Lesson Element .1: AThe Proff=s Philosophy@

• Why Teach Philosophy?
• Often the subject of separate courses.
• Taught in this course because it is extremely important in that it:
• Makes a huge contribution towards the way you go about teaching.
• Will Deal with Philosophy in the Course in a Superficial Way.
• Intended to introduce the student to the various perspectives of philosophical thinking.
• What We Believe Influences the Way We Act as Teachers.
• Dr. Allen has very strong opinions.
• Presented without apology.
• Dr. Allen=s personal philosophy driven by his spiritual beliefs.
• Member of the Baha=i faith.
• Students required to know his opinions, but not required to accept them.
• Will Be Covering Four Different Philosophies.
• Dr. Allen organizes his life around his philosophy.
• Important that the student is aware of Dr. Allen=s philosophical position.
• Helps the student to understand Dr. Allen=s positions and biases about subjects.
• Dr. Allen=s philosophical position is ECLECTIC.
• Shares elements from all four of the philosophies.

Lesson Element .2: AIntentional Philosophies@

• All Teachers Have a Philosophy of Education.
• Not optional to have one.
• For some teachers their philosophy is systematic and conscious.
• For some teachers their philosophy is unstated and erratic.
• The choice is not whether you have a philosophy, but whether you understand your own philosophy.
• Some people understand their philosophy and are consistent.
• Others do not understand their philosophy and don=t work well with it because of inconsistency.
• Student Opinions are Often Shaped by Our Philosophical Positions.
• Our interactions with each other is shaped by our respective philosophical positions.
• Other people will respond to the same situation differently.
• By being aware of this fact, we won=t be caught off guard.
• Extremely important that we increase our consistency.
• Student learn which teachers are strict and which are more casual about classroom policies.
• They can adjust to each policy and learn how to respond.
• However, if the same teacher is strict one day, and lax the next, the students will be confused and not know how to respond.
• By being consistent in your philosophy you will help your students to understand how they should respond.
• They can learn AYour@ way but only if you are consistent.
• By being consistent you will be able to better deal with your students in a way that they will admire.
• For Our Purposes, Philosophy is Organized Around Four Different Branches.
• Metaphysics: The study of what is real.
• The word metaphysics is used by some to mean spiritual, out-worldly things.
• In philosophy it refers to the study and investigation of what it real.
• Epistemology: 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.
• Need an example to clarify this better.
• Axiology: The study of values.
• What is a value?
• Axiology is the study of how to know what to value and how to value it.
• Do we value our similarities or do we value our differences?
• Dr. Allen argues that in a multicultural society, to value our differences is a positive thing and not a negative thing.
• Some people are trying to make everyone alike. They value similarity of response.
• Axiology studies what is of value and how do we decide what to value.
• Logic: How we think clearly.
• We Are Going to Study How These Philosophies Impact Educational Practice.
• Important distinction must be made about the philosophies.
• These four branches are one way of organizing philosophy, but not the only way.
• These are not the only four ways, not THE ONLY FOUR BRANCHES.

• We Are Going to Discuss the Mind, Brain, and Intellect as the Stuff of What School Is About.
• Philosophers make other distinctions, but they are beyond the scope of this Lesson Element.
• We are going to highlight the fact that philosophical belief influences and shapes our practices as educators, and the responses of our students.
• Perennialists Believe That Nature is A Constant.
• Nature is the grand organizer of the human experience.
• When someone responds AOh, it=s just human nature,@ they are being a perennialist.
• Perennialists assume that human nature is a constant and cannot be changed.
• They believe that human nature is unitary.
• Intellect is what distinguishes man from beast.
• Our ability to think is what gives us consciousness.
• Renee Decartes: AI think, therefore I am.@
• Our intellect discovers truths which are constant and changeless.
• We learn from the great ideas of the past.
• Mortimer Adler was one of the greatest Perennialists.
• Wrote a series of books on the subject at the University of Chicago.
• Dr. Allen Has A Different Philosophy From the Perennialist.
• Based on spiritual Baha=i beliefs.
• We have an animal side and a spiritual side and these sides of our nature are in constant tension.

