Summary of Reading Articles about Philosophical Thinking

Philosophical Thinking

• Christou, T. M., & Bullock, S. M. (2012). The case for philosophical mindedness. Paideusis, 20(1), 14–23.

Educationalists should occupy the middle between opposing viewpoints and think critically. The author argues that we need more philosophical mindedness in our education system. His view of education is not a whole divided into parts; instead, he views it as a unitary act. The author calls on us, as educationalists, to scrutinize our own personal beliefs. Everything should be questioned in a productive way. Philosophy thinking should be treated as a fencing match and the goal is for deeper and richer understanding. One of the problems is that when we find someone who has an idea that goes against our own, our initial reaction is to not consider any of the merits of that new idea, as in doing so, it puts our beliefs in jeopardy. One of my favorite quotes from this text is from Socrates, “a life that is not examined continuously is not worth living”. Another quote I really like from the article is “education is a place where one comes to learn what it is to be a person”. One of the key ideas I am taking from this article is that it is not about being right or wrong, it's about the process and about living in the process. As educationalists, we must challenge and question, we should not just accept. Educators should not have all of the answers but, we should always have a lot of questions.

I had multiple thoughts surrounding teaching and learning after reading this article. My first thought is what is teaching? I had a long convoluted answer to which I thought was covering the definition from many angles. One thing I really didn't consider with regards to teaching and learning was that teaching and learning can lead to the discovery of self. When done correctly, an educationalist can question another's thoughts and bring that person into a space of being. To presume that “my way is the best way” can only damage the relationship between me and my students. A lot of what we call “teaching and learning” is just a government-mandated curriculum, to which molds the mind to think in scientific way. In the education system, there is little emphasis placed on the development of thinking styles or questioning of firmly held beliefs.  With this exploration of teaching and learning, the thoughts connect directly into innovation and creativity. How much space am I giving students as an educator, to truly be innovative and creative? If I am following a curriculum, how many opportunities do I have, to challenge that curriculum in such a way that is both productive and efficient?

Questions I have for the author:

How does one go about promoting Mindedness and philosophical thinking when there are so many restrictions placed on educationalists?

How do we restore the philosophical mind, when the science base mind is what is driving our current curriculum?

How do we encourage policy writers to promote a philosophical mind, when a philosophical mind is difficult to grade (as it is also hard to produce quantifiable results)?

Mayo, C. (2011). Philosophy of education is bent. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 30(5), 471–476. doi: 10.1007/s11217-011-9248-5

The other main point of this article is philosophers of education need to stop being so defensive in their field and come up with more creative ways of supporting the education system. One of my favorite quotes from this article is” the only thing worse than a defensive philosopher is a confident and certain philosopher”. One of the problems in education is that local governments are defining what education is and coming up with solutions on how to best solve issues in education. The issue arises in the fact that educationalists do not all agree on what education is. The meaning of learning and education has changed and it appears that policymakers are more interested in a science-based measuring system, instead of investing in the deeper and more complicated questioning of education itself. An example the author gives as with regarding Humanities courses, in Ontario, is the focus of education on Maths, Sciences, and Language. Learning is now becoming a test taking feat, instead of a thought-provoking discovery process. One of the issues with being overly scientifically and quantitatively focused is that administrations can put too much pressure on the outcome of tests and not enough emphasis on the development of the student. How often are students given time to just think? Not often, as thinking is seen as a luxury and there are no rewards for thinking (grades). There is a sense that you are not being productive if you just think. Education that produces measurable and quantifiable items is valued a lot higher than learning that produces deeper forms of thinking. Thoughts that don't produce a quantifiable product are seen as wasteful.

I want to talk a little about innovation and creativity within thinking and learning. If we are not encouraging humanities or other styles of thought, other than the scientific base thinking, we are promoting a very narrow view of education. If we want students to be more creative and more innovative, we need to express the importance of finding alternative solutions to problems or challenges. If we all have one style of thought, creative and innovation will cease.

Similar to the last article, this article changed my views regarding creativity and innovation. If we are only promoting, as an educational system, science-based thinking where is the space for alternative thinkers? There's a lot of talk about inclusion, where is the space for the students that sometimes look like they are “in space”? Again, I question what we are actually teaching?  Are we teaching for depth or are we teaching to fulfill a government agenda?

Questions I would have for the author:

How do we get people to focus on the importance of the humanities courses when so many students are focused on education that will get those jobs?

Based on curriculum documents, most teachers feel like there is not a lot of time in the school year. How can we promote thinking for the sake of thinking when under time stress?