ABSTRACT
My subject in this chapter is values in education. This is a topic which is raised, in an interesting way, by Professor Peters's wellknown account of the concept of education and which receives detailed consideration in his book Ethics and Education. 1 will begin, therefore, with the account of education given there, or that part of it which is relevant to my purpose (ibid., p. 24):
Not all terms have meaning on the model of names by being associated with some typical referent. And surely 'education' is a term of this sort. 'Education' is not a term like 'instruction' which picks out a particular type of activity. Something, of course, must be going on if education is taking place.... But no specific type of activity is required.... In this respect 'education' is like 'reform'. It picks out no particular activity or process. Rather it lays down criteria to which activities or processes must conform.
The first criterion, the one with which I will be concerned, is that 'education' 'implies that something worthwhile is being or has been intentionally transmitted in a morally acceptable manner' (ibid., p. 25). I will confine myself to the first part of this requirement, i.e. the requirement that something worthwhile is being or has been intentionally transmitted. The second criterion, which is concerned with knowledge, understanding and cognitive perspective, lies outside the scope of my present concern.