Dissenting voices: A reply to Maskell
Suissa J.
2000
Journal of Philosophy of Education
1
10.1111/1467-9752.00179
Duke Maskell (Journal of Philosophy of Education, 32.2) argues that 'our idea of education is puerile' and that we need to rethink it. Drawing on the work of Jane Austen, he essentially reasserts the classic nineteenth-century ideal of Liberal Education. Yet in so doing, Maskell fails to acknowledge the social and political implications of this ideal. I argue that if we wish to engage in a rigorous philosophical debate on education, we cannot afford to ignore the social and political context implied by our educational concepts. Furthermore, this debate can be enriched by an understanding of alternative, dissenting positions on education, specifically, in this context, that of early Socialist and Anarchist thinkers.
Austen J., Sense and Sensibility, (1906); Bakunin M., Integral education, Égalité, (1869); Wilfred C., Harnett A., Education and the Struggle for Democracy: The Politics of Educational Ideas, (1996); Edwards S., Selected Writings of P. J. Proudhon, (1969); Johnson R., Really useful knowledge': Radical education and working-class culture, 1790-1848, Working Class Culture; Studies in History and Theory, (1979); Marshall P., The Anarchist Writings of William Godwin, (1986); Maskell D., Education, education, education: Or, what has Jane Austen to teach Tony Blunkett?, Journal of Philosophy of Education, (1999); Shotton J., No Master High or Low; Libertarian Education and Schooling in Britain, 1890-1990, (1993); Smith M., The Libertarians and Education, (1983); Ward C., Peter Kropotkin's 'Fields, Factories and Workshops Tomorrow', (1974); White J., The Aims of Education Restated, (1982)
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Article
Scopus