Philosophy of Education

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Philosophy of Education
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Questions are the heart of philosophy

• What is the world really like?
• How do we know something?
• What does it mean to teach something? To learn
  something?
• How should we treat each other? What is
  valuable?
• Whats the best way of governing and arranging
  society?
• What does it mean for something to be beautiful?
• Is there a correct way to reason? What is reason
  anyway?

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Philosophical specialties have arisen to deal
with these questions

• Metaphysics
• Epistemology
• Ethics
• Political philosophy
• Aesthetics
• Logic

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The origin of Western Philosophy

• Socrates
• Plato
• The parable of the cave
• Aristotle

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Why does all this matter to teachers?

• Our answers to the questions of philosophy
  influence how we think about schools and our
  classrooms.

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Philosophy of education questions

• What is the purpose of schooling? Of education?
• What ought we to teach?
• How should we teach it?
• How should we treat our students? How doe we
  expect our students to treat us?

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Philosophical questions in other disciplines

• What does it mean to know something?
• Constructivism
• Do humans have free will?
• Behaviorism
• Is there an essence to all human beings?
• Culture

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Concrete Questions

• Is it fair to treat students differently?
• What is the role of the state in providing equal
  education for all?
• Can a student who fails a test be said to know
  less than a student who passes?
• Can you really grade a students art project or
  musical composition?
• Should a students culture influence how they do
  their assignments and how they are assessed?