This article's question is whether Spinoza understands the highest human perfection -- which he equates with both our highest good and the love of God -- as a theoretical state, consisting in having knowledge and the perfection of beliefs, or as a practical state, consisting in having virtue and the perfection of action. Consequently, the article…

Stanley Cavell was the first to account for the transformation of theory and criticism brought about by reflection on popular culture and its 'ordinary' objects, such as so-called mainstream cinema. However, Cavell is less concerned with reversing artistic hierarchies than with the self-transformation required by our encounters with new…

This article argues for the need of a new, pragmatic response to claims of indoctrination in public school classrooms across the United States. While attempts at defining indoctrination and moral arguments for and against certain pedagogical practices may be worthwhile, the article maintains that claims of indoctrination, whether substantive or…

This essay focuses on epiphanies -- moments when an insight or revelation captures our attention and summons us to become a better version of ourselves. The role of epiphanies in moral transformation, however, raises a potentially troublesome question. Namely, is the cultivation of epiphanies yet another vexed attempt at moral education? Kevin…

This article argues for the thesis that epiphanies are a central means for transformative moral and intellectual growth. Drawing on recent work on this concept in moral education, the article develops a conception of epiphany as a genre of transformative experience with three distinct phenomenological dimensions: a disruption of our everyday…

In this essay, I try to make sense out of Kant's unusual concept of grace, particularly as regards its uneasy relationship to education within the context of the effort to overcome evil. The key to the puzzle, I argue, lies in what I call 'moral receptivity'. Part of education's job is to make us morally receptive to grace by preparing us for its…

The authors make the argument that trauma journalism should be taught as part of the postsecondary curriculum in journalism schools. As part of that education, students will learn that coping with the psychological effects of repeated exposure to such events can have long-term impacts on their mental health. As Kohlberg and Rest found, students in…

Transformative learning is a compelling approach to learning that is becoming increasingly popular in a diverse range of educational settings and encounters. This book reconceptualises transformative learning through an investigation of the learning process and outcomes of International Service-Learning (ISL), a pedagogical approach that blends…

This article interacts with a recent article by Denise Cush and Catherine Robinson in which they call for a new dialogue between religious studies in universities and religious education, and identify a number of developments in religious studies that have implications for the practice of religious education in schools. Cush and Robinson are…

This article analyses elements of moral education in the educational programmes offered by the International Baccalaureate (IB). Particular reference is made to the IB learner profile, a list of 10 virtues which, the IB claims, are fostered through its educational programmes. This approach is evaluated in the light of existing ideas concerning…

The Academies Programme in England, whereby new schools may be privately sponsored and managed but publicly funded, has expanded rapidly with over 200 academies already open before 2010 and many more likely given the education policies promoted by Michael Gove as Conservative Secretary of State for Education. A significant number of academies are…