EDUC 4720

Philosophy of Education

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

What are the aims of schooling? How are those aims to be achieved? Can Artificial Intelligence be a 'teacher'? What interests guide the formation of educational aims? Questions such these are central to the formulation and reformulations of philosophy of education as they name topics like educational authority, virtues, curricular standards and the social/technological contexts of schooling among others. Drawing from both canonical and contemporary texts and their critics, this course provides an opportunity to analyze and interpret philosophies of education in the changing contexts of 21st century educational policy, neuroscience and technology and ongoing social, environmental and economic injustices.

Distribution Requirements (CA-AG, ETH-AG)

Last 3 terms offered 2024FA, 2024SP, 2023SP

Learning Outcomes REF-FA25

• Assess research findings on testing and measurement in mass education, school disciplinary practices, in contexts of racialization, multi-lingualism/linguistic diversity, gender, etc.
• Analyze educational policies in NYS and the US to identify the socio-cultural, economic interests and any stated ethical commitments that are articulated in defining terms such as intelligence educational opportunity or similarly teacher learner knowledge objectivity mind etc.
• Identify key formulations of virtue education, philosophies of care, feminist ethics, standpoint epistemology as relevant to the activities of teaching and learning toward broad social aims, especially with attention to democratic participation.
• Articulate defensible arguments for philosophies of/for educational practices (Aristotelian, Pragmatist, Feminist, Decolonial) or policies for two topics in education- testing, multicultural curriculum, anti-racist education, etc.
• Reflect on and apply at least one framework (virtue, standpoint epistemology) from a tradition in philosophy of education defending mass schooling and the a select few of the aims and policies which guide them.

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