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THE AIMS OF EDUCATION For many years, the aims of education have been informed by liberalism, with an emphasis on autonomy.The aim has been to equip students mentally to be autonomous individuals, able to live self-directed lives. In this volume, international philosophers of education explore and question diverse strains of the liberal tradition, discussing not only autonomy but also other key issues, such as: • • • • • social justice national identity curriculum critical thinking social practices The contributors write from a variety of standpoint, offering many interpretations of what liberalism might mean in educational terms. The result is a challenging collection of new research, which is sure to stimulate debate. The Aims of Education will have wide appeal among philosophers, educationists, teachers, policy makers and those interested in the future of education. Roger Marples is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the Roehampton Institute, London, where he has overall responsibility for the degree in Education. He has extensive teaching experience and served on the Associated Examining Board’s Working Party on Philosophy, which successfully pioneered A Level Philosophy. ROUTLEDGE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 1 EDUCATION AND WORK IN GREAT BRITAIN, GERMANY AND ITALY Edited by A, Jobert, C. Marry, L.Tanguy and H. Rainbird 2 EDUCATION,AUTONOMY AND DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP Philosophy in a changing world Edited by David Bridges 3 THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN LEARNING Christopher Winch 4 EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH Beyond the postmodern impasse Edited by David Carr 5 VIRTUE THEORY AND MORAL EDUCATION Edited by David Carr and Jan Steutel 6 DURKHEIM AND MODERN EDUCATION Edited by Geoffrey Walford and W. S. F. Pickering 7 THE AIMS OF EDUCATION Edited by Roger Marples THE AIMS OF EDUCATION Edited by Roger Marples London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Editorial material and selection © 1999 Roger Marples Individual chapters © 1999 the individual contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The aims of education / edited by Roger Marples. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Education—Aims and objectives. 2. Education—Philosophy. 3. Autonomy (Psychology) 4. Educational change. I. Marples, Roger. LB41.A36353 1999 370' . 1—dc21 98–42157 CIP ISBN 0-415-15739-0 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-00398-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20027-6 (Glassbook Format) CONTENTS 1 List of contributors Preface vii x Aims! Whose aims? 1 KEVIN HARRIS 2 ‘Or what’s a heaven for?’ The importance of aims in education 14 ROBIN BARROW 3 The aims of education and the philosophy of education: the pathology of an argument 23 PETER GILROY 4 Education without aims? 35 PAUL STANDISH 5 Liberalism, citizenship and the private interest in schooling 50 KENNETH A. STRIKE 6 Liberalism and critical thinking: on the relation between a political ideal and an aim of education 61 JAN STEUTEL AND BEN SPIECKER 7 Autonomy as an educational aim 74 CHRISTOPHER WINCH 8 Critical thinking as an aim of education 85 WILLIAM HARE 9 The place of national identity in the aims of education 100 PENNY ENSLIN 10 Self-determination as an educational aim JAMES C. WALKER v 112 CONTENTS 11 The nature of educational aims 123 PAUL H. HIRST 12 Well-being as an aim of education 133 ROGER MARPLES 13 Aiming for a fair education: what use is philosophy? 145 MORWENNA GRIFFITHS 14 Neglected educational aims: moral seriousness and social commitment 157 RICHARD PRING 15 Rational curriculum planning: in pursuit of an illusion 173 DAVID CARR 16 In defence of liberal aims in education 185 JOHN WHITE Bibliography Index 201 210 vi CONTRIBUTORS Robin Barrow is Dean and Professor of Education at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor Barrow is the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of classics, philosophy and education, including The Philosophy of Schooling, Understanding Skills and (with Geoffrey Milburn) A Critical Dictionary of Educational Concepts. David Carr is reader at the Moray House Institute of Education, Edinburgh. He has published widely in philosophical and educational journals and is the author of Educating the Virtues. He is currently engaged in editing two educational philosophical collections of essays for Routledge, one in knowledge, truth and education, the other (with Jan Stewart) on virtue ethics and moral education. Penny Enslin is Professor of Education at the University of Witwater-strand, Johannesburg. Her research interests are in the areas of practical philosophy, feminist theory and education. Recent publications include: ‘The family and the private in education for democratic citizenship’, which is in David Bridges (ed.) Education, Autonomy and Democratic Citizenship in a Changing World, and ‘Contemporary liberalism and civic education in South Africa’. Peter Gilroy is Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Sheffield, Director, CPD and deputy editor of the international Journal of Education for Teaching. His publications include Meaning within Words and Philosophy, First Language Acquisition and International Analyses of Teacher Education. Morwenna Griffiths is Professor of Educational Research at Nottingham Trent University. Her current research interests focus on social justice, gender and educational research. She is the author of Educational Research for Social