Forgiveness involves a shift from negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to positive ones after a transgression. Previous research supports the benefits of forgiving, particularly for physical and emotional health. However, debates within the character development literatures exist regarding whether forgiveness is a strength that benefits all…

Over the past several decades, there has been an increased focus on health promotion as opposed to individual health determinants and disease prevention. Given the association between health and academic success, health promotion is a vastly overlooked lever for establishing effective K-12 schools. Student, organizational, and community well-being…

As creativity is likely to become a crucial aspect of living in the future, it is important for educators to teach students to think creatively when solving constantly evolving and increasingly complex problems. Supported by the idea that creativity can be taught and learnt, elements of creativity are now embedded in secondary school education.…

This paper argues for the utility of ANT as a philosophical and methodological approach to policy analysis. It introduces the key features of a recent educational policy reform initiative, Skills for Life and illustrates the argument by looking at three "moments" (in Callon's 1986 terminology) in the life of this initiative, applying the…

The Music Education Programme at the Australian National University has developed a new, system-wide model in music education, focusing on peer and inter-generational social engagement through music making during and beyond the school years. One aim of the programme is to find alternative ways of fostering lifelong engagement in music making. A…

As the author thinks back over his association with Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA), particularly during the 1970s and 1980s when he was most active in the organization, three themes emerge. First, the author feels immense gratitude for the many good friends and colleagues whose company he found both enjoyable and…

It is the outstanding intellectual challenge of our age to find ways of providing citizens with access to and competent acquisition of the new applications and systems of knowledge. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it is to justify at the conceptual level that we are facing an unprecedented shift in the way knowledge is generated and…

Action competence has been a key concept in educational circles in Denmark since the 1980s. This paper explores the relationship between the action competence approach and recent discourses of education for sustainable development (ESD), competence and quality criteria. First we argue that action competence is an educational ideal, referring to…

In this article, the author provides a personal narrative of his experiences as an overseas visitor to Australia, and his decision to become a permanent resident (and ultimately an Australian citizen). He also reflects on his attendances at various conferences and his membership in the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA).

In this article, the author shares his experiences as one of few Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA) members and describes how he came to know about PESA. The author recounts an event during his period as president of PESA in 1986 and his efforts to promote and establish some form of international membership of various philosophy…

Ludwig Wittgenstein taught only a couple of Australian philosophers, at Cambridge in the late 1940s, and one of them, Frank "Camo" Jackson (Chair, Philosophy, Monash University) taught the author epistemology and philosophical psychology in the 1970s. In this article, the author describes how this teaching was central to his subsequent…

This article examines shifts in educational and social governance taking place in Queensland, Australia, through Education Queensland's Industry School Engagement Strategy and Gateway Schools program. This significant educational initiative is set within the context of Queensland's social investment agenda first articulated in its education policy…

Ever since eighth grade the author was deeply interested in his own education at a self-conscious level, wondering how he could find out educationally what human life was all about and how he should live his life. In this article, the author provides a self-portrait of his intellectual life. He contends that philosophy of education, as educational…

In this article, the author shares her experiences on how she came to know about Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA). The author opines that PESA could develop more positive interaction with both the Federation of Australasian Philosophy for Children Associations (FAPCA) and the Australian Philosophy Association (APA). She…

This article extends understanding of the connections between education, social capital, and development through a mixed-methods case study of the Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial, or SAT, an innovative secondary-level education system. The quantitative dimension of the research used survey measures of social responsibility to compare 93 SAT…