This paper sets out to explore a shift in educational subjectivity that is appropriate to the Anthropocene era, which is split between modernist conceptions of rational, autonomous subjectivity and contemporary conceptions of adaptable, precarious subjectivity. The rational autonomous subject of modern education remains the ideological blueprint for much educational policy and theory in the western world today. The ontopolitical shift towards precarious subjectivity in the Anthropocene prompts a new conception of educational subjectivity beyond the valorised attributes of self investment, self interest and market return. Responding to this situation, we need to understand the 'environment' as an arbiter of educational subjectivity beyond the 'market' ontologies of the Human Capital Subject. While this might seem to imply a rejection of human agency, the aim in this paper is to explore an expanded, fluid concept of educational agency that is appropriate to dominant modes of governance in the Anthropocene and yet does not give up entirely on autonomy. The paper develops a pedagogical framework for the Anthropocene through the twin concepts of ‘archipelagic thinking’ (Glissant) and 'world centred' education (Biesta). Linking postcolonial discourses on Archipelagic thinking to educational discourse, the first half of the paper maps out the coordinates of a 'world centered' education. The second half of the paper transposes these theoretical mappings onto the methodological ground of contemporary art education through a curricular overview . This section explores the development of an Archipelagic Art Education in the West Cork Archipelago (Ireland) as a concrete example of world centred education in the Anthropocene.
