.2 Intentional Philosophies

Let's look then at philosophical foundations. I believe all teachers have a philosophy of education. In other words, it is not optional for you to have a philosophy of education; you WILL have a philosophy of education. But for some people it is systematic and conscious. For most, it is un-stated and erratic. So, our choice is not whether we have a philosophy or not but whether we understand what our philosophy is. We all have a philosophy of education, but some of us understand it and use it in a systematic way. Other people don't understand their philosophy and as a result, they are not as consistent and they don't work with it as well. So let's look at the value of an intentional philosophy.

First of all, if we have an intentional philosophy and if we understand our philosophy and organize ourselves around that philosophy, then this helps us understand why people's responses differ. I hope, that by the end of the lecture, you will see how different people will respond in very different ways depending on what their philosophy is. And I hope you will begin to predict some of the different ways you will respond to common situations depending on your own philosophy.

As teachers we need to understand how our student's opinions are often shaped by our philosophical positions and how our interactions with each other will be shaped by our philosophical positions so that we will be less amazed why other people may respond differently than we do. We understand our responses will differ, and with this in mind, we gain control over our responses and style. It is very, very important that we increase our consistency. Students will have no trouble whatsoever learning that for some teachers if you turn something in late it is a cardinal sin. Students also learn that some teachers are a little more laid back and if you're a little bit late it's not much of a problem. But what kids have a hard time dealing with is if you're a hard-nose one day and laid back the next, they don't know how to act. So consistency is the name of the game. If you are consistent with your philosophy then you will help your students understand how they should respond. They can learn to respond "your way" but they can't deal with inconsistency. So if you understand your philosophical position and how the
components of that position fit together, you're going to do a much better job of figuring out how to deal with your students in a way that they will admire.

For our purposes today we are going to organize philosophy around four different branches. The first branch is metaphysics. Metaphysics is the study of what is real. Some people use the word metaphysics to talk about other worldly things, spiritual
things. But in the philosophical sense, metaphysics is used as the study and investigation of what is real. Epistemology is the study of what is true. There is a difference between what is real and what is true. Things can be real and not be true and things can be true and not be real. Axiology is the study of values. What is a value? That's Axiology: to know what to value, and how to value it. Do we value our similarities or do we value our differences? I argue that in a multicultural society, to value our differences are a positive thing and not a negative thing. There are some people who are trying to make everybody alike. They value the similarity of response. In Axiology, we study what is of value and how we come to decide what to value. The fourth category is logic. Logic is how we think clearly.

And so as we look at these four examples of substantially different philosophies, we are going to be studying each philosophy to understand their impact on educational practice. As we look at different branches of philosophy, be careful that you don't think that these are THE FOUR BRANCHES of philosophy. They are NOT THE FOUR. This is ONE WAY of organizing philosophy.

Four branches of philosophy:

Metaphysics--the study of what is real

Epistomology--the study of what is true

Axiology--the study of values

Logic--how one thinks clearly

	How are metaphysics, epistemology, and Axiology connected ?	Answer Here
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