In this paper Johan Dahlbeck sets out to propose a pedagogy of "as if," seeking to address the educational paradox of how students can be influenced to approximate a life guided by reason without assuming that they are already sufficiently rational to adhere to dictates of practical reason. He does so by outlining a fictionalist account,…

This article explores a P4C-style of response to criticisms addressed to P4C's inconsistencies. The main argument against P4C is that, although P4C theory stands for, by, and with children in terms of educational philosophy, P4C advocates do not follow the same approach when they defend P4C theory from criticism. By developing a discussion about…

In this article, I first problematize the concept of rationality as educational ideal through the use of feminist philosophy. I then offer an alternative concept of rationality as educational ideal based on my reading of Catherine Malabou's work on plasticity, epigenesis, and rationality. In a last part, I explore the ontological and normative…

Invitational Theory is rooted in three theoretical foundations, perceptual theory, self-concept theory, and a democratic ethos (Purkey, Novak, and Fretz, 2020). This essay addresses the third of these foundations, a "Democratic Ethos." While "perceptual theory" and "self-concept theory" provide a relational foundation…

Within the framework of the reemergence of the theme of antifascism in contemporary educational theory, this paper raises the question of whether antifascism may be considered as a genuinely educational concept. Moreover, it investigates whether and to what extent the idea of antifascist education should remain anchored to an explicit reference to…

While Kazimir Malevich is widely known for his suprematist contributions to art, little attention has been granted to his articulated philosophical premise and methodological manifestation concerning the non-objectivity of thought and its relationship to feeling. This paper shows how Suprematist philosophy gives rise to the concept of pedagogical…

Although John Dewey continues to be a source to which scholars look in order to address contemporary social and educational issues, others have suggested that Dewey may be too implicated in the project of modernity to be acceptable in educational theory and practice today. To what extent Dewey was modern, and what we make of the question of his…

Pedagogical approaches emanating from posthumanist and neomaterialist theoretical frameworks can potentially redefine what learning and teaching are. In this paper, I argue, however, that these discussions are marked by a distinct absence, having to do with the role of teachers and the nature of teaching itself. Attempting to make up for this…

According to Matthew Lipman, one of the founders of the Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme, critical thinking improves reasonableness and the exercise of good judgement, both of which Lipman takes to be necessary to sustaining a democratic society. Against his view, I argue that although critical thinking can be done well or badly, it does…

Character education in schools in England is flourishing. I give many examples of the enthusiasm for it as well as drawing attention to the UK government's new ambivalence towards it. Character education seems largely impervious to the many criticisms to which it has been subjected. I touch on these only briefly as my focus is on a criticism that…

Since China's reform and opening up, foreign language teaching (FLT) in China has achieved rapid development under the guidance of foreign language teaching theories both at home and abroad. However, problems such as 'time-consuming and inefficient foreign language learning' and the presence of 'dumb foreign languages' in FLT in China have not…

With "Empire," Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri reinvigorated debates in political theory and radical philosophy about the cultivation of revolutionary subjectivity. Their theorization of Empire and multitude has also significantly affected the tenor of critical approaches to educational theory during the past two decades. In this…

The common reproach: "think before you speak!," epitomises an educational paradigm in which speech is only the act of transmission finalised ideas. In his inspiring short essay "On the Gradual Formation of Thoughts During Speech" from 1805, the German writer Heinrich von Kleist challenged this approach when he described his…

The period March 2020-March 2021 marks the time reference for this theoretical study as it denotes the initial surge of the Pandemic, where whole societies were destabilized by the ferocity of COVID-19. Within this context, I posit COVID-19 as a transforming event: one that exhausts "worlds." Drawing from Jan Masschelein's works on…

Humility is widely regarded as a moral excellence and telos, hence, openly inculcated-instructed. Character education in and for humility, however, sits uncomfortably against today's pedagogical maxims such as self-esteem and self-assertiveness. This article looks into this and other tensions from the perspective of humility as experience…