Ethics and education: taking globalization seriously

Central ethical concepts in education should be interpreted in a  global frame, beyond the conceptual confines of the nation state. My underlying claim is that globalisation’s effects and significance are profound, but that while new global practices, norms and structures are increasingly evident, developing our key ethical concepts and assumptions accordingly is limited by the narrow and outdated moral universe of the nation state. The intertwined demands of justice and democracy in education now require conceptual adjustment to meet a different world. First, the features and significance of globalisation are considered, with particular reference to globalisation in education, as well as political globalisation as indicative of the now outdated model of the Westphalian state. Secondly, a revised conception of justice based on recognition of global association is sketched and illustrated by the case of the global campaign for Education for All. Thirdly, possibilities for globally democratic decision-making after the monopoly of the nation state are outlined, advancing the discussion towards some concluding observations about the implications of the argument for the education of global citizens

Monuments after empire? The educational value of imperial statues

The Black Lives Matter campaign has forced a reassessment of monuments that commemorate historical figures in public spaces. One of these, a statue of General Lord Roberts, stands in Glasgow, once the Second City of the Empire. A critical reading of this monument as a memorial text in a landscape of power contrasts the intended heroic depiction of Roberts with the excluded histories of those who were on the receiving end of his actions. I consider possible courses of action in determining what should be done with this memorial, recommending against its removal. Keeping the monument in its privileged public space without further action will not do. Arguing that the Roberts memorial is educationally valuable, despite and because of its celebration of Roberts as a hero of Empire, I defend its potential role in postcolonial and postimperial education

Analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial moment

Of all possible future directions for analytic philosophy of education, few are as overdue as thoroughly confronting the legacy of colonialism and the postcolonial moment. Rightly credited with establishing the credibility and standing of philosophy of education, by 1980, analytic philosophy of education was the dominant though not unchallenged approach to philosophy of education in the Anglo-American world. While its dominance has declined and philosophy of education has become more diverse, analytic philosophy of education retains a strong international presence in educational theory. By contrast, postcolonial theory – the critical study of colonialism and its aftermath – has attracted growing interest across many academic disciplines, developing from the 1970s onwards from its early location in literary and cultural studies. After outlining the emergence of analytic philosophy of education, and the subsequent reshaping of philosophy of education, we describe postcolonial theory and the place of education in both colonialism and postcolonial thought. Having thus located analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial turn in their own times and contexts, we consider the postcolonial challenge to Western philosophy and how analytic philosophy of education could respond, developing our stance on a postcolonial future direction for analytic philosophy of education. We argue that the future of philosophy of education is now inescapably postcolonial and that it should retain its analytical strengths

Getting the measure of measurement: global educational opportunity

Although measurement is widely misused in education, it is indispensable in addressing the problems of injustice in global educational opportunity. Considering how the case can be made for legitimate use of measurement in normative analysis and argument, we explore ways in which metrics have featured in the formulation of theories of justice, with particular attention to resourcist and capabilities approaches. We then consider three means of addressing global inequality and defend a reconstruction of the public sphere in which objective measures of justice, deliberatively constructed, could supersede prevalent assumptions about measurement

Postcolonialism and education

Education was a strategy in the colonization of large parts of the globe by European colonial powers. Postcolonialism, a diverse school of thought, demands that the ongoing destructive consequences of the colonial era be exposed, analyzed, and addressed through action. Postcolonial literature, while illuminating the dehumanizing effects of colonization, has understandably focused on the hegemony of Western culture and its effects on education, but it has been vulnerable to criticism that it ought also to pay attention to colonialism as the capitalist exploitation of colonies and former colonies, for their wealth and labor and as markets for manufactured goods. Postcolonial education addresses cultural imperialism by recognizing and unsettling its legacy in the school curriculum and the Western assumptions about knowledge and the world that underpin it, fostering a pedagogy of critique and transformation in the metropole and the periphery. Globalization in the 21st century has intensified interactions between the metropole and former colonies, in an increasingly integrated world system in which neo-liberal influences have created a new form of empire that embraces education. While demands for the restoration of indigenous forms of education are understandable as a response to cultural dispossession, new directions in postcolonial educational thought will also need to accommodate hybridity and to attend to the material conditions of global inequality

Democracy, social justice and education: feminist strategies in a globalising world

No abstract available

Liberalism, Education and Schooling; by T.H. McLaughlin.

No abstract available

Ethics and education: taking globalization seriously

Central ethical concepts in education should be interpreted in a global frame, beyond the conceptual confines of the nation state. My underlying claim is that globalisation’s effects and significance are profound, but that while new global practices, norms and structures are increasingly evident, developing our key ethical concepts and assumptions accordingly is limited by the narrow and outdated moral universe of the nation state. The intertwined demands of justice and democracy in education now require conceptual adjustment to meet a different world. First, the features and significance of globalisation are considered, with particular reference to globalisation in education, as well as political globalisation as indicative of the now outdated model of the Westphalian state. Secondly, a revised conception of justice based on recognition of global association is sketched and illustrated by the case of the global campaign for Education for All. Thirdly, possibilities for globally democratic decision-making after the monopoly of the nation state are outlined, advancing the discussion towards some concluding observations about the implications of the argument for the education of global citizens

Europe and the post colony: possibilities for cosmopolitanism

No abstract available