Challenges to education today are part of a wider cultural context. Dewey, Heidegger, and certain Russian thinkers have remarkably similar diagnoses of our post-Cartesian reductive condition. In education this complex appears as "educational materialism." In contrast, a "sophic education" would be similar to Bulgakov's…

Franciscus Van den Enden (1602-1674) is commonly considered as the man who taught Latin to B. de Spinoza (1632-1677). It is unknown if he actually taught him something else, but we do know he used a pedagogy of his own and made the young philosopher aware of the importance of pedagogical issues. The present article helps to document their…

Narrative inquiry is both phenomenon and methodology for understanding experience. In this article, we further develop our understandings of narrative inquiry as a practice of social justice. In particular, we explore ways in which social justice issues can be re-framed and re-imagined, with attention to consequent action. Drawing on work…

That happiness leads to lack of harm and suffering, representing both a good and a means to good, is promoted, for example, by educational philosophers such as Nel Noddings. But happiness should not be seen as an unproblematic goal, for education or otherwise. In this article, we critically investigate the importance of happiness in the…

Teaching is a complex task that requires that the teacher be skilled at responding effectively and ethically to unexpected situations. Many have linked a teacher's facility in the classroom to Aristotle's concept of phronesis, translated in this paper as practical wisdom. While the relationship between practical wisdom and teaching has gotten…

This article outlines and critically reflects upon four tensions--framed as "double-binds'--in new materialist scholarship on childhood and education. Firstly, I tackle arguments about data and the role of the researcher in studies of education, which I reframe as a question of intentionality. Secondly, I critically consider debates about the…

Joseph Schwab's famous remark, that the field of curriculum is 'moribund'--no longer able 'to …contribute significantly to the advancement of education'--has long echoed in curriculum studies. Although its specific meaning has changed, it still rings in our ears today. It now applies as much to discussions in the United States and United Kingdom…

Recent work by a number of researchers has argued that the capacity for mathematical thinking is innate to human intelligence. Much of the evidence for this conclusion is based on findings in fields as diverse as linguistics, genetics, evolution, archaeology, psychology, and philosophy. This paper argues that the genealogy for this development is…

The uses to which educational effectiveness research (EER) is put by policymakers cannot be blamed on the field, but it is apparent that it has become aligned with the utilitarianism of Western government policy and transnational bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This alignment was not consciously…

This paper explores the 'indigenous' philosophy of education of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, a Malay-Muslim scholar who's theoretical work culminated in the establishment of a counter-colonial higher education institution. Through presenting al-Attas' life and philosophy and by exploring the arguments of his critics, I aim to shed light on the…

In this commentary, various expert authors offer their ideas on indigenous research in the philosophy of education and PESA's role from an indigenous perspective. Georgiana Stewart is the first author to step forward and explain that education is based on knowledge, and so education is centrally concerned with literacy and identity. Stewart goes…

Alongside his work as a professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Basel, Friedrich Nietzsche reflected on the value of classical studies in contemporary nineteenth-century society, starting with a self-analysis of his own classical training and position as a philologist and teacher. Contrary to his well-known aversion to…

Platonic "paideia" is a mainstream concept in traditional philosophy and humanistic circles generally. It is closely connected with social progress brought about by the dynamics of enlightenment and self-fulfillment, symbolized by the allegory of the cave. The main contention of this paper is that the philosophical grammar of this simile…

In this final chapter, we identify and elaborate the connections throughout the volume. We explore the philosophical underpinnings of the original model and analyze how the different lenses in these chapters lead the authors to new understandings of informal and incidental learning that trouble some of the features of the original model. We…

For a long time, one of the most important tasks for education in liberal democracies has been to foster the next generation in core democratic values in order to prepare them for future political responsibilities. In spite of this, general trust in the liberal democratic system is in rapid decline. In this paper, the tension between the ambitions…