The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education Edited by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education Blackwell Philosophy Guides Series Editor: Steven M. Cahn, City University of New York Graduate School Written by an international assembly of distinguished philosophers, the Blackwell Philosophy Guides create a groundbreaking student resource – a complete critical survey of the central themes and issues of philosophy today. Focusing and advancing key arguments throughout, each essay incorporates essential background material serving to clarify the history and logic of the relevant topic. Accordingly, these volumes will be a valuable resource for a broad range of students and readers, including professional philosophers. 1 The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology Edited by John Greco and Ernest Sosa 2 The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory Edited by Hugh LaFollette 3 The Blackwell Guide to the Modern Philosophers Edited by Steven M. Emmanuel 4 The Blackwell Guide to Philosophical Logic Edited by Lou Goble 5 The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy Edited by Robert L. Simon 6 The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics Edited by Norman E. Bowie 7 The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Science Edited by Peter Machamer and Michael Silberstein 8 The Blackwell Guide to Metaphysics Edited by Richard M. Gale 9 The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education Edited by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish 10 The Blackwell Guide to Philosophy of Mind Edited by Stephen P. Stich and Ted A. Warfield 11 The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of the Social Sciences Edited by Stephen Turner and Paul A. Roth 12 The Blackwell Guide to Continental Philosophy Edited by Robert C. Solomon and David L. Sherman 13 The Blackwell Guide to Ancient Philosophy Edited by Christopher Shields Contents Notes on Contributors vii Foreword xv–xvi Paul Hirst Introduction 1 Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish Part I Social and Cultural Theories 19 1 Pragmatism and Education 21 Jim Garrison and Alven Neiman 2 Critical Theory and Critical Pedagogy 38 Nigel Blake and Jan Masschelein 3 Postmodernism/Post-structuralism 57 Michael Peters and Kenneth Wain 4 Feminism, Philosophy, and Education: Imagining Public Spaces 73 Maxine Greene and Morwenna Griffiths Part II Politics and Education 93 5 Liberalism and Communitarianism 95 Eamonn Callan and John White 6 Democratic Citizenship 110 Penny Enslin and Patricia White 7 Education and the Market 126 David Bridges and Ruth Jonathan v Contents 8 Multicultural Education 146 Pradeep A. Dhillon and J. Mark Halstead Part III Philosophy as Education 163 9 The Activity of Philosophy and the Practice of Education 165 Pádraig Hogan and Richard Smith 10 Critical Thinking 181 Sharon Bailin and Harvey Siegel 11 Practical Reason 194 Joseph Dunne and Shirley Pendlebury Part IV Teaching and Curriculum 213 12 Higher Education and the University 215 Ronald Barnett and Paul Standish 13 Information and Communication Technology 234 David Blacker and Jane McKie 14 Epistemology and Curriculum 253 Andrew Davis and Kevin Williams 15 Vocational Education and Training 271 Paul Hager and Terry Hyland 16 Progressivism 288 John Darling and Sven Erik Nordenbo Part V Ethics and Upbringing 309 17 Adults and Children 311 Paul Smeyers and Colin Wringe 18 Autonomy and Authenticity in Education 326 Michael Bonnett and Stefaan Cuypers 19 Changing Notions of the Moral and of Moral Education 341 Nel Noddings and Michael Slote 20 Education in Religion and Spirituality 356 Hanan Alexander and Terence H. McLaughlin References 374 Index 410 vi Notes on Contributors The Editors Nigel Blake works at the Open University, UK, and is Chair of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. Paul Smeyers is Professor of Education at the Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium, where he teaches philosophy of education. Richard Smith is Professor of Education and Director of Combined Social Sciences at the University of Durham, UK. Paul Standish is Senior Lecturer at the Univer- sity of Dundee, UK, and Editor of the Journal of Philosophy of Education. Their recent collaborations include Thinking Again: Education after Postmodernism (1998), and Education in an Age of Nihilism (2000). The Contributors Hanan Alexander heads the Center for Jewish Education and the Ethics and Edu- cation Project at the University of Haifa, Israel, where he also teaches philosophy of education and curriculum studies. He served previously as Editor-in-Chief of Reli- gious Education: An Interfaith Journal of Spirituality, Growth, and Transformation, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Judaism, and Lecturer in Education at UCLA. He is the author of Reclaiming Goodness: Education and the Spiritual Quest (2001). Sharon Bailin is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Canada. Her research involves philosophical investigations in the areas of critical thinking and creativity. Recent publications include Achieving Extraordinary Ends: An Essay on Creativity (1992), articles on critical thinking and science education, on epistemology, understanding, and critical thinking, on common misconceptions of critical thinking, and on conceptualizing critical thinking (with R. Case, J. R. Coombs, and L. B. Daniels). vii Notes on Contributors Ronald Barnett is Professor of Higher Education and Dean of Professional Devel- opment at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. As well as being a world authority on the conceptual and theoretical