Abstract:
The present policy catchphrase ‘earning or learning’ is the latest manifestation of work as life’s purpose, of education for work, and of the contemporary neoliberal project. Learning appears to occur in a wide range of life activities beyond educational institutions – in social, health and punitive institutions – though this learning is less visible, more informal, and often practiced unconsciously. This attention to life activities bears a resemblance to the original Western pedagogy of Ancient Greece that formed part of a philosophy as a way of life and of care for the self, care for others, and care for the city. Social pedagogy and Greek philosophy offer ways of a more fulfilling education to that of the nineteenth century model of education modified, but otherwise unchanged, by the present neoliberal project.