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On Learning, Volume 3

Knowledge, Curriculum and Ethics

Moving beyond test scores and outcomes, this volume redefines what it means to learn by intertwining ideas from philosophy, mathematics, and social theory.

What does it mean to learn? In On Learning, Volume 3: Knowledge, Curriculum and Ethics, David Scott probes the intricate relationship between knowledge and learning, questioning reductionist and empiricist perspectives that dominate contemporary education. This volume, like the first two in the series, critically analyzes the philosophical and ethical dimensions of learning, pushing beyond simplified notions of curriculum and assessment. Scott ties in a range of key concepts, including epistemology and critical realism, to offer a profound rethinking of what it means to know and engage with the world.

At the heart of this book is a call to recognize that learning is not merely a mechanical process or a set of measurable outcomes but a deeply human and ethical endeavor. On Learning, Volume 3 urges readers to reconsider the structures that shape education today and invites us to rethink how we understand knowledge and learning, and the values that underpin them.

266 pages | 10 figures | 6.14 x 9.21

Education: Philosophy of Education


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Reviews

"With this third volume of his trilogy on learning, and written with the exemplary rigour, clarity and incisiveness that are now trademarks of his, David Scott cements his reputation as one of the world's leading philosophers of education. Those who wish to learn about learning are much in David's debt."

Ronald Barnett, UCL

"This third book in Scott’s series on theorising and discussing the lived experience as learning offers a comprehensive capstone to his work. The book shares with the others his perceptive, imaginative and informed scholarship in a well-argued and original text. Its contribution to the literature ought to be assured."

Paul Gibbs, Middlesex University

"Like the two previous volumes in this series this book is a radical inquiry in the sense that it probes the rich depths of the innumerable ways human beings relate to a complex world. This book challenges a view of learning that is cloaked in the language of behaviour and outcomes as being best reserved for animal training."

Tone Saevi, VID Specialized University, Norway

Table of Contents

List of figures and boxes
Preface

1 Introduction

Part 1: Philosophical frameworks

2 A semantic theory of learning
3 Learning and knowledge
4 A Bildungstheorie
5 Justification criteria for knowledge and learning
6 A mathematical language: averaging, probability, comparison, prediction and correlation

Part 2: Learning relations
7 A bureaucratic theory of learning
8 A genealogy of curriculum and learning
9 Social, economic and political categories of learning and knowledge
10 An ethical theory of learning and knowledge
11 Critical learning and knowledge

References
Index

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