Editing Philosophy of education (section)

=== Curriculum ===
An important and controversial issue in the philosophy of education concerns the contents of the [[curriculum]], i.e. the question of what should be taught to students. This includes both the selection of subjects to be taught and the consideration of arguments for and against the inclusion of a particular topic. This issue is intimately tied to the aims of education: one may argue that a certain subject should be included in the curriculum because it serves one of the aims of education.<ref name="StanfordPhilosophyOfEducation"/><ref name="OxfordHandbookIntro"/><ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/>

While many positions about what subjects to include in the curriculum are controversial, some particular issues stand out where these controversies go beyond the academic discourse to a wide public discourse, like questions about [[Sex education|sexual]] and [[religious education]].<ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/><ref name="Allison">{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Allison |title=Ontario government releases new sex-ed curriculum, similar to scrapped version |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5792416/ontario-new-sex-ed-curriculum/ |website=Global News |access-date=2024-05-31 |archive-date=2024-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322232715/https://globalnews.ca/news/5792416/ontario-new-sex-ed-curriculum/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Barnes2019">{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=L. Philip |title=Crisis, Controversy and the Future of Religious Education |date=5 December 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-73002-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfvADwAAQBAJ |language=en |chapter=Introduction |access-date=31 May 2024 |archive-date=2 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102231841/https://books.google.com/books?id=EfvADwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Arragon2015"/> Controversies in sex education involve both biological aspects, such as the functioning of [[sex organs]], and social aspects, such as [[Human sexual activity|sexual practices]] and [[gender identities]]. Disagreements in this area concern which aspects are taught and in which detail as well as to which age groups these teachings should be directed.<ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/><ref name="Allison"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khubchandani |first1=Jagdish |last2=Clark |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Kumar |first3=Raman |title=Beyond Controversies: Sexuality Education for Adolescents in India |journal=Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |date=2014 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=175–179 |doi=10.4103/2249-4863.141588 |pmid=25374847 |pmc=4209665 |issn=2249-4863 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Debates on religious education include questions like whether [[religion]] should be taught as a distinct subject and, if so, whether it should be compulsory. Other questions include which religion or religions should be taught and to what degree religious views should influence other topics, such as [[ethics]] or sex education.<ref name="Barnes2019"/><ref name="Arragon2015">{{cite book |last1=Arragon |first1=Leo Van |last2=Beaman |first2=Lori G. |title=Issues in Religion and Education |date=1 January 2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-28981-9 |url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004289819/B9789004289819-s002.xml |language=en |chapter=Introduction |access-date=31 May 2024 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616032249/https://brill.com/view/book/9789004289819/B9789004289819-s002.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another prominent topic in this field concerns the subject of [[moral education]]. This field is sometimes referred to as "educational ethics". Disagreements in this field concern which moral beliefs and [[Value (ethics)|values]] should be taught to the students. This way, many of the disagreements in moral philosophy are reflected in the field of moral education.<ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/> Some theorists in the [[Kantianism|Kantian tradition]] emphasize the importance of [[moral reasoning]] and enabling children to become morally [[autonomous]] agents who can tell right from wrong.<ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/> Theorists in the [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian tradition]], on the other hand, focus more on moral [[habituation]] through the development of [[virtue]]s that concern both perception, affect, and judgment in regard to moral situations.<ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/> A related issue, heavily discussed in [[ancient philosophy]], is the extent to which [[morality]] can be taught at all instead of just being an inborn disposition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Desjardins |first1=Rosemary |title=Knowledge and Virtue: Paradox in Plato's "Meno" |journal=The Review of Metaphysics |date=1985 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=261–281 |jstor=20128314 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20128314 |issn=0034-6632 |access-date=2024-05-31 |archive-date=2023-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102231821/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20128314 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gordon |first1=John-Stewart |title=Modern Morality and Ancient Ethics |url=https://iep.utm.edu/modern-morality-ancient-ethics/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325130203/https://iep.utm.edu/modern-morality-ancient-ethics/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Various discussions also concern the role of [[art]] and [[aesthetics]] in public education. It has been argued that the [[creativity]] learned in these areas can be applied to various other fields and may thereby benefit the student in various ways. It has been argued that aesthetic education also has indirect effects on various other issues, such as shaping the student's sensibilities in the fields of morality and politics as well as heightening their awareness of self and others.<ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heybach |first1=Jessica A. |title=Aesthetics and Education |journal=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education |date=27 August 2020 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.413 |isbn=978-0-19-026409-3 |url=https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-413 |language=en |access-date=31 May 2024 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930162756/https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-413 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Ralph A. |title=The Relations of Philosophy of Education to Aesthetic Education |journal=Journal of Aesthetic Education |date=1969 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=161–164 |doi=10.2307/3331533 |jstor=3331533 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3331533 |issn=0021-8510 |access-date=2024-05-31 |archive-date=2023-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231102183418/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3331533 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some researchers reject the possibility of [[Objectivity (science)|objectivity]] in general. They use this claim to argue against universal forms of education, which they see as hiding particular [[worldview]]s, beliefs, and interests under a false cover.<ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/> This is sometimes utilized to advance an approach focused on more diversity, for example, by giving more prominence in education to the great variety of cultures, customs, languages, and lifestyles without giving preference to any of them.<ref name="BritannicaPhilosophyOfEducation"/><ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/>

Different approaches to solving these disputes are employed. In some cases, [[psychology]] in the field of [[child development]], [[learning]], and [[motivation]] can provide important general insights.<ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ogden |first1=Robert Morris |title=The relation of psychology to philosophy and education. |journal=Psychological Review |date=1913 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=179–193 |doi=10.1037/h0072120 |url=https://doi.org/10.1037/h0072120 |language=en |issn=0033-295X |access-date=2024-05-31 |archive-date=2024-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531092737/https://psycnet.apa.org/api/request/browsePA.getJournals |url-status=live }}</ref> More specific questions about the curriculum of a particular subject, such as [[mathematics]], are often strongly influenced by the philosophy of this specific discipline, such as the [[philosophy of mathematics]].<ref name="RoutledgeEducation"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ernest |first1=Paul |last2=Skovsmose |first2=Ole |last3=van Bendegem |first3=Jean Paul |last4=Bicudo |first4=Maria |last5=Miarka |first5=Roger |last6=Kvasz |first6=Ladislav |last7=Moeller |first7=Regina |series=ICME-13 Topical Surveys |title=The Philosophy of Mathematics Education |date=2016 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-40569-8 |pages=1–26 |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-40569-8_1 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-40569-8_1 |access-date=2024-05-31 |archive-date=2023-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209174341/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-40569-8_1 |url-status=live }}</ref>