The significance of German Romantic and Hegelian philosophy for educational practice is not attended to as much as it deserves to be, both as a matter of historical interest and of current importance. In particular, its role in shaping the thought of John Dewey, whose educational philosophy is of seminal importance for discussions on education for citizenship, is of considerable interest, as recent work by Jim Garrison () and James Good (; ) has shown. This article focuses on the Hegelian concepts of Bildung and Sittlichkeit in order to consider how they may illuminate the purpose and practice of education for citizenship through a conceptualisation of the relationship of individual to society, and, specifically, through the idea of cultural induction. The discussion takes as its principal reference point the Scottish policy context.

What conceptualisations of the child might explain the communicative and rhetorical significance of their selection as targets in acts of terror? It is argued that the child as an embodiment of modernity’s enthralment to the future’s promises of progress or redemption puts them on this front line. As an alternative to modernity’s futurism, Surrealism presents us with a conceptualisation of the child that anticipates contemporary ideas of ‘queerness’. The recognition of the child’s transgressive attitude to the credo of modernity can be a way of resisting increasingly instrumentalised ways of thinking about children.

Hannah Arendt's critique of education in 1950s USA provides an important way of understanding the development of citizenship education. Her theory on the nature of childhood and her concepts of natality and authority give insight into both the directions of current policies and practices, and the possible future states into which these elements may crystallise. It is argued that education for citizenship is an expression of the hope that children will 'save' us from ourselves and that there are two distinct directions that this hope is taking, one representing an orientation to the past and the other to the future. Arendt's critique focuses on what she argues is the proper relationship to both past and future that the educator must maintain. The argument is contextualised through the Scottish approach to citizenship education.

wrote extensively on children and childhood, though this aspect of his work has hitherto received scant attention despite continuing and growing interest in his thought. This article makes explicit the connection between his acute observations of childhood and his distinctive messianic philosophy. The twin aspects of redemption in Benjamin's writings: remembrance and now-time, as illustrated in Wim Wender's Wings of Desire, are explored in relation to the 'task of childhood'. Benjamin asserts the emancipatory potential held within the development of historical consciousness, and leads us to question how our understanding of childhood can foster this potential BENJAMIN'S CHILDRENConsidering the central importance of the figure of the child in Benjamin's writings it is surprising that so little has been written on the subject. He makes frequent mention of children throughout his essays and in his Arcades Project; he also wrote about toys and play, children's perception of colour, an autobiographical collection of childhood fragments, Berlin Childhood around 1900, and a number of radio broadcasts for young audiences. Essays from around 1928 discuss the role of children's theatre in education and communist pedagogy. He was a collector of children's books, wrote about children's literature, and calls upon figures from traditional tales. Despite this, Benjamin has received little attention in works on the philosophy of childhood and, in broader studies of Benjamin, childhood receives only a passing glance 1 .This article explores some central ideas in Benjamin's writings, in particular the idea of the Messianic in his philosophy of history, and relates this to his conception of childhood. In doing so, certain difficult issues raised by the historical education of children may be enabled through a somewhat neglected critique in Benjamin studies. Although he cannot tell us how to teach children history, Benjamin's ideas assert the emancipatory potential held within the development of historical consciousness, and lead us to question how our understanding of childhood can foster this potential. bs_bs_banner

In recent years, culture has become significantly politicized, or conspicuously de-politicized, in different parts of the UK, making its appearance in education policy of pivotal interest and ripe for critical attention. From the vantage point of Theodor Adorno's work on the culture industry and his writings on the work of the teacher, I argue that cultural education is a site where something crucial and distinctive takes place. Within the Enlightenment tradition, critical self-reflection and resistance to heteronymous ways of thinking are core aims of education. Adorno's contribution to an understanding of these aims leads us to consider the importance of 'live contact with the warmth of things' as essential to ethical and intellectual life. The kindly tolerance of the pluralist ideal is now being teased and goaded by acts of terror and widespread concern about personal and social security. At such an unstable juncture, an understanding of cultural education as an experience of 'incorrigible plurality' enriches and informs the beleaguered ideal of pluralism and points a way forward in troubled times. Keywords Adorno Á Culture Á Cultural education Á Pluralism The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-window was Spawning snow and pink roses against it Soundlessly collateral and incompatible World is suddener than we fancy it World is crazier and more of it than we think, Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion The tangerine and spit the pips and feel & Sharon Jessop