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Newsletter
G. Mooney Simmie
2017
September
What is the Purpose of Education?
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purpose of education education and democracy philosophical inquiry policy research
This article is a short philosophical inquiry into the purpose of education in contemporary Ireland
As the invited Guest Speaker of the ASTI President Ed Byrne I had an opportunity to speak at the ASTI 2017 Convention in the INEC Convention Centre, Killarney. My keynote address is on the ASTI website and it is not my intention to repeat it here. However, positive feedback received from many of the teachers afterward has prompted me to write this article.

As educators and teachers it is our public responsibility to inform ourselves of what is happening in the global world if we are to accurately interpret and act to improve our teaching and play our full part in the wider moral, social and political needs in a democratic society – as a wholesome, compassionate and just place to live.

Since the start of this century, and since the global recession of 2008, Ireland’s education system and public services have been subjected to a relentless policy of austerity economics (Galvin & Mooney Simmie, 2017; Mooney Simmie et al., 2017).  This has resulted in new languages of learning, entrepreneurship and self-evaluation, all deeply contested among academics and philosophers of education (Brady, 2016; Hederman, 2012).

Dublin
ASTI Association for Secondary Education of Ireland
0790-6560
September 2017 Volume 35 Issue Number 4
19
19
http://www.asti.ie/publications/articles/publication-article/astir-september-2017/
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