• Dr. Allen=s Take On the Contrasting Views:
• Dr. Allen believes that what we learn and how we learn are both important.
• This Lesson Element course appears to be organized in a hard and fast format on-line.
• Actually, everything is open and subject to change.
• These Lesson Elements are simply markers as we go along. Merely guideposts.
• Actually, both teachers and students are free to develop and change them as we see fit.

Lesson Element .5: AEssentialism and Existentialism

• Essentialists Believe the Mind is the Essential Element of Reality (That=s Idealism).
• However, the mind learns from the physical world and the contact with the physical world is called realism.
• By some definitions, realism and idealism are both branches of Essentialism.
• The Essentialist Viewpoint:
• It is important to teach the essentials to live well in the modern world.
• The child is a learner to be shaped and developed.
• Perrenialist viewpoint: The child was there to learn from the ideas of the past.
• Progressivist viewpoint: The child should have the opportunity to interact and shape his or her own learning.
• The Progressivist would have the child doing the shaping and developing as well as being shaped and developed.
• Big difference between the Progressivist and Essentialist viewpoints.
• The Existentialist Viewpoint:
• The child is free.
• The job of the teacher is to think of the children as going on a wonderful journey of freedom.
• The teacher will have little impact on them because they are free to accept or reject what the teacher provides them as information.
• The child is who they choose to be and the child=s quest is one of personal meaning.
• The child is shaped by all of its experiences. You learn to be what you are.
• It=s your job, other people can help you, but it is your responsibility.
• The answers come from within, not from the outside.
• You are on your own.
• This contrasts sharply with the Progressivist viewpoint.
• Progressivists say it is my job to give you the skills to help you problem solve and to engage you in a democratic dialogue because we are all in this together.
• In Many Ways U.S. Society is Based on Existentialism.
• Key philosophy because Existentialism is very close to individualism.
• Everyone is free to Ado their own thing@ in the U.S. Society.

• The Different Ways That the Philosophical Positions Influence the Way Teachers Act:
• Perennialists believe it is the teacher=s job to pass on the wisdom of the past.
• This means you need the most up-to-date textbooks.
• This is the latest version of the past.
• Important to teach concepts and lists of things.
• However, the past is constantly being revised! Makes is tough on the Perennialist.
• The past isn=t that stable.
• We keep having new ideas and interpreting history differently.
• Progressivists believe that we should be teaching problem solving.
• Important to teach the process of learning things.
• Whatever we teach, the main reason we teach it is to help people learn why we are teaching it.
• Essentialists believe that there is essential knowledge out there. Back to Basics.
• Both Perennialists and Essentialists believe in back to basics because both believe that there is a basic body of knowledge to be mastered.
• Likewise, the progressivist believes there are basics, but their lists are very different from those of the Perennialist or Essentialist.
• Existentialists believe education is about knowledge. The purpose of education and learning is to help the child confront freedom.
• Teachers Have the Responsibility to Be More Aware of Their Actions Than Other People.
• If teachers are not aware of their actions, they can pass along misunderstandings to the children.
• This can create very definite consequences for future generations.
• We can=t afford to do that.
• The Basic Responsibility of Teachers is to Both Preserve the Heritage of Society and to Help Guide the Society to the Next Century with New Understandings.
• The world is constantly changing.
• This causes problems with the Perennialist and Essentialist viewpoints.
• Dr. Allen believes that teaching kids how to learn, and how to find things is more important than teaching them long lists of things.
• That is his philosophical position. Some people would disagree.
• Mortimer Adler would disagree.
• Adler would argue that people who are trained as Perennialists function very well in society.
• If you read and understood only the great books and mastered their ideas, you would be able to live successfully in any sort of world.
• This is because from the Perennialist view, the world looks like it is changing but it really isn=t.
• The essential ingredients go on the way they were.
• Dr. Allen disagrees with this viewpoint.
• It is Important as a Teacher, To Know Where You Stand on the Issues of Change.
• You are going to have to understand how you are going to deal with the real or apparent changes around us.
• Example: Textbooks.
• Textbook publishers publish new editions of textbooks because it increases sales.
• Only some students will be able to sell back the textbook they are using because the publishers have issued a new edition.
• Is that fair? How to deal with it?
• Did you plan on the textbook you purchased being obsolete at the end of the semester or was it simply chance?
• The publishers issue new editions every three years.
• This causes the market for the used textbooks to dry up and keeps profits high.
• However, the benefit of the new edition is that it is more up-to-date and may include new material that you need to be aware of to be a more effective teacher.
• Example is the Internet. Many books didn=t mention it three years ago.
• The new edition of the ECI 300 course textbook does.
• So is the financial loss worth the availability of new knowledge? You decide.
• This simply illustrates that the world is changing and so is the knowledge available.