Justice: Getting off the Fence; Feminisms and the Self: The Web of Identity; Self-identity, Self-esteem and Social justice; (with Carol Davies) In Fairness to Children; and Working for Social Justice in the Primary School, and she has edited (with Barry Troyna), Anti-racism, Culture and Social Justice in Education, and (with Margaret Whitford) Women vii CONTRIBUTORS Review Philosophy: New Writing by Women in Philosophy, and (with Margaret Whitford) Feminist Perspectives in Philosophy. William Hare is Professor at Mount St Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is the author of Open-mindedness and Education, In Defence of Openmindedness and What Makes a Good Teacher. Professor Hare has published numerous articles in philosophy of education. Kevin Harris is Professor of Education at Macquarie University,Australia. He has written many books on the politics and philosophy of education, including Education and Knowledge (Routledge) Teachers and Classes (Routledge), and Teachers: Constructing the Future (Falmer Press). He has contributed numerous chapters to edited books, and has consistently published articles in journals such as The Journal of Philosophy of Education, Educational Philosophy and Theory and The Australian Journal of Education over the past twenty years. Professor Harris is a Fellow of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia. Paul H. Hirst is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of London, Institute of Education. He has written extensively in philosophy of education, particularly in the area of curriculum theory, educational theory and practice, and moral, religious and aesthetic education. His major publications include Knowledge and the Curriculum (with R. S. Peters), and The Logic of Education. He has recently edited (with Patricia White) a four-volume international collection, Philosophy of Education: Major Themes in the Analytic Tradition. Roger Marples is Senior Lecturer in Education and responsible for the Educational Studies Programme at the Roehampton Institute, London. He has contributed to philosophy of education journals in Britain and the USA and has written on cross-curriculum themes, and the curriculum and qualifications for post-16 students. Richard Pring is Professor of Educational Studies and Director of the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Oxford. He is joint editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies. Recent books include Closing the Gap: Liberal Education and Vocational Preparation and (with G.Walford) Affirming the Comprehensive Ideal. Ben Spiecker is Professor of Philosophy and History of Education at the Vrije Universiteit,Amsterdam. His publications and current interests lie in the areas of moral, civic and sexual education. Paul Standish teaches philosophy of education at the University of Dundee. He is the author of Beyond the Self: Wittgenstein, Heidegger and the Limits of Language (1992). His recent publications include Teaching Right and Wrong: Moral Education in the Balance, edited with Richard Smith (1997) and with Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers (and Richard Smith), Thinking Again: Education after Post-modernism (1998). viii CONTRIBUTORS Jan Steutel is Reader in Philosophy of Education at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. His publications and work in progress focus on moral education with special reference to virtue theory. Kenneth A. Strike is Professor of Education at Cornell University. He has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta, is a Past President of the US Philosophy of Education Society and is a member of the National Academy of Education. He is the author of several books and over 100 articles. Recent publications include The Ethics of Teaching (with Jonas Soltis), The Ethics of Schools Administration (with Jonas Soltis and Emil Haller), Liberal Justice and the Marxist Critique of Schooling. His current work is concerned with exploring the normative aspects of school restructuring. James C. Walker is Professor of Education at the University of Western Sydney, Nepean. His publications are wide ranging, in philosophy, educational policy, curriculum and youth studies. In recent years he has been especially interested in professional organisational learning, particularly in relation to teacher education. He was leader of the research team which undertook the first comprehensive analysis of philosophy, content and change in Australian teacher education programmes. John White is Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. His interests are in interrelationships among educational aims and applications to school curricula, especially in the arts and personal and social education. His books include Towards a Compulsory Curriculum (1973), Philosophers as Educational Reformers (1979) (with Peter Gordon), The Aims of Education Restated (1982), Education and the Good Life: Beyond the National Curriculum (1990), The Arts 5–16: Changing the Agenda (1992) and Education and the End of Work: Philosophical Perspectives on Work and Learning (1997). In addition he has written over 100 articles and chapters. He is Honorary Vice-President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, a Fellow of the US Philosophy of Education Society, and an overseas member of the Russian Academy of Education. Christopher Winch is Professor of Philosophy of Education at University College, Northampton. He is the Author of Language, Ability and Educational Achievement (1990), Quality and Education (1996) and The Philosophy of Human Learning (1998). ix