Hannah Arendt and the Educator’s Responsibility

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Continental Philosophy, Postmodernism, and Education

Abstract

In this scholarly paper, we join recent philosophers of education in their debate about where education should exist (in the public or private spheres) as envisioned by Hannah Arendt (Berkowitz, 2020; Dillinger, 2025, Kloeg, 2022). After reviewing Arendt's relevant publications on the topic, we follow Stonebridge (2024) and educational leadership scholars such as Cormier et al., (2024) to conclude that the greatest challenge to education does not concern where schools operate or how we teach children but how adults in educational leadership positions protect their students, teachers, and schools.   

Authors

• Clifford P. Harbour, University of North Texas

• Jonathon Sanders, University of North Texas

• Doug Smith, Iowa State University