Freedom in Education: A Philosophical Critique of Current Educational Policies

Video, 1 hr & 6 mins

This video is a recording of the presentation I gave in Middle Tennessee State University’s Applied Philosophy Lyceum speakers series on November 17, 2023, in Murfreesboro, TN.

The talk is titled, “Freedom in Education: A Philosophical Critique of Current Educational Policies,” and the abstract for the presentation reads as follows:

Parents and guardians are naturally concerned about what their children are taught in schools. Some lament what they feel is a lack of control over curricula and what are thought to be forces or agendas that they believe are not in kids’ best interests. The arguments advanced in recent conflicts take two main forms. The first, advanced in similar fashion on opposing sides of issues concerning gender and early education, takes the form of arguments to “protect” children. The second, typically arising in discourse about desire for exclusion or selection of curricular messages or content, typically focuses on parents’ rights, in particular, to freedom of choice, whether regarding selection of schools, book banning, or inclusion or exclusion of desired or undesirable subject matters from curricula. In this talk, Dr. Weber will defend the importance of students’ and teachers’ freedom and challenge the overreach of dominant parental views that seek to silence the lived experiences and concerns of marginalized groups.

NOTE: At one point, I accidentally said “Transylvania State University,” which was intended to refer to Transylvania University, which is a private institution. This was an accidental case of misspeaking. The point was to contrast with state institutions, which was on my mind, and probably led me to use that word, “state,” resulting in the opposite of my intended meaning… My mistake!

Philosophical Research Methods: This talk was delivered in fall 2023, when I was teaching a course on Philosophical Research Methods in the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. I mention this because in this talk, I describe my methodology explicitly for the project beginning at minute 14 until minute 19. For those interested in that portion of the talk, you can jump to those minutes.

Dr. Phil Oliver

Thanks again! I am most grateful to Dr. Phil Oliver for organizing a wonderfully welcoming event, which featured a great turn out on a rainy Friday evening. I’m also grateful to the members of the MTSU department of Philosophy and Religion, as well as to Heather Gibbs, who kindly coordinated the details of my visit.

Posted on Friday, April 21, 2023

KY’s Potential for Leadership in Educational Ethics: Calling for an End to Corporal Punishment in American Schools

2023 Commonwealth Ethics Lecture at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY

In the spring of 2023, the Ethics and Social Justice Center at Bellarmine University issued a call for proposals for their yearly Commonwealth Ethics Lecture. They invited scholars from around the state to propose a talk to be delivered for their 2023 lecture, considering approaches from all disciplines and with special interest in interdisciplinary dialogue and topics, encouraging “critical reflection, dialogue, and constructive action on contemporary ethical issues in society.” They also welcomed proposals “related to politics, societal well-being, and individual happiness,” as well as that “intersect these themes with regional issues.”

I pitched my proposal in relation to the fact that Kentucky is a state that continues to permit and make use of corporal punishment in public schools. I have long thought about corporal punishment especially as an example of a practice long outmoded and for which evidence has become increasingly clear that better alternatives are available and that long-term effects of the practice are psychologically and medically discouraged. Given this opportunity, it was a great chance for me to focus on corporal punishment directly, so I jumped at the chance finally to focus extensively on this topic.

Kentucky has decreased the use of the form of discipline in public schools to nearly negligible levels, with 17 recorded instances of corporal punishment in the 2020-2021 school year, which suggests that the practice would not be difficult to end at the state level. Given that, Kentucky could serve as a leader among states that presently permit and engage in the practice, to show how others can follow the lead of the Commonwealth state of Kentucky, to end the practice around the country. The video here above is 1hr and 1 min long, concluding at the end of my talk, not including the question and answer session, though that was fun and rewarding for me also.

I am especially grateful to Dr. Kate Johnson for being a welcoming and great host at Bellarmine University for the talk. The attendance and recording of the talk were great and much appreciated.

The PowerPoint slides for my talk are available online here.

VIDEO: Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing

This video was recorded at Vanderbilt University on October 15th, 2022, at the John and Shirley Lachs Conference on American Philosophy. My presentation was titled “Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing.” Here’s the program for the conference. I am grateful to Vanderbilt University’s Philosophy Department for support for my participation in the conference and for permission to post the video.

Posted on Friday, February 26, 2021

Prepare to Act Naturally! …

Or, Be Nice, Not Machiavellian, in Professional Networking

Today, I led a discussion for the department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation’s Lunch & Connect series, which we run to keep people connected despite the pandemic. My meeting was titled: “Prepare to Act Naturally! … Or, Be Nice, Not Machiavellian, in Professional Networking.”

For the talk, I created a handout, which is available here: etw.li/networking.

We recorded today’s talk, which you can watch here:

If you enjoyed this video, consider sharing it with anyone looking for thoughts about professional networking in higher education.

In the video, Dr. Kelly Bradley mentioned a resource that I may get ahold of and be able to share with you here, updating this post.

On Friday, February 19th, 2021, from 2:15 to 3:30, I’ll be participating on a book panel at the 2021 conference of the Southeastern Philosophy of Education Society (SEPES). If you’re interested in participating online, register for panel 3a here.

