(article ) What is Education?

Problems of living well

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 […]

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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

The justification of education: a Rawlsian interpretation

Leave a Comment / Educational theory and practice, Ethics and justification, Indoctrination, Problems of living well, Respect, What is education? /

  The justification of education:a Rawlsian interpretation John Rawls’s “Original Position” offers more than a decision procedure for justifying principles of justice, as he intended. It enables a unique way of understanding and justifying education. It may help us to get past our educational myopia; of education being no more than schooling and formal teaching,

The justification of education: a Rawlsian interpretation Read More »

  The justification of education:a Rawlsian interpretation John Rawls’s “Original Position” offers more than a decision procedure for justifying principles of justice, as he intended. It enables a unique way of understanding and justifying education. It may help us to get past our educational myopia; of education being no more than schooling and formal teaching,

The Tyrant’s Choice: how narrow self-interest corrupts self-respect

Leave a Comment / Ethics and justification, Problems of living well, Respect /

The Tyrant’s Choice: how narrow self-interest corrupts self-respect Being a tyrant isn’t just bad for those who get in the tyrant’s way. It is bad for the tyrant. It corrupts their access to knowledge, and this educational insight goes back over 2000 years. It is a clue to the social value of self-respect, and shows

The Tyrant’s Choice: how narrow self-interest corrupts self-respect Read More »

The Tyrant’s Choice: how narrow self-interest corrupts self-respect Being a tyrant isn’t just bad for those who get in the tyrant’s way. It is bad for the tyrant. It corrupts their access to knowledge, and this educational insight goes back over 2000 years. It is a clue to the social value of self-respect, and shows

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

Held hostage to our talents

Leave a Comment / Indoctrination, Problems of living well /

[starbox id=RGO] Held hostage to our talents When I was a graduate student, I resolved my lodging arrangements by being a houseparent in an arts academy located on the university campus. The academy took talented high school students on scholarship and gave them an opportunity to develop their performing art. Principally, it was a dance

Held hostage to our talents Read More »

[starbox id=RGO] Held hostage to our talents When I was a graduate student, I resolved my lodging arrangements by being a houseparent in an arts academy located on the university campus. The academy took talented high school students on scholarship and gave them an opportunity to develop their performing art. Principally, it was a dance