Scholarly Interests

 In addition to investigating aspects of the emotional world in teaching, learning, research and leadership using the lens of psychoanalytic theory, Alice Pitt is increasingly interested in questions relating to compulsory and post-secondary education and the public good in our times. As education is increasingly understood to be necessary to both individual success and economic prosperity, new questions arise about what this means for teaching and learning at the university and how roles at the university evolve and adapt to a changing landscape. 

Research Areas

• Feminism
• Psychoanalysis
• Teacher Education

Faculty & School/Dept

• Faculty of Education -

Selected Publications

• Pitt, A. (2010). "On Having One's Chance: Autonomy as Education's Limit." . Educational Theory, 16 (1), 1-15.
• Pitt, A. (Ed.) (2009). "Key Notes in Teacher Education". Canadian Association of Teacher Education
• Pitt, A. & A. Phelan (2008). "Paradoxes of Autonomy: a Research Problem and Purpose.". Changing English: Studies in Reading and Culture, 15 (2), 189-198.
• Pitt, A. & C. Brushwood-Rose (2007). "The Significance of Emotions in Teaching and Learning: On Making Emotional Significance.". International Journal of Leadership of Education, 10 (4), 327-337.
• Britzman, D. & A. Pitt (2004). "Pedagogy and Clinical Experience: Psychoanalytic Observations on Losing and Refinding Significance in Learning. JAC: Journal of Advanced Composition, 24 (2), 353-374.
• Pitt, A. (2004). "On Losing and Refinding the Mother: Reading Women's Autobiographies. Changing English: Studies in Reading and Culture, 11 (2), 267-277.
• Pitt, A. & D. Britzman (2003). "Speculations on Qualities of Difficult Knowledge in Teaching and Learning: An Experiment in Psychoanalytic Research.". International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16 (6), 755-776.
• Pitt, A. (2003). "The Play of the Personal: Psychoanalytic Narratives of Feminist Education". New York: Peter Lang
• Pitt, A. "Incalculable Precision: Psychoanalysis and the Measure of Emotion." In The Affective Dimensions of Cognition: Studies from Education in the Sciences. In Steve Alsop (Ed.), (pp. 27-36). Dordrecht,The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Press, 2005
• Pitt, A. "Reproducing Authority: Revolts against Transmission." In Provoking Absences: Critical Readings in Teacher Education. In A. Phelan and J. Sumison (Eds.), (pp. 187-200). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2008
• Dippo, D., M. Duran, J. Gilbert & A. Pitt "Public Schooling, Public Knowledge, and the Education of Public School Teachers." In Canadian Perspectives on the Sociology of Education. In C. Levine-Rasky (Ed.),. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2008
• Pitt, A. "Mother Love's Education." In Psychoanalytic Theory and Early Childhood Education: Love's Return. In G. Boldt and P. De Salvo (Eds.), (pp. 87-105). New York: Routledge, 2006

Selected Presentations

• Phelan, A & A. Pitt (2009, March). "Women, Autonomy and the Teaching Profession". Presented at: 7th International Conference on Gender and Education, London, England
• Pitt, A. (2009, March). "Regulation and Resistance in Teaching: A Case Study of Paradoxes of Autonomy.". Presented at: 7th International Conference on Gender and Education, London, England
• Pitt, A. (2008, March). "On having One's Chance: Hannah Arendt and the impossible profession of teaching". Presented at: American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York
• Pitt, A. (2007, October). "On Having One's Chance". Presented at: International Psychoanalysis and Education Conference, Toronto
• Ellingson, C & A. Pitt (2007, May). "Responsibility: Some Psychoanalytic Considerations". Presented at: the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education, Saskatoon
• Pitt, A. (2007, May). "CATE Invited Panel on Teacher Education Practice; The Practicum". Presented at: the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education, Saskatoon
• Pitt, A. (2007, April). "Emotional Obstacles to Freedom: Psychoanalytic Explorations of Professional Life.". Presented at: the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago
• Dippo, D., M. Duran, J. Gilbert, & A. Pitt (2007, April). "Education of the City: Thinking Community in Teacher Education". Presented at: the National Inner City Conference 2007, Toronto

Awards

• Paradoxes of Autonomy in Professional Life, SSHRC Standard Research Grant - 2006-2009
• Difficult Knowledge in Teaching and Learning: a Psychoanalytic Inquiry, SSHRC Standard Research Grant - 1998-2001