Dr Joseph Jinja DivalaB-Ring 438

011 559 2902jdivala@uj.ac.za

EDUCATION STUDIES 3B

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND EXPECTATIONS

Theoretical perspectives•Unit 1: Equality and Emancipation - Dr Dirk Postma•Unit 2: Aims of education and critical thinking –Dr Joseph Divala•Theory of Knowledge – Dr Solomon A. David•Reading all three chapters concurrently

Operational matters

• Students in fixed class venues.• Lecturers rotate periodical with specific

topics.• Tutors are attached to topics

• (How to read a philosophical text in a simple way - to be dealt with on 20 Feb)

UNIT 2: AIMS OF EDUCATION AND CRITICAL THINKING

Discuss for 3 minutes

•Why this?

•What is the distinction between an aim and action?

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CONCEPTS AND THEIR PLACE IN EDUCATION• The distinction between words and Concepts?•A word as a language vehicle for communication

•A concept as a connection of words forming up a single idea.

•What is a concept? Do concepts exist? Where do they exist?•Basically: Mental Constructs• Connected to reality affirmatively or in disjunction.

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CONCEPTS, ARGUMENTS, ASSUMPTIONS AND EDUCATION DISCOURSE

•A concept as a primarily a reference to mental contents•Whether sourced from experience (through induction) or from other concepts (deduction).

•An argument is interested in the sense/coherence of concepts within a premise and between premises. •A break in this coherence is called a fallacy or simply a bad argument.•An assumption is either right or wrong but primarily is something not clearly stated in an argument.

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MEANINGS, REASONING AND EDUCATION.• Reason and reasoning in life.•What is a reason (in general)?•What is reasoning? • Could it be a form of explanation or belief? • Are there any distinctions between “reason (in general)” and “reasoning”?

• Sufficient Reason• A condition of life / existence /action• That which makes us be what we are or do what we do.

•Do you think education can exist without reason?

What is education?

• Is it teaching?• Is it schooling?• Is it teaching and learning?• Is it human development?

•What is education?•Why education?•How does schooling relate to education?•What are schools for??•Can schools do their job if they fail to develop critical minds???

What is education? What does being educated entail?

• One has a body of knowledge and a degree of

understanding involving a conceptual scheme

by reference to which what one knows is more

than a collection of disjointed facts.

• Such knowledge cannot be inert in the sense

that it can be hived off as it were, and thereby

fail to characterize one’s way of looking at

things for “education” implies that one’s

outlook is transformed by what one knows.9

• One has what he calls a cognitive

perspective whereby one does not have an

impossibly limited conception of what one

is engaged in.

• Unlike being trained, an educated person is

not merely competent at performing a

particular task, rather one’s competence is

linked to a much wider belief system than

someone merely trained. 10

Why should we accept the definition of education provided so far?

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•Some of the most influential trends in

thinking about education suggest that the

real purpose of education is to free the

human mind and free the person from his

/her physical limitation.

• This is equivalent to freeing the imagination or thinking capacity of the human mind.

•Hence the development of the rational mind /the capacity of the person to think for oneself is isolated as the core function of education.

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A distinction between core functions and other functions

Developing thinking capacity

Education for work

Education for well-being and happiness

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What is the role of education in developing these functions?

How are we to determine what is worthwhile?

Why should we even bother finding out?

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What is the connection between education and critical thinking?

• Teaching children to become effective thinkers is increasingly recognized as an immediate goal of education.

• IF students are to function successfully in a highly technical society, an increasingly complex society - socially and economically, THEN they must be equipped thinking skills necessary to acquire and process information in an ever-changing world.

• This means the development of thinking skills becomes a lifelong learning process.

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http://www.che.ac.za/documents on the purpose of (higher) education

• “One of the fundamental purposes of higher education is to address the development needs of society and provide the labor market, in a knowledge-driven and knowledge-dependent society, with the ever-changing high-level competencies and expertise necessary for the growth and prosperity of a modern economy.• Higher education teaches and trains people to fulfill specialized social functions, enter the learned professions, or pursue vocations in administration, trade, industry, science and technology and the arts” (http://www.che.ac.za/documents)

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What is the purpose of higher order thinking in education?

