Thinking in the Midst

Kathleen Knight-Abowitz gives the Presidential Address, the Value of Local Control: Place and Educational Governance delivered at the Philosophy of Education Society Annual meeting. This session is introduced by Sarah Stitzlein. Two paper responses are delivered by Clarence Joldersma and Campbell Scribner respectively. For more writing by Kathleen: For more work by Kathleen: Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Dustin Hornbeck (2025).  “The right to invite and the right to decline: Parental rights in public schools,” Theory and Research in Education 23 (2), 1-21. ⁠https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351377⁠ Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen (2025). “Serving on a school board, 2019-2023: Strengths and vulnerabilities of a democratic institution,” AERA Open 11 (1), 1-17.  ⁠https://doi.org/10.1177/233285842513238⁠For Sarah and Kathleen’s co-authored writing:https://kappanonline.org/abowitz-stitzlein-public-schools-public-goods-and-public-work/https://kappanonline.org/telling-new-stories-about-schools-reframing-narrative-shared-responsibilities-stitzlein-abowitz/ For more of Campbell’s writing: The Fight For Local Control: Schools, Suburbs, and American Democracy (Cornell, 2016)https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501700804/the-fight-for-local-control/A is for Arson: A History of Vandalism in American Education (Cornell, 2023)https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501770722/a-is-for-arson/

Kathleen Knight Abowitz and Danny Mamlok sat down to talk with Cara about the upcoming Philosophy of Education Society conference themed on To Be Rooted in Place, Education, and Ethics. They shared insights into their current roles in the organization as president and program chair, and then dove into the conference theme.For the program:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-2MXScBtQKMyUa4oH3pbjMueszv3dYOV/viewFor more work by Danny:Mamlok, Dan. 2023a. “The Quest to Cultivate Tolerance Through Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 42 (3): 231–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09874-8.Mamlok, Dan. 2023b. “The Quest to Cultivate Tolerance Through Education.” Studies in Philosophy and Education 42 (3): 231–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-023-09874-8.Mamlok, Dan, and Kathleen Knight Abowitz. 2022. “132 Words: A Critical Examination of Digital Technology, Education, and Citizenship.” Technology, Knowledge and Learning 27 (4): 1237–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09540-3.For more work by Kathleen: Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen and Dustin Hornbeck (2025).  “The right to invite and the right to decline: Parental rights in public schools,” Theory and Research in Education 23 (2), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785251351377 Knight-Abowitz, Kathleen (2025). “Serving on a school board, 2019-2023: Strengths and vulnerabilities of a democratic institution,” AERA Open 11 (1), 1-17.  https://doi.org/10.1177/233285842513238

Michael Hand and Quentin Wheeler-Bell sat down to talk with Cara about teaching amidst strong divides. My guests discussed and debated how to address partisan leanings in the classroom, how to ethically support a range of student perspectives, what makes a topic controversial, and the criterion for judging the validity of a claim.For Michael's article: https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70065. The original article: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00285.x. For more work by Michael: Hand, M. (2026) ‘Is there a principled exception to the epistemic criterion of controversiality?’, in Drerup, J. (ed) Teaching Controversy: The Politics and Ethics of Classroom Conflict, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Hand, M. (2018) A Theory of Moral Education, London: Routledge.For Quentin's article:  https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.70074.

Jessica Fremland , Kali Simmons, Kat Milligan-McClellan, Mishuana Goeman, and Sandy Grande join Cara to talk about indigenous feminists philosophy, why gardening is a rich and fertile metaphor for their work, and tending to communities with care. This episode showcases the 75th Anniversary of Educational Theory.For their paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70075For Sandy’s original paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2003.00329.xFor the 75th Anniversary Issue: ​​https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17415446/2026/76/1For more work by Sandy: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/red-pedagogy-9781610489881/For more work by Kali: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/105/article/815922/pdf?casa_token=fLW8470Re8wAAAAA:HYVCaY0WobYaFqJwmoYQrK2yLqV_YLxhMXx234L88bCesCGrcCJRXs0YXuUkIwoZ-M2vZJBllsIFor more writing by Mishuana: https://poshmark.com/listing/Settler-Aesthetics-Visualizing-the-Spectacle-of-Originary-Moments-in-the-New-Wo-654af186af9ad15787384a86?srsltid=AfmBOopAJqQhoYrzY9aJyetAC-fAxe8cL17Q8s3sqjZKiVsrg77qY_Slhttps://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816677917/mark-my-words/https://nyupress.org/9781479808120/keywords-for-gender-and-sexuality-studies/

Gert and Michele join Cara to talk about philosophers, schools, and education. They ask us to consider what matters? The role of schools as places of inquiry? And how these and many more questions effect schools, teachers, and students at all levels? This episode showcases the 75th Anniversary of Educational Theory.For Gert's essay: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-010-9191-xand original essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.xand more writing by Gert: https://www.routledge.com/World-Centred-Education-A-View-for-the-Present/Biesta/p/book/9780367565527For Michele's essay: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70073?af=RFor more of Michele's work on higher education: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo22776687.htmlFor the full special issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/edth.70076

Anmarie Paul, Diane Schnoor, and Myra Hernandez join Cara to talk about belonging, place, and children's literature. To learn more about Behind the Book check out: https://www.behindthebook.org/To learn more about Dr. Diane's work check out: https://www.drdianeadventures.com/

Philip Francis, Tom Van Winkle, and Rachel Seher join Cara to talk about place as school and what it means to build a relationship with places and the people in them. Seguinland Institute is currently accepting applications for its Spring '26 and Fall '26 semester programs: Check them out and Philip's here!Check out Rachel's work here and here! Check out Tom's work and Williams Mystic here!

