Reclaiming Discipline for Education : Knowledge, relationships and the birth of community

Discipline is of profound educational importance, both inside educational institutions and outside of them in personal and social life. Reclaiming Discipline for Education revisits neglected philosophical ideas about discipline in education and uses these ideas to re-think practices and discourses of discipline in education today.

Chapters in this book trace the evolution of thought regarding discipline in education all the way from Kant through to Durkheim, Foucault, Peters, Dewey and Macmurray. MacAllister also critically examines the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary school discipline practices in the UK, the US and Australia, including behaviour management, zero tolerance and restorative approaches. The educational credentials of psychological constructs of grit and self-discipline are also questioned.

This book concludes by considering the current and future state of discipline in education on the basis of the different philosophical, practical and policy perspectives discussed. In particular, MacAllister examines why it is problematic to consider practices of discipline in isolation from the wider purposes of education. This book is suitable for an international audience and should be read by anyone who is interested in education and educational leadership, as well as those interested in the philosophy of education.

James MacAllister is Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Edinburgh, UK.