Introduction
Historical analysis of the life cycle of educational ideas and ideals is integral to an understanding of educational policy and practice in a particular society at any given time. How do ideas and ideals about the nature, aims, and effective organization of formal educational activities come into being, flourish, and wither? To what extent do they become embodied in the everyday language, practices, and relations of education policy discourse in various parts of an “education system”? Why do some appear to gain widespread popular support and acceptance within a society and others do not?
The term “modern social imaginary” was coined by the Canadian hermeneutic philosopher Charles Taylor (2004). Taylor analyzes the way in which western societies have both imagined and attempted to realize themselves according to popular conceptions of their moral purpose and moral order. He does...
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O’Neill, J. (2016). Social Imaginaries: An Overview. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_379-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_379-1
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