'BEING WITH OTHERS' IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS (CRITICAL THEORY, SOCIAL LIFE, CLASSROOM CLIMATE - GROUP)

The primary questions posed and analyzed in this study were--How do participants live with one another in the educational process? How do they do so in genuine and humane ways? Based upon Heidegger's formulation of the problematic nature of living with others, it was argued that "Being with Others" (i.e. Dasein) is a fundamental existential problem in our lives and therefore of life in the educational process. The authentic or inauthentic ways in which participants confront this problem as they accomplish "Being with Others" determine the qualitative nature or the genuine and humane ways of social life.;The findings of this study may be understood through three primary contributions: First, a conceptual model has been developed which enabled us to understand (a) the problematic and dynamic nature of living with others in the educational process; (b) how social ontologies are interrelated with social actions; and (c) how the modes of solicitude we assume are expressed and impact upon the nature of our "Being with Others.".;Second, in contrast to Social-Psychological paradigms which misunderstand the nature of social life, the Critical Theory-Hermeneutical approach adopted in this study enabled us to understand, critique, and demonstrate the potentiality present in our living with others, both conceptually and empirically.;Finally, as an example of critical cultural analysis, this study demonstrated how the liberal ideology of individualism and utilitarianism are reproduced and used to control and to dominate participants in the educational process.;The presentation of the research proceeds inductively through a three part argument. Part One, conceptualization, contrasts a critique of the main theoretical-research approaches to the study of the social dimensions of educating with a conceptual model which accounts for the dynamic nature of "Being with Others." Part Two, inquiry, presents findings from a naturalistic case study of the ways in which participants lived with one another in a teacher education class. Part Three reexamines the problematic nature of "Being with Others" in the classroom and concludes with proposals for reconceptualizing the social dimensions of the educational process.