Epistemologies of Ignorance in Education

Epistemologies of Ignorance provide educators a distinct epistemological view on questions of
marginalization, oppression, relations of power and dominance, difference, philosophy, and even
death among our youth. The authors of this edited collection challenge the ambivalence - ignorance
- found in the construction of curriculum, teaching practices, research guidelines, and policy
mandates in our schools. Further, ignorance is also considered a necessary by-product of
knowledge production. In this sense, the authors explore not only issues of complicity but also
issues of oppression in spite of educators' liberatory intentions.
While this is the first systematic effort to transfer epistemologies of ignorance to the educational
scene, this movement has its roots in race, class, gender, and sexuality studies, particularly the work
of Charles Mills, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Shannon Sullivan, and Nancy Tuana. It is our
unequivocal belief that, while this is transformative and powerful scholarship, the study of
ignorance remains understudied and under-theorized in education scholarship, from curriculum studies and cultural foundations to
science education and educational psychology. This collection highlights without apology why this dangerous state of affairs cannot
continue.