The Perceptive Imperative: Connoisseurship and the Temptation of Rubrics

• In Event: Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: Philosophical Perspectives on Teaching

Abstract

We examine the increasing reliance on rubrics for educational evaluation and explore whether such tools can fulfill their promise. Following Wittgensteinian critical strategies, we explore what “the application of the [rubric] picture looks like” and then evaluate (a) whether those benefits are attributable to rubric-use at all, and (b) whether any of those benefits are unique to rubric-use. In instances where rubric-use claims come up short, we will suggest an alternative framework, based upon Elliot Eisner’s notion of educational connoisseurship and criticism, arguing for the development of perceptive abilities.

Authors

• Derek Gottlieb, University of Basel

• Christy M. Moroye, University of Northern Colorado