Literature Educational Ideals, Rights and Ethics
Week 1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Educational Justice – Chapter 1 [pp 3-11] ..........................................................................................................3
Educational Justice – Chapter 2 .........................................................................................................................4
The Republic [§369-434] ....................................................................................................................................6
Week 2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
Emile – book 1 ..................................................................................................................................................12
Emile – book 2 ..................................................................................................................................................16
On Liberty – Chapter 1 .....................................................................................................................................19
Week 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 22
Jencks “Whom must we treat equally for educational opportunity to be equal?” ..........................................22
Educational Justice – Chapter 8 .......................................................................................................................24
Week 4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 27
On Liberty – Chapter 2 .....................................................................................................................................27
Peters, “Education as Initiation” ......................................................................................................................30
Week 5 ........................................................................................................................................................ 35
LaFollette “Licensing Parents Revisited” ..........................................................................................................35
Liao “The Right of Children to be Loved”..........................................................................................................41
Week 6 ........................................................................................................................................................ 48
Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1989) ..................................................................................................48
Feinberg “The Child’s Right to an Open Future” ..............................................................................................49
Mills “The Child’s Right to an Open Future?” ...................................................................................................51
Week 7 ........................................................................................................................................................ 53
Rachels “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” ...............................................................................................53
Midgley “Trying Out One’s New Sword” ..........................................................................................................56
Archard “The Problem of Child Abuse” [recommended] ..................................................................................58
Week 8 ........................................................................................................................................................ 63
On Liberty – Chapter 4 .....................................................................................................................................63
On Liberty – Chapter 5 .....................................................................................................................................66
Educational Justice – Chapter 4 .......................................................................................................................70
Week 9 ........................................................................................................................................................ 75
Educational Justice – Chapter 5 .......................................................................................................................75
Educational Justice – Chapter 7 .......................................................................................................................78
,Week 10 ...................................................................................................................................................... 83
Cripps, “Why it can be permissible to have kids in the climate emergency” ....................................................83
Okin, “Mistresses of their own destiny: group rights, gender & realistic rights of exit” ..................................88
Week 11 ...................................................................................................................................................... 92
Educational Justice – Chapter 6 .......................................................................................................................92
Terzi “Beyond the dilemma of difference: The capability approach to disability and special educational
needs” ..............................................................................................................................................................97
Purdy “Educating Gifted Children” .................................................................................................................101
Week 12 .....................................................................................................................................................105
Close “Fair Grades” ........................................................................................................................................105
McCrikkerd “What Can be Fairly Factored into Final Grades?” .....................................................................109
Norris et al. “What is at stake in knowing the content and capabilities of children’s minds?”......................112
, Week 1
Educational Justice – Chapter 1 [pp 3-11]
The chapter opens with Thomas Kuhn's idea that dominant ideologies (or paradigms) shape
what questions we ask and what conclusions we allow ourselves to reach — often without
our awareness. The author, M. S. Merry, argues that many of our beliefs about education
work the same way: unexamined assumptions quietly steer our thinking, our policy choices,
and our sense of what's possible.
The role of critique
Merry makes a case for the value of critical analysis, arguing it serves three key functions:
1. Exposing bias — Biases operate largely unconsciously and harden into dogma (what
Bourdieu called doxa): beliefs held as self-evident truths that become impervious to
challenge.
2. Uncovering cognitive dissonance — We often simultaneously hold contradictory
beliefs, downplaying inconvenient evidence to preserve cherished assumptions.
Merry argues this can actually worsen educational injustice.
• Cognitive dissonance = refers to the unconscious tendency to hold contradictory
beliefs, values, or views simultaneously, whereby a particular belief, value, or view
regarding an empirical reality must be downplayed (minimized) so that another,
more fundamental belief or value can prevail.
3. Getting realistic about inequality — He challenges the "strange optimism" that
schools can compensate for deep structural inequalities, borrowing from Eagleton to
argue that genuine hope requires unflinching honesty about how bad things are.
Pragmatic alternatives
Critique alone isn't enough. Merry calls for openness to pragmatic alternatives — even ones
that feel uncomfortable — when preferred strategies have repeatedly failed. Refusing such
openness, he argues, makes us complicit in educational injustice.
Scope and audience
The book focuses mainly on the work of educational philosophers and empirical researchers,
arguing that both fall short: philosophers often ignore empirical realities, while researchers
often lack theoretical tools and avoid uncomfortable alternatives. A combined approach is
needed.
Why liberalism is the target
Merry directs his critique primarily at liberal educational thought — not conservatism — for
two reasons: liberals frame their positions in terms of justice (making them the right target
for a justice-focused critique), and liberal views dominate academic educational research,
functioning as unquestioned orthodoxies. He also critiques liberals' relatively trusting view of
the state, aligning himself more with radical left traditions (Althusser, sociology of education)
that have long documented how state school systems can perpetuate, rather than remedy,
inequality.
