EDUCATIONAL THEORYPub Date : 2026-03-09Epub Date: 2025-11-06DOI: 10.1111/edth.70060
Bryan R. Warnick, Jamie Herman, Kyle Williams
{"title":"SAFE SPACES AND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS: A GUIDED TOUR OF CAMPUS CONTEXTS","authors":"Bryan R. Warnick, Jamie Herman, Kyle Williams","doi":"10.1111/edth.70060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70060","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Contemporary events on university campuses have spotlighted the perceived conflict between free speech and safe spaces. While both values are widely acknowledged as essential, reconciling them in practice remains difficult. In this article, we argue that universities should not be viewed as singular entities but as a constellation of distinct spaces, each with its own normative context. The appropriate balance between safety and speech depends on the specific functions and values of each space. We first survey philosophical literature on campus speech and safety, noting the often-implicit acknowledgment of spatial diversity. Next, we introduce guiding questions to assist in evaluating how speech and safety should be balanced across different settings. Finally, we tour campus spaces using this framework, proposing that speech and safety exist on a continuum: some areas should support robust free expression, while others should prioritize safety and belonging.</p>","PeriodicalId":47134,"journal":{"name":"EDUCATIONAL THEORY","volume":"76 2","pages":"170-192"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/edth.70060","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147563756","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EDUCATIONAL THEORYPub Date : 2026-03-09Epub Date: 2025-10-31DOI: 10.1111/edth.70062
Haoyu Jin
{"title":"What Does it Mean to be a Student? Exploring the Experience of “Studenting” as Referring and Hosting","authors":"Haoyu Jin","doi":"10.1111/edth.70062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70062","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article follows the “Biestian” concept of “teaching as pointing,” and expands on it by adding the role and perspective of the student in educational interactions or contacts, which are largely underdeveloped or marginalized in Biesta's theory of education. I explore the nature and experience of “being a student” with a reconstruction of the concept of “studenting” as the starting point. This article then posits two imageries that may be used to depict the experience of studenting: studenting as referring and studenting as hosting. I will elaborate on these two imageries with references to child psychology and the culture of hospitality, respectively. The host-guest analysis also yields the possibility of the teacher being (and acting as) a host in relation to the student-as-guest. Finally, I will draw some possible pedagogical implications from my overall analysis and discussion to concretize what has been said in this article.</p>","PeriodicalId":47134,"journal":{"name":"EDUCATIONAL THEORY","volume":"76 2","pages":"274-292"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/edth.70062","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147570276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EDUCATIONAL THEORYPub Date : 2026-03-09Epub Date: 2025-10-08DOI: 10.1111/edth.70054
Scott Robinson
{"title":"Egalitarian Education and the Skeptical Pedagogue: Jacques Rancière and Stanley Cavell on the Scene of Education","authors":"Scott Robinson","doi":"10.1111/edth.70054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70054","url":null,"abstract":"<p>There are striking similarities between Jacques Rancière's treatment of the pedagogue in <i>The Ignorant Schoolmaster</i> and Stanley Cavell's treatment of the skeptical instructor in the second chapter of <i>Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome</i>. In this article, I argue that this pairing highlights the ways in which both Rancière and Cavell approach the figure I call the skeptical pedagogue. They share the term “stultification” for the effect of this figure on the process of learning and teaching. Skepticism and the explanative method erode the student's capacity to show their intelligence and the teacher's willingness to perceive it. I also show that both Rancière and Cavell share an egalitarian ethos in their writing on education and aesthetics. Against the skeptical pedagogue's misleading foundationalism, the connection between Rancière and Cavell illuminates how the presupposition of equality enhances the context of education, focused not on a single proper starting point or a procedure of rule-following but on acts of translation and creative intelligence. This article responds to key texts on Rancière and Cavell in educational theory and aesthetics and develops an account of practices such as rule-following in judgment and communicability in aesthetic education. After describing the skeptical pedagogue and presenting an account of egalitarian education, I show how a distinctive conception of translation enables both Rancière and Cavell to describe ways for the student and teacher to go on together. I develop the connection between Rancière and Cavell and argue that they share a conception of egalitarian education that emphasizes what we owe to ourselves and each other as reasonable beings.</p>","PeriodicalId":47134,"journal":{"name":"EDUCATIONAL THEORY","volume":"76 2","pages":"293-310"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147564440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EDUCATIONAL THEORYPub Date : 2026-03-09Epub Date: 2025-12-02DOI: 10.1111/edth.70069
Jeanne Sinclair, Nevra Ozoren Sener
{"title":"A Framework for a Culturally Sustaining “Science of Reading”","authors":"Jeanne Sinclair, Nevra Ozoren Sener","doi":"10.1111/edth.70069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70069","url":null,"abstract":"<p>For decades, the “reading wars” have unfolded between two paradigms: a holistic, meaning-oriented approach, and a cognitively oriented skills-based approach. The “wars” have long complicated educational research, policy, and practice. Yet, neither the holistic nor the cognitive paradigm has historically centered strengths of linguistically and culturally diverse communities. This article uses theory-building to explore these paradigms and illuminate the prismatic dimensions of culturally sustaining reading instruction. We propose a reconciliatory bridging framework that builds on students' and educators' strengths and lived experiences. At the crux is teachers' deep professional learning, to effectively cultivate students' linguistic and literary repertoires across and within languages, dialects, cultures, identities, and histories. Teachers' assessment literacy and multidisciplinary knowledge are key, as is greater pluralization of the social sciences. Limitations within high-stakes accountability regimes are also discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":47134,"journal":{"name":"EDUCATIONAL THEORY","volume":"76 2","pages":"243-273"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147562387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EDUCATIONAL THEORYPub Date : 2026-03-09Epub Date: 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1111/edth.70066
Alexandra K. Chang
{"title":"The Value of Relational Teacher Autonomy","authors":"Alexandra K. Chang","doi":"10.1111/edth.70066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70066","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Autonomy is an ideal both defended and condemned by theorists and empirical scholars alike. I begin this article by suggesting that at least part of this ongoing debate can be explained by the fact that autonomy—and teacher autonomy, in particular—is a slippery concept. While some scholars characterize autonomy in ways that highlight teachers' control, others prioritize rational independence or even creativity and emotion. Such ambiguity makes it difficult to know what we are evaluating as a potential good that is worth defending for teachers, as well as to articulate the reasons we might have to preserve it. This article seeks to closely interrogate the concept of teacher autonomy through analyzing a normative case study. I first demonstrate how teacher autonomy can and should be understood as more than rational choice or control. Drawing on David Enoch's distinction between “autonomy as sovereignty” and “autonomy as non-alienation,” as well as on Doris Santoro's notion of a teacher's “moral center,” I propose an account of teacher autonomy that prioritizes non-alienation. However, the subsequent analysis reveals that this account on its own falls short of capturing all the ways in which a teacher's autonomy might be at stake. I suggest this is due to the deep relationality that characterizes how values are both constructed and expressed through teaching. That is, because teaching is a shared practice, teachers' values and commitments are often formed and enacted in relation with others. I argue that this has implications for the way we evaluate and advocate for the autonomy of teachers.</p>","PeriodicalId":47134,"journal":{"name":"EDUCATIONAL THEORY","volume":"76 2","pages":"193-205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147563817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}