Tag Archives: education

Columns

Work and Education

Rethinking Labour, Identity and Post‑Work Futures in the Age of AI, Robotisation and Automation

Michael A. Peters

1. Introduction: Automation and the Philosophical Crisis of Labour Work has long functioned as a central category in Western thought, linking subjectivity, social reproduction and moral value. In the 21st century, however, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotic process automation is destabilising these connections. As machines absorb cognitive and physical tasks […]

Full Citation Information:
Peters, M. A. (2025). Work and Education: Rethinking Labour, Identity and Post‑Work Futures in the Age of AI, Robotisation and Automation. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/work-and-education/

Michael A. Peters

Michael A. Peters (FRSNZ, FHSNZ, FPESA) is a globally recognised scholar whose interdisciplinary work spans philosophy of education, political economy and ecological civilisation. He holds the distinction of Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U.S.A.), Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University (P.R. China), and Research Associate in the Philosophy Program at Waikato University (New Zealand).

Previously, he served as Distinguished Professor of Education at Beijing Normal University (2018–2024) and held prestigious appointments including Personal Chair at the University of Auckland (2000), Research Chair at the University of Glasgow (2000–2006), Excellence Hire Professor at the University of Illinois (2005–2011), and Professor of Education at the University of Waikato (2011–2018).

A prolific author, Professor Peters has written over 120 books and 500 articles, shaping discourse in educational theory, philosophy, and critical policy studies. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Educational Philosophy and Theory for 25 years and founded multiple international journals, cementing his role as a leader in academic publishing.

His contributions have been honoured with fellowships in the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ, 2008) and the Humanities Society of New Zealand (FHSNZ, 2006), alongside honorary doctorates from State University of New York (SUNY, 2012) and the University of Aalborg (2015).

His latest research explores post-apocalyptic philosophy and ecological futures, including the forthcoming Civilisational Collapse and the Philosophy of Post-Apocalyptic Survival (Peter Lang, 2025). He is currently editing the Handbook of Ecological Civilization (Springer, 2025), advancing critical dialogues on sustainability and global transformation.

For more on his work, visit: https://michaeladrianpeters.com/

Rethinking education

Bildung, civil society and the search for solidarity

Mark Murphy
people holding shoulders sitting on wall

Mark Murphy University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland   Abstract The focus of the paper is on the relation between education and solidarity and the possible futures that this might entail. A concern over solidarity has been a constant in different forms over the history of western education systems – these forms have encompassed a focus […]

Full Citation Information:
Murphy, M. (2024). Rethinking education: Bildung, civil society and the search for solidarity. ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education, 44(2), 49-59. https://doi.org/10.46786/ac24.4962
Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash
Columns

The Cartoonification of the American Mind and the Return of the Red Scare

Why the Unwoke Needs to Woke UP

Peter McLaren

A childish pranksterism captivates politically tribalised adults who, more and more, are seeking out public venues in which to vent their rage. The younger ones have been adults for at least a decade, and, because of their arrested development or just generally unfulfilled life, they still can’t cope with the reality that their adult bodies […]

Full Citation Information:
McLaren, P. (2023). The Cartoonification of the American Mind and the Return of the Red Scare: Why the Unwoke Needs to Woke UP. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/the-cartoonification-of-the-american-mind-and-the-return-of-the-red-scare/

Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren is Emeritus Professor at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles. From 2013-2023 he served as Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Co-Director and International Ambassador for Global Ethics and Social Justice, The Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Attallah College of Educational Studies, Chapman University, USA.

Columns

Epistemic injustice in education

A Special Issue in Educational Philosophy and Theory

Gerry Dunne

[Excerpt from Dunne, G. (2022). Epistemic injustice in education. Educational Philosophy & Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2139238] What it means to be a knower together with the social practices through which we come to know are irreducibly complex ethical concepts. Extant analyses of epistemic injustice typically hinge on the ethical dimensions underpinning two of our basic epistemic practices, […]

Full Citation Information:
Dunne, G. (2022). Epistemic injustice in education: A Special Issue in Educational Philosophy and Theory. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/epistemic-injustice-in-education/

Gerry Dunne

Gerry is a Lecturer at the Marino Institute of Education, Dublin. He is primarily interested in the area of critical thought in higher education. Much of his research is conducted in this area. Other interests include ‘expert practitioners and lofty theorists, toward finding a middle ground,’ teacher as technocrat or phronimos; argumentation theories; P4T; and the first-personal/third-personal experience of care and compassion in education.

Columns

Sustaining Teaching in Response to a Current Crisis

A Roundtable Discussion

Yuliana Lavrysh

[See the original cfp] Education and science are strategically important areas for Ukraine today as powerful resources for the renewal and reconstruction of a post-war educational system. Therefore, international experience and expertise have become an invaluable source of ideas and approaches. The roundtable discussion ‘Sustaining Teaching in Response to a Current Crisis: A Global Initiative […]

Yuliana Lavrysh

Yuliana Lavrysh currently works at the Faculty of Linguistics, National Technical University of Ukraine Kiev Polytechnic Institute. She does research in Higher Education, Comparative Education and Adult Education. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Advanced Education.

