PoE - Aims of Education: Philosophical Issues for Educational Research - Richard Pring

Event - International Seminar on Philosophy of Education, Bangalore Date - 25-Jan-2013 Speaker - Richard Pring, Former Director, Department of Educational Studies, Oxford University, UK Abstract - Educational research concerns the ways in which people might be more effectively educated. But that requires some exploration of what it means to be educated. What counts, for example, as an educated 18 year old (the age at which many leave school) in this day and place? Although this question is crucial for educational policy, practice and research, it is rarely pursued to any depth. The consequence is, first, that much of so-called educational research is not educational research at all, and, second, that (even where it is) it is flawed by ignoring crucial philosophical issues. This paper, therefore, is divided into two parts. First, it analyses what could be meant by an educated person, thereby placing education more within the realm of ethics than in that of the social sciences. Second, it draws out some of the consequences for educational policy, practice and research, with particular reference to • language of education, • pursuit of higher standards, • assessment of standards through testing, • false dualism between 'academic' and 'vocational', • the practice of teaching The issues are internationally relevant as countries across the world seek to raise standards, compare themselves with other systems in international league tables, and 'borrow' policies and practices from elsewhere.