‘The Ignorant Schoolmaster’

Jacques Ranciere (born 1940), much like his contemporary Michel Foucault, has an academic oeuvre that defies neat classification within established disciplinary boundaries. This is due to the cross-disciplinary nature of his work, with a strong orientation towards history and philosophy. Although he trained as a philosopher (studying with Louis Althusser and contributing to the latter’s Reading Capital), Ranciere’s work has been more a series of explorations in the archives of subaltern workers of early nineteenth-century Europe. His work has received the attention of scholars from across a number of disciplines such as cultural studies, history, philosophy and political science. However, when one looks for rigorous engagement with Ranciere’s thoughts on education, one finds a relative indifference on the part of educationists. This is surprising given that ‘equality’ as a concept has not only received focused attention from educationists for long, inviting reflections that have varied in their elaboration of the concept, but also has a specific import in current educational scenarios across the world, such that it has heightened the imperative to revisit this concept.