On Identity Transparency and Rigor in the Philosophy of Education: Ameliorative Recommendations

• In Event: Pursuing Justice, Seeking Equity

Abstract

In the philosophy of education, explicit reflection on scholars’ social identities or positionality in the context of their work is atypical. We argue that greater transparency around positionality is likely to be helpful in addressing identity-based forms of marginalization in at least three ways. First, greater identity transparency is likely to enable peers to better identify sources of bias in non-ideal and applied scholarship, thereby increasing the rigor of the field. Second, it can help the philosophy of education realize its democratic potential by surfacing barriers to inclusion for scholars with marginalized identities. Third, when other merits are equal, identity transparency could be used as a tie-breaking criterion to diversify acceptances and increase representation in publications and presentations.

Authors

• Sarah Chase, Iowa State University

• Nicolas Jordan Tanchuk, Independent Scholar