• The Philosophies in Regard to the Student.
• Perennialist: The student=s job is to learn what is taught.
• The student is a very passive person. I am the teacher, you are the student.
• Students must write down what I say, and you learn what I say.
• No arguments, no discussion over what I am going to teach the student.
• I am a competent teacher and I know what the students must learn.
• If the students learn what I teach them, they will be in great shape.
• Progressivist: The student is naturally good and is going to learn by doing.
• My job as the teacher is to get you more actively involved in the learning process.
• The student not only has to learn what is taught, but must also actually experience it for themselves. This will allow them to learn how to internalize the knowledge, and learn the process of problem solving as well as learning the content.
• Essentialist: The child will listen and learn.
• The Essentialist position is very close to the Perennialist position and can be often confused. Dr. Allen includes the Essentialist viewpoint in the class only because it parallels the textbook.
• Existentialist: The child is alone to discover meaning.
• No matter what the teacher teaches, the student learns only what they choose to learn.
• Compelling theory with some realistic support.
• While typing these notes, I was also considering my schedule for tomorrow.
• Dr. Allen=s Viewpoint: He is an Electic.
• There are benefits to be learned from all of the philosophical positions.
• Point of the Lesson Element: Get the Big Picture, Decide Where You Stand, and Be Consistent.
• If you are consistent and predictable, you will be a more effective teacher.
• Your students will be able to learn to respond to any philosophical position as long as you=re consistent in your philosophy so they can figure it out.
• The more you help them to understand your position, the better off they will be as more effective students.
• Students are more effective when they understand the teacher and know how to respond to them.
• Throughout the course, notice the kind of things Dr. Allen is trying to teach us and decide which philosophical position it reflecting. It will affect your perspective and perspective is one of the most powerful learning tools we have.

• Your Personal Philosophy Has a Tremendous Impact.
• We can all work together with different philosophies.
• However, our philosophy influences and impacts the means and motive for doing things.
• You should try to understand other people=s philosophies to understand their motivation for the things they do and the way they do them.
• Reality for each individual is what they make of it, and through interaction with each individual we are linked to each other=s reality. We are all linked together.
• We Must Have a Different Level of Understanding than We Did in the Past.
• The complexity and diversity of the modern world requires a different level of understanding.
• Homogeneous communities are vanishing.
• Community separations by ethnic, race, and religion are not as prevalent as they were in the past.
• We must learn to interact with each other.
• We can either accept these changes and embrace them, or resent the changes.
• However, there is no going back to the way it was.
• If we accept the changes in the right manner, we can make the changes work to our advantage when dealing with the world.
• The U.S. is the Most Diverse Nation on Earth.
• All sizes, shapes, colors, and religious orientations.
• How to make that diversity a strength is the challenge.
• Teachers are on the front line of answering the challenges posed by our diversity.
• If they believe that we can return to a neatly categorized world, then they are the enemy as far as Dr. Allen is concerned.
• Example: Racism. Society no longer says that racism is acceptable.
• We are going to have to learn how to live together.
• We may still have inappropriate reactions based on our own heritage, and we have to learn how to deal with that.
• Some progress is being made and officially, racism is condemned.
• Teachers are in a position to really help change inappropriate viewpoints and consolidate the progress made.
• Your philosophical position is one of the things that will influence the way you go about helping society to accept the changes.