(article ) What is Education?

Schooling

An “educational” system at odds with the educational: The incompatibility of purpose

Leave a Comment / Educational theory and practice, Indoctrination, Schooling /

The “logic” of conventional schooling is completely at odds with the requirements of education, and fundamentally unethical. School is about agendas others have for learners – not for their own sake

An “educational” system at odds with the educational: The incompatibility of purpose Read More »

The “logic” of conventional schooling is completely at odds with the requirements of education, and fundamentally unethical. School is about agendas others have for learners – not for their own sake

Authority and ego in teaching . . . and the cult of leadership

1 Comment / Ethics and justification, Respect, Schooling, What is education? /

NOTICE This piece is posted separately in the “articles” section of this blog, but it will eventually be incorporated as the second chapter of Part 3 of “Education as if our lives depended on it”. It will be posted there along with two other chapters in preparation, and when some re-ordering has been completed. I

Authority and ego in teaching . . . and the cult of leadership Read More »

NOTICE This piece is posted separately in the “articles” section of this blog, but it will eventually be incorporated as the second chapter of Part 3 of “Education as if our lives depended on it”. It will be posted there along with two other chapters in preparation, and when some re-ordering has been completed. I

Personal experience and public performance: The two sides of a genuinely educational practice

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

NOTICE: This piece is posted separately in the “articles” section of this blog, but it will eventually be incorporated as the third chapter of Part 3 of “Education as if our lives depended on it. It will be posted there along with two other chapters in preparation, and when some re-ordering has been completed. I

Personal experience and public performance: The two sides of a genuinely educational practice Read More »

NOTICE: This piece is posted separately in the “articles” section of this blog, but it will eventually be incorporated as the third chapter of Part 3 of “Education as if our lives depended on it. It will be posted there along with two other chapters in preparation, and when some re-ordering has been completed. I

The vacuum at the centre of our “educational” thinking

1 Comment / Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, Indoctrination, Respect, Schooling /

The vacuum at the centre of our “educational” thinking   Neglecting the job of equipping learners to develop worthwhile lives that are their own creates an educational vacuum – a vulnerability at precisely the point where they need most strength and power. This space is then available for the most significant kinds of indoctrination –

The vacuum at the centre of our “educational” thinking Read More »

The vacuum at the centre of our “educational” thinking   Neglecting the job of equipping learners to develop worthwhile lives that are their own creates an educational vacuum – a vulnerability at precisely the point where they need most strength and power. This space is then available for the most significant kinds of indoctrination –

Exploitation of the learner is inevitable without a strong educational justification

The justification of education

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

The justification of education Education, in our practice, is so poorly justified that we literally don’t grasp what we are doing – or what is at stake. Even a modest attempt at a sound justification reveals a deep moral bankruptcy to our practice; a ready contentment to exploit learners in the service of others. Nothing

The justification of education Read More »

The justification of education Education, in our practice, is so poorly justified that we literally don’t grasp what we are doing – or what is at stake. Even a modest attempt at a sound justification reveals a deep moral bankruptcy to our practice; a ready contentment to exploit learners in the service of others. Nothing

Education for good living in the educational ecosystem

Education and the educational ecosystem

2 Comments / Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, Problems of living well, Respect, Schooling, What is education?, Working for educational change /

Education and the educational ecosystem It is a commonplace to say that education should be about enabling learners to live worthwhile lives. What that would have to involve is never extensively explored, and this lack of a benchmark would help to explain why the idea of education-as-usual has no competition. This article is an introductory

Education and the educational ecosystem Read More »

Education and the educational ecosystem It is a commonplace to say that education should be about enabling learners to live worthwhile lives. What that would have to involve is never extensively explored, and this lack of a benchmark would help to explain why the idea of education-as-usual has no competition. This article is an introductory

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,

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