George Orwell and Education: Learning, Commitment and Human Dependency

George Orwell and Education uses Orwell’s life and works to address current educational questions. His early life, political awakening and artistic development are key elements in the book’s presentation of Orwell himself as a learner, and as someone whose ideas continue to speak to contemporary debates about human interdependency.

The focus of the book is on critical issues in education, including the idea of universality, the status of young people and the nature of learning. Orwell’s efforts to conceptualise, and artistically realise his own experience, create a platform for exploring current educational issues in their philosophical and political contexts. This book will encourage a reimagining of, and stimulate debate about an idea of education that is less individualistic, pays greater attention to human mutuality, is politically engaged and ultimately more sustainable.

The book will appeal to researchers, scholars and post-graduate students in the fields of literature in education, pedagogy, educational philosophy, literary theory, citizenship and youth and community.

Christopher Hanley is Senior Lecturer in Secondary Education at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.