, Educational Justice – Chapter 2
Schools as both hope and harm
The chapter opens by acknowledging the widespread belief that schooling is a great social
good – raising GDP (Gross Domestic Product), improving health, increasing literacy, expanding
opportunities. But Merry then argues that state-managed school systems are not genuinely
for justice and arguably never have been. Despite their stated egalitarian goals, schools are
actively damaging – they reproduce socioeconomic inequality, distribute credential unequally
(denying material access to some), and psychologically harm children who are daily reminded
of their failure through the rituals of schooling.
He supports this with decades of scholarship documenting schooling’s harmful effects. He
quotes Samuel Bowles, who notes half a century ago that the belief in education as an
equalizer serves to ideologically justify capitalism, even as educational inequality persists and
is treated as a “passing phenomenon” rather than a structural feature. Merry stresses that
acknowledging this is not saying: most children don’t enjoy school, no good comes from
education, school systems never mitigate worse forms of inequality and pupil are passive
victims with no agency.
Rather his point is that justice is not typically, or by design, one of the core aims of state-
managed schooling. Behind the ideal of schools as “great equalizers,” the actual forces at
work are: hidden curricula, sorting mechanisms, tracking, biased teacher expectations, and
high-stakes assessments. These systematically reproduce inequality even while equality is
loudly proclaimed
What is justice?
Merry surveys the concept of justice broadly, noting there is no single agreed-upon theory.
He notes that many theories agree on a minimum:
• Freedom from arbitrary rule, domination, and deprivation
• Equal distribution and guarantee of basic rights
• Structural conditions across housing, transport, health, education, and law
Merry settles on equality as his working principle – not sameness of outcomes, but fairness
in how rights, resources, and opportunities are structured.
• One’s moral status should not be determined by genetic inheritance, family wealth,
birthplace, or biological sex
• Children’s educational experiences should not be determined by postcode, ethnicity,
first language, or parents’ education
• Children should not be sorted or disciplined in ways based on morally arbitrary
characteristics
• Institutions should be designed to promote equitable ends for all
He introduces the concept of the positional dimension of justice: it’s not just whether
someone is literate or not in an absolute sense, but how well they are doing relative to others.
This matters because once the state takes on education as a collective responsibility,
comparative outcomes become a matter of justice.
Week 1 .......................................................................................................................................................... 3
Educational Justice – Chapter 1 [pp 3-11] ..........................................................................................................3
Educational Justice – Chapter 2 .........................................................................................................................4
The Republic [§369-434] ....................................................................................................................................6
Week 2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
Emile – book 1 ..................................................................................................................................................12
Emile – book 2 ..................................................................................................................................................16
On Liberty – Chapter 1 .....................................................................................................................................19
Week 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 22
Jencks “Whom must we treat equally for educational opportunity to be equal?” ..........................................22
Educational Justice – Chapter 8 .......................................................................................................................24
Week 4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 27
On Liberty – Chapter 2 .....................................................................................................................................27
Peters, “Education as Initiation” ......................................................................................................................30
Week 5 ........................................................................................................................................................ 35
LaFollette “Licensing Parents Revisited” ..........................................................................................................35
Liao “The Right of Children to be Loved”..........................................................................................................41
Week 6 ........................................................................................................................................................ 48
Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1989) ..................................................................................................48
Feinberg “The Child’s Right to an Open Future” ..............................................................................................49
Mills “The Child’s Right to an Open Future?” ...................................................................................................51
Week 7 ........................................................................................................................................................ 53
Rachels “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” ...............................................................................................53
Midgley “Trying Out One’s New Sword” ..........................................................................................................56
Archard “The Problem of Child Abuse” [recommended] ..................................................................................58
Week 8 ........................................................................................................................................................ 63
On Liberty – Chapter 4 .....................................................................................................................................63
On Liberty – Chapter 5 .....................................................................................................................................66
Educational Justice – Chapter 4 .......................................................................................................................70
Week 9 ........................................................................................................................................................ 75
Educational Justice – Chapter 5 .......................................................................................................................75
Educational Justice – Chapter 7 .......................................................................................................................78
,Week 10 ...................................................................................................................................................... 83
Cripps, “Why it can be permissible to have kids in the climate emergency” ....................................................83
Okin, “Mistresses of their own destiny: group rights, gender & realistic rights of exit” ..................................88
Week 11 ...................................................................................................................................................... 92
Educational Justice – Chapter 6 .......................................................................................................................92
Terzi “Beyond the dilemma of difference: The capability approach to disability and special educational
needs” ..............................................................................................................................................................97
Purdy “Educating Gifted Children” .................................................................................................................101
Week 12 .....................................................................................................................................................105
Close “Fair Grades” ........................................................................................................................................105
McCrikkerd “What Can be Fairly Factored into Final Grades?” .....................................................................109
Norris et al. “What is at stake in knowing the content and capabilities of children’s minds?”......................112
, Week 1
Educational Justice – Chapter 1 [pp 3-11]
The chapter opens with Thomas Kuhn's idea that dominant ideologies (or paradigms) shape
what questions we ask and what conclusions we allow ourselves to reach — often without
our awareness. The author, M. S. Merry, argues that many of our beliefs about education
work the same way: unexamined assumptions quietly steer our thinking, our policy choices,
and our sense of what's possible.
