Philosophy and Education Policy

Abstract

Philosophical inquiry has a crucial role to play in posing, and answering, important questions about the values and aims of education policy. Philosophy, as both a primary and a complementary mode of analysis, offers resources to explore tensions between various aims in education policy, about which aims should be prioritized, for what reasons, and in accordance with which values. These tensions around values are central in a diverse, democratic society. Indeed, the authors argue for a distinctly democratic conception of education policy research. To make this case, they first review broader debates about the role of the humanities in education research, arguing that recent conceptualizations of “education science” have drawn a false divide between policy research and philosophical inquiry. They then outline three distinct ways that philosophical inquiry contributes to policy research: (a) clarifying concepts and assumptions about key aspects of policy, particularly in terms of the values embedded in those concepts; (b) showing how values can come into conflict with each other in matters of policy; and (c) advancing normative arguments about justifiable aims for education, and how policy could and should shift in accordance with such aims. Finally, they offer a vision for why integrating values-based inquiry is essential in education policy discussions, particularly in a democratic society. Working together, education policy researchers and philosophers of education can help ensure that deliberations and decisions about education policy and practice are grounded in both credible empirical research findings and democratic ideals such as fairness, equity, and justice.

Keywords: philosophy; policy; values; aims; democracy; methodology