Date:	February 19, 2021
Time:	02:15-03:30 p.m.
Event:	Book panel - 'America's Public Philosopher'
Topic:	Book Panel on 'America's Public Philosopher,' Register here (for 3a).
Sponsor:	The Southeastern Philosophy of Education Society
Venue:	Zoom video conferencing, organized via Eventbrite - See program & click on links
Public:	Public
Registration:	Click here to register.
More Info:	Click here for more information.

Get your copy of the book here: https://amzn.to/2LAOGMJ.

Posted on Friday, October 16, 2020

Research Trajectories, Big & Small

Handout from a talk delivered in the Lunch & Connect Series for the Ed Policy & Evaluation department

Today I led the department of Educational Policy Studies & Evaluation‘s Lunch & Connect meeting on Zoom, focusing on the topic: “Research Trajectories: From Idea to Presentation, to Journal Article, to Book.” I had intended to record the meeting, but due to some of the complication of starting a zoom meeting, making sure people had the link to the virtual handout, etc., I managed not to hit record before starting… Oh well. For today’s session, I made a handout and outline for the meeting I facilitated and led. That outline and handout are available here or by clicking on the Adobe logo on left.

I’m grateful to SpaceX-Imagery for permission to use this image.

The EPE department’s Lunch & Connect series is meant to help us stay in touch with each other during the time of COVID-19. Today, October 16th, was the day for which I signed up and weeks ago I had reached out to graduate students who participate in the Agraphia writing meeting that I run weekly, to ask what they’d like to hear about. This was one of the options that I had thrown out and that received the most votes.

John Dewey.

While the subtitle of my talk reads “From Idea to Presentation, to Journal Article, to Book,” actually it all starts before those smaller matters, with the big picture of one’s aims and career research trajectory. By “career,” I don’t particularly mean to refer to employment, but to the life of one’s research aims. Connecting to the big picture in this way and to who each researcher is represents an outgrowth of John Dewey’s philosophy of education, which calls for recognizing persons’ varied inclinations, interests, and selectivity of attention, as well as their powers, abilities, and attitudes. The big picture need not lead a person to exclude all else, but can allow healthy breaks for divergent projects, while also giving us reasons to watch out for what we often call “rabbit holes.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if I were to give this talk again. If I do so, I’ll be sure to record it. For now, at least, I can share the handout I made for the sake of facilitating today’s meeting. I hope it’s useful.

P.S. If you are interested in studying philosophical issues in education, check out the Philosophical and Cultural Inquiry (PCI) track of the University of Kentucky College of Education’s Ph.D. in Educational Sciences. There aren’t many programs like ours in the country. If you want to learn more, reach out: eric.t.weber@uky.edu.

Posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Undergraduate Research Beyond the Classroom

A Presentation for the Lewis Honors College & for EPE 301 Students at the University of Kentucky

On Tuesday, October 13th, 2020, I was invited to give a talk for the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky on “Undergraduate Research Beyond the Classroom.” This talk is also potentially of interest to students in my EPE 301 course on Education in American Culture. Really, this talk is for any undergraduate who might be interested in taking advantage of opportunities to engage in research or its dissemination beyond the classroom. The handout I used can be opened here or by clicking on the Adobe logo on the right.

Students in EPE 301 can use this video as 1 hour of their field experience observations. The dangers of COVID-19 prompted the creation of this option. Most students are probably not studying the subject of this talk for their papers, but all are working on research in their undergraduate coursework. In that context, students might find the content of this video useful for taking their work beyond the classroom. In addition, students interested in an issue about which they suspect that I could offer some useful thoughts can email me with their questions or comments as part of their field experience work: eric.t.weber@uky.edu.

In the talk, I reference three texts that aren’t mentioned on the handout. Those books were:

Allen, David. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (New York: Penguin Books, 2015).

Brewer, Robert Lee. Writer’s Market 2020 (New York: Penguin Random House, 2019).

Brewer, Robert Lee. Writer’s Market Guide to Literary Agents 2020 (New York: Penguin Random House, 2019).

I’m looking forward to hearing Dr. Larry Hickman’s remarks on truth and public discourse this March in San Marcos, TX, where I’ll be a commentator after his presentation.

Date:	March 12, 2020
Event:	Commenting on a panel on Dr. Larry Hickman's work at Texas State University
Topic:	Truth & Public Discourse
Sponsor:	Philosophy Department at Texas State University San Marcos (512)245-2285
Location:	San Marcos, TX USA
Public:	Public

I’m looking forward to a meeting with the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO) and the Squire Family Foundation in Atlanta, GA, to talk about an opportunity for collaboration with the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA).

Date:	February 22, 2020
Event:	Meeting with the Squire Family Foundation
Topic:	Ethics and the Public
Sponsor:	Squire Family Foundation & the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (631) 662-7645
Location:	Atlanta, GA USA
Public:	Private

I’ll be presenting on “Philosophy and Educational Policy” on a panel on philosophy and public policy at the 2020 Kentucky Philosophical Association meeting.

Date:	April 4, 2020
Time:	12:00-03:00 p.m.
Event:	KPA Talk, April 4th, 2020 in Morehead, KY
Topic:	Philosophy and Educational Policy
Sponsor:	Morehead State University 606-783-2273
Venue:	Department of History, Philosophy, Politics, International Studies, and Legal Studies
Location:	Morehead, KY USA
Public:	Public