Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences has had a huge influence on school education. But its credentials lack justification, as the first section of this paper shows via a detailed philosophical analysis of how the intelligences are identified. If we want to make sense of the theory, we need to turn from a philosophical to a historical…

Judgements concerning proper or appropriate educational endeavour, methods of investigation and philosophising about education necessarily implicate perspectives, values, assumptions and beliefs. In recent years ideas from the complexity sciences have been utilised in many domains including psychology, economics, architecture, social science and…

"A Nation Deceived" (2004) documents the benefits of acceleration for gifted children. Supported by this groundbreaking research, acceleration has come into focus on the national scene. Our society seems concerned with making education "fair." What we need to realize is that fair does not mean the same for all. In fact, that would be very…

In a paper published in Volume 11, no. 2, of this journal, Roger Marples argued that the term "spiritual education" is at most superfluous and at worst entirely meaningless. He suggested that the use of the term is unhelpful and will continue to be so unless and until we can identify some body of spiritual knowledge and understanding, linked to…

This article is an imaginary Socratic dialogue between J. S. Mill and Michel Foucault, principally concerning educational assessment.

My research explores some of the challenges involved in coming to think critically about the ways in which injustices of the past play themselves out in the present in social justice teacher education. I examine obstacles involved in coming to understand how each and everyone of us is (albeit in different ways) complicit in ongoing social and…

This dissertation is an analytical exploration and evaluation of the concept of diversity. It springs from the author's concern that within the teacher education discourse there is an apparent deficiency regarding analytical effort toward challenging ordinary terms, their strong convictions, and categorical statements stemming from them. In…

This mildly academic tome consists mainly of a full length play that reports the findings of the case study research. The play is surrounded by some academic gobbledygook that should best be ignored. The play explores an older nontraditional student's foray into the academic world of a combined Masters of Education and Teacher Education program.…

The purpose of this article is to reveal ways to provide the opportunity for students to have aesthetically engaged learning experiences. Using John Dewey's ideas from "Art as Experience" as a framework, the author uses aesthetic theory to show how such ends can be reached. In addition, he suggests six themes that teachers can draw upon to help…

This paper argues that Chinese value of "He" (13158_2009_BF03168877_f1.jpg) or Harmony can contribute to understanding sustainable development as the concept encompasses the relationships between human and nature (ecological sustainability), and between human and human (social and economic sustainability). This interconnectedness with…

Background/Context: Our article develops insights from Paul Woodruff's book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue (Oxford University Press, 2001), to discuss reverence in teaching. We show how reverence is both a cardinal and a forgotten virtue by situating it within the philosophical tradition of virtue ethics, which involves traits of…

This paper considers the idea of a crisis in educational research. Some conventional expressions of that "crisis" are examined in terms of their assumptions about what is "proper" to educational research. The paper then affirms the role of "metaphysics" in educational research as a necessary dimension of method, as opposed to the naive assertion…

This essay critically examines the relevance of Cornel West's (1989) conception of "prophetic pragmatism" as a theoretical framework for educational development in post-conflict settings torn by religious, socioeconomic, and cultural tensions. It examines the concept through the conflict and post-conflict experiences of the Indonesian…

Henry A. Giroux is recognized as one of the fifty most significant thinkers on education in the 20th century. He is also considered a scholar of immense influence in a number of fields internationally, hardly an inconsequential accolade in a century noted for a glut of educational and social thinkers. Yet, its wide-ranging and ever-expanding…

The questions of how and where to do moral education have been with us since antiquity. But, over the past couple of hundred years we have sent moral education to the margins within higher education. Using the historical analysis of Julie Reuben, the moral psychological work of Augusto Blasi, and the educational philosophical work of John Dewey, I…