When things thing: thing-centred pedagogy reconsidered in light of Heidegger’s philosophy

This paper offers a Heideggerian account of how to understand subject matter, which constitutes one of the points of the educational triangle, alongside the teacher and the learner and has received comparatively little attention. Drawing on Heidegger’s conception of things, I argue that subject matter can be understood as encountered in and accessed through things, which gather and disclose the world. Building upon this, I turn to the work of Vlieghe and Zamojski, who advocate thing-centred pedagogy, a term inspired by Heidegger’s notion of things. I consider the significance of thing-centred pedagogy, while also offering a critical evaluation of its potential limitations. I suggest that these may lie in its reluctance to fully take up the commitments embedded in Heidegger’s conception of things. Engaging more deeply with these, I propose, could not only help address the challenges education faces but also enrich and extend the strengths of thing-centred pedagogy.