Challenges Of Cyborg Pedagogy

The rapidly expanding of techno-science after World War II has been mechanizing the human being, and meanwhile vitalizing the machinery dramatically. New concepts and subjects, such as cyborg, Cyborgology and Cyborg Pedagogy, were created to recognize and understand these new social, historical and cultural characteristics. Although inquiries on both cyborg and Cyborg Pedagogy were first carried out in the Western countries and Japan, it is undeniable that children in China have been involved in this hallucinatory vortex of techno-world too. They rush into schools with new identities of "natural-born cyborgs" and bring about challenges. Manifesting itself as ontology of human being, cyborg has challenged the dualistic epistemology radically. As a new way to understand the entangled relationships among human, technology, society and nature, cyborg has triggered more drastic challenges within the realm of education, including but not limited to subjectivities, technology, curriculum, teachers'image. Thus, neither could the schools refuse the cyborg society, nor could they ignore Cyborg Pedagogy anymore.Over the past two decades or so, numerous cyborg educating discourses have emerged worldwide, while surprisingly Chinese education field still keeps silent, which makes it reasonable to assert that Cyborg Pedagogy is still a "blind spot" for Chinese academic area. In this light of view, this exploration journey, by synthetically adopting the research methods of literature analysis, interview as well as comparing study, tries to interpret the figuration of cyborg and the discourses of Cyborg Pedagogy, with the hope of reducing the ignorance of Chinese education field about Cyborg pedagogy and initiating a complicated conversation on that. Hence, the focal concerns of this study relate to the following issues:How has Cyborg Pedagogy come into being? What is it about? How to carry it out? What are the possible ways for the Chinese education field to respond to the challenges of Cyborg Pedagogy? The framework and main points of view are as follow:Chapter One:Cyborg studies:How has it been rising? I start with an overview of the extensive cyborg studies in the West with a historical perspective; and then describe their progressive courses, as well as the present developing state. This provides a broad background and clear departure point of my current research.Chapter Two:The figuration of cyborg:What are the meanings and educational implications? I analysis the metaphorical meanings as well as the challenges to ontology and epistemology that "cyborg" carries; and illustrate its rich educational implications; then go on to review the most influential Cyborg Pedagogy discourses over the past two decades and summarize their approaches they show.Chapter Three:Cyborg educating theories:What is it about? First, I try to understand the cyborg subjectivities and particularly emphasize its property of embodiment; then in order to negate the rhetoric of disembodiment, I examine the dualism regarding "body" and "mind", precisely that of the Cartesian split; instead of involving myself into the endless struggling between the disembodiment and embodiment of cyborg subjectivity, I turn to rich Confucius body philosophy to seek advices, especially its thoughts on bodily thinking and bodily experiences.Chapter Four:Cyborg educating practices:How to carry it out? According to the embodiment feature of cyborg educating, I elucidate the possible actions of schools, children and teachers by criticizing the utopia vision of technology application in schools, and arguing the necessity and possible ways to transform the "hiding of body" in the virtual experiences into the "showing of body" in the real life experiences. Besides, I articulate the significance of "understanding technology", in so doing to update the technological literacy that just focuses on "learning skills"; and that of the multiplicity of teachers'image too.Chapter Five:Chinese education field:What are the possible responding ways? I particularly emphasis on the urgency to reconceptualize "curriculum and technology" and initiate the complicated conversation on Cyborg Pedagogy; moreover, I seek the cyborg educating chances in different subject curricula and "Integrated practice activity curriculum", in addition, I describe the properties of teacher educating curriculum from a cyborgian point of view.As a popular figuration influencing almost every aspect of our society,"cyborg" does bring forth new challenges, but meanwhile, it creats living theoretical space and practical possibilities for education. To some extent, as a critical figuration itself, cyborg severs as "a third eye"-a cyborgian eye to examine today's education. What it "sees" are:education is an exploring process of multiple, nomadic, rhizomatic and becoming cyborg subjectivities; as an exploring process of such subjectivities, cyborg pedagogy is embodied, experiential, interrelated, becoming and tolerant; furthermore, cyborg pedagogy inquiries also tend to cross the border (of subjects and fields), and going towards a multiple and (e)merging space.