This dissertation defends state support of the arts as an educational public good. It begins with a critique of the traditional justification for subsidy, the appeal to cultural perfection. By challenging the perfectionist position from two distinct perspectives--political and aesthetic--this critique reveals the potential value of constructing a plausible, nonperfectionist alternative. The dissertation then works to develop such an alternative by appealing to the instrumental potential of art as an educational public good. Unlike the perfectionist approach based on the intrinsic value of art, this justification is founded on a general commitment to democratic self-rule. After defending a particular account of this commitment and its implications for educational policy, the dissertation works to show how art can serve as a valuable component in an overall scheme of democratic education. The positive argument for art's democratic value consists of three distinct elements. The first draws on Aristotle, Kant, and Hannah Arendt in explicating several structural similarities that exist between aesthetic and political judgments. The second element describes how interpretation is essential to both engaging art and participating in politics. Taken together, these first two elements of the argument describe how art and politics both engage--and thus practice--many of the same skills and abilities. The third element of the argument explores the potential political value (and political risks) of the state's encouraging citizens to engage a diversity of cultural expressions. The dissertation concludes by describing several policy implications of the democratically-based justification of subsidy (e.g., increased local control over subsidy decisions), and by evaluating the justification in light of the best arguments against subsidy. These include a libertarian argument from self-ownership, Joel Feinberg's argument based on the Benefit Principle, an objection from moral offense, and several objections from state neutrality.

Contained within the parameters of postmodern thought, particularly feminist critical perspectives on western epistemology, this thesis proceeds from the following arguments: that knowledge is political: that it possesses a reflexive and dialectical nature and that it is based upon interpretations of reality which are in potential, indeterminate in range. Within these boundaries, knowledge is viewed as a phenomenon subject to influence from social power structures. And western culture is observed to breed situations of epistemological inequality where knowers may become unjustly privileged or oppressed. / Focusing on arguments expounded by Lorraine Code, Patti Lather and Catherine Walsh, this thesis aims to explore how western culture may be observed to impose on consciousness and thereby lead to restriction of interpretive outcomes. Following this line of reasoning, the goal of this thesis is to consider how applications in deconstructionism may be used to emancipate the position of the oppressed knower.

The aim of this thesis is to try to bring some clarity and perspective into the controversy generated by Ivan Illich's theory of the necessity for a deschooled society. Furthermore it attempts to elaborate on how Illich's concepts originated and evolved. In this respect, it strives to present all of the elements which have had an impact upon Illich's intellectual formation and his subsequent religious, social, and educational philosophy. / The method of inquiry for my thesis is to investigate the various experiences, including definite influences, which contributed to shaping Illich's attitudes towards society, technology, and formal education. Since all of these factors eventually contributed to his famous theory of deschooling, this paper attempts to describe how Illich developed intellectually from his younger days until he conceptualized his notion of a free education in the Centre International de Documentation. In addition, this study analyzes the reactions of the major critics and commentators who either criticized or supported Illich's theories. / The thesis concludes by presenting the reactions of the author to both Ivan Illich's theories and to the views of his major critics and commentators.

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In this thesis this writer explores first-hand via a participative hermeneutics from an objective idealist perspective the relationship between consciousness, language and the world by reconstructing the seminal philosophy contained in the fifth century poem of Parmenides of Elea--first, in dialogue format, secondly through an essay in which two men, one last and one higher, are each respectively de- and reconstructed for the purpose of indicating, in that final section of the essay, how they each define their own paradigm of education in comparison to M. J. Adler and Carl Rogers.

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<p> This study explored the potential of classroom-based meditation practice as a tool to facilitate learning. Moreover, the impact of meditation on cognitive engagement, mindfulness and academic performance of undergraduate college students was investigated. Additionally, the relationships between mindfulness and cognitive engagement, and between these variables and students' academic performance were explored. Mindfulness was also examined for its potential as an indicator of engagement and meditation as a potential facilitator of engagement. </p><p> A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was employed with a sample of 189 undergraduate students at a public Research I institution in the Northeast, enrolled in classes in the Department of Learning and Instruction. All participants completed a survey instrument comprised of two self-report measures: the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and a Cognitive Engagement Scale administered at the beginning and end of the Fall 2012 semester. GPA was utilized as a measure of academic performance. Experimental group participants participated in a 6-minute meditation at the beginning of class throughout the 15-week semester. </p><p> Many significant relationships were found between mindfulness, cognitive engagement and academic performance. Specifically, mindfulness and cognitive engagement were related at both the scale and subscale levels, and GPA was related to two facets of mindfulness, acting with awareness and nonreactivity, and one facet of cognitive engagement, self-regulation. Furthermore, nonreactivity was the best predictor of academic performance in this student sample. Moreover, mindfulness was a better predictor of academic performance than was cognitive engagement. The results suggest that mindfulness may be important in the process of learning. Implications focus on student engagement theory, pedagogy, institutional policy and practices. Evidence provided from this research supports the use of methods that cultivate mindfulness as valid pedagogical tools, further substantiating the educational efficacy of classroom-based meditation practice. </p>

An epistemological dichotomy involving two kinds of knowledge has evolved historically since the time of the Greeks. This has led to the isolating from one another of the functions of understanding and evaluation, and to the belief that understanding is necessary to science, whereas appreciation is the aim of art. / The arts, consequently, are either considered unteachable, or have focused on methods for teaching feeling and appreciation. / This thesis proposes an alternative philosophical approach, one which recognizes that the distinction between mediate and immediate experience may be illusory, that the emotions, rather than being dialectically opposed to cognition may be instruments of it, and that appreciation may be as secondary to understanding in the arts as in the sciences. It proposes that the above approach, forwarded by American philosopher Nelson Goodman, offers a new and fresh epistemological framework upon which positive advances in the education of the arts will flourish. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis considers the ways that critical reflection on normalizations of social meaning and structures can provide sites for learning and transformation in a pluralist, divided, and destructive world. It investigates five recent "uncanny" works of art, in order to illustrate the value of critiquing closed frames of reference and attending to theories of hermeneutics, ideology critique, and aesthetics. The thesis explores the elements of postmodern consciousness which raise questions about self, identity, and agency in an era of fragmentation, difference, and challenges to master narratives. Using a dialogue between theory and text, history and fiction, it outlines part of an interpretive project, in which art provides one site for curriculum and public debate regarding a participatory and inclusionary society, thus contributing to a postmodern pedagogy of transformation.