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While the study of ignorance is nothing new to philosophy, this article explores the origin and production of ignorance in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors link the question of a pandemic of ignorance to state education laws and policies that arguably manufacture ignorance. Their purpose is not to create a sense of paranoia or lead to conspiracy theories regarding the intentions of any one person or institution, but to argue that ignorance was manufactured by the Donald J. Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of intent. The authors begin with a detailed explication of Proctor's three categories of ignorance, then provide evidence of convergence and divergence among and between the CDC/WHO and White House. The article ends with the argument that the biological pandemic was--and is--an agnotological pandemic, too, and that recent state education law and policy initiatives indicate the virality of manufacturing ignorance in schools.

Contemporary Froebelian-inspired early childhood education in the United States is challenged by government regulation and accreditation requirements that have arisen alongside neoliberalism in education. Using Critical Policy Analysis and case study examples from a preschool in Atlanta, Georgia, this paper examines the influence of neoliberalism on school readiness discourse, parental expectations for children's education, and teacher preparation programs in early childhood education. For early childhood centers that are inspired by Friedrich Froebel's philosophies of teaching and learning, remaining true to his vision of development and education is increasingly challenged by neoliberal regimes that reify accountability, assessment, and competition. Possibilities for resistance to the neoliberal ideology that regulates early childhood education are described and contextualized by Froebel's writings.

The primary goal of this response to Eric C. Sheffield's presidential address "Human Expression and Meaning Making: Pondering the Role of the Medium in Creating a Life Worth Living," is to extend some of the excellent points raised and to offer some questions for continued inquiry. To extend Sheffield's critique, the author offer three points: (1) defining technology and the limits entailed; (2) why a pragmatist understanding of technology is helpful both philosophically and socially; and (3) a Postman heuristic that is useful when applied to technological "innovations." The response concludes with a few specific questions to Sheffield that he may or may not wish to take up. [For "Human Expression and Meaning Making: Pondering the Role of the Medium in Creating a Life Worth Living," see EJ1287366.]

Schools continue to purchase and install machines and practices from the world of communications technology. In turn, students and teachers are purported to be more "connected," and this connectivity is widely viewed as having a positive influence on teaching and learning. In this paper, however, the authors argue that not only are these claims about better teaching and learning specious, but that the largely unreflective and zealous pursuit of new technologies by schools amounts to an acceptance of technological determinism and an adoption of a set of non-neutral ontological assumptions. This paper explores the views of French sociologist Jacques Ellul, who writes that we should not conflate technology with machinery alone because "technique" is the imposed ritualism we enact daily. Ellul's primary concern is that technique is taking over and subjugating humanity. It is replacing human interaction and altering what it means "to be." This paper also explores the views of Jean Baudrillard, a French sociologist, who writes that in contemporary times we seem to have so thoroughly embraced the loss of the symbolic and the cool forms of exchange that we now find it appropriate and perhaps even necessary to employ the latest mediating technology in educational endeavors. This paper proceeds in three parts: (1) elucidating Ellul's seven necessary conditions of and for "technique"; (2) reconsidering Baudrillard's simulation theory; and (3) positioning both theorists' arguments in a revised claim about the role of humanity in a world of ubiquitous technology. Implications for a more critical understanding of education are explored to develop counternarratives to challenge the overwhelming influence of technique and simulation.

Contemporary Froebelian-inspired early childhood education in the United States is challenged by government regulation and accreditation requirements that have arisen alongside neoliberalism in education. Using Critical Policy Analysis and case study examples from a preschool in Atlanta, Georgia, this paper examines the influence of neoliberalism on school readiness discourse, parental expectations for children's education, and teacher preparation programs in early childhood education. For early childhood centers that are inspired by Friedrich Froebel's philosophies of teaching and learning, remaining true to his vision of development and education is increasingly challenged by neoliberal regimes that reify accountability, assessment, and competition. Possibilities for resistance to the neoliberal ideology that regulates early childhood education are described and contextualized by Froebel's writings. Keywords Friedrich Froebel, neoliberalism, early childhood education, quality, school readiness, parents, teacher education, Learning and Teaching in a Neoliberal Era: Challenges to Froebel's Pedagogical Vision for Early Childhood Education Friedrich Froebel may be well-known to early childhood educators and some philosophers of education, [...]