ACCESS Vol 41 2021

Violence, coloniality and a vision of nonviolence for education

Lesley Le Grange
people gathering on street during nighttime

Lesley Le Grange Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa   Abstract We see images of violence of all kinds in the media on a daily basis. Moreover, violence associated with extreme political/religious beliefs has increased in the twentieth century and is particularly disturbing. In this article the author points out that violence is not a biological […]

Full Citation Information:
Le Grange, L. (2021). Violence, coloniality and a vision of nonviolence for education. ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education, 41(1), 86-88. https://doi.org/10.46786/ac21.7121
Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash
ACCESS Vol 41 2021

Forms of complicity in Indian education

Fazal Rizvi
birds flying over river during daytime

Fazal Rizvi The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia   Abstract Using India as an example, this paper considers how education may be complicit in the global rise of political tensions. To do so, it suggests what educational institutions could have done to prevent it, but also what they might now do.   Keywords populism; politics; […]

Full Citation Information:
Rizvi, F. (2021). Forms of complicity in Indian education. ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education, 41(1), 83-85. https://doi.org/10.46786/ac21.6385

Fazal Rizvi

Fazal Rizvi is Professor Emeriti at the University of Melbourne, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has written extensively on issues of identity and culture in transnational contexts, globalization and education policy and Australia-Asia relations, including Globalizing Education Policy (with Bob Lingard, 2010), and Transnational Perspectives on Democracy, Citizenship, Human Rights and Peace Education (Bloomsbury 2019). Fazal is former Editor, Discourse: Studies in Cultural Politics of Education, past President of the Australian Association of Research in Education, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Social Sciences.

Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: Photo by Meriç Dağlı on Unsplash
Ideas

Marxism, Pedagogy and the General Intellect:

Beyond the Knowledge Economy

Derek R. Ford

From the Grasping Drive of Learning to the Resistance of Stupidity While providing a point of entry into knowledge economy discourse is a main aim of Marxism, Pedagogy, and the General Intellect, this ultimately serves as the groundwork for Derek Ford to draw out and question the underlying and often unassumed pedagogical assumptions that exist […]

Full Citation Information:
Ford, D. R. (2021). Marxism, Pedagogy and the General Intellect:: Beyond the Knowledge Economy. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/ideas/marxism-pedagogy-and-the-general-intellect/
Ideas are Open Access, freely available for readers to download and copy with proper attribution with a CC – BY – ND licence

Derek R. Ford

Derek R. Ford is a teacher, organiser and educational theorist who serves as associate professor of education studies at DePauw University and as an instructor with The People’s Forum. Their work has appeared in a range of academic journals, including Critical Education and Cultural Studies, as well as popular outlets like Black Agenda Report, Monthly Review, Peace, Land and Bread and the International Magazine. They also hosted the popular podcast series Reading ‘Capital’ with Comrades.

They’ve published eight monographs on pedagogy and revolutionary struggles, the latest of which is Teaching the Actuality of Revolution: Aesthetics, Unlearning and the Sensations of Struggle (2023). Their organising and research on the pedagogy of anti-imperialism, anti-racism and internationalist struggles recently appeared in International Magazine and Black Agenda Report and featured on episodes of CovertAction Bulletin and Revolutionary Left Radio. They are the editor of Liberation School and a contributing editor at the Hampton Institute, as well as an organiser with the Indianapolis Liberation Center, ANSWER Coalition, the International Manifesto Group and others. You can reach them at derekford@depauw.edu

Recent works by Derek include:

Columns

Trust and the autonomous individual

Bruce Haynes

Introduction It is a truth universally acknowledged that the human foetus is dependent on its mother, becomes a more independent individual upon birth and, with maturation and education, may become an autonomous individual with a discrete body and a history separate from that of the mother. Beyond that, universally acknowledged truths become harder to find unless, […]

Full Citation Information:
Haynes, B. (2021). Trust and the autonomous individual. PESA Agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/trust-and-the-autonomous-individual/

Bruce Haynes

Bruce Haynes, FPESA, FPE, is retired after 34 years in teacher education and 50 years of PESA membership. He is founding member, a past president and fellow of PESA, and been always been active member. PESA honours him and Felicity by holding a named lecture at conference. His 2009 papers, in the Educational Philosophy and Theory special issue, Celebration of PESA 40 years, include Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia: The official record, and PESA and I: A long engagement, tell us a lot more about his contribution to PESA.

Routledge – 2 new books: Pandemic Education and Viral Politics; The Far-Right, Education and Violence

Pandemic Education and Viral Politics (ISBN: 9780367635404) – avail 8 October – flyer:  Pandemic Education and Viral Politics – flyer and The Far-Right, Education and Violence,  An Educational Philosophy and Theory Reader Volume IX (ISBN: 9780367562014)  avail Nov 2020 Both books are by Michael A. Peters & Tina Besley, featuring papers published in Educational Philosophy […]

EPAT

Nietzsche (as) educator

Babette Babich

There has been no shortage of readers who take Nietzsche as educator (cf., for a by no means exhaustive  list: Allen, 2017;  Aviram, 1991;  Bell,  2007; Cooper, 1983;  Fairfield,  2017;  Fitzsimons, 2007;  Gordon, 1980;  Havenstein, 1921;  Johnston, 2005;  Lemco, 1992; Löw, 1984;  Murphy, 1984; Peters, Marshall, & Smeyers, 2001; Rattner, 1994; Rosenow, 2000; Solms-Laubach, 2012, 139f, […]

Full Citation Information:
Babich, Babette (2019) Nietzsche (as) educator, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51:9, 871-885, DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2018.1544455
Article Feature Image Acknowledgement: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nietzsche1882.jpg