In this paper, I offer a defence of aesthetic education in terms of aesthetic experience, claiming that aesthetic experience and art appreciation is a vital component of a flourishing life. Given schools have an important role to play in helping prepare young people for their adult lives, it is crucial they should consider how best to equip…

When I was invited to edit a special issue of "Education Sciences" on the theme of "Moral education and identity", I saw an opportunity both to gain a better understanding of how scholars across a range of disciplines construed the task of moral education in terms of identity and--I can now confess--to defend the claim that…

In 1932 Dewey and Tufts issued an extensively revised edition of their famous Ethics of 1908. Both versions are now available as public domain resources on the Internet, and teachers are likely to assign the second edition, since it reflects the authors' mature views. However, at least as regards Dewey's treatment of virtue, I argue that the…

There is a sustained critique of autonomy in Iris Murdoch's work in moral philosophy and moral education. I explicate Murdoch's arguments against a moral education that aims at autonomy, showing that this kind of moral education is ensnared in problematic dualisms: a fact and value dualism (sometimes discussed as a dualism between metaphorical…

In "A Theory of Moral Education," Michael Hand claims that a directive moral education that seeks to persuade children that a particular conception of contractarian morality is justified can be undertaken without falling foul of the requirement not to indoctrinate. In this article, we set out a series of challenges to Hand's argument.…

This is an interview with Frans de Waal who gave the Kohlberg Memorial Lecture at the AME Conference in St. Louis in November 2017. Frans de Waal's research with non-human primates documents that primates share our tendencies towards fairness, reciprocity, loyalty, self-sacrifice, caring for others, strategies for conflict avoidance and for…

This short paper is a reply to John Tillson's article "The problem of rational moral enlistment" (EJ1148739). It begins by correcting a misreading of my own position on the place of rationality in moral education and continues with a more substantive critique of Tillson's own position on this, as well as that of Michael Hand. It asks…

Although there is no end of ethics courses offered at colleges and universities, many believe that neither the professoriate nor their institutional leaders has ever been collectively and authentically committed to shaping the moral formation of students. A considerable literature has emerged over the last decade alleging a widespread…

What follows is an interview with William Damon and Anne Colby, pioneers in the fields of moral psychology and education. Throughout their careers, they have studied, moral identity, moral ideals, positive youth development, purpose, good work, vocation, character development in higher education, and professional responsibility. In their words,…

In "A Theory of Moral Education," Michael Hand defends the importance of teaching children moral standards, even while taking seriously the fact that reasonable people disagree about morality. While I agree there are universal moral values based on the kind of beings humans are, I raise two issues with Hand's account. The first is an…

Certain difficulties pervade the course of moral education and in this essay a broad picture of these shall be sketched. Moral educators need to understand the problems they will face if they intend to enhance their performance; this includes knowing the limits of moral education, and not going beyond their capacities. These difficulties may be…

In "The Righteous Mind," Jonathan Haidt claims that liberals have a narrower moral outlook than conservatives--they are concerned with fairness and relief of suffering, which Haidt sees as individualistic values, while conservatives care about authority and loyalty too, values concerned with holding society together. I question…

A review of education reform policies reveals a shift from an input guarantee approach aimed at providing funds to level the playing field for all students to an output guarantee approach based on the expectation of achieving standardized results regardless of inputs. The shift reflects a belief that where a child starts his or her cognitive,…

One of the most fundamental questions that can be asked about education is what it is for. Why do we need education? Which are its most fundamental purposes? The most obvious and generally accepted answer is that education aims at providing students with knowledge and skills which match the demands of employers, thus enabling students to find jobs…

Discusses the teaching of moral and ethical education to business students. Topics include (1) Who should teach morals and ethics?; (2) How should it be taught?; and (3) Will it make a difference? (CH)