The purpose of this course is to clarify, deepen, and criticize the main and fundamental issues about education. The discussion covers a broad range of issues, including normative, epistemological, socio-political, and educational ethics. The normative aspect includes an in-depth discussion of the goals, principles, and functions of education, about what should be taught or what should be the content of education, how students should be treated, or about what kind of fair society should be realized through education. The course also discusses epistemological aspects, such as about what valuable knowledge should be developed for students and on what justification it is important for knowledge to be developed for students, about whether in education there is a place for beliefs that are not scientifically robust. Regarding the discussion of the socio-political dimension, for example, whether children/students have rights and if children’s rights and parental rights conflict whose rights should be upheld, can children develop autonomy at the same time as being part of a religious or belief community. As for the ethical aspect, for example, regarding what kind of interactions should occur between teacher-leaders, teacher-students, between students, and between parties in educational institutions.

Included in the discussion are topics about the comparative or present traditions of thought from — but not limited to — the West, the Muslim world, and from Indonesia. This course will examine, among others, the traditions of Western thought, for example, John Dewey, traditions of Islamic thought, such as al-Ghazali, Fazlur Rahman, Naquib al-Attas, and traditions of Indonesian thought, such as Ki Hajar Dewantara. It is hoped that – after attending lectures – students have thoughts, broad insights about educational patterns and are able to reflect on the educational orientation of the Muslim world, the West, and Indonesia as well as be able to identify, differences and similarities, strengths and weaknesses of the thoughts discussed in the course against current education.