Language of Education

The purpose of The Language of Education is, through an application of philosophical methods, to clarify certain pervasive features of educational thought and argument. In particular, analysis of the logical force of educational definitions, slogans, and metaphors are presented, and a study is made of the central idea of teaching. General strategies are presented for critical evaluation of three sorts of statements familiar in educational discussion statements of definition, educational slogans, and metaphorical descriptions of the processes of schooling. Moral and practical issues are disentangled from others with which they are often confused. Strong emphasis is placed on the pupil's sense of reasons. The standard everyday notion of teaching is differentiated from psychological interpretations such as 'setting up conditions for effective learning' as well as from anthropological interpretations such as transmitting the content of the culture. It will be of interest not only to students of education and of philosophy but also to those who, as citizens or educators, are vitally concerned with the practice of the schools.