(article ) What is Education?

April 2016

A liberal education – Part II: why it needs replacing

Leave a Comment / Democracy, Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, History, Liberal Education, Problems of living well, Schooling /

A liberal education – exit stage right. Part II: why it needs to be replaced A liberal education has progressively been destroyed. The previous article explains why it won’t do any longer – but also the unacceptable price we pay for not having an education that fulfills several of the needs that a liberal education […]

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A liberal education – exit stage right. Part II: why it needs to be replaced A liberal education has progressively been destroyed. The previous article explains why it won’t do any longer – but also the unacceptable price we pay for not having an education that fulfills several of the needs that a liberal education

The meaning of education

A liberal education – exit stage right. Part I: the attack

1 Comment / Democracy, Educational theory and practice, Enlightenment, Ethics and justification, History, Indoctrination, Liberal Education, Problems of living well, Schooling /

The liberal education tradition has been largely destroyed by neo-conservative assumptions. Identified with a range of academic disciplines, and pursued for its own sake, it has suffered from association with the life-style of the European aristocracy, the former leisured elite. Despite this, it had important functions in enabling a challenging of inherited beliefs and assumptions,

A liberal education – exit stage right. Part I: the attack Read More »

The liberal education tradition has been largely destroyed by neo-conservative assumptions. Identified with a range of academic disciplines, and pursued for its own sake, it has suffered from association with the life-style of the European aristocracy, the former leisured elite. Despite this, it had important functions in enabling a challenging of inherited beliefs and assumptions,

Wagon

Respect for persons – the justification for education

Leave a Comment / Educational theory and practice, Enlightenment, Ethics and justification, Problems of living well, Respect /

Western ethics, since the Enlightenment, has been remarkably silent about the idea of self-respect, or a duty to oneself. Some philosophers even doubt that there is such a thing. This might signal to us that the whole idea is simply mistaken. I think, however, that the gap here is another hold-over from the circumstances of

Respect for persons – the justification for education Read More »

Western ethics, since the Enlightenment, has been remarkably silent about the idea of self-respect, or a duty to oneself. Some philosophers even doubt that there is such a thing. This might signal to us that the whole idea is simply mistaken. I think, however, that the gap here is another hold-over from the circumstances of

An Ethical Manifesto for Education

Leave a Comment / Ethics and justification, Respect, What is education? /

An Ethical Manifesto for Education Education is an ethical concept. Here is an outline of the way in which education, worthy of the name, can be grounded in the fundamental, equal intrinsic worth of all human beings. The purpose of education is an application of the principle of “respect for persons”, and the discussion explains

An Ethical Manifesto for Education Read More »

An Ethical Manifesto for Education Education is an ethical concept. Here is an outline of the way in which education, worthy of the name, can be grounded in the fundamental, equal intrinsic worth of all human beings. The purpose of education is an application of the principle of “respect for persons”, and the discussion explains

The difference between education and schooling

What is the difference between education and schooling?

Leave a Comment / Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, Schooling, What is education? /

The difference between education and schooling Many people confuse education and schooling. The difference is huge. Education is an ideal. Schools are institutions set up to formalise teaching. Schools need not be educational at all, and often aren’t. Indeed, they can indoctrinate. It is the ethical concern of education for learning to live well that

What is the difference between education and schooling? Read More »

The difference between education and schooling Many people confuse education and schooling. The difference is huge. Education is an ideal. Schools are institutions set up to formalise teaching. Schools need not be educational at all, and often aren’t. Indeed, they can indoctrinate. It is the ethical concern of education for learning to live well that

Our store of educational ideas

Leave a Comment / Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, What is education? /

[starbox id=RGO] Our store of educational ideas From the beginning, the idea of vocational training has sat uncomfortably with the idea of education. The idea of education was invented in Classical Athens, some thousands of years after schools were devised. Its greatest expression, and still unrivalled, is in Plato’s work, The Republic, in which two

Our store of educational ideas Read More »

[starbox id=RGO] Our store of educational ideas From the beginning, the idea of vocational training has sat uncomfortably with the idea of education. The idea of education was invented in Classical Athens, some thousands of years after schools were devised. Its greatest expression, and still unrivalled, is in Plato’s work, The Republic, in which two

And so we begin – the purpose of education

Leave a Comment / What is education? /

[starbox id=RGO] And so we begin – the purpose of education Here we will renew the purpose of education for our day.  Its  purpose should flow from the value of learners themselves – from what we owe to them because of their value, and from what learners owe to themselves as intrinsically worthwhile human beings.

And so we begin – the purpose of education Read More »

[starbox id=RGO] And so we begin – the purpose of education Here we will renew the purpose of education for our day.  Its  purpose should flow from the value of learners themselves – from what we owe to them because of their value, and from what learners owe to themselves as intrinsically worthwhile human beings.