Choice, dialogue, and freedom: Towards a philosophy of education based in existentialism

This dissertation offers a beginning to a formulation of a philosophy of education based in existentialism. The bulk of this project focuses upon three key issues: choice, dialogue, and freedom, identified in the first chapter and examined, each in turn, in the next three chapters. Each issue is researched through close textual examination of the corresponding seminal existential philosopher: (1) for choice, Soren Kierkegaard; (2) for dialogue, Martin Buber; and (3) for freedom, Jean-Paul Sartre. The results of these investigations are applied directly to educational contexts in order to illuminate important connections and build bridges for the practitioner.;Overall, the project is brought together in a coherent existential framework through the assumption of three fundamental forms of lived experience that educators must consider. The first lived experience is that of being separate and isolated. The second is the experience of relationship, of coming together with another individual; and third, is the lived experience of “belonging,” of community, of something beyond just self and one other.;Towards this end, chapter one provides grounding in existentialism and its historical connection to education by highlighting key issues addressed by leading existential educational theorists. In chapter two, Kierkegaard, becomes the exegetically mined source for understanding choice and the existential individual. Chapter three presents a critical re-reading of key educational texts through the lens of Buber's entire corpus in order to reveal and clarify the issue of dialogue and the lived experience of relationship. Chapter four charts Sartre's change as a philosopher of freedom throughout his written work. Through comparative analysis, this chapter touches upon the edges of democracy itself and considers both the reach of freedom and the role of community.;The final chapter uses the first four chapters as a springboard for framing a philosophy of education based in existentialism by focusing upon three fundamental areas necessary to any philosophy of education: ontology (questions of being), epistemology (questions of knowing), and axiology (questions of value). The result challenges and supports educators, parents, and learners and offers suggestions for a way towards a fuller, richer, more genuinely engaged existence for all becoming persons.