On the evolution of educational conservatism in Britain: Three concepts of Liberal Education

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This paper traces the evolution of educational conservatism in Britain on the example of the changing concepts of liberal education by Herbert Spencer, Thomas Huxley, Michael Oakeshott. All three approaches are conservative in the sense that they build on an evolutionary theory of change to conceptualise education as a means to preserve a certain notion of culture. Based on the analysis of these different conceptions of liberal education, I will discuss two points: First, I will explore the idea that educational neoliberalism can be understood as a veiled regression back to a particular form of early conservatism in education focused on adaptability to the status quo. Second, bringing in the pragmatist tradition for comparison, I will attempt to disentangle concepts of evolution from concepts of education, arguing against the idea that educational conservatism necessarily follows from a certain understanding of evolution. This insight might help to question claims to epistemic superiority by supposedly ‘scientific’ theories of education based on evolutionary science and their potentially conservative implications.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2024
EventPESGB Annual Conference 2024 - New College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Duration: 22 Mar 202424 Mar 2024

Conference

ConferencePESGB Annual Conference 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityOxford
Period22/03/2424/03/24

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