Philosophy
There was an interesting discussion over at The Nonsequitur, one of my favorite blogs out there, a couple weeks ago about teaching philosophy before college. Certainly, it is not a good thing that we wait until university-level education to begin people -- those few who elect to take it --thinking about foundational questions. If we want a more reflective, thoughtful culture, surely it is a good idea to incorporate philosophy into regular curricula so that students get both exposure and training in deep thought.
I think two of the reasons it is not taught earlier is that we see secondary education, especially in this test-crazy era, as vo-tech training for middle management jobs. We are preparing students for the work force, not creating interesting, interested citizens with round and lively minds. Second, schooling is as much about keeping order as it is educating and arming students with the ability to challenge their teachers, parents, and what's being taught by both is threatening.
Of course, these are actually reasons why philosophy should be taught, but the question is at what age? When should children ideally begin their philosophical education. Plato, of course, argued that children shouldn't be educated in this way, that we need to wait for a mature brain. Developmental psychology paints a picture of a brain that develops in stages, starting more concrete and advancing towards abstract concepts. To make this anecdotal, when did you start being philosophical? When in your own development would it have been effective to introduce you to the world of philosophy?
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Philosophy
When Is Philosophy Appropriate?
There was an interesting discussion over at The Nonsequitur, one of my favorite blogs out there, a couple weeks ago about teaching philosophy before college. Certainly, it is not a good thing that we wait until university-level education to begin people -- those few who elect to take it --thinking about foundational questions. If we want a more reflective, thoughtful culture, surely it is a good idea to incorporate philosophy into regular curricula so that students get both exposure and training in deep thought.
I think two of the reasons it is not taught earlier is that we see secondary education, especially in this test-crazy era, as vo-tech training for middle management jobs. We are preparing students for the work force, not creating interesting, interested citizens with round and lively minds. Second, schooling is as much about keeping order as it is educating and arming students with the ability to challenge their teachers, parents, and what's being taught by both is threatening.
Of course, these are actually reasons why philosophy should be taught, but the question is at what age? When should children ideally begin their philosophical education. Plato, of course, argued that children shouldn't be educated in this way, that we need to wait for a mature brain. Developmental psychology paints a picture of a brain that develops in stages, starting more concrete and advancing towards abstract concepts. To make this anecdotal, when did you start being philosophical? When in your own development would it have been effective to introduce you to the world of philosophy?
- Destroying Colleges To Save Them
Lamin sent me this article from The New York Times -- Making College Relevant. It shows how those selecting colleges are among the most well-intentioned and ill-informed consumers in the marketplace. We had an alum come back to visit us a couple weeks...
- Is Research Success Related To Sucessful Teaching?
I applied for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities' pilot program called "Enduring Questions" which funded the development of courses dedicated to enduring questions. My class was called "Can This Class Be Taught?" and asked students...
- How Early Should We Teach Philosophy?
I'm writing up a piece with the middle school teacher who invited me into her classroom for the last two years -- last year for a weekly logic/critical thinking module and this year's focusing on ethics and metaphysics. It has me thinking about...
- Teaching And Teaching Research
A former colleague of mine, Dan Butin, has responded to a column written by Hugo Schwyzer (his blog is here) in Inside Higher Ed. In it, Schwyzer complains about having to sit through an "in-service education day," one of those meetings laced with buzzwords...
- Students Think For Themselves?...revive Philosophy Argument
"Philosophical teaching will get students thinking for themselves again" Teachers need to stop teaching to the test and adopt a more philosophical teaching style across the curriculum, argues John Taylor by John Taylor August 14th, 2012 The GuardianEducation...