Schooling in the U.S. is increasingly understood through the lenses of science and accountability. From the National Research Council's Scientific Research in Education (SRE) to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), colleges and schools have faced a marked increase (or steady reinforcement) in practices which conform to principles of scientific management and accountancy. One way to understand such a focus is to view policy and practice as having, promoting, authorizing, and being supported by particular ways of knowing. What appears to matter most in current U.S. schools is that students adopt already assumed norms for classroom interaction and provide what are already deemed correct answers to already accepted questions. In place of assumed and restrictive epistemological structures, this article argues that ecological thinking and standpoints for knowing should be primary elements in a general theory of knowledge for reconstructing schools and schooling as sites for agentic knowing. This article aims to chart a facet Lorraine Code briefly touches on in her work, childhood development and learning. It also bridges epistemology and education in order to reveal epistemological assumptions already present in school where these assumptions do not take into account the varied, contextual standpoints of students and teachers. (Contains 38 notes.)

This paper uses John Dewey's ([1916]. "Democracy and Education." New York: The Free Press) to explore the difference between teaching as transmission and teaching as transaction. Proceeding in three sections, the paper clarifies what Dewey understood to be the problems and promises of teaching, as well as the potential of transactionalism. Experiences from working with teachers in a Dewey-inspired school are included to illustrate the possibilities and limitations of advancing Dewey's imaginative vision.

This paper introduces the reader to think tanks, institutes, foundations, and their roles in shaping U.S. educational policy. Quite simply, think tanks, institutes, and foundations are nonprofit organizations that both produce and rely on research and expertise to aggressively influence the public, political leaders, and policy. Via an analysis of their work, their writings, and their advocacy, the authors problematize the roles played by The Manhattan Institute, The Fordham Foundation, The American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. The authors hope that problematizing and critiquing the assertions of these think tanks, will help generate a counter-narrative to their bold and influential proclamations. (Contains 133 footnotes.)

Simply put, charter schools have not lived up to their advocates' promise of equity. Using examples of tangible civil rights gains of the twentieth century (e.g. "Brown v. Board," "Lau v. Nichols") and extending feminist theories of invisible labor to include the labor of democracy, the authors argue that the charter movement renders invisible the labor that secured civil protections for historically marginalized groups. The charter movement hangs a quality public education--previously recognized as a universal guarantee--on the education consumer's ability to navigate a marketplace. The authors conclude that the neoliberal agenda of positioning "choice" as the best mechanism for securing an education rolls back the "rights" that were already secured through the labor of democracy.

This essay reconsiders Miguel de Unamuno's contribution to philosophy and education by focusing on his "Amor y pedagogía" ("Love and Pedagogy" [1902])--a piece of fiction considered by many to be the transition point in his work from the documentary realism of the nineteenth century to what Unamuno called "viviparous" narrative for the twentieth century. Deron Boyles examines four central characters in "Love and Pedagogy"--Avito Carrascal, Marina Carrascal, Fulgencio Entrambosmares, and Apolodoro Carrascal--as symbolic representations of enduring conflicts in school and society.

Utilizing a broadly Levinasian framework, specifically the interplay among his ideas of possession, violence, and negation, Gabriel Keehn and Deron Boyles illustrate how the relatively recent sharp turn toward the hypercorporatized school and the concomitant transition of the student from simple (potential) customer to a type of hybrid consumer/consumable has rendered it more difficult for students to see themselves as engaged in any type of serious ethical relationship with those around them. To be unable to see their peers as Others, in other words, makes it easier for students to perpetrate a specific type of violence against them. Keehn and Boyles suggest that current popular policy responses to gun violence in schools (such as increased security, zero-tolerance policies, antibullying initiatives, and mental-health policy revisions) are approaches that, at best, fail to address the root cause of gun violence in schools and, at worst, are themselves branches of that root: namely, a homogenizing corporatism that creates an ethical vacuum in the schoolhouse.

