Advice to philosophers seeking a pre-college teaching position. Advice to teachers who want to teach philosophy. Philosophy education. Philosophy education is the practice of teaching and learning philosophy along with the associated scholarly research.
It is not philosophy of education, nor the philosophical study of education in general. Philosophy education around the world[edit] Education in the subject is usually divided into 4 main stages: pre-school (i.e. pre-primary; e.g. kindergarten) and primary education levels (e.g. elementary school), lower (e.g. middle school) and upper secondary education level (e.g. high school), tertiary (higher) education level (e.g. college, university), and post-tertiary education level. Sometimes the stage referred to as "post-secondary non-tertiary" is also included (in a fashion similar to the ISCED levels). Not all countries provide study of philosophy at all levels and in many the subject is virtually absent from the entire curriculum.
Mythology. Philosophy for Children. Philosophy for Children, sometimes abbreviated to P4C, is a movement that aims to teach reasoning and argumentative skills to children.
There are also related methods sometimes called "Philosophy for Young People" or "Philosophy for Kids". Often the hope is that this will be a key influential move towards a more democratic form of democracy.[1] However, there is also a long tradition within higher education of developing alternative methods for teaching philosophy both in schools and colleges (see "philosophy education").[2] Although the noted developmental psychologist Jean Piaget was of the impression that children were not capable of critical thinking until age 11 or 12, the experience of many philosophers and teachers with young children gives reason to believe that children benefit from philosophical inquiry even in early primary school.
Method[edit] The pedagogy of philosophy for children is diverse. Notable proponents and their styles[edit] Journals[edit] Books[edit] FINDING AND FOSTERING THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPULSE IN YOUNG PEOPLE: A TRIBUTE TO THE WORK OF GARETH B. MATTHEWS - GOERING - 2008 - Metaphilosophy. Why Start a Pre-College Philosophy Program, and How to Do it. Print Why Start a Pre-College Philosophy Program, and How to Do it Why Start?
Bringing philosophy into K-12 classrooms is one of the most effective methods for helping children learn to think critically and creatively. Because philosophical questions are by their nature unsettled and disputable, philosophy is one of the few subjects young people can study where there are few clear answers that students are striving to get right. Especially in this era of increased standardized testing and the corresponding “teaching to the test,” it is essential that there be time in the school day for open-ended dialogue about ideas. In philosophy sessions, young people learn that there are many approaches to most philosophical questions. What are the arguments for and against philosophy in high school?
So You Want to Teach Pre-College Philosophy. Teaching Pre-College Philosophy. Is there a future for pre-college philosophy?
Over the past few years, I have been heavily invested both professionally and personally in the question of whether an effective, worthwhile, and legitimate philosophy curriculum can be established at the high school level, and whether a philosopher can make a credible, scholarly career out of teaching high school philosophy. I have collected a substantial, however modest, set of research on the subject ranging nearly fifty years across many nations. On The Meaning Of High School Philosophy Instruction. When I joined the faculty of Columbia Secondary School as a curriculum adviser last year, I had no inkling that I would eventually become the school’s high school philosophy teacher.
This is an honor and an intellectual treat. I want to share my thoughts about what it means to teach philosophy at the high school level, what sort of curriculum we have, and what I am doing with it. Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science, and Engineering is a selective 6–12 public school (currently 6–11) located in Harlem. The principal, Miriam Nightengale, has worked to build a strong curriculum and a lively school culture. The teachers are immensely dedicated, not only to the classroom, but to the school community; as a part-time teacher, I am humbled by their relentlessness and cheer. I wrote the high school philosophy curriculum last spring and will be fleshing it out as the year progresses. Philosophy is not all logical by any means. I do not pretend that my teaching has been perfect or close. Michael Shammas: For a Better Society, Teach Philosophy in High Schools.
The past year gives one the suspicion that American society is dysfunctional.
Our Congress is useless, our institutions inept. Faced with the terror of existence, young men like Adam Lanza react with violence. Faced with manageable problems such as a "fiscal cliff," our democracy self-destructs. Anger is everywhere; understanding is nowhere. Although a democratic society cannot function unless its citizens are able to rationally debate one another, rationality is missing from American politics. It seems to me that this dysfunctional political dialogue, which stems from the iron certainty we grant our opinions, is the most pressing problem confronting 21st century America.
This raises the question: How can we solve this crisis? How Do I Become a Philosophy Teacher? PLATO: Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization. Teaching High School Philosophy : PLATO: Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization. Why do philosophy in high school?
The better question would ask why not? Philosophy is routinely taught in Europe as a standard feature of the secondary school curriculum. Rigorous summer institutes, such as Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth and Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, have long enjoyed great success in exciting students about the discipline. In recent years, a growing number of high schools, public as well as private, have developed highly successful philosophy electives, as well as philosophy clubs and ethics bowl teams. Philosophy can and should be taught in high school because this is the ideal time for students to engage its questions, arguments, and methods of thinking. From a school-wide perspective, philosophy can be invaluable because the skills it imparts are transferable to every part of the curriculum that emphasizes clear thinking, reading, and writing. Teaching Middle School Philosophy : PLATO: Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization. WHY DO PHILOSOPHY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Like elementary school children, middle school students are native questioners and thinkers. What’s more, they have reached two stages important for rich philosophical exploration: • the social stage at which most have begun to realize that the authorities around them are not always correct, leading to a willingness to assess received wisdom and to form their own judgments • the cognitive stage at which they have a sizeable array of facts about the world and the ability to follow, critique, and mount sustained arguments. Indeed, the very idea of a “middle school” for 6th-8th or 7th and 8th grades is based on the twin realizations that students at this age are undergoing greater psychological, physiological, and sociological re-orientation than at perhaps any other period in their lives as they transition from childhood into adolescence, and that they nonetheless have capacities distinct from elementary and high school students. 1. 2. Teaching Elementary School Philosophy : PLATO: Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization.