John White offers a provocative characterization of philosophy of education. In this brief reaction, I evaluate the characterization and urge the maintenance of a strong connection between philosophy of education and philosophy.

A long tradition in the philosophy of education identifies education's most fundamental aim and ideal as that of the "fostering" or "cultivation of rationality". In this article I relate this tradition in philosophy of education to recent work inspired by Wilfred Sellars on "the space of reasons". I first offer a very brief overview of the…

Do cultures differ with respect to judgments of rationality? If so, does it follow that rationality is culturally specific, or that cultures have their own "rationalities"? If so, does it further follow that the philosophical status or worthiness of multiculturalism as a social value or ideal varies from culture to culture? In this article I…

Michael Hand's pithy and challenging essay (Hand, 2003) offers a neat, clear and powerful argument against "faith schools". I am in considerable sympathy with Hand's position. However, I think his argument can be strengthened, and weaknesses in it remedied or avoided. In this brief note, I offer some modest suggestions, which are intended as…

School and government officials, system administrators and other policymakers offer a variety of reasons for engaging in high stakes testing: to monitor student performance, to measure teacher and/or school effectiveness, to ensure accountability, etc. Some of these reasons are good; others not. But the best reason--one that is never offered,…