Educational Philosophy and Theory

This is a call for contributing to a special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory on the philosophies of education from Indian perspectives. Most educationists committed to bringing about transformative change within the diverse Indian education system are aware of a wealth of Indian philosophical and theoretical perspectives on education. However, they may not have had the opportunity to present their interpretations of philosophical ideas to address current educational realities. Going by the nature of the teaching-learning activities that occur at mainstream educational institutions in India, and in the absence of systematic data, it appears that Indian philosophies of education have not had a lot of traction in practice. One encounters specifically Indian thinking on education only in the educational goals, curricula and pedagogies of institutions that claim allegiance to certain exceptional thinkers and social reformers of the past 175 years, counting down from the founding of Savitribai Phule’s school for women in 1848.

Hence this call is for fundamental work in compiling together philosophical perspectives on education from a variety of sources. It is grounded in the belief that there is room for creative engagement with the Indian tradition of letters and orality, with a view to reading into its insights on education in the present context.

• Is it, for example, possible to compare statements of aims of education at various points in India’s cultural history using philosophical criteria?
• How might one identify educational resources in the Indian tradition, in view of the plurality of educational efforts across vastly different social arrangements and communities?
• What epistemological assumptions underwrite the educational proposals made by, e.g., Savitribai Phule, Ambedkar, Tagore, Gandhi, Maulana Azad or the Fourteenth Dalai Lama?
• How might deeper postcolonial readings of Gandhi, Krishnamurti, Vivekananda or Aurobindo on education shape up at a time very different from those in which these individuals lived and worked?
• What would be the vicissitudes of a specifically Indian education capable of undoing structures of long-term, systemic and ongoing social, economic and political oppressions?

Sources brought to the fore by contributing authors may include but are not limited to findings in the humanities and social sciences, literary works, policy documents, and academic and non-academic philosophies. Given the unsystematic nature of much philosophizing in India, particularly in the late 19th and the first half of the 20th C., contributors are invited to develop and apply rigorous norms for drawing philosophical claims from texts that are not, but in their opinion, ought to be read for their philosophical content. It is expected that the proposed issue would count as a valuable sourcebook for Indian philosophies of education, as well as a vehicle for original research by the contributors into a variety of topics in the domain.

About the Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mousumi Mukherjee is Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building, and the founding Executive Director of the Centre for Comparative and Global Education, O.P. Jindal Global University. She is also an Honorary Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She is a distinguished Fulbright alumna and the Vice-President, Research and Partnerships Development of the STAR Scholars Network. She has made scholarly contribution in the area of “Southern Theory” drawing on Rabindranath Tagore and J. Krishnamurti’s decolonial perspectives and philosophies of education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9251-9165

Dr. Indrani Bhattacharjee is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O. P. Jindal Global University at Sonipat, India. Indrani taught Philosophy of Education at Azim Premji University, Bangalore for several years previously. Her current academic writing focuses on interpreting the philosophical views of Rabindranath Tagore, whom she also reads as a philosopher of education.

At this stage, the Editors invite abstracts, approximately 500 words long, on topics touched upon above, and related questions, by July 31, 2023. The abstracts may be sent as email attachments to [email protected] and [email protected] by this date. The attached document should also include:

• the name and institution of the corresponding author;
• names and institutions of other authors;
• 50-word biographical statement of all authors;
• email address for the corresponding author;
• draft title for the article; and
• a draft abstract of up to 500 words.

If abstracts are accepted, we will invite authors to submit full-length articles for peer review. Up to eight abstracts will be selected for development into an article for the special issue. Papers should be approximately 6,000 words in length, including references, tables and appendices. Final acceptance of manuscripts will be subject to peer review.

Timeframe

• Abstract submission (up to 500 words): by 31 July 2023
• Notification of acceptance: no later than 31 August 2023
• Submission of full paper for review: by 31 December 2023

If you have any queries regarding this Special Issue, please contact the Special Issue Editors, Dr. Mousumi Mukherjee ([email protected]) and Dr. Indrani Bhattacharjee ([email protected])

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article