Richard Pring (1938-2024) was the first holder of a Chair in Education at the University of Oxford and the Editor of the present journal from 1986 to 2001. This article pays tribute to his legacy in the field of educational philosophy. After reviewing briefly some well-known recurring themes in Pring's educational philosophy, such as his busting…

There could hardly have been a more influential twentieth-century philosophical essay than Elizabeth Anscombe's 'Modern moral philosophy', in which she condemned the prevailing and competing ethics of duty and utility of her day and urged moral philosophers to abandon the search for any general conception of 'morality' in favour of return to…

When a hero is lost to history, it matters that his work and name should be discussed. Such is the case for Janusz Korczak or Henryk Goldszmit, a courageous fighter for democracy in Poland during the first half of the 20th century. Korczak, the pen name he used for his writings, founded two orphanages where he provided an environment for all the…

Virtual reality (VR) is an increasingly popular artificially mediated, immersive experience that is accessed through a headset. Recent research is starting to provide evidence about the positive impact that virtual reality technology can have on teaching and learning. This research, to date, has been primarily undertaken in higher education and in…

In democratic education, schools are places where democracy holds center stage, where students explore the aims and assumptions that underpin democracy, and where students develop a shared understanding of core values. Despite the democratic promise of schooling, however, schools often fail to prepare people to interrupt racism, classism, gender…

Despite the proliferation and use of literary lenses in English Language Arts classrooms, one lens still seems to be missing from theorization, formulation, and thus practical implementation: religion. This absence is well-noted in the field, as positive depictions of Christian themes in books are rare and religion is rarely discussed as an…

This article delineates a Confucian approach to a democratic classroom by drawing upon the educational thought of third-century philosopher Xunzi. It is argued that Xunzi's approach is generally compatible with the three salient features of a democratic classroom: (i) it is a way of life guided by the principles of equality, freedom, justice, and…

In this article I develop ideas for supporting character education through sociology and virtue ethics philosophy. A combination of Pierre Bourdieu's theory of habitus together with (neo) Aristotelian virtue ethics philosophy is used to promote a critical form of character education--one that accents the individual as well as the social context…

While the project of consolidating democracy into a durable and highly esteemed value in American culture has always been difficult to sustain, especially within the public schools, the struggle now assumes the character of a grave and inescapable need. Given the authoritarian and fascist resurgence across the globe, democracy and its accompanying…

This article underscores the importance of contextualization when analysing values education. The interplay between societal values and those imparted within an educational context significantly affect the interpretation and comprehension of values education. To address this concern, I strategically position sociologist Tiffany Mary Jones…

Social demand calls on the education sector to provide children with the tools and strategies to adapt to the continual changes and requirements of contemporary society. Teaching children values and positive behaviours remains an important topic that is connected to positive youth development.

The demand for solidarity is made today by different social actors, e.g., from politics, religion or philosophy. Especially in the context of climate change and its social and ecological consequences, the demand for solidarity plays a major role. It is often referred to as the climate justice crisis. Therefore, solidarity can also be understood as…

School psychologists dedicate considerable time and energy to supporting the mental and emotional well-being of students, often putting others' needs ahead of their own. Some simple self-compassion strategies that are presented in this article can help build the emotional resilience needed to thrive in this challenging role and also model the…

Family Communication is an inherently value-laden class. When students walk into the classroom, some of them come with a very negative view of family, whereas others walk in with an extremely narrow view of family. By prioritizing and facilitating the importance of multiple definitions of families, instructors can move through more complex topics…

In times of growing societal complexity and uncertainty, traditional decision-making mechanisms such as the majority principle are increasingly reaching their limits. This article explores the interplay between Systemic Consensing (SC) and Action Learning (AL) as innovative, participatory approaches to decision-making that are committed to the…