Educational Philosophy and the Nature

Educational Philosophy and the Nature and Purpose of Teaching

Teaching is more than the simple act of standing in front of a classroom and lecturing on a given subject. Teaching, as numerous authorities agree, encompasses almost every facet of learning and character development. It is at once individual and social. Through education children discover their potential as human beings, while learning to become useful members of their society. Yet, it is precisely here that difficulties develop. The various authorities disagree as to the precise goals of character formation. Different experts propose differing social goals for the educational system. The Cahn volume contains selections that run the gamut from seeing education as a means of empowering formerly dispossessed groups, to those that conceive of teaching and learning as far more universal. Some aim to mold the young in a new image, one that contrasts markedly with long established American traditions, while others emphasize the importance of staying true to the established canon. Indeed, it often seems that the two camps can agree on little, not even the very definitions of teaching and learning. One of the articles wrestles with this specific problem, yet it informs the discussions of all. For how children learn, is as important as what they learn, for it is children's attitude toward learning that will shape their receptivity toward the ideas presented by their teachers. And though the teachers may present widely differing ideas, with widely variant goals in mind, they nevertheless, take upon themselves the task of shaping and molding young minds. It is this task, and its underlying assumptions, that are the focus of the following selections from the Cahn volume.

"What is Teaching?" By Paul H. Hirst

Major Ideas

Appropriately to a discussion of the nature and purpose of teaching, Hirst's article lays out the question of what defines teaching. According to the author, numerous things may be taken as constituting teaching, but these things in and of themselves do not necessarily explain what it means "to teach." It easier to say which aspects of teaching do not constitute teaching than to say which do. Hirst further notes that teaching often takes place outside of the classroom, and is often accomplished through the agency of those who would not normally describe themselves as teachers. Nevertheless, students learn in either situation; a fact that brings him to the next major point of his discussion -- that learning is as difficult to define as teaching. The author even points out that it is possible to learn both intentionally, and unintentionally. Both kinds of learning can take place in both teaching environments. Indeed, it may sometimes even be desirable that students learn while not actually realizing that a learning exchange is taking place (Cahn, p. 448).

An understanding of both learning and teaching is essential to formulating teaching and learning strategies that are appropriate to pupil's levels of intellectual and moral development (Cahn, p. 452). Without these considerations, few would be able to learn anything. Things might be taught, but would they be learned, and in the proper manner? Hirst raises the idea of teaching as indoctrination, intimating that educators can walk a fine line between simply drilling certain ideas into the young, as opposed to helping them genuinely learn or understand those concepts (Cahn, 454).

Elaboration

Paul Hirst's article is concerned, above all, with understanding the teaching and learning process so as to better train the teachers of the future. Understanding that process requires comprehending the intricate interactions between pupils and educators, both as individuals and groups. Since teachers in the nation's public school system necessarily teach before groups of similarly-aged children, the pedagogue must take into account the mean capabilities of the class as a whole, while at the same time attempting not to confuse or bore those students who might be at noticeably different levels (Cahn, p. 454). Entertaining activities can be used to facilitate learning, but must never be allowed to descend to the level of the merely amusing. This raises an important point of the author's -- that people often learn in situations where there is no apparent intention to learn. The important thing is that the teacher intended for the students to learn a particular something, and that that particular something was indeed absorbed and understood by the student body (Cahn, p. 449). Teaching and learning form a logical process, an equation that adds up to the sum of what has been transferred from one side to the other. Over and over again, the author differentiates between accidental inputs and results, on the one hand, and the intentional use of inputs and outputs that, on the other hand, are the hallmarks of the true teacher.

