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You, as my friend and/or reader, may have seen me post stuff on Twitter and Facebook suggesting that I am currently applying to graduate schools. Indeed, I am. I figured I’d explain the situation here, once and for all.

Very shortly after I began a PhD program in philosophy in the fall of 2007, my research interests rapidly started shifting towards topics in education. First I got interested in moral character and moral education, then arguments for and against school choice, then the relationship between feminism and education, and most recently, I’ve started studying alternative forms of education such as unschooling.

Because not many people in departments of philosophy focus on education, and because the job market for professors of education seems rather better than that for philosophers, I have decided to move to a school of education to complete my graduate studies. I have ten applications under consideration in US News & World Reports top 25 schools of education, all of which have programs in the philosophy of education or something similar (most PhD, one EdD). With any luck, I will be accepted to one or more of them with funding, and will be making the move for the fall of 2010.

Some philosophers with whom I have discussed this have expressed their regret that I am leaving philosophy. However, I don’t see myself as leaving the field at all. In fact, I will be pursuing exactly the same research projects as I would have pursued had I stayed in philosophy, only with the more useful guidance of experts in education. So, it is more of a strategic move than anything else, and will likely benefit me career-wise in the long run.

So keep your fingers crossed for me, and look for updates on this over the next few months