Official URL: https://doi.org/10.12775/PCh.2023.001

This contribution makes the case that education has inherent purposes which distinguish it as a human practice; purposes that are distinct from those of the state . The philosophical and historical ancestry of these purposes is explored . This exploration reveals that educational experience is more properly understood as a live encounter with inheritances of learning than as a matter of transmission . The teaching of religion is taken as a concrete example to highlight this key difference . Where the state fails to recognise the inherent purposes of education, these purposes can become compromised . Accordingly, educational practice may fall victim to different kinds of domination . Some historical and more recent examples of such domination are identified and considered, as is an example of a healthy relationship between the state and educational practice . The consequences of the investigation for pedagogical research and practice, and for the proper relationship of the state to education, are then reviewed.