As the disruptive effects of COVID-19 on education have prompted conversations about remedial learning and learning recovery, the expectation is increasingly that schools are more productive in less time. This raises concerns regarding potential increase in the use of prescriptive curricula. While critiques regarding the usage of such curricula…

The present study aimed to examine how to improve the effectiveness of moral exemplar-applied interventions based on the pillars of the self-determination theory framework, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Past research has mainly focused on the relatedness and attainability of moral exemplars for predicting motivation outcomes. The data for…

The vast majority of contemporary scholars working in intellectual character education endeavor to identify those elements that render an educational program reliably successful at fostering the growth of intellectual excellences in students. In this article, I adopt an opposite perspective: I examine potential reasons as to why virtue-based…

In her Exemplarist Moral Theory, Linda Zagzebski argues that we can empirically discover the meaning of moral terms like 'virtue' and 'the good life' by direct reference to moral exemplars -- those people we admire as morally exceptional. Her proposal is promising, because (1) moral exemplars play an important motivating role in moral education,…

Indoctrination is an ongoing concern in education, especially in debates about moral education. One approach to this issue is to come up with a rational procedure that can robustly justify potential items of moral education content. I call this the 'rationalistic justification project'. Michael Hand's recent book, "A Theory of Moral…

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…

There has been a growing literature among philosophers of education on how to frame questions of moral controversy in the classroom. Through the application of hard moral cases that may be said to leave one 'morally dumbfounded', I take up Michael Hand's influential epistemic criterion and attempt to show why its monistic approach is too limited…

The "no-excuses" model of education has become one of the most prominent educational alternatives for urban youth. Recently, notable no-excuses charter schools have begun a concerted effort to develop students' character strengths, striving to increase their chances of future success. In this article, we situate the no-excuses approach…

Virtue education is gaining popularity in institutions of higher education. Given this growing interest, several theoretical accounts explaining the process of virtue learning have emerged. However, there is scant empirical evidence supporting their applicability for intellectual virtue. In this study, we apply a theory of virtue learning to the…

Educators, policymakers, and citizens face questions of how to allocate scarce resources in the pursuit of competing goals for children and youth. Our goal in this article is to provide decision-makers with a framework for considering allocative problems in education, explicitly highlighting the implications of relevant feasibility constraints. We…

The quality of parenting is a crucial factor in children's school success, and yet the schools teach almost nothing about parenting. This essay suggests ways in which we can teach about parenting without risking indoctrination or adding special courses.

Drawing on published feminist literature, this essay deconstructs developmentalism as a metanarrative that contributes to the oppression and exploitation of women and underpins educational practice. First, I examine feminist critiques of developmentalism, distinguishing between "insider critiques" formulated by feminist psychologists evaluating…