This essay situates John Dewey in the context of the founding of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1915. We argue that the 1915 Declaration of Principles, together with World War I, provides contemporary academics important historical justification for rethinking academic freedom and faculty governance in light of neoliberalism and what we argue is an increased corporatization of higher education in the United States. By revisiting the founding of the AAUP and John Dewey's role in the various debates surrounding the establishment of the organization--including his broader role as a public intellectual confronted by war, questions of duty and freedom, and the shifting boundaries of the professoriate--we argue that professors today should demonstrate academic freedom and reclaim faculty governance for the public good over private interests.

In the early 1970s, Thomas Colwell argued for an "ecological basis [for] human community." He suggested that "naturalistic transactionalism" was being put forward by some ecologists and some philosophers of education, but independently of each other. He suspected that ecologists were working on their own versions of naturalistic transactionalism independently of John Dewey. In this essay, Deron Boyles examines Colwell's central claim as well as his lament as a starting point for a larger inquiry into Dewey's thought. Boyles explores the following questions: First, was and is there a dearth of literature regarding Dewey as an ecological philosopher? Second, if a literature exists, what does it say? Should Dewey be seen as biocentric, anthropocentric, or something else entirely? Finally, of what importance are the terms and concepts in understanding and, as a result, determining Dewey's ecological thought in relation to education?

In this paper we explore "exergaming" in schools, the latest trend influencing the physical education (PE) curriculum. Throughout the paper we investigate the various proponents of exergaming including the gaming industry, academic researchers and PE teachers. Our inquiry takes a closer look at exergaming as a pedagogical trend and describes exergaming's potential implications for the profession of PE as well as for individual students. Our methodological approach includes review and analysis of popular, scholarly and curricular texts related to the use of exergaming in schools. The analysis underscores the political nature of the curriculum and, in so doing, invites a closer look at this curricular trend by examining whose interests are served through the circulation of crisis discourses surrounding youth (ill)health and the use of these crisis discourses to justify the placement of commercial products in schools.

In an effort to navigate the treacherous path between professionalism and social relevancy, this essay takes up an area of professional philosophy--epistemology--with the intention of reclaiming the integrative role John Dewey held for philosophy and classroom practice. Deron Boyles asserts that epistemology can and should represent an area of inquiry that is relevant and useful for philosophy of education, especially as it develops classroom practices that foster inquiry. He specifically seeks to revive Dewey's conception of warranted assertibility in an effort to show the value of fallibilist epistemology in practical and social teaching and learning contexts. By highlighting the distinctions between traditional epistemology and Dewey's conception of "knowing," Boyles demonstrates that epistemology has value insofar as it highlights a more useful, instrumentalist theory of knowing that is applicable to classroom practice.

This article draws on historical and philosophical lenses and interviews with students to question some fundamental tenets underlying the practice of freshman learning communities (FLCs): that they develop community and improve students' learning experiences. The article brings to the discourse of FLCs some critical questions regarding their value and practice. (Contains 9 notes.)

Traces the recent growth of technology in society and education, raising concerns stemming from viewing technology as inherently good. Discusses the importance of interrogating technology for long-term ethical, economic, and pedagogical deficits and for ways that change, growth, and competition ultimately favor privileged society and overlook the poor. (SM)

The article presents a lecture given by Marcella Kysilka to the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum (AATC) on October 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. Topics include ethics, curriculum, teaching and learning in a hostile policy environment, and the author's central claim is that education policy in the U.S. is inexorably linked to business interests and, therefore, promotes ethical egoism over ethical altruism.