understanding of higher education and universities, he is a member of the Institute’s senior management team. Two of his books, The Idea of Higher Education and The Limits of Competence, have won national prizes in the UK. His latest book is Realizing the University in an Age of Supercomplexity. The University of London has conferred on him the rare distinc- tion of a higher doctorate in education. David Blacker is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, USA. He is the author of Dying To Teach: The Educator’s Search For Immortality (1997). His scholarly work in the philosophy of education has appeared in several journals, including, most recently, the American Journal of Education, Educational Theory, and the Journal of Philosophy of Education. He is currently working on a book about theories of justice and democratic education. Michael Bonnett is a Senior Lecturer in philosophy of education at Cambridge University, UK. He is the author of numerous articles in academic journals and edited collections and he is also author of the book Children’s Thinking (1994). He is currently working on a book on the philosophy of environmental education. David Bridges is Professorial Fellow in the Centre for Applied Research in Educa- tion at the University of East Anglia, UK, and Executive Director of the Association of Universities in the East of England. His books include Education and the Market Place (1994) (edited with T. H. McLaughlin), Consorting and Collaborating in the Education Market Place (1996) (edited with C. Husbands), Education, Autonomy and Democratic Citizenship (ed.) (1998) and Ethics in Educational Research (edited with M. McNamee) (2001). Eamonn Callan is Professor of Education and Associate Dean at Stanford Univer- sity School of Education, USA. He taught for many years at the University of Alberta in Canada before moving to Stanford in 1999. He is the author of Creating Citizens (1997). Stefaan Cuypers is Associate Professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He is responsible for teacher training in philosophy and is associate editor of Philosophical Explorations: An International Journal for the Phi- losophy of Mind and Action. He has recently published Self-Identity and Personal Autonomy: An Analytic Anthropology (2001). John Darling was, until his recent untimely death, Codirector of the Centre for Educational Research at the University of Aberdeen, UK. His research interests were particularly focused on the philosophy and history of progressive education. His publications include Child-Centred Education and its Critics (1994). viii Notes on Contributors Andrew Davis is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Durham University, UK. Before moving into higher education he taught the 4–11 age range for many years. He is committed to applying analytical philosophy to current policy issues in education. He is the author of The Limits of Educational Assessment (1998) and coauthor of Mathematical Knowledge for Primary Teachers (1998). He is currently researching the extent to which external agencies can coherently impose teaching methods. Pradeep A. Dhillon is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Uni- versity of Illinois, USA. She is the author of Multiple Identities: A Phenomenology of Multicultural Communication (1994) and coeditor of Lyotard: Just Education (2001). She has published several essays on aesthetics, language, and philosopy of education, and is now engaged in a book project on Kant and international education. Joseph Dunne is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at St. Patrick’s College, Dublin, Ireland. His book Back to the Rough Ground: “Phronesis” and “Techne” in Modern Philosophy and in Aristotle was published in 1993. Penny Enslin is Professor of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research and teaching interests are in the field of democracy and civic education, with particular reference to liberal democracies. She has published locally and internationally on civic education in South Africa, nation- building and citizenship, political liberalism, and gender and citizenship. Jim Garrison is Professor of Philosophy of Education at Virginia Polytechnic Insti- tute, USA. His recent books include The New Scholarship on Dewey (1995), Dewey and Eros (1997), and William James and Education (forthcoming) (coedited with Ronald L. Podeschi and Eric Bredo). He wrote the chapter on education for the companion volume to The Collected Works of John Dewey, edited by Larry Hickman, and was an invited participant at the World Congress of Philosophy in 1998. He is a past president of the Philosophy of Education Society. Maxine Greene is Professor of Philosophy and Education and William F. Russell Professor in the Foundations of Education (Emerita), Teachers College, Columbia University, USA, where she is also founder of the Center for the Arts, Social Imagina- tion, and Education. She is Philosopher-in-Residence at Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education and is past president of the American Educational Research Association, the American Educational Studies Association, and the Philosophy of Education Society. Her many books include Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change (1995). Morwenna Griffiths is Professor of Educational Research at Nottingham Trent University, UK. She is working on a continuing project focusing on social justice, gender, and partnership in education. Her books include: Educational Research for Social Justice: Getting off the Fence (1998), Feminisms and the Self: The Web of Identity (1995), and In Fairness to Children: Working for Social Justice in the Primary ix