Kenneth Wain

Kenneth Wain (born 1943) is a major Maltese philosopher and educator.

His areas of specialisation in philosophy are chiefly education, ethics, political philosophy.

Wain was born at Sliema, Malta, in 1943.

He then pursued his higher studies in philosophy and in education at the University of London, England.

He later studied philosophy in Malta.

After some teaching experience in multiple junior high schools in Malta, Wain started his long teaching career at the University of Malta.

Here he was also appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education.

Along the way, Wain continued to specialise in ethics, political philosophy, the philosophy of education, and international relations.

Apart from playing a leading role in Malta’s national educational policy development, and in the setting of the national curriculum, he continued to contribute actively in the field as chairman of the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, and of the Foundation for Educational Services.

Wain is also a board member of the International Network of Philosophers of Education.

In 2007 Wain was appointed Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

Throughout his academic and philosophical career, Wain published considerably, and also established himself as a public figure of liberal views with a ready, sharp, but always civil, tongue.

The following are some of Wain’s publications.

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A number of Wain’s poetry appeared in various anthologies, including the following:

Being an educationist with a pronounced bend towards the western model of democracy, Wain’s early philosophy was very much influenced by John Dewey.

His later philosophy also draws on the works of philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas and Richard Rorty.

This can be especially gauged from Wain’s interest in the concept of lifelong learning, which, he maintains, should not be infected with any mania for efficient productivity in relation to political ideology, but, on the contrary, should be imbued with a broad humanistic awareness.

This corroborates Wain’s understanding of democracy, which, to him, has more to do with individual maturity and responsibility and less with State hegemony or political performance.

According to Wain, education and democracy are handmaids of each other.

His political, moral, and aesthetic, philosophies, to be sure, all stem from, and are based on, this foundation.