ABSTRACT
Whatever else it may be, education is at least a brain-transforming process. In schools, children and adults live together and shape one another in ways that determine each other’s futures. In this chapter, the two educational mandates identified in Chapter 5 are interpreted through a reading of the work of Catherine Malabou, who makes a contrast between brain plasticity which allows us to adapt to our environment flexibly (like plasticine into a mould), and plasticity which alters it (like plastic explosives). These choices outline options for the teacher: to enable pupils to be socialised into society, or to teach them to transform it. However, the choice is anything but arbitrary and has very serious consequences. In this case, wisdom is contingent upon the listening teacher, not simply the knowledgeable teacher. Teachers need to be aware of the changes they are helping children make to their brains, and the political consequences that brain plasticity implies.
