ABSTRACT
The history of Western education has abundant examples of schools and colleges being called upon to advance the interests of one or other governing party, usually those of church, monarch, or state. Although such an understanding of education is still quite common, even in today’s democracies, and despite the fact that it can trace some origins to Plato and Aristotle, it nevertheless obscures a more original and more promising understanding. That more promising understanding springs from Socrates and it regards education not as a subordinate undertaking but as a distinct and enriching practice in its own right.
This contribution begins by tracing historically the rise of the view that education is a subordinate undertaking, a servant of the reigning powers. The second part seeks to recover the essentials of what the dominant historical patterns eclipsed. Exploring these essentials further, the third part investigates what makes educational practice properly educational. Finally, the fourth part identifies important issues that need to be addressed if education is to advance as an acknowledged and valued practice in circumstances of cultural plurality and aggressive nationalisms. The current challenges that face this advance are reviewed from within the practice and from the outside.
