For Hannah Arendt, authority is the shape educational responsibility assumes. In our time, authority in Arendt's sense is under pressure. The figure of Greta Thunberg shows the failure of adult generations, taken collectively, to take responsibility for the world and present and future generations of newcomers. However, in reflecting on Arendt's…

This paper argues that the mitigation of the normative pedagogy in the value heterogenous world has elicited the need to rephrase the teacher's role. While this study cannot reflect on all issues that have recently arisen, some core questions are addressed to examine the teacher-student relationship and highlight a few principles that teachers…

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to education' and it 'shall be compulsory'. I note that there is a tension between 'right' and 'compulsory' in the Declaration because, by definition, a right is an entitlement and not an obligation. The reasons why education is an exception to the rule have not…

R. S. Peters never explicitly talks about wisdom as being an aim of education. He does, however, in numerous places, emphasize that education is of the whole person and that, whatever else it might be about, it involves the development of knowledge and understanding. Being educated, he claims, is incompatible with being narrowly specialized.…

Historically, New Zealand policy makers have defined quality teachers as those who form effective learning relationships with students and teach in culturally appropriate and responsive ways. Recent global emphasis on standardised test score improvement suggests that this definition is shifting, implying changes for the focus and the form of…

The state's commitment to educating all children can be framed as a matter of human capital development, or the economic benefits accrued to individuals and society as a result of educational attainment; it can be framed as a matter of capabilities, or the development of functionings that enable human flourishing; and it can be framed as a matter…

In my remarks about elitist knowledge production, I firstly try to adjust the perspective from which the university could be analysed; I specifically explore the functions of the university in relation to Habermas's categorisation of knowledge. Secondly, with reference to Derrida's reflections on the university, I reformulate a conception of the…

The teacher's responsibility goes beyond teaching; it ranges into investigations of what peripheral acts are necessary to make teaching possible in individual and general cases, into counseling and perhaps feeding children, even into political action. What the "Theory of Erotetic Teaching" can do to resolve such issues is discussed. (MT)

An argument against watering down'' the curriculum in the name of relevance, and a plea for teaching students facts as a preparation for intelligent living (the beau ideal''). (SP)

THE OPINIONS OF SEVERAL EXISTENTIAL THINKERS AND OTHER PHILOSOPHERS PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR THIS DISCUSSION OF THE CRISIS OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. IT IS FELT THAT EDUCATION BOTH REFLECTS AND IS A FORCE IN THE STANDARDIZATION, MECHANIZATION, AND DEHUMANIZATION OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE. HOWEVER, EDUCATION CAN PLAY A CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF…

An attack on the recent trend towards untrammeled libertarianism in the classroom.'' (Author/SP)

The author argues against the belief that teaching is a matter of mastery of techniques. He asserts that the individual personality acts upon the knowledge a person gains and thus changes it. The teacher cannot, therefore, be thought of as a scientific technician. (HMD)

Keynote speech of the 1968 AEA/USA Conference (Des Moines, Iowa)

This paper explores the notion that teaching necessarily involves the attempt to bring about learning, making the relationship between teaching and learning appear to be causal. A number of philosophical views are considered, a new conception is put forward, and policy issues surrounding teacher accountability are discussed. (MT)