In this essay, Ryan Bevan explores the pedagogical implications of taking virtue epistemology as the philosophical foundation of educational theory rather than following the instrumentalist approach that is currently dominant. According to Bevan, the critical thinking strategies characteristic of instrumentalism generally work to further the…

The current public concern about radicalization and extremism challenges philosophers and particularly philosophers of education to explore questions such as "Why do adolescents with strong ideas transgress?" and "What can we do about it?" The first question can be addressed by examining the role of their passionate commitment to their ideals as…

In this review essay J.J. Chambliss assesses the current state of the field of philosophy of education through analysis of four recent edited compilations: Randall Curren's "A Companion to Philosophy of Education"; Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish's "The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Education"; Wilfred Carr's "The…

In his concurring opinion to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision, "Morse v. Frederick," Justice Clarence Thomas argues that the "Tinker" decision, which granted students constitutional rights in public schools, should be overturned on originalist grounds. In this essay, Bryan Warnick, Bradley Rowe, and Sang Hyun Kim make the case that Thomas's…

Comparing the early, analytic attempt to define "sound" teaching with the current use of criteria-based rating schemes, Jeff Stickney turns to Wittgenstein's holistic, contextualist approach to judging teaching against its complex "background" within our "form of life." To exemplify this approach, Stickney presents cases of classroom practice…

In this essay, Carola Conle and Michael deBeyer describe their efforts to find a conceptual approach and methodology for the appraisal of the ethos of experiential narratives presented in a particular curriculum context. The language of "implied authorship," "the patterning of desire," and "friendships offered and received," first introduced by…

John Dewey's willingness to endorse a remedial form of education for African American students offers us a rare glimpse of the racial assumptions underlying Dewey's educational philosophy. By considering a variety of clues--Dewey's silences on racial equality, his understanding of race and racial progress, and his respective prescriptions for…

The contribution of philosophical ethics to the development of a just conception of education becomes increasingly complex under modern conditions of democratic pluralism. This is because the justification of moral policies for education faces the skeptical challenge of showing how the substantive moral principles upon which a policy rests do not…

If teaching is a political act, how can teachers hope to make a difference through their work? In this review essay, Julian Edgoose explores this question of hope in relation to three recent books: David Halpin's "Hope and Education," Jonathan Kozol's "Letters to a Young Teacher," and Jonathan Lear's "Radical Hope." Halpin describes how hope comes…

There are a multitude of powerful cultural archetypes and images of the school teacher. These include nurturing caregiver, guardian of morality, champion of the global economy, self-sacrificing do-gooder, cultural worker, intellectual, tyrant, and many more metaphors. Jim Garrison's essay introduces another figure, a mythological persona, to the…

In this essay Samuel Rocha primarily addresses, and challenges, the modern conception of reason and the lowly place of intuition, feeling, and love in what has become traditional philosophy and education. Drawing upon the rich thought of William James and Jean-Luc Marion, Rocha introduces the reader to a certain harmony between their ideas, most…

In "Moderating the Debate: Rationality and the Promise of American Education", Michael Feuer argues that insights from cognitive science and the theory of bounded rationality can help us understand why educational policy makers overreach in seeking optimal solutions to educational problems. In this essay, Emily Robertson argues that cognitive…

In this essay, Liviu Andreescu examines the question of whether a certain category of aprofessional acts by academics (in particular, political speech) deserves protection against academic sanctions under the principle of academic freedom. Andreescu discusses two alternative views of academic freedom (the extensive and the restrictive) providing…

In "Moderating the Debate: Rationality and the Promise of American Education," Michael Feuer raises concerns about the consequences of basing educational policy on the model of rational choice drawn from economics. Policy making would be better and more realistic, he suggests, if it were based on a newer procedural model drawn from cognitive…

In this essay, Leonard Waks reviews three recent books on cosmopolitan education: Kwame Anthony Appiah's "Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers"; Neil Burtonwood's "Cultural Diversity, Liberal Pluralism, and Schools: Isaiah Berlin and Education"; and Thomas Popkewitz's "Cosmopolitanism and the Age of School Reform: Science, Education and…