Existentialism versus other philosophies (medium)

Philosophy of Education Perspectives: Existentialism versus other philosophies

An introduction to the Educational Philosophy Perspectives Series: I currently convene and lecture a course in the Philosophy of Education for undergraduate students. Each week we cover a new philosophical perspective or paradigm. The following series will encompass short pieces written when wearing different “paradigm hats,” the purpose of which is to illustrate differing viewpoints within the Philosophy of Read More

Into the cave (medium)

Out from the cave: have we lost the purpose of education?

Republished from The Conversation, 5 May 2013. It’s nothing new to say we have a problem in education. But I’m not here to discuss the usual gripes with teachers and test scores. I believe we have a more fundamental problem with defining what we want education to do. At the moment, our definitions of educational “success” Read More

Bored Student in Classroom --- Image by © Michael Prince/Corbis

Facts don’t tell the whole story

Thomas W. Nielsen, University of Canberra The Canberra Times, December 6, 2010. There is a passage in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times, in which a gentlemen at one point says to a class of children, “Should you have wall-paper with horses on it?” To this, the children uniformly shout, “Yes!” (It would seem a perfectly good Read More