David Jardine On The While Of Things Summary

What is worthwhile of our existence? What is worthwhile of our time? In the article “on the while of things” written by David W. Jardine, he argues that the current school system holds a “curriculum of scarcity”, which is a “rational approach” towards knowledge, where learning is fragmented and rushed. He then introduces the curriculum of abundance, especially whiling, in comparison to the curriculum of scarcity.

First, this rational approach toward learning is presenting isolating and fragmentation of ideas. The knowledge we’ve been presented in school are just the superficial, top layer of knowledge. One example I made a connection is doing research in school. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, research is the “investigation or experimentation

In the “rational approach” of knowing, knowledge is “not worth lingering over, meditating upon, remembering, and returning to” (Jardine, 2008, p. 1). In the previous paragraph, one example I brought up is the idea od research and I brought up a question of “why are we doing this”. I think teachers are using this kind of learning approach because it is efficient, saves time and easy to manage. In the article, Jardine emphasises the idea of whiling, which is taking time and making relations. However, whiling takes up too much time and it is less efficient. While pondering with this idea, I asked myself: why are we rushing learning? I think that teachers use rational approach because they were pressured by the government with a static set of curriculum standards. Ultimately, knowledge is political, never innocent and always has a purpose. I asked my self, what is the purpose of education in rational approach of education? By combing the previous readings and this article, I concluded that education is to achieve the final outcomes set by the society and to prepare the future work force (Bloch, Swadener, & Cannella, 2014). This way “measuring time” is about the accumulation of knowledge and measuring empty singularity (Jardine, 2008,

However, I have also struggled with the idea of whiling and how to while in our current society. How can we start whiling? What is worth whiling? What is the purpose of education in whiling? What is the role of teachers and schools in whiling? Can we fully understand the child through whiling? All these questions I have is challenging to answer. However, by reading this article and learning about the idea of whiling, I found the balance between the known and the unknown. The questions I have composed might have no definite answer. However, these questions open up dialogues and through these dialogues I can gain new understanding of the world. Answering these questions is a long process and it requires time and patience. We can start by being attuned and