Philosophy and Psychology in the Zone: A Call for ‘Critical Spiritedness’

Gert Biesta suggests that distance or a gap is required for education.Dissuading us from mending the gap, he argues "the gap between the teacher and the studentshould [not] be overcome, because it is this very gap that makes communication-and hence education-possible." 1 Perhaps this gap allows for the emergence of contact zones.Biesta describes the gap as a "place" where education occurs because of space or distance.Similarly, in contact zones, "social groups with histories and lifeways different from the official ones" make contact and learn because of differences (or space) between them. 2 Noting diverse groups "grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power," Pratt describes how "[t]he classroom function[s] not like a homogeneous community or a horizontal alliance, but like a contact zone." 3 Contact zones can be violent and "shaped in contradiction toproclaimed values of truth, respect, justice, and democracy." 4That contact zones may reveal such is the main focus of this essay.Further, this examination gives us good reason to make critical thinking a priority and awaken what Harvey Siegel calls "critical spiritedness."Critical thinking must be a priority to defend values at the heart of a democracy currently under fire.As Siegel says, we need "careful analysis, good thinking, and reasoned deliberation in democratic life," and if we care about democracy, "we must be committed to the fostering of the abilities and dispositions of critical thinking a democracy can flourish just to the extent that its citizenry is sufficiently critical." 5Pratt's idea of contact zones then proves a significant new entry point for educators to re-consider critical thinking debates in philosophy of education.