Analysis

Thus, Hirst brings out the idea that understanding how results are achieved is essential to shaping the teachers of the future. Prospective teacher must carefully note what it is they impart to their pupils. They must consider not only what these students learn, but how, and even, why. The what consists of both the apparent subject matter, and also the hidden elements that derive from teaching style and attitude. Lackluster teaching combined with close attention to activities unrelated to teaching i.e. opening windows, sharpening pencils, etc. (Cahn, p. 445) can itself constitute a form of teaching that imparts unintended lessons to young pupils. Future teachers must also know why it is that students learn what they learn. Even in the best of environments, young people may not be learning what is intended. This may be because of a student's own attitude toward the material or the environment. An individual child might focus on aspects of a lesson that are not the major focus. She may be distracted by other concerns, or be focused more narrowly on achieving pupil or peer approbation. These last ideas, in particular, raise the question of why pupils are being taught specific concepts (Cahn, p. 453). Many political regimes have sought to foster a mindset of unthinking acceptance of certain norms. Hirst raises the question of what precisely is the aim of the American educational system.

"Democratic Education" by Amy Guttman

Major Ideas

Amy Guttman's article concerns the specific philosophies that have underlain education throughout time. The author takes each of these theories, and breaks them down into the ways in which they react upon both individual students, and the larger society. In particular, she is concerned with understanding the larger values these philosophies teach, and what kind of society, or state, would be shaped by such views. Guttman gives each of the theories a name of her own creation, speaking of the Family State, the State of Families, and the State of Individuals, analyzing each in turn according to how it shapes individuals' attitudes toward other individuals, in particular, toward individuals that are different form the students themselves. A respect for pluralism is, in fact, central to Guttman's method of analysis. And it is these various theories inadequacy in the face of creating a truly pluralistic society that leads the author to conclude with her own theory of education, one that she calls, the Democratic State.

Elaboration

Guttman spends much time discussing the way in which theory assigns teacher choice within its society. In the Family State, notes Guttman, a theory largely derived from Plato, the state is conceived of as one big family. Experts, who stand in for universal parents, decide what is best for the rest of the population, and all are educated according to their intended roles within the larger society. The theory runs into problems, according to Guttman, when it comes to deciding who will determine what is best for society (Cahn, p. 416). An objective, greater good is seen as coming, potentially, at the expense of the wishes of some individuals within the larger community (Cahn, p. 418), a fact that appears to obviate individual freedom of choice among society's members. The State of Families, in contrast, holds that individual parents have both an interest in, and a desire to, pass on their own values and ways of life to their children. Guttman argues that this is precisely the reason groups such as the Amish completely insulate their children from the outside world, while at the same time poisoning them toward the beliefs and mores of others -- another example of disallowing personal choice in matters of values and behavior (Cahn, p. 419). Guttman states that such attitudes are unacceptable, and are tantamount to reinforcing traditional prejudices, and racial and religious stereotypes. The ideals of pluralism are best served by compelling the mixing together of students as occurred in Nineteenth Century America when the presence of large numbers of Roman Catholics in virulently anti-Catholic Protestant public schools somehow built up an esprit de corps between the different groups -- much as such the modern day presence of African-Americans and Hispanics enriches the experience of students of all backgrounds (Cahn, p. 420-421). Indeed, the author finds the strongest flaw in this Lockean theory of families to be its granting too much power to parents to make incorrect decisions in regard to their children's education, a flaw that is corrected, potentially by John Stuart Mill's notion of an educational system based on the individual. Here the emphasis is on complete neutrality, the child being exposed to all different ways of thinking and believing (Cahn, p. 421). In the end the child will make his own choice as to what is best. Such complete freedom; however, rests upon a notion that children might indeed make incorrect choices; ones that are base don incomplete knowledge of the real world. The need to make rational choice requires that some limitations be placed on children's own personal developmental choices and possibilities (Cahn, p. 423). The author's own notion of the Democratic State is largely derived from this last concept. Education must be divided between a concept of absolute individual choice and societal necessity. Societal necessity demands that children be allowed enough choice for free and individualized expression, while at the same time being prohibited from choosing lifestyles that take as their express point-of-view the idea that they are superior to those of other groups (Cahn, p. 429).

