This study explores the educational meaning of Songdok in traditional Korean education. Songdok refers to the act of memorizing text completely while reading it aloud; however, in traditional Korean education, it used to symbolize 'learning' itself. Historically, Songdok was regarded in extreme terms: being criticized as low-level memorization or…

There has been an excellent series of formative articles centring on Bernard Stiegler (1952-2020) as an inspiration to pedagogical thought; this is a summative article written from the perspective of after his death. Stiegler argued that education is ontologically crucial to human development, wherein "technics" or the…

Nature and time have long been key concepts of educational thought. Educational thinkers from both the East and the West have tried to imitate and follow nature (conceived as "tien" or "physis"). They have also considered time in relation to human formation and growth. This article attempts to connect these two key concepts of…

This concept note was produced for a symposium held under the banner of Critical University Studies -- South Africa (CUS-SA) at the University of Johannesburg in August 2022. The opening plenary session was addressed by Profs. Premesh Lalu, Sarah Mosoetsa and Sarah Nuttall. A summary of a paper prepared for this symposium by Michael Peters on the…

In the wake of profound social changes, which have been accelerated due to a global pandemic, educators reconsider the role and goals of education, and subsequently, how its pragmatic expression should look like in a VUCA-world. We address this challenge by offering basic tenets of education and principles that are tailored to the current reality.…

In the context of calls to decolonise education in European contexts, this paper draws on coloniality-based critiques of Eurocentric modernity to take up the links between democracy, slavery, and colonialism in education. Starting from the position that modernity requires epistemological support to sustain racism and white supremacy in European…

In this paper, we argue that the attempts to centre education in one of its three constitutive aspects that have long determined the discourse on the purpose and aims of education run the risk of one-sidedness. Theories of student-centred education have been in vogue for many centuries now, having been born out of a polemic against teacher-centred…

Three decades ago, the term Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) entered educational discourse. However, it is important to note that the concept of "ESD" did not emerge from scholarly debates on education, rather as a tool to carry forward the agenda of sustainable development. As a result, it has been conceptualized in many…

This paper problematizes current thinking about education by arguing that the question of educational purpose is not simply a socio-political question concerned with what the ends should be and why, but can also be understood as a structural question, concerned with the way we understand education's directional impetus. We suggest that it is…

The issue of violence and strategies for its attenuation present perennial conundrums for those seeking to reduce the quantity of avoidable suffering in the world. Despite the best efforts of committed practitioners, activists, and scholars, violence its various forms remain rife at all levels of social life. Paradoxically and tragically, at…

This article defines a public good, arguing that higher education should be considered a public good. This requires moving away from an orthodox economistic understanding of public goods. It also requires understanding the relationship between higher education as both a private good and a public good to the extent that it promotes individual…

In recent years, a growing number of scholars have accused Arendt of anti-Black racism. Some of these criticisms can be traced to certain passages in her essay "On Violence" about black radicals making what she believed to be unreasonable curriculum demands, namely the establishment of Black Studies programs. The purpose of this paper is…

This paper revisits the main thoughts of the Filipino historian and social critic Renato Constantino on the role of education in the formation of a neocolonial and postcolonial consciousness. It suggests that Constantino's critical stance towards education embodies a type of philosophizing about education that centers on the problematization of…

This paper explores quadruple helix ecosystems, cultural hubs, and living labs as models for transformative partnerships for higher education institutions (HEIs) as they move towards more open, co-operative, and co-creative research and innovation formats for public good. The transition of HEIs from mode 2 to mode 3 institutions prompts a cultural…

In this paper we take as our starting point Greta Thunberg's message to an audience of adults at a recent climate change summit: 'This is all wrong. I shouldn't be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you!' We take Thunberg at her word and endeavour to…