Ethics and Education as Practices of Freedom : Thinking with Dewey

What does it mean to live freely—and how do education and ethics shape that possibility?

Bringing together thinkers such as Dewey, Freire, Foucault, Midgley, and Rorty, this book argues that education and ethics are not separate ideas but two inseparable dimensions of what it means to practice freedom.

Challenging the narrow view of education as simply knowledge transfer, the book shows that learning involves cultivating understanding, autonomy, critique, and the capacity to respond intelligently to changing circumstances. Pedro Tabensky explores how socialization both forms and deforms us, why belonging and meaning-making are intertwined, and how harmful modes of upbringing can corrupt our ability to flourish. Tabensky brings Dewey and other philosophers of education into new contexts, such as 21st-century South Africa, to demonstrate how the industrial model of education has been globalized—to the detriment of the students involved.

At a time when mainstream educational practices often prioritise vocational skills over human development, The Practice of Freedom offers a powerful reminder that education is the very process through which we become conscious, responsible, and free. It calls for a renewed understanding of education as the cultivation of persons—individuals capable of critique, commitment, and continual self-transformation.