Syllabus Showcase: The Philosophy of Education, Kristopher G. Phillips

A part of what I like about educating philosophy is that it affords me the chance to take issues that college students discover acquainted or banal and, by philosophical examination, make it peculiar, complicated, irritating, and unshakable. By the point undergraduate college students attain a 3000-level course they’ve had a lifetime’s value of expertise with schooling in numerous varieties and contexts. The overwhelming majority have loads of concepts in regards to the academic system, and few of these concepts are complementary. Philosophy by its very nature can, in fact, be essential – nevertheless it will also be aspirational. Philosophers will not be constrained by merely describing the way in which issues are; we’re able to consider how issues may or ought to be. Providing a course within the philosophy of schooling afforded me the proper alternative to poke, prod, and problem one thing that college students discover acquainted and to push them to think about not merely what their expertise of schooling has been, however what it ought to be. What higher approach to do this than to provide the scholars within the class rising management over the course – and thereby additionally their very own schooling – itself?

My aim in educating the philosophy of schooling is to have an prolonged, considerate, philosophical dialogue with the scholars about their very own schooling. In some ways this strategy is knowledgeable by my apply in pre-college philosophy. Having studied with Michael Pritchard and subsequently began a few dialogue-based philosophy summer-camps (the Iowa and Utah Lyceum applications), I’ve seen first-hand the affect dialogic educating has on a classroom. Particularly, framing philosophy schooling by way of dialogue highlights that (a) college students be taught higher by energetic participation, (b) when college students really feel a way of possession, they’re motivated to consider carefully and critically about course content material, and (c) by participating in considerate dialogue with each other, college students really do philosophy, fairly than merely be taught about philosophy. I used to be additional impressed by current work on the cultivation of mental advantage, which led me to take a extra energetic position as facilitator than often prescribed by the neighborhood of inquiry strategy – emphasizing the significance and worth of exemplars in cultivating mental advantage, aiming for a “virtuous dialogue” whereby college students are energetic contributors (Finley 2023). Along with serving to college students be taught materials, I draw pupil consideration to particular virtues by modeling and highlighting pupil behaviors in school which embody intellectually or dialogically virtuous behaviors. By reminding college students that we’re working collectively in pursuit of a virtuous dialogue and inspiring everybody to be glorious interlocutors, college students shortly internalize and more and more exhibit intellectually virtuous behaviors.

Borrowing from Jason Baehr’s Deep in Thought (2021), we start the semester with an mental advantage self-assessment. College students determine how nicely they embody every advantage and write a mirrored image about each their strengths and the place they will enhance. We then meet in one-on-one conferences, talk about their survey and reflection, and set objectives for the semester. Across the midpoint of the semester, college students provide a formative self-reflection, exploring their efforts and progress made because the starting of the time period. One pupil expressed that they’ve a tough time disagreeing with friends in school. We set a aim for critical-dialogical-engagement and I monitored their in-class participation. As this pupil famous of their mid-semester self-reflection, a lot of the progress they made occurred exterior of sophistication; they had been extra engaged with classmates and felt extra comfy expressing their very own philosophical positions in smaller group settings. That success constructed their confidence, and so they in the end spoke up extra incessantly in school than in any semester earlier than.

In one other case, one pupil needed to work on their close-reading expertise. Over the course of the semester, we recognized three quick passages from assigned readings and crafted an task designed to domesticate close-reading. Whereas the task was designed for one pupil, I made it out there to everybody within the class. To my shock, a number of further college students took me up on the chance, regardless of being totally optionally available.

For the second-half of the category, I wish to afford the scholars much more autonomy. In spite of everything, the entire concept for the category was to assist the scholars determine what schooling ought to be. Ceding some management over what we’re discussing appears an apparent alternative. To that finish, I don’t particularly assign which chapters from the gathering Mental Virtues and Training we learn, as an alternative I depart it to them to decide on. On this class, they needed to learn the entire thing. I had them train every chapter in pairs. I meet with every pair of scholars earlier than and after they lead the category so as to talk about their successes and the way their expertise supported their objectives. They’re free to use handouts, interactive slideshows, or no matter they assume will finest push each other to interact fastidiously with the texts and each other.

For years I’ve been suspicious of grades; I discovered that they distract college students, fail to speak something significant, and – regardless of the looks of objectivity – show unimaginable to uniformly apply. In spite of everything, a significant of their ultimate undergraduate philosophy course ought to be held to a special normal than a pupil of their first upper-division philosophy course. I’ve adopted an ungrading strategy to most of my courses already, however on this case it appears notably applicable to supply college students a alternative between conventional grading and ungrading. To assist them make an knowledgeable choice about their very own schooling, and to kickstart the method of creating the acquainted appear odd, we begin by studying in regards to the historical past of the grading system and the case in opposition to grades. These college students unanimously went for an ungrading strategy. To that finish, I provided substantial qualitative suggestions with no numerical rating or grade on all written work and a standing alternative to revise any task. With out the worry of failure, typically college students are prepared to take higher dangers, reconceptualize how they approached their very own studying, and constantly share that they take pleasure in studying extra. One pupil even ready a presentation on upgrading, educating for the event of mental advantage, and my class for different school in one other program at SUU.

Along with innovating and taking higher dangers, college students additionally exhibit extra pleasure about analysis and spend extra time discussing materials with me exterior of sophistication. On the finish of the time period, I’ve college students put collectively a portfolio of their work – together with all written work, any revisions they could have completed, reflections, and a ultimate retake of the mental virtues survey. They then write a cautious reflection of efficiency within the class – attending to their development on private objectives, their depth of understanding, and what ultimate grades are all about. Throughout finals week, we meet one-on-one to overview their portfolio, speak by their reflections, and collaboratively decide what their ultimate grade must be. I ask every of them three questions simply earlier than turning to figuring out their ultimate grade:

1. In some unspecified time in the future somebody who doubtless doesn’t know me, you, or the content material of this course will have a look at your transcript. What does the grade that exhibits up in your transcript talk to that individual? What does it say about you as a pupil?
2. If we may go over to the registrar and place a footnote subsequent to the grade for this class saying in one-sentence what the grade represents, how would that sentence learn?
3. Given what you’re taking the grade to really talk, what you ideally need the grade to speak, and every part you will have proven by your portfolio, reflections, and our dialog in the present day, what’s the grade you will have earned for this course and why?

There’s a lot about this class that’s fairly on-the-nose. In asking college students to think about each what schooling is and what it must be, it solely appears becoming that the course itself ought to in the end be a mirrored image of that aspirational undertaking. From the outset, the category is designed to just do that – to mirror their views, values, and objectives whereas preserving the trainer’s experience in guiding, figuring out, and creating pupil concepts and virtues. 

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