EDUCATION
Who does not have interest in supporting the development of autonomous individuals that think for themselves and challenge communal norms and beliefs? Do ALL groups depend for their continuing survival on educational processes, as do the larger societies and nation-states of which they are part?
Education as transmission of knowledge versus education as the fostering of inquiry and the reasoning skills that are conducive to the development of autonomy: differing views about human “perfectibility”. The question of what knowledge and skills ought to be.
How learning is possible, and what it is to have learned something : on capacities and potentialities. What is the process and the stages of human development, and to what degree is this process flexible and hence subject to influence or manipulation?
The tension between liberal and vocational education – education for personal development or education for citizenship (and the issue of whether or not this is a false dichotomy). What are the differences (if any) between education and enculturation?
The issue of whether the rights of children, parents, and socio-cultural or ethnic groups, conflict; and if they do, the question of whose rights should be dominant. What is the distinction between educating versus teaching versus training versus indoctrination?
The question as to whether or not all children have a right to state-provided education, and if so, should this education respect the beliefs and customs of all groups and how this can ever be accomplished. What is the relation between education and maintenance of the class structure of society?
How to think on the issue of whether different classes or cultural groups can be given educational programs that differ in content or aims. On the complex issues pertaining to the relation between education and social reform, centering upon whether education is essentially conservative, or whether it can be an (or The) agent of social change.
How should we address questions regarding pedagogy, education policy and school curricula, as well as the process of learning? What is it that constitutes upbringing and education? What are the values and norms revealed through upbringing and educational practices?
Thinking on the educational process: Locke, and the mind as “empty cabinet”. The belief that the role of a teacher should be that of a “guide”, as opposed to an authoritarian figure. The attack on the “banking concept of education,” in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher.
The discovery of « the child’s true normal nature ». Is it possible to duplicate this experimental observation of children in order to bring about, sustain and support their true natural way of being? What is the role of the imagination in learning, and how is it possible to develop thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component?
What is the ultimate aim and purpose of education? How and who will be the beneficiaries? Defining learning and excellence of instruction. Co-operation with students, parents, and colleagues.
What kind/types of knowledge are essential/useful for an accomplished life? On criticizing unsatisfactory school policies. Analysing moral sensitivity – judgement – motivation – character and character formation.
Professionals in education and the knowledge about how children form a basic sense of right and wrong. The pedagogical gesture as transformational and thus ethical par excellence. Professional Codes of educational ethics.
Analyzing at-risk behaviors – impulsiveness, belligerency, overreaction to irritation, inability to put-off gratification. Educational Resources and Special Education. Legal issues in education; rights and responsibilities. How is the legal foundation for public education formed?
The role of the courts in shaping educational policies. Civil suites involving cases of negligence on the part of educators. Religious influence in public schools. Fairness of Special Education. On socioeconomic segregation.
Two aspects of equal educational opportunities: right to non-discriminatory treatment and right to special assistance to overcome disadvantages/disabilities. Lifetime education.
The body of law pertaining to children with disabilities: inclusion, private placements, related services, procedure safeguards. On language-deficient students.
Learn through extrinsic inducements – rewards, pressure, encouragement, grades. The case of intrinsic motivations. Education as mirror of society decay. The moral basis of learning, education, training and teaching activities. Self-directed and contract learning.
Youth admiration for fake models : media manipulation and the heroes of moral indignity. Charter schools: reform or repackaging? Student harassment, abuse and bullying.
How to educate the educators, the governors, the decision-makers? (a preoccupation from Plato to Dewey). Power and duty of school officials to control student behavior – legality of various sanctions and punishments.
The idea and the reality of equal opportunity. Impact of Technology in Education. Multicultural education in public schools. Discipline issues: “give them another chance”? Why should Values be taught in School?
Value-free education and the risks of a prevalent amoral education. Teacher’s free expression, privacy rights and lifestyle choices. Ethical implications for remote-teaching education.
Gender discrimination in education. Relationship between grading, assessment (of achievements), evaluation (of courses or curricula). The importance of advisor-advisee relationship in graduate education.
Education and its role in future social movements. Religions in education. The importance of Art education. Teaching sexuality. The private sector – on privileged education.
Education level and earning potential. Links of universities to corporations. Professional ethical principles as applied to education (autonomy, non-malfeasance, justice, fidelity).
What education for Non-Traditional students? Accelerated / Night &Weekend / Online / Combined In-Class & Online Courses. History of ideas on education, from Locke to Durkheim and Dewey through Plato, Hume, Diderot, Kant, Rousseau, Schiller, Pestalozzi.
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