowman & Littlefield.
Weinsheimer J. (1985). Gadamer's hermeneutics: A reading of truth and method. London, UK: Yale University Press.
Willet, R. (1992). Hard boiled detective fiction. BAAS Pamphlet No. 23. British Association for American Studies. Retrieved from http://www.baas.ac.uk.
Downloads
Published
2014-02-27
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).