Byung-Chul Han on the De-Ritualization of Academic Lifeworld in the Age of Student-Centered Learning
Keywords:
Byung-Chul Han, critical pedagogy, neoliberalism, higher education, Philippine educationAbstract
The overarching objective of this study is to examine how student-centered learning (SCL) functions as a vehicle for advancing neoliberal agendas in Philippine higher education. Drawing from Byung-Chul Han’s critique of neoliberal achievement society, the study argues that universities are undergoing a process of de-ritualization, where communal academic practices are displaced by individualized, performance-oriented structures. Through a qualitative critical-philosophical analysis of higher education discourse and policy, this study reveals how the rhetoric of autonomy and personalization, which SCL promotes, aligns education with market logics. Student-centered learning is designed to empower learners; however, this study argues that its neoliberal appropriation has led students to being reduced as self-optimizing and performative agents governed by hyper-individualistic views compelled by neoliberal notion of freedom. This shift transforms education into a site of consumption rather than formation as HEIs prioritize employability over collective reflection and meaning, while paradoxically claiming that today’s schooling focuses on students’ holistic growth. This study concludes by advocating for the reintegration of academic rituals that nurture community, restore depth, and reaffirm the university’s transformative purpose.
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