Decolonizing philosophy of education: in the shadow of the Enlightenment?

Abstract The imperative to decolonize—usually targeted on decolonizing the curriculum in schools and universities—has become a prominent focus in philosophy of education. Welcoming the overdue anti-colonial turn, in this article we ask what is demanded of a decolonized philosophy of education. With Western philosophy under review, we focus on the Enlightenment—a primary target, especially of decolonial theorists, for critique in addressing Empire and its afterlife. Noting how it is commonly regarded as interchangeable with Western thought and modernity, we assess decolonial depictions of the Enlightenment as complicit in colonialism and show that there is a tendency to homogenize it as a unified project with a singular agenda. Philosophers of education exploring the implications of calls for decolonization of the discipline may feel compelled by such critiques to repudiate the Enlightenment entirely. With particular reference to the discipline in Britain, given its colonial past and elements of coloniality that persist, our own stance on whether there could be a role for the Enlightenment in philosophy of education in a time of decolonization is a qualified ‘yes’.