Emergence and Studenting. Philosophical-Educational Notes on Distance Education

Abstract

The present paper engages with the question of distance education in a philosophical-educational key, by asking how education has to be conceived of in order for it to be possible at a distance. Against the backdrop of some inquiries into the recent experience of distance education during the COVID pandemic, the paper explores an argumentative pattern that has come to the fore in the new millennium, advocating a shift from traditional schooling to distance learning, under the aegis of the idea of “emergence.” In contrast, it is here argued that, while being possibly adequate for the teaching-learning relation, distance education misses an important educational dimension, that of studenting, which can take place genuinely only in the classroom.