Both contemporary naturalist and deconstructivist theories share the suspicion of invoking an emphatic subject in education while not being able to address the question of what education is for in a constructive and value-based way. However, while naturalist theory also focuses on the human mind and its evolutionary origins, deconstructivism is…

The purpose of the article is to contribute to the discussion about the relevance of existential issues in contemporary education. Analysis presented in the paper is related to the problems of self-awareness, becoming oneself and self-development. First, the author begins by depicting the meaning of human existence in the light of philosophy. The…

Citizenship education played a crucial role in the 19th century transition from royal sovereignty to democracy in the Nordic region, with folk high schools (FHS) playing an important role. While established to empower the people ("folk") for active participation in society, the contemporary folk high schools have reoriented from their…

How can higher education educate graduates who know more than "just knowledge"? Such an education includes developing in students an awareness of the limits of their knowledge, an ability to discern what kinds of knowledge are appropriate in a given situation and a sensitivity to different forms of knowing. When is scientific rigour…

Both Jarvis and theories of Christian Religious Education (CRE) emphasise that learning develops the whole person, yet they differ in their understandings of how and why this is the case. Jarvis's experiential learning theory begins "from below" with experience, whereas many approaches of CRE begin with the end result: individuals…

We humans laugh often and it is not always because something is funny. We laugh in the face of the pathetic or the powerless; sometimes we laugh at our own powerlessness or pathos. In short, we laugh at both the comical and the difficult. Here I am especially interested in the laughter that is sparked by what is difficult and how that…

This article discusses the distinctive educational modes of thinking in Neo-Confucianism, with an interest of extracting Confucian reflective views for modern education of traditionally Confucian East Asia. Neo-Confucian typical modes of thinking on education are characterized as "heart-mind centered" and "learning as…

This paper is about the notion of conflict in the work of John Dewey. Special attention is given to "Democracy and Education" (1916) because of its centennial and its acclaimed status of "magnum opus". After depicting "conflicts as gadflies" that stir thinking--reflection and ingenuity--and relating it to Socrates, in…

The author argues that Dewey's conception of the lost individual and his proposed solutions for reconstruction can help both schooling and society address problems of depoliticization and individualization. He first examines Dewey's notion of formation of the self, forged through transactions with one's physical and social…

Fifty years ago, the philosopher John Macmurray responded to calls for education to redesign itself around the exigencies of international competition with a robust rebuttal of such instrumentalism. He argued instead that the purpose of education was "learning to be human". This paper explores how Macmurray's ideas might be applied to contemporary…

In response to the changing demands of the U.S. healthcare system and the needs of the nursing profession, the Institute of Medicine, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, spearheaded a two-year initiative to develop recommendations for the future of nursing. Discussions of these recommendations within nursing education led to…