This book provides an authoritative, yet accessible guide to the Philosophy of Education, its scope, its key thinkers and movements, and its potential contribution to a range of educational concerns. The text offers a balanced view of three key dimensions: first, in giving an equal weight to different styles and modes of philosophy; second, by including past and present perspectives on philosophy of education; and third, in covering both the general "perennial" issues in philosophy and issues of more contemporary concern. Section one of the book exemplifies different styles of philosophy, paying attention to the contemporary debates as to the nature, possibilities and limitations of these different approaches to philosophy of education. Section two is devoted to particular thinkers of the past, and more general coverage of the history of philosophy of education. Section three is dedicated to contemporary philosophic thought on education, providing the basis and reference point for an exploration of contemporary issues.

The handbook is designed primarily to be useful to students studying the field of philosophy of education, in the context of the study of educational foundations or theory. But it is also designed to be of use to practising teachers who wish to gain easy access to current philosophical thinking on particular contemporary educational issues, and to educationalists of all types who want a succinct guide to questions relating to the nature, the history, and the current state of the art of philosophy of education.