Philosophy
I was in the doctor's office yesterday reading an old copy of Smithsonian and came across a fascinating article on chimpanzee behavior. While tool use has been observed many times in many contexts, learning is transmitted through an apprenticeship model where younger chimps observe older ones at work and then figure it out through trial and error on their own. What has never been observed is chimpanzee teaching. Technology is transmitted passively, never actively.
For a behavior to be considered to be an instance of teaching, primatologists contend that it has to satisfy three criteria:
(1) It has to be goal-directed on the part of the teacher with the goal being the acquisition of knowledge or a skill by another.
(2) It has to have an assessment element, that is, there must be evidence of reward or positive sense given for good work, correction or negative feedback for mistakes, or some sort of corrective action when the learner is off-track.
(3) There has to be some sort of price or loss for the teacher. The behavior must keep the teacher from getting the pine nut to eat him/herself or it must keep him/her from being able to do something else that would be more personally beneficial.
As a teacher and a primate myself, the third criterion struck me as odd. I began to wonder whether I satisfied that condition as a collegiate instructor. Do I suffer at all from teaching? I suppose there is other stuff I could be doing, but frankly teaching is one of the things I enjoy most. For some reason, they pay me for doing it, so rather than a loss it is a gain -- now, sure, there's probably something to be said about philosophers' salaries, but relative to the philosophers' work load (I can't believe I just typed that phrase)...
It certainly doesn't seem to fit the graduate student/thesis director relationship, but perhaps that is to be considered indentured servitude instead of teaching. While that was in part meant to be sarcastic, it does seem appropriate to rule that out as teaching. The condition does seem to come from the intention of separating out training underlings to do your bidding from the act of teaching which should be more purely other-directed, that is, an activity undertaken for the sake of the learner, not for the sake of the teacher.
But is that really necessary? Do I have to give a darn whether the class members are improved? Can I be teaching in a completely selfish way? Suppose there's a book I've always wanted to read and I know that I'll understand it and appreciate it better by breaking it down in a fashion that looks just like a lecture and classroom discussion? Did I teach the book if I gained rather than sacrificed?
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Philosophy
Does Teaching Require Sacrifice?
I was in the doctor's office yesterday reading an old copy of Smithsonian and came across a fascinating article on chimpanzee behavior. While tool use has been observed many times in many contexts, learning is transmitted through an apprenticeship model where younger chimps observe older ones at work and then figure it out through trial and error on their own. What has never been observed is chimpanzee teaching. Technology is transmitted passively, never actively.
For a behavior to be considered to be an instance of teaching, primatologists contend that it has to satisfy three criteria:
(1) It has to be goal-directed on the part of the teacher with the goal being the acquisition of knowledge or a skill by another.
(2) It has to have an assessment element, that is, there must be evidence of reward or positive sense given for good work, correction or negative feedback for mistakes, or some sort of corrective action when the learner is off-track.
(3) There has to be some sort of price or loss for the teacher. The behavior must keep the teacher from getting the pine nut to eat him/herself or it must keep him/her from being able to do something else that would be more personally beneficial.
As a teacher and a primate myself, the third criterion struck me as odd. I began to wonder whether I satisfied that condition as a collegiate instructor. Do I suffer at all from teaching? I suppose there is other stuff I could be doing, but frankly teaching is one of the things I enjoy most. For some reason, they pay me for doing it, so rather than a loss it is a gain -- now, sure, there's probably something to be said about philosophers' salaries, but relative to the philosophers' work load (I can't believe I just typed that phrase)...
It certainly doesn't seem to fit the graduate student/thesis director relationship, but perhaps that is to be considered indentured servitude instead of teaching. While that was in part meant to be sarcastic, it does seem appropriate to rule that out as teaching. The condition does seem to come from the intention of separating out training underlings to do your bidding from the act of teaching which should be more purely other-directed, that is, an activity undertaken for the sake of the learner, not for the sake of the teacher.
But is that really necessary? Do I have to give a darn whether the class members are improved? Can I be teaching in a completely selfish way? Suppose there's a book I've always wanted to read and I know that I'll understand it and appreciate it better by breaking it down in a fashion that looks just like a lecture and classroom discussion? Did I teach the book if I gained rather than sacrificed?
- Finding Great Teachers
We're about to have some candidates come to campus for an opening we have. Finding someone who will become a solid scholar is fairly straightforward. In conversation you can get a sense of the breadth and creativity. In writing samples, you get a...
- Those Who Can't Do Teach?
Ozzie Guillen who now manages the Chicago White Sox also played for them, having been the Rookie of the Year and named to the All Star Team three times. He bristles at the admiration given to Buck Showalter, now managing the Baltimore Orioles, who was...
- Weed Out Classes And The Nature Of The Student/teacher Relationship
Scott Aiken, over at The NonSequitor, has an interesting discussion of the appeal to students not to plagiarize. It has led me to think about how odd the student/teacher relationship is. Carol Gilligan distinguishes between those relationships that are...
- Collin Hamilton: Young Vs. Old Philosophers
Collin Hamilton September 6, 2005 Plato class Paper 1 When considering if it is more advantageous for older individuals to teach or younger persons, one needs to consider the points in which each can contribute to the student. Because older people have...
- A Career Of Teaching Chemistry...jim Baker
Jim Baker 1976 He reminds me of James Hilton's Mr. Chips...a dedicated teacher over the decades. "Teaching chemistry is my career and my hobby" Jim Baker went into teaching because he enjoyed passing on his knowledge. After 42 years, despite how...