Semiotics, edusemiotics and the culture of education

• Published in: Educational philosophy and theory Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 207 - 219
• Main Authors: Deely, John, Semetsky, Inna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01.03.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic disciplines; antidualism; Culture; Dualism; Education; Education, Higher; Educational Philosophy; Educational Theories; Higher Education; Intellectual Disciplines; Interdisciplinary Approach; Learning Processes; Learning theories; Linguistic Theory; Metalinguistics; Modernity; nature; Peirce (CS); Peirce's semiotics; Philosophy; process philosophy; Science; Sciences; Segmentation; Semiotics; Signs
• ISSN: 0013-1857; 1469-5812; 1469-5812
• DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2016.1190265

Semiotics is the study of signs addressing their action, usage, communication and signification (meaning). Edusemiotics-educational semiotics-is a recently developed direction in educational theory that takes semiotics as its foundational philosophy and explores the philosophical specifics of semiotics in educational contexts. As a novel theoretical field of inquiry, it is complemented by research known under the banner 'semiotics in education', which is largely an applied enterprise. In this respect edusemiotics is a new conceptual framework for both theoretical and empirical studies. Edusemiotics has also been given the status of being a new branch of theoretical semiotics and it was launched as such at the 12th World Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies in September 2014 at the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. The article presents 'semiosis' as the action of signs across culture AND nature and posits 'learning' in terms of developing semiotic consciousness and semiotic competence. Semiosis is a process and as such it defies the Cartesian philosophy of substance-dualism that still informs the culture of education. The paper focuses specifically on university education permeated by disciplinary boundaries and the fragmentation of knowledge grounded in objective science inherited from modernity. Where is semiotics as the science of signs (or relations) in the context of academic culture? The authors conclude by affirming the transdisciplinary character of semiotics and edusemiotics and specify the distinctive focal points of transdisciplinary knowledge afforded by edusemiotics.