Analysis

Guttman dismisses the three older, and more traditional, theories of education based on their failure to fulfill what she appears to take as the absolute universal and fundamental values of all societies -- namely the goals of pluralism and individuality. In so doing, she ignores the fact that her beliefs are just as dogmatic as those she condemns, for had these been the shared beliefs of all societies they would have been expressed in the older theories, as well as in her own. What is condemned, or praised, has clearly been changed by time and circumstance. In her discussion of the religious situation of Nineteenth Century America, for example, she fails to note how it was that the mere presence of Catholic students somehow changed the anti-Catholic bias of the schools and political system, while at the same time ignoring the fact that the parochial school system was created largely in response to the very anti-Catholicism of the public schools. Mere exposure to other lifestyles does not bring acceptance. At the same time, imposing by fiat, notions of what is acceptable and unacceptable would seem just as much to entrench prejudice toward specific ideas and concepts. By not allowing the individuals or families within a democratic society to freely choose how to educate their children, that society is saying, without doubt, that some individuals are clearly less equal than others in the fact that they possess inferior, or incorrect values -- the very antithesis of what Guttman hopes to achieve. Indeed, Guttman is claiming to champion the equality of different lifestyles while creating a clear hierarchy of thought. The Amish believe what they believe because of their cultural assumptions, just as Guttman believes what she believes because of her own cultural assumptions. A world of Amish might find Guttman's assumptions just as dangerous to children as she finds theirs. In such cases, inculcating the values of one means destroying the values of the other.

"Moral Education and the Democratic Ideal" by Israel Scheffler

Major Ideas

Scheffler's piece was originally given as background information to the United States Congress during a hearing on education. Its main thrust is the specific purpose served by education in a democratic society. As democracies are base don the notion that the people govern themselves, it therefore follows form this point that those who govern should be as informed as possible about the nature of their world and society. Democratic societies are dynamic works in progress, their values and social arrangements shaped through the medium of an active and informed public discourse (Cahn, p. 436). The article quotes Ralph Barton Perry on the idea that a successful democracy literally depends on the existence of a well-educated citizenry, one in which all citizens regardless of circumstance and origin are educated to potentially undertake any role within the society (Cahn, p. 437). To this end, access to education must never be limited, and must also be as broad as possible in the scope of its subject matter. Education is not, as in Plato's Republic, or the then contemporary Soviet Union, an instrument of state control and propaganda (Cahn, p. 437). Democratic education aims to create an individual who is capable of making her own choices, and choosing his own destiny in careful consultation with all those others who make up that society. The inculcation of specific forms of morality is beyond the competency of the school system. Rather, the educational system is beholden to higher and more universal notion of morality that is perfectly consonant with the democratic ideal, one that recognizes the fact that attitudes change over time, and in response to differing circumstances (Cahn, p.439). In short, a democratic educational system tries to create a society that strives toward what is reasonable (Cahn, p. 440).

Elaboration

Scheffler discusses at length notions of what constitutes right and wrong, deciding that such dilemmas cannot often be resolved absolutely (Cahn, p. 439). To say that something is right indicates that that something should be implemented. It implies that an objective analysis of the facts of the situation would lead any reasonable individual to the same conclusion (Cahn, p. 439). What seems acceptable now appears moral because it conforms to current notions of how things should be. Yet, Scheffler warns also against irrational loyalty to institutions, and their confusion with absolute moral principles (Cahn, p. 439). The teaching of knowledge must always be coupled with the teaching of the method of obtaining that knowledge (Cahn, p. 440), for without the necessary understanding of how to arrive at a conclusion it would impossible to have any sort of reasoned understanding at all.

Analysis

Scheffler's article represents education as the underpinning of a democratic society. He makes the point that, to be successful, a democratic society depends on its citizens being able both to understand, and to argue, the facts that shape their world. By understanding how to think, individuals obtain the tools to explore more deeply into the issues that concern them. They learn to analyze the views of others in a rational manner, and to take them into consideration when debating necessary changes. And as societies are always changing, it is essentially, that this education never be dogmatic, for such apparently institutionalized concepts change over time, and with them, societies as a whole.

