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A Critical Examination of Plato's Moral Responsibility of Education and Its Implications for Nigerian Education

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Considering the complexity of moral decadence prevalent in almost all facets of our national life, this research speculated how Plato’s disquisition on education can be properly harnessed to revamp the Nigerian education system in order to birth men and women who can transmogrify the Nigerian society. Without prevarication, this task is imperative in view of the fact that our present education has faltered and could not raise morally conscious individuals. The problem remains that many products of education in Nigerian are bankrupt of sound moral ingredients necessary to transform the Nigerian society. Most teachers in Nigeria are morally depraved and as such cannot be a role model for students to emulate. Education in any society ought to be a perfect reflection of the values of the society. Hence, the researcher, using the four main philosophical methods – speculative, prescriptive, analytic and critical methods, examined several Platonic concepts of education, especially as it relates to educational practices in Nigeria. Some of the findings are that education should lead to character development, teachers or educators at all levels must be seekers of virtues, education must lead to critical thinking or reasoning, parents are contributors to the education of their children and to a large extent, must initiate the inculcation of moral values in the children by living exemplary life. Consequently, the study recommended among others that students should be allowed to adopt behavioral patterns of any role model of their choice, provided it conforms to socially acceptable standard, in order to produce recondite homo sapiens with sound minds in our society.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21778916
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7172313373
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