(article ) What is Education?

Ethics and justification

Chapter 3: The anatomy of respect

Leave a Comment / Chapters, EDUCATION - as if our lives depended on it, Ethics and justification, Part 1, Respect /

Chapter 3:The anatomy of respect The justifications that are offered for education are invariably too vague to stand as decision-making principles – or to hold individuals and institutions accountable. Expanding on the idea that education needs to be justified by the worth of the person forces us to remarkable conclusions This chapter explains the structure […]

Chapter 3: The anatomy of respect Read More »

Chapter 3:The anatomy of respect The justifications that are offered for education are invariably too vague to stand as decision-making principles – or to hold individuals and institutions accountable. Expanding on the idea that education needs to be justified by the worth of the person forces us to remarkable conclusions This chapter explains the structure

The practice of self-respect

Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect

Leave a Comment / Chapters, EDUCATION - as if our lives depended on it, Part 1, Respect /

Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect Our respect for ourselves needs to be expressed in our action – towards developing and living good lives. This is a difficult undertaking, and to do it, there is much to learn. This chapter on respect is concerned with how to respect ourselves through learning and growing, including the

Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect Read More »

Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect Our respect for ourselves needs to be expressed in our action – towards developing and living good lives. This is a difficult undertaking, and to do it, there is much to learn. This chapter on respect is concerned with how to respect ourselves through learning and growing, including the

Chapter 5: The Love model

Leave a Comment / Chapters, EDUCATION - as if our lives depended on it, Ethics and justification, Part 1, Respect /

Chapter 5: The “love” model Here is the “love” model; a way of thinking about ethical agreements. The model changes the usual assumptions of self-interest that lie behind negotiation and compromise, enabling an almost unlimited incorporation of interests. The “love model” is an alternative description of the “Golden Rule”, and we can use these to

Chapter 5: The Love model Read More »

Chapter 5: The “love” model Here is the “love” model; a way of thinking about ethical agreements. The model changes the usual assumptions of self-interest that lie behind negotiation and compromise, enabling an almost unlimited incorporation of interests. The “love model” is an alternative description of the “Golden Rule”, and we can use these to

Chapter 19: An educational constitution

Leave a Comment / Chapters, Democracy, EDUCATION - as if our lives depended on it, Ethics and justification, Part 4 /

Chapter 19: An educational constitution A sound, ethical justification of education would enable us to draw up an educational constitution protecting the development of the human mind from the beginning of development. This would establish a genuine right to an education worthy of the name, and be prior to any other constitution, establishing the conditions

Chapter 19: An educational constitution Read More »

Chapter 19: An educational constitution A sound, ethical justification of education would enable us to draw up an educational constitution protecting the development of the human mind from the beginning of development. This would establish a genuine right to an education worthy of the name, and be prior to any other constitution, establishing the conditions

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

A liberal education – Part II: why it needs replacing Read More »

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