Educational Philosophy - Focus questions & responses

Human life is different than animals - What makes us human?

One claim - Consciousness to be aware that we are curious, social, and have
the capacity to intervene for ourselves and in the world.

One form of intervention is learning and teaching.

Why do we teach and learn?

Curiosity is the motivation to learn. To stimulate questions and critical reflection is a fundamental result of curiosity.

• Curiosity initiates searching
• We search and in the search we intervene which is to teach ourselves
• Searching is never done, which makes us incomplete
• Searching creates the possibility for the creation of knowledge
• Our incompleteness makes it possible to learn

How do I know what I know?

Quality of learning depends on creative depth of thought

• To move beyond the ingenious curiosity of simple folk represented by - Common sense, conventional wisdom, and rote learning
• We learn - Knowledge results from pure experience and knowing and using a rigorous methodological procedure with ingenuity and critical thinking represented by - deep understanding, Ingenious curiosity and epistemological curiosity

What limits our search for knowledge?

Our search for knowledge is restricted by

• Authority and Freedom
• Freedom can range from doing whatever a person wants at the expense of others which is anarchy. Or Freedom can be restrained by the ethics we choose, but we always have the freedom to transgress.
• Ethics with Democracy as the social glue

What do we need to know about educational theory?

Education is ideological (The insidious nature of ideology is its ability to
make itself invisible.)
To educate -

• Requires a recognition that our beliefs and ideas are a product of our condition(ing)
• We must understand Objectivity always contains within it a dimension of subjectivity.
• We must understand all ideas and opinions should continuously be considered as subjective open to investigate the origins, history, and consequences associated with them.
• Without the qualities or virtues such as: a generous loving heart, respect for others, tolerance, humility, a joyful disposition, love of life, openness to what is new, a disposition to welcome change, perseverance in a struggle, a refusal of determinism, a spirit of hope, and an openness to justice a pedagogical practice that provides autonomy for students is not possible.
• Autonomy is not provided in one size fits all standardized instruction.
• Learners must outmaneuver the banking system. We must teach the learner how to approach the learning process in a manner that will make their objects of learning knowable. Help students recognize they are the architects of their own cognition process.
  

What are my beliefs about teaching?

• There is no teaching without learning. When we teach we search to understand what the learner knows and with that search we intervene which is to teach ourselves.
• It is impossible to live this openness in the world without inner security, just as it is impossible to have that security without taking the risk of being open.
• Authority comes from a self confident teacher interacting with students who are curious and openly question what they know and what they don’t know to increase their autonomy in the process of becoming whatever they will become.
• Neutrality of education is impossible - Can’t be neutral. Study for the sake of study is impossible. For what would you study? For whom? And why?
• Educability is being unfinished and is ethical because we must make decisions and we can transgress in the decisions we make.
• If the teacher takes only one view, then the teacher can only realize the teacher’s goals or views. And there will be no student autonomy.
• There is no such thing as teaching without research (systematic investigation to verify information and new conclusions) and research without teaching.
• I teach because I am curious and search for understanding. In doing so I notice things and intervene.
• I am secure enough to share my curiosity and questions. I am demanding enough to require sufficient research and reflection to draw conclusions. And through these actions and interactions I educate and educate myself. I do research so as to know what I do not yet know and to communicate and proclaim what I discover.
• Respect of autonomy and know learning requires this kind of practice.

Educational Philosophy and Theoretical Views on Life, Learning, and Education
By Robert Sweetlandʼs