The Philosophy of Education Society is pleased to sponsor this annual collection of some of the best work in our field. Here, we explain the review and selection procedures for the essays included in the Philosophy of Education Yearbook. Each year the Philosophy of Education Society invites its members to submit work for possible inclusion in this collection, and these papers are carefully reviewed by an Editor and Editorial Committee. The refereeing process is anonymous and rigorous; the committee rejects more than half of the papers submitted. Accepted essays are commented upon and returned to their authors for revision. They should be counted as refereed publications.
The papers that are accepted for this annual volume are also presented at the annual meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society. The most highly rated of these papers are scheduled as General Sessions and are identified either as “Distinguished Invited Essays” or “Featured Essays” in this collection. In addition, each volume includes a lead essay from the current President of the society. Within the field of philosophy of education, inclusion in this collection is regarded as a significant scholarly achievement, and identification as a Featured Essay is a special honor. Authors typically do not seek republication of a piece once it has been published in this volume. Because submitted essays are subject to a rigorous screening process, because they are revised both before and after the conference, and because they are subject to close editing in preparation for publication, the Philosophy of Education annual collection represents something quite different from a typical conference “proceedings.”
Accompanying every primary paper is an invited response. Respondents are selected on the basis of their acknowledged expertise on the topic of the primary paper. The respondent’s task is to undertake an analysis and critique of that paper with the purpose of advancing its ideas and arguments. These responses are themselves carefully worked out manuscripts; they are not merely typed up “comments” from the conference session. This dialectical structure of primary paper and response is fundamental to the way in which our field views the advancement of knowledge, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on having responses of high quality so that each contributor truly gains from and adds to the other. From this long and rigorous process of criticism and review, the papers finally accepted for this volume take shape. They represent a sample of the very best in philosophical discourse about educational issues, including the cutting edge, emergent perspectives that are shaping the field for the future.
The Philosophy of Education 2017 Yearbook is available here. To access previous volumes from 1996 through 2016, visit https://educationjournal.web.illinois.edu/archive/index.php/pes.html.
