Education and the Good Society

The many public debates launched by governments on education, such as Tony Blair's emphasis on 'education, education, education', have nonetheless failed to consider the place of the good society in educational endeavour. The traditional account of education is that it not only teaches pupils the skills to earn a living, but also teaches a concern for the welfare of others, a love of the many cultures of learning and a commitment to the best values of society. Education and the Good Society examines these considerations and restores them to the centre of the educational debate. To this end, a group of distinguished educational theorists, social critics and practising teachers have come together to describe the many aspects of education which contribute to a good society and in particular those which encourage pupils and students to come out of their education fired by the high ideal to make their society a better place. The contributions deal with the practice of contemporary schools, the governance of learning, the nature of the virtuous teacher, the importance of a moral and political equality, as well as tackling the many defects - some of them wilful and philistine - which presently disfigure educational systems. The purpose of the book is to remoralize the debate about education and to remind readers of the true purposes of an admirable education.