Mission Statement
NAAPE aims to provide an international forum for scholars working at the intersection of philosophy and educational thought, where disciplines such as ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, philosophical anthropology, history of philosophy, and others meet the practical challenges of teaching and learning.
NAAPE aims to create a safe, supportive and inclusive environment that welcomes differences across racial, cultural, political, ethnic, economic and philosophical traditions. We seek to develop a community of scholars from Canada, USA, Mexico, Central America and around the world who engage with others in meaningful dialogue and respectful discourse that encourages mutual humanization. In addition, NAAPE seeks to include the voices of K-12 educators and graduate students in its administrative decisions by allotting two spots for each group on its Executive Committee.
NAAPE aims to support further work in the field of philosophy that concerns itself with educational questions, as well as research in education which takes a characteristically philosophical perspective.
NAAPE aims to further the professional status of the field of philosophy of education by joining other regional, national and international philosophy of education societies in encouraging thoughtful scholarship and a robust exchange of ideas between philosophers, philosophers of education and educational practitioners.
NAAPE aims to embody a spirit of hospitality at its annual residential conference in the Fall. The purpose of this conference is to offer attendees engaging and accessible presentations on issues of philosophical and educational import, as well as to provide opportunities to establish and maintain scholarly friendships. NAAPE strives to offer the highest standard of comfortable accommodations and professional conference facilities.
Inclusion Statement
As established in the second clause of the mission statement, NAAPE is committed to providing a conference environment that is inclusive and welcomes differences across personal, racial, cultural, political, and philosophical traditions. We demonstrate this commitment by taking additional steps to encourage persons from groups that are historically underrepresented in the field to participate in our conference. Our commitment to inclusion means our society stands against the explicit or implicit silencing of any individual or groups of individuals who want to engage in civil and respectful dialogue and disagreement. We oppose the use of demeaning or derogatory speech directed at others' beliefs, values, traditions, religions, or lifestyles. And we both reject and are committed to working against manifestations of racism, and especially anti-black racism (see our public statement on this point here). To proactively ensure that our conference is an inclusive environment, we systematically collect anonymous feedback at the conclusion of each conference to reassess our efforts along these lines on a yearly basis. In addition, we actively reach out to philosophers of education in Central America, Mexico, and English-speaking and French-speaking Canada by accepting submissions in Spanish, French and English. This way we hope to create a truly North American community of philosophers of education.
As a part of our commitment to inclusion, we also encourage society members to submit feedback about their experience with our organization throughout the year. In particular, we welcome suggestions about how we can improve the inclusiveness of the community, the productiveness of intellectual exchange, and the accessibility of the society for people with disabilities. To offer suggestions on these topics, you can contact us at the following email address: executive@naape.org.
