In this article we describe and reflect on a large-scale regional adult literacy initiative in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia, Todos pela Alfabetização (Everyone for Literacy), known locally as TOPA, was active between 2007 and 2014. In Brazil 7% of the adult population (11 million people), are illiterate; in the state of Bahia the…

This conversational paper between Ashwani Kumar and Shane Theunissen explores how meditative inquiry in teaching and learning can foster reverence for nature, life, and learning. Through an organic and reflective conversation rooted in Dialogical Meditative Inquiry (DMI), the authors offer a holistic exploration of the intersections between…

This paper considers in conceptual terms the extent to which pre-service teachers' disengagement with philosophy of education might usefully be explained in terms of the mistaken charge of (1) 'epistemic trespassing' frequently levelled against philosophers of education. This cohort charge philosophers of education with being…

A challenge for educators is how to teach in a "post-truth" world. Lies, fake news, and a gleeful disregard for facts -- what I collectively term mis/information -- all seem to undermine the very project of education. The pragmatism of Richard Rorty holds promise to address such issues. I first argue that Rorty's philosophy of education…

Charles Sturt University had the motto "For the common good" but listening to the wisdom of the voices of the Wiradjuri Elders, "Yindyamarra Winhanganha" -- the wisdom of knowing how to live well in a world worth living in -- now guides us. We teach and research in mathematics with a deep-seated belief about mathematics and…

Casting a light on one of the leading British scholars working in the field of Catholic Education Studies, this edited volume scrutinises contemporary issues surrounding the scholarship of John Sullivan over the past three decades, demonstrating the field's development under his scholarly influence. Giving voice to many internationally established…

Kant's views about the nature and value of enlightenment have been discussed very much since 1784, and without ever losing any of their relevance and importance. I will discuss a topic that has not been discussed quite that extensively: Kant's conception of enlightenment as it relates to the idea of perfection ("Vollkommenheit") in…

Luce Irigaray offers a powerful 'philosophy of teaching' that connects with the ancient paradigm. In this paper, I discuss the relationship between teaching and love as this is depicted in Plato, and I look at Irigaray's reading of the "Symposium." Then I show how Irigaray's own philosophy can help us to think about the ideal teaching…

Much thinking in psychology and related forms of psychotherapy is in the grip of a conception of inner-outer relationships that distorts the reality of our lives and world. In his later work, and in the last years of his life especially, Wittgenstein battled against this. In the course of his criticism, he developed vivid images that challenge…

Education is astonishingly simple. We have all been through it, whether as children or later in life--indeed, many of us are still going through it in some form or other; we all know what works; and we are all committed to realising its individual and social potential. Such a view of the matter might dispense with the need for philosophy of…

Nothing reveals the differences between an internal (i.e., inherently pedagogical) reflection on educational processes and an external (i.e., derived from a philosophical, sociological, psychological, theological or other perspective) more clearly than the differing attitudes towards alienation. Looked at from outside a pedagogical context,…

Materialist philosophy and socialist ideology are philosophical and ideological approaches that have deep influence and traces in public life practice. Along with the social, economic, and political fields, the field of education has been deeply influenced by materialist philosophy and socialist ideology in certain contexts. Main purpose of this…

Background: A range of psychotherapies are effective in managing an individual's personal reactions to stuttering and reducing the impact stuttering has on their lives. Many of these therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, have their origins in Stoicism, an ancient Greek philosophy founded in 301 BCE. Stoicism remains a relatively…

Learning from Freire can be a live-long endeavor, always adding humor, rigorous critical theory, and narrative. This article addresses the theoretical and cognitive ways in which Freire can be embraced. Moving far beyond banking education and fixed ideological notions of Freire's work, it is important to consider the tentative when reading and…

This paper extends well-established arguments for the liberal potential of vocational education by advocating for the "necessity" of craft learning in a liberal education curriculum. The case for the necessity of craft learning in liberal education is established in two parts, the first looking toward Aristotle and the second toward…