Debates about indoctrination raise fundamental questions about the ethics of teaching. This paper presents a philosophical analysis of indoctrination, including 1) an account of what indoctrination is and why it is harmful, and 2) a framework for understanding the responsibilities of teachers and other educational actors to avoid its negative outcomes. I respond to prominent outcomes-based accounts of indoctrination, which I argue share two limiting features—a narrow focus on the threat indoctrination poses to knowledge and on the dyadic relationship between (...) indoctrinator and indoctrinated person. I propose a system-based account of indoctrination in which actors with authority contribute to the production or reinforcement of closed-mindedness, which threatens both knowledge and understanding. By taking a system-based approach, my account is better equipped to identify the implications of indoctrination for educational policy and practice. (shrink)

Debates about indoctrination raise fundamental questions about the ethics of teaching. This paper presents a philosophical analysis of indoctrination, including 1) an account of what indoctrination is and why it is harmful, and 2) a framework for understanding the responsibilities of teachers and other educational actors to avoid its negative outcomes. I respond to prominent outcomes-based accounts of indoctrination, which I argue share two limiting features—a narrow focus on the threat indoctrination poses to knowledge and on the dyadic relationship between (...) indoctrinator and indoctrinated person. I propose a system-based account of indoctrination in which actors with authority contribute to the production or reinforcement of closed-mindedness, which threatens both knowledge and understanding. By taking a system-based approach, my account is better equipped to identify the implications of indoctrination for educational policy and practice. (shrink)

This article is an attempt to develop the idea of peace education for adults through the assumption that, compared to peace education for children, educational approaches for adults are as yet undeveloped. This article also assumes that the progress of educational approaches for adults is necessary to the further development of peace education for children, as well as to the expansion of the theory. In navigating the argument around issues of peace education for adults, the article uses the example of (...) educational issues faced by Amerasians in Okinawa. The article argues that language education is a fundamental aspect of peace education for adults. It also demonstrates that the content of language education for adults is different from the content of language education for children. Furthermore, the article defends peace education for adults, through language education, as the very first step towards creating peaceful conditions for the education of Amerasians in Okinawa. (shrink)