The idea of ‘public education’ (Carl Anders Safstrom)

Educational philosopher Carl Anders Safstrom (Maynooth University) joins us to talk about the past, present and future of ‘public education’. We trace the origins of the idea from post-war Europe back to the writing of John Dewey, and even further to the Ancient Greek ‘Sophists’. Carl Anders also considers how models of public education differ dramatically between countries – highlighting recent reforms of Swedish schooling as a cautionary example.