"Caring" by Nel Noddings

Major Points

Noddings treats the idea of "caring" as a concept essential to education itself. All individual are either those who care, or are cared for; roles that can change with each potential situation. Any time an individual undertakes to assist another individual, or to assume a directorial role, that individual assumes the role of "one-caring." One becomes involved with one's subject to the extent that that person' success or failure, happiness or unhappiness, and responsiveness or unresponsiveness, become intimate concerns of the "one-caring." One receives the object of one's caring "completely and nonselectively" (Cahn, p. 472). To reach their students teachers must care for them -- be able to see the subject matter as they would see the subject matter, and be able to appraise the teacher's responses, attempts at encouragement, commiseration, etc., as they would see them (Cahn, p. 473). Everything teachers do influences the moral and ethical development of their students, thus every interaction is again a sign of caring. (Cahn, p. 474). Students, as the "ones cared for" must be able to respond in a way that further encourages the caring of the "one caring," showing by their words, gestures, and interactions that they understand the goals of the lesson (Cahn, p. 476). Their warm and human responses build up the relationship, and permit the formulation of the caring bonds that allow the work of the teacher to go forward.

Elaboration

Thus, Noddings creates a foundation of caring and trust upon which to build a successful educational system. Caring involves the establishment of genuine personal relationships with students, relationships that are not intimate, like romantic relationships, but which nevertheless embody a deep interest of teacher in student, and vice-versa (Cahn, p. 472). Such close caring does not necessarily entail permissiveness -- a good teacher knows when to impose rules and boundaries (Cahn, p. 472). Children want to be included in the teaching process, but they also wish to develop an innate sense of their own abilities and accomplishments (Cahn, p. 473). All subjects must be presented, as John Dewey insisted, in a fashion that brings out their moral and ethical implications (Cahn, p. 474). True caring can lead to the kind of understanding of students' needs that can obviate the necessity for expensive small schools, and greater numbers of trained teachers. By understanding a student's needs and sentiments, teachers can better reach those students with current resources (Cahn, p. 475).

Analysis

Noddings makes some excellent points about the teacher-student relationship. Too often, pupils feel the school to be too institutional; the teacher too distant, and the subjects dry and uninteresting. By learning to relate to children as people, rather than simply as a captivate audience to be taught standard subjects, teachers can hope to reach students in previously unimagined ways. Caring helps to involve students in all the lessons of school -- intellectual and moral -- by enabling to realize that there are deeper human reasons that many things must be learned. They come to understand the wider social implications of their actions, and discover how their actions influence the happiness of others. They see how knowledge empowers and creates, soon thirsting for yet greater knowledge from those whom they realize care for them and their well-being.

"The Philosophy of Childhood" by Gareth B. Matthews

Major Points

Matthews emphasizes the moral aspects of the educational experience. The article is a discussion of the development of ethical impulses in both children and adults. The author notes observations and theories on ethical development by child psychologists Martin L. Hoffman and Lawrence Kohlberg. Martin, in particular, watches the growth of empathy in young children, a particular ethical development seen by Kohlberg as rather late in the stages of human growth. In a noteworthy example, Martin records an exhibition of what appears to be true empathy on the part of one fifteen-month-old child toward another young child (Cahn, p. 479). The episode is astonishing given the usual assumption that young children act of selfish motivations, and a fear of punishment, or the promise of reward (Cahn, p. 480). According to Kohlberg, young children progress through stages of increasing ethical abstraction, or distance from themselves, with few adults ever reaching the highest level of Stage 6, with its wholly principled adherence to an unimpeachable code of self-chosen moral principles (Cahn, p. 480). Matthews himself makes the argument that the more one looks at the stages of ethical development, the more it appears that even many, if not even most adults, do not operate a truly ethical levels, but rather out of self-interest, if only disguised by apparent concern for others (Cahn, p. 481). Though normally considered absolute stages that must follow one after the other without real possibility of regression, Matthews continues to give examples of children, such as that of Susan and her extra cookie, to show that children may indeed possess ethical standards that can serve as models to adults (Cahn, p. 482).

