Recent media reports about new programmes for "happiness lessons" in schools signal a welcome concern with children's well-being. However, as I shall argue, the presuppositions of the discourse in which many of these proposals are framed, and their orientation towards particular strands of positive psychology, involve ideas about human life that…

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is presented and understood as the primary reference point regarding questions of children's rights. However, the UNCRC is not a neutral instrument deployed to meet the rights of children: it embodies a specific perception of the child, childhood and citizenship. The interpretation…

This article explores the contrasting arguments for the place of the arts in education made by the two distinguished arts educators--the American Elliot Eisner and British dance and physical education theorist Graham McFee. Both scholars begin with the premise that the arts should be central to a liberal education and then diverge. McFee argues,…

Reviews various perspectives on sex discrimination in schools and colleges, presents case studies of sex discrimination in the English educational system, and distinguishes between sex discrimination and gender forming. Journal availability: see SO 507 421. (DB)

Investigates which types of reflective activities should be considered as philosophy and reviews how education, experience, and philosophy are interrelated. Journal availability: see SO 507 421. (DB)

The author argues that there exists an essential relationship between self-expression and gaining a personally significant understanding of the world. This relationship encompasses notions of freedom, personal autonomy, and authenticity. Discusses the inadequacies of a currently popular model for educational practice. For journal availability, see…

Argues that the teaching about religion no more constitutes religious education than instruction in the lives of great composers constitutes musical education. Religious education must involve the acquisition of skills and concepts internal to religion such as prayer and worship. The meaning of "religious understanding" and the feasibility of…

The author agrees with Marples (SO 506 629) that religious education should be more than descriptive. It should give real understanding of religion. He disagrees in that he believes an understanding of religious statements can be gained without believing them. The value of this understanding justifies including religious education as well as other…

Martin Heidegger's view of modern technology and some questions it poses for educators are discussed. Specifically examined are the challenge for education posed by the claim that contemporary conceptions of education and of human nature are destitute and the destitution of two current humanistic traditions--the liberal/rationalist and the…

Common criticisms of schooling by Ivan Illich, Paulo Freire, and other radicals are examined to show how one can agree with many of the fundamental premises of the argument for deschooling and yet dissent from its conclusion. Deschoolers challenge philosophers of education to confront a number of philosophical problems. (SR)

Support is growing for the thesis that, since freedom is valuable, compulsory education needs justifying. Proposals by consent theorists involving prior, subsequent, and hypothetical consent are examined. These theories make no substantive contribution to solving the problem of justifying education. (SR)

Process approaches advocate that moral educators should abstain from offering their moral views and from persuading others of their views' merits. Several process approaches are examined to determine if they have good grounds for emphasizing process instead of product. These approaches are inadequate vehicles for conducting moral education. (SR)

The predominantly linguistic orientation to current educational thinking, with its emphasis on the abstract and indirect, does not solve the problem of achieving a sense of identity. Experiential memory is crucial in personal identity. The definition and use of experiential memory and its merit are explored. (SR)

Smith (Journal of Philosophy of Education; v17 n1 p85-96) must clarify the importance of memory to identity by explaining experiential memory's unique cognitive state, why it is not as fallible as other forms of memory, and why forgetting affective experiences may not be as important as remembering them. (SR)

Democracy is a weak and obscure ideal. It is often reasonable to defer to authority, give and take orders, and accept expertise. Pupils must learn to discuss as equals and to give and take orders as superiors and subordinates. Calling the former democratic and the latter authoritarian clarifies nothing. (SR)