This article intends to re-examine Rousseau's educational theory in the context of the nature/culture opposition. In contemporary discussions on the nature/culture dualism, it has been often stated that his educational theory is based on the assumption that a child is a natural being. However, the author demonstrates that Rousseau was instead…

What happens if we think of children's play as a form of great art that we turn to and return to for inspiration, for education? If we can see play as art, then what and how can we learn from children's play or from playing with them? What can philosophy, or philosophers, learn from children's play? In this essay Viktor Johansson gives examples of…

Those in education committed to folk psychology (everyday talk about ourselves) reject the advances of neuroscience as the way to explain learning. Winch is one of the most determined defenders of folk psychology. Yet his account of folk psychology is weak and his rejection of neuroscience is deeply flawed. This article sets out Winch's…

Amongst a remarkable publishing career, Paul Smeyers, editor of the journal "Ethics and Education," has written extensively on the situation afflicting philosophy of education. A recently published editor's invited symposium in "Studies in Philosophy and Education" (Smeyers, De Ruyter, Waghid, & Strand, 2014) put forward…

This essay argues that much can be gained from a close examination of Nietzsche's work with respect to education. In order to contextualise my argument, I provide a brief critique of Nietzsche's thinking on aesthetics, educators and education. I then turn my attention to the work of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", the figures Zarathustra and…

This article results from a collaborative investigation into Antipodean theory in education by members of the Editors' Collective (www.editorscollective.org.nz). The Prologue contains a brief personal account of the South Project (www.southernperspectives.net), as an example of the contemporary projects and activities falling under the banner of…

Many feminist philosophers of education have argued that the teacher's pleasure plays an important role in the classroom. However, accessing such pleasure is often easier said than done. Given our current academic climate, how might teachers develop pedagogical practices that cultivate these delights? This article investigates the (rather…

Semiotics is the study of signs addressing their action, usage, communication and signification (meaning). Edusemiotics--educational semiotics--is a recently developed direction in educational theory that takes semiotics as its foundational philosophy and explores the philosophical specifics of semiotics in educational contexts. As a novel…

Often defined as originality and innovation and desired for the economic profits it can produce for both individuals and their societies, creativity has been examined in order to find ways in which it can be promoted through various instructional practices in and beyond schools. Nonetheless, creativity as a fundamental basis of human existence and…

As an educator, Maxine Greene returned repeatedly to the dynamic transaction that John Dewey had theorized between a vital social world and individual creativity. With Dewey, she viewed mutually transformative relations with others as the wellspring of all personal growth and social progress and as key to achieving a form of freedom that both…

Critical thinking is currently much celebrated in the contemporary West and beyond, not least in higher education. Tertiary education students are generally expected to adopt a critical attitude in order to become responsible and constructive participants in the development of modern democratic society. Currently, the perceived desirability of…

History educators find themselves in the peculiar situation of wishing to introduce students to the history discipline while lacking a clear conception of the features intrinsic to historical inquiry across its various specialisations and subject matters. In affirming that no one methodological charter hangs in the corridors of academic history…

The separating and isolating tendencies of measuring practices can lead educators to lose sight of the aims and purposes of education. These end purposes can be used to guide and ensure that the activities of educators are educational, and therefore, Biesta recommends there is a need for educators to reconnect with them. This article. explores…

In this essay, Russell G. Moses argues that Charles Sanders Peirce's article "Evolutionary Love" establishes a general normative framework for a logic of evolutionary, progressive imagination that can be used to elucidate an evolutionary continuity between the normative works of Jane Addams, John Dewey, and Alain Locke. This exercise…

A common practice for educators is to develop a teaching philosophy which helps them become reflective practitioners throughout time on various teaching and learning strategies. This paper will specifically address: What is a teaching philosophy? What is the purpose? Who is involved? And, what is the process of creating a teaching philosophy? This…