Elaboration

Matthews brings his discussion of moral and ethical development around to the idea that even children can possess extremely high ethical standards, and as such, may serve as examples to adults. His idea is that adults, in their role of teachers of children, can actually learn a lot from watching the apparently innate behavior of youngsters. He does much to tear down the notions of "moral development" encapsulated in Kohlberg's scale, noting that stages 1 to 4 are hardly moral at all (Cahn, p. 481) as they all concern examples of self-interest. He shows that true morality is a highly complex matter of weighing different concepts and considerations, as in the example of Socrates asking his students whether it would proper to give back to an insane man a weapon that belonged to him (Cahn, p.483). According to Matthews, true moral development involves the formulation of situational paradigms and defining characteristics (Cahn, p. 483). Yet, he feels that these definitions too, are defective. Moral decisions often involve a range of different cases that shade off into gray areas of acceptability, adjudication between conflicting moral claims, and the need to use one's imagination to envision a resolution of the dilemma t hand (Cahn, p.484).

Analysis

Matthews raises the interesting point that moral development is often far more complex than we realize. He also points out that children are capable of a great depth of feeling, even genuinely empathizing with their fellows. The suggestion is that, caring for one another is often an innate ability within individuals. The rigid stages of ethical development outlined by Kohlberg may work well as a general model, but they do not necessarily conform to the realities of human development. Not every act can be neatly fitted into some scientific scale. Adults would do well to observe children more closely, and to realize that oftentimes children have much to teach those who would purport to teach them.

"The Passion of Pluralism" by Maxine Greene

Major Ideas

Greene's essay is another example of a piece that addresses education as a tool for social change. Specifically, she presents the argument that modern education should focus on the needs of serving those individuals and communities formerly, or currently, oppressed, or denied a legitimate airing of their histories and accomplishments. Greene states she wants to find a way of "speaking of community, an expanding community, taking shape when diverse people, speaking as who and not what they are" (Cahn, p.511). This new community represents people and ideas that are different from those found and expressed in the traditional European canon of learning; the culture often termed the "American Way." Greene attacks those who would label her ideas a politically correct or multicultural (Cahn, p. 512-513). The Eurocentric way of thinking does not conform to the mindset of these previously-silenced groups. Indeed, the author shows how dangerous such one-sided thinking can be. Citing the example of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, she notes the pain of not fitting in, of not conforming, felt by a young girl of color when forced to conform to standards of beauty it is physically impossible for her to meet (Cahn, p. 517).

Elaboration

Indeed, Greene emphasizes the personal toll taken by the traditional attitudes; attitudes she sees as embodied by the traditional system of education. Schooling in America has been for too long geared solely toward the interests of one dominant group, a group that is defined by a single color, continental origin, and gender. People of color, women, and religious minorities are objectified. Again quoting Toni Morrison, Greene would have us see that, "My project is an effort to avert the critical gaze from the racial object to the racial subject, from the described and imagined to the describers and imaginers, from the serving to the served" (Cahn, p. 516). Greene desires education to awaken people on all sides of the social spectrum. White males should see what they have done to others, while the others should be allowed to speak and to say, not only what they have truly experienced, and felt, but also what it is they would like their own lives to be. Education must "acknowledge the distinctive cultural and political practices of oppressed people" (Cahn, p. 518).

Analysis

Greene's ideas are useful in formulating a theory of education that seeks to broaden the range of learning to include the talents and contributions of all. Certainly, prejudice has resulted in the overlooking of those people and ideas considered not to be part of the cultural mainstream. The injustices of the past should be put right, but at the same, the people of the present should not be held accountable for the thoughts and actions of the people of the past. That many groups were denied access to mainstream life means that many could not have contributed in the way in which they are now able. To create heroes out of individuals of the past is indeed a laudable goal if those individual's accomplishments have been overlooked because of prejudice. But, the history should not be rewritten simply to favor once unfavored individuals or groups. If prejudice is to be eliminated, it seems important that human beings should stop seeing each other in terms of color, gender, or religious difference.