Gil Burgh and Mara Tieken sat down to talk with Cara about what place-responsive and place based education could be. They contrasted this with schools where learning is removed from the environment, and schools that even make this removal part of the educational goal. To learn more about this year's philosophy of education conference: https://www.philosophyofeducation.org/To learn more about this topic from Gil, check out: https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-Democracy-in-an-Age-of-Uncertainty-Place-Responsive-Learning/Burgh-Thornton/p/book/9780367565091To learn more about this topic from Mara, check out: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo247751497.html

Emmalee Forristall, Kathy Hytten, and Kurt Stemhagen sat down to talk with Cara about youth sports and democracy. They explained how practices from cell phones in the locker room, financial accessibility, and whether you play for the town team influence democratic habits. Listen and keep the conversation going with your teams and players. To learn more about this year's philosophy of education conference and submit: https://www.philosophyofeducation.org/For more on this topic from Kathy and Kurt check out:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23328584241311810From Kurt on democracy (and math) check out: https://www.routledge.com/Democracy-and-Mathematics-Education-Rethinking-School-Math-for-Our-Troubled-Times/Stemhagen-Henney/p/book/9780367608200

Pattie Bailie and David Sobel sat down with Cara to talk about place based education and nature based education! They offer a vision of education that is responsive, local, and practical!For more of Pattie's work check out: https://shop.gryphonhouse.com/products/partnering-with-nature-in-early-childhood?variant=47751201095972 and https://shop.gryphonhouse.com/products/evaluating-natureness?variant=47751127630116.For more of David's work check out: https://www.davidsobelauthor.com/To learn more about the Philosophy and Education annual meeting: https://www.philosophyofeducation.org/

Naoko Saito, Jim Garrison, and Vincent Colapietro sit down with Cara and Derek to talk through Dr. Saito's General Session paper at PES 2025. The paper itself will appear in an upcoming issue of Philosophy of Education, but for more of Dr. Saito's related work (mentioned in the episode), see her recent American Philosophy in Translation. For Garrison's very important essay (also mentioned in the episode), see "A Deweyan Theory of Democratic Listening."And for Colapietro's recent work on relationality, see his "Relations, Ruptures, and Rituals," as well as his "Quotidian Tasks."Use this form to recommend future topics and guests!

Our second and final recording of a PES session, this episode features Paul Geis, Brad Rowe, Natasha Levinson, Christina Donaldson, and Cara Furman reflecting on mentorship in our field and in academia more broadly. This PES panel discussion was sponsored by the Committee on Mentoring.To recommend future guests and topics, use this link!

Ariana Zetlin and Vik Joshi join Cara and Derek to talk about the 2024 Northeast Philosophy of Education Society meeting and the way it assisted the fantastic work that they share with us here. For more info on Project Belonging, click here.For the 2025 NEPES call for papers, click hereAs always, recommend future topics and guests here.

In a special hyper-alliterative episode, Claire Katz, Cristina Cammarano, and Clarissa Thompson join Cara and Derek to talk about philosophy in summer camp settings.For scholarly work on philosophy camps in general, click here and here.For information on Claire’s camp, including how to sign up for this year’s offerings, click here.To request information and reserve a spot in Cristina’s camp, click here.And see these links for Clarissa’s organization and camp.As always, use this form to recommend future guests and episodes!

Tristan Gleason and John Mullen sit down with Cara and Derek to talk about a wide range of matters, from science education to ecology to climate and beyond. For more of John's work, click here, here, and hereFor more of Tristan's work, click here, here, and hereAnd for an incomplete bibliography of what we discussed in this episode, see all of these several links.And as always, use this form to recommend future guests and topics!

This episode presents a panel from PES 2025 entitled "Philosophy, the Coming of Age, and the Future of the Future," and consisting of papers by Barbara Applebaum, Barb Stengel, Deborah Kerdeman, and Nicholas Burbules.To recommend future guests and topics, please use ⁠this form⁠!

Meredith Broussard and Sasha Sidorkin sit down with Cara and Derek to talk about what artificial intelligence can be, how it works, what it’s for, and what it all means.For Meredith’s books on the subject, click here and here.For Sasha’s latest books, click here and here (and for an AI-generated podcast about the most recent book — WHAT ARE CARA AND I EVEN DOING ANYMORE — click here).To recommend future guests and topics, please use this form!

Cam Scribner and Kathleen Knight Abowitz join Cara and Derek to discuss a topic arising out of Scribner's contribution to Concordia University's fall institute on “Political Challenges of/for/in 21st Century Schools: Addressing Polarization in the Classroom.” There's a lot of talk about "small-c conservatism" in this one.For more of Cam's work, click here, here, and here.For Kathleen's work. click here, here, and here.Use this form to suggest future topics and guests!

Nicholas Tampio and Kathy Hytten join Cara and Derek to talk about Dewey, political saturation, democratic habits, and how expensive youth hockey is. For Kathy's works, click here and here For Nick's edition and intro to Democracy and Education, click here. And for his Common Core book, click here. And for public-facing work on Dewey, click here. And use this form to recommend future guests and topics!

A live episode! GroundWorks's 2024 edition features a piece on "Systemic Indoctrination" by Fedor Korochkin, and in an event held Tuesday, January 14th, he gave it as a talk, with Christopher Martin and Rebecca Taylor responding, and followed by a Q&A session. Here is the paper at the GroundWorks website, and Here is the form to recommend future topics and guests.