Beyond ‘pedagogic phronesis ’

Resolved, part-resolved and unresolved questions about practical wisdom

Bibliographic Data

ID21511565
AuthorsKristján Kristjánsson (0000-0002-8584-4178, University of Birmingham, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-19
Publication date2026-07-09
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Moral Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7240 • E-ISSN: 1465-3877
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057240.2026.2684286
OpenAlexW7167827309
LanguageEN
References cited21

This article pays tribute to Terry McLaughlin and his contributions to the field of moral education. I do so by subjecting to scrutiny one of his favourite constructs, ‘pedagogic phronesis’. More specifically, I elicit 25 questions from the recent literature on phronesis and try to evaluate, as fair-mindedly and patiently as I possibly can, in Terry’s spirit, the extent to which those questions have already been answered or part-answered, or still remain fully unanswered in the literature. I begin with questions that relate to the recent construction of a neo-Aristotelian model of phronesis, then move to questions about other alternative models, and end with questions that relate, in a more practical way, to the development and education of phronesis and the role that Terry himself was most interested in: namely, phronesis as part of sound professional practice in teaching. Although the discourse on phronesis has moved on considerably since Terry’s day, the issues that interested him most about phronesis still evoke lively debates. Invoking another of Terry’s concepts, that of ‘taxonomic bite’, this article demonstrates that the phronesis construct possesses sufficient ‘bite’ of that kind to warrant continued educational engagement

Criticism · Phronesis · Practical wisdom · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Innovative Education and Learning Practices

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