The role of critique
Merry makes a case for the value of critical analysis, arguing it serves three key functions:
1. Exposing bias — Biases operate largely unconsciously and harden into dogma (what
Bourdieu called doxa): beliefs held as self-evident truths that become impervious to
challenge.
2. Uncovering cognitive dissonance — We often simultaneously hold contradictory
beliefs, downplaying inconvenient evidence to preserve cherished assumptions.
Merry argues this can actually worsen educational injustice.
• Cognitive dissonance = refers to the unconscious tendency to hold contradictory
beliefs, values, or views simultaneously, whereby a particular belief, value, or view
regarding an empirical reality must be downplayed (minimized) so that another,
more fundamental belief or value can prevail.
3. Getting realistic about inequality — He challenges the "strange optimism" that
schools can compensate for deep structural inequalities, borrowing from Eagleton to
argue that genuine hope requires unflinching honesty about how bad things are.
Pragmatic alternatives
Critique alone isn't enough. Merry calls for openness to pragmatic alternatives — even ones
that feel uncomfortable — when preferred strategies have repeatedly failed. Refusing such
openness, he argues, makes us complicit in educational injustice.
Scope and audience
The book focuses mainly on the work of educational philosophers and empirical researchers,
arguing that both fall short: philosophers often ignore empirical realities, while researchers
often lack theoretical tools and avoid uncomfortable alternatives. A combined approach is
needed.
Why liberalism is the target
Merry directs his critique primarily at liberal educational thought — not conservatism — for
two reasons: liberals frame their positions in terms of justice (making them the right target
for a justice-focused critique), and liberal views dominate academic educational research,
functioning as unquestioned orthodoxies. He also critiques liberals' relatively trusting view of
the state, aligning himself more with radical left traditions (Althusser, sociology of education)
that have long documented how state school systems can perpetuate, rather than remedy,
inequality.
, Educational Justice – Chapter 2
Schools as both hope and harm
The chapter opens by acknowledging the widespread belief that schooling is a great social
good – raising GDP (Gross Domestic Product), improving health, increasing literacy, expanding
opportunities. But Merry then argues that state-managed school systems are not genuinely
for justice and arguably never have been. Despite their stated egalitarian goals, schools are
actively damaging – they reproduce socioeconomic inequality, distribute credential unequally
(denying material access to some), and psychologically harm children who are daily reminded
of their failure through the rituals of schooling.
He supports this with decades of scholarship documenting schooling’s harmful effects. He
quotes Samuel Bowles, who notes half a century ago that the belief in education as an
equalizer serves to ideologically justify capitalism, even as educational inequality persists and
is treated as a “passing phenomenon” rather than a structural feature. Merry stresses that
acknowledging this is not saying: most children don’t enjoy school, no good comes from
education, school systems never mitigate worse forms of inequality and pupil are passive
victims with no agency.
Rather his point is that justice is not typically, or by design, one of the core aims of state-
managed schooling. Behind the ideal of schools as “great equalizers,” the actual forces at
work are: hidden curricula, sorting mechanisms, tracking, biased teacher expectations, and
high-stakes assessments. These systematically reproduce inequality even while equality is
loudly proclaimed
What is justice?
Merry surveys the concept of justice broadly, noting there is no single agreed-upon theory.
He notes that many theories agree on a minimum:
• Freedom from arbitrary rule, domination, and deprivation
• Equal distribution and guarantee of basic rights
• Structural conditions across housing, transport, health, education, and law
Merry settles on equality as his working principle – not sameness of outcomes, but fairness
in how rights, resources, and opportunities are structured.
• One’s moral status should not be determined by genetic inheritance, family wealth,
birthplace, or biological sex
• Children’s educational experiences should not be determined by postcode, ethnicity,
first language, or parents’ education
• Children should not be sorted or disciplined in ways based on morally arbitrary
characteristics
• Institutions should be designed to promote equitable ends for all
He introduces the concept of the positional dimension of justice: it’s not just whether
someone is literate or not in an absolute sense, but how well they are doing relative to others.
This matters because once the state takes on education as a collective responsibility,
comparative outcomes become a matter of justice.
