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What is a liberal arts education? How does it differ from other forms of learning? What are we to make of the debates that surround it? What are its place, its value, and its prospects in the contemporary world? These are questions that trouble students and their parents, educators, critics, and policy-makers, and philosophers of education--among others.Learning to Flourish offers a lucid, penetrating, philosophical exploration of liberal learning: a still-evolving tradition of theory and practice that has dominated and sustained intellectual life and learning in much of the globe for two millennia. This study will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand liberal arts education, as well as to educators and philosophers of education. Daniel R. DeNicola weighs the views of both advocates and critics of the liberal arts, and interprets liberal education as a vital tradition aimed supremely at understanding and living a flourishing life. He elaborates the tradition as expressed in five competing but complementary paradigms that transcend theories of curriculum and pedagogy and are manifested in particular social contexts. He examines the transformative power of liberal education and its relation to such values as freedom, autonomy, and democracy, reflecting on the importance of intrinsic value and moral understanding. Finally, DeNicola considers age-old obstacles and current threats to liberal education, ultimately asserting its value for and urgent need in a global, pluralistic, technologically advanced society. The result is a bold, yet nuanced theory, alert to both historical and contemporary discussions, and a significant contribution to the discourse on liberal education.

The idea of fragmentation has transformed the living, convivial pursuit of knowledge into something akin to an industrial assembly line. Schooling in North America is inherently based on this idea, working against the spirit of pedagogy and the very nature of knowledge itself. Fragmentation has lead to practices that are easily recognizable in schools such as surveillance, colonization, leveling, standardization, normalization and even oppression: the logic of fragmentation has lead to the breaking apart of the living disciplines of knowledge entrusted to teachers and students in the classroom. In this profound and challenging book, David Jardine explores some of the historical and philosophical ancestries of the logic of fragmentation and then lays out how the logic of fragmentation is being interrupted by progressive contemporary thinking about the nature of knowledge and its pursuit. Jardine uses real classroom examples to show how inspiring teachers and students have stepped out from the normal rigidity of the school system to pursue a pedagogy left in peace.

Never has so much attention been devoted to education. Everyone - government ministers, social commentators and parents obsess about its problems. Yet we rarely ask why? Why is education a source of such concern? Why do many of the solutions proposed actually make matters worse?Tony Blair's'education, education, education'slogan placed education at the forefront of political agendas. But, perhaps the'policisation'of education is part of the problem. Today, education is valued for its potential contribution to economic development, but it is no longer considered important for itself. Increasingly, the promotion of education has little to do with the value of learning per se or with the importance of'being taught'about societies'achievements, so future generations have the intellectual ability to advance still further. Education has been emptied of its content.This book is a brilliant piece of analysis. It peers into the hollowness of the education debates and, drawing on thinkers from the ancient Greeks to modern critics, it sets out what we need from our schools.

In this wide-ranging and compelling set of essays, Nigel Tubbs illustrates how a philosophical notion of education lies at the heart of Hegelian philosophy and employs it to critique some of the stereotypes and misreadings from which Hegel often suffers. With chapters on philosophical education in relation to life and death, self and other, subject and substance, and to Derrida and Levinas in particular, Tubbs brings Hegelian education - read as recollection - to bear on modern social and political relations. He argues, in sum, that Hegelian philosophy comprehended in terms of education yields a theory of self and other that can inform and reform relations between rich and poor, West and East. Finally, the book addresses the most controversial aspect of any defence of Hegel, namely the comprehension of the absolute and its imperialist implications for Western history. The author argues passionately that through a notion of philosophical education Hegel teaches us not to avoid the dilemmas that are endemic to modern Western power and mastery when trying to comprehend some of our most pressing human concerns.

'To fellow academics may I say this: Don't put it unread on your students'reading list. Tackle it for yourself, for this is seminal.'Professor Michael Bassey (Praise for Theory of Education) The eagerly-awaited sequel to the award-winning Theory of Education considers issues of perennial interest to educators. In his compelling and controversial book, Professor David Turner shows how game theory and mathematical models can be used to develop an understanding of educational theory in useful ways. Professor Turner uses his findings to inform the debate on a wide variety of issues, including classroom management, teaching and learning in groups, quality assurance mechanisms and equality of opportunity in accessing educational institutions.

In this original book, David Halpin argues that an understanding of the Romantic roots of progressive education is a necessary condition for restoring to critical consciousness some important, but currently neglected, basic ideas about teaching and learning - ideas about the importance of imaginative experience and its promotion; ideas about the high status that should be conferred on childhood; ideas about the importance of love and friendship in schooling; ideas about the positive role that heroism can play in making learning more effective; and ideas about viewing teaching as a critical vocation. These themes are pursued in separate chapters, each of which is illuminated by reference to the literary and intellectual contributions of four nineteenth century English Romantic writers: William Hazlitt, William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and William Blake. This well-written and illuminating book will stimulate fresh thinking about pedagogic reform. It will be interesting reading for those studying for Masters and Doctoral degrees in education as well as academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the same field.

This book for the first time brings together Professor Pring's thoughts on the philosophy of education and is his first global treatment of the subject. His writings reflect a consistency of thought about educational theory and educational aims-and the consequence of both for the nature and practice of educational research. Professor Pring draws together the different themes, providing a distinctively philosophical perspective on educational theory and practice. This perspective challenges many of the ideas, which underpin government policy, impoverish educational practice and weaken educational research in a way unacknowledged even by the research's most ardent critics.

'Caroline Benn made an immense contribution to public life through her work on educational politics and the comprehensive movement. She was a committed democrat, socialist and internationalist and this book of essays dedicated to her life and work was the idea of Professor Clyde Chitty, her friend and colleague over many years, as a labour of love and to recognise her achievements. The fact that so many people in her field have contributed chapters is evidence of the influence she had on those who knew her and worked with her.'Tony Benn, Foreword'This fine book will serve both as a fitting tribute to the life and work of Caroline Benn and as a means of furthering the educational causes she championed.'Richard Aldrich, Emeritus Professor of History of Education, Institute of Education, University of London

Our society invests hugely in education, but not always very thoughtfully. Key Debates in Education outlines all of the main issues involved in arriving at an intelligent understanding of education. In particular, it provides in-depth discussion of: the purpose of education; the nature of teaching, learning and assessment; education policy; the contribution of education to society. Above all, the authors convey the liveliness and excitement of educational debate--not least through the way that they take issue with each other. In the process they show how and why people who care about education radically disagree with each other. This text includes questions, tasks, and further reading sections.

Education and its context are both changing rapidly. In a world characterized by postmodernism and globalization, even the discourses that we use to discuss education are changing. This raises fundamental questions concerning the relationship of education to culture, identity, society, and power.To understand education in the twenty-first century we need a new map. By considering issues both fundamental and tpoical from citizenship to lifelong learning, from school effectiveness to learning outside the school, this book provides a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary guide to education in the new era.

Is the work ethic still viable as society evolves? This book engages with widespread current anxieties about the future of work and its place in a fulfilled human life. It is a philosophical treatment of the nature of work and reconsiders the aims and procedures of education. The author calls for a reshaping of school as the work culture has come to know it.