• Higher order thinking skills are important

because of their relationship not simply to

knowledge and skills required by further

education and training and employment

pathways, but also to their role in student

self-development.

• A key component of this process is the

development of practices of self-reflection.17

How can we develop critical thinking as a core function of education?

• One approach is the development of generic skills such as problem solving, thinking critically, creative thinking and making judgements with sufficient reasons.

• These abilities are considered essential for University students to develop, regardless of the discipline area of study (i.e. generic skills).

• There was a need to assess a broader range of learning outcomes, which has arisen due to the change in conceptions of the goals of a university education.

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What then is critical thinking in education?• No clear consensus about what is meant by the term critical thinking.

•Most people propose a set of thinking skills, such as:The ability to recognize the uncertainties in a problem that might prevent a single “correct” solution.

The ability to frame a problem adequately. This involves organizing and analysing information, understanding alternative viewpoints, and recognizing and controlling for initial biases.

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The ability to reach, articulate, and defend a solution as most reasonable.

The ability to recognize the limitations of a solution and to consider possible re-evaluations as new information becomes available (see also Wolcott,2003)

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The Nature of Critical thinking•Critical thinking is a systematic way to form and shape one’s thinking. • It functions purposefully and exactingly. In other words, it is disciplined, comprehensive, based on intellectual standards, and as such it is a result correct reasoning. •Critical Thinking is distinguishable from other modes/types of thinking because the thinker is thinking with the awareness of the systematic nature of high quality thought.• In addition, one is continuously checking up on himself or herself, striving to improve the quality of thinking.

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Nature (cont. 2)•Critical thinking is not just a random series of characteristics or components. •All of its components –its elements, principles, standards and values – form an integrated, working network that can be applied effectively not only to academic learning, but to learning in every dimension of living (Paul,1995). •Critical thinking’s most fundamental concern is excellence of thought. It is based on two assumptions:

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The assumptions:

•That the quality of our thinking affects the quality of our lives.•That everyone can learn how to continually improve the quality of his or her thinking.

•Therefore, Critical Thinking implies a fundamental, overriding goal for education in school and in the workplace: always to teach so as to help students their own thinking.

Nature (cont. 3)

•a university education should lead students to “the imaginative acquisition of knowledge”. This ‘’imaginative understanding is ‘reminiscent of the often- articulated aim that students in higher education should develop the ability to think critically’’., A.N Whitehead 1929  

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WHY Critical Thinking

• Today’s need for teaching thinking skills is created by the rapid changes taking place in society. •Knowledge and information are becoming ever more complex and soon may be dated. Children therefore, have to be equipped with skills of evaluating choices, and identifying and solving problems using logical reasoning. • Thus it is not enough to have a considerable amount of knowledge at one’s disposal (declarative knowledge), but the questions of how to acquire knowledge and how to apply this knowledge are also important(procedural knowledge). 25

•Students (all levels) should develop from the uncritical acceptance of orthodoxy to creative dissent.• This involves giving the intellect an opportunity to be stretched to its capacity, sharpening the critical faculty to the point at which it can change ideas. •Hence we need to ask: •What kind of educational system do we have? •What kind do we need? •How do we get from one to the other? • Can education develop students as critical thinkers, skilled workers, and active citizens? • Can education promote democracy and serve all students equitably?

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How does critical thinking assist the process of education

•Critical thinking abilities are indispensable in helping one to:

• Challenge prejudice.•Avoid over-generalization.•Be aware of misconceptions and their harm on free thinking.• Prevent self-deception, rigidity and narrowness.

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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT

WAYS IN WHICH THE TERM

EDUCATION IS USED? IS

EDUCATION SCHOOLING?

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SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW OF EDUCATION

•Idea that “education” does not only take place in a formal institution, neither does it mean “formal teaching or learning”.

•Focuses on socialising norms and practices.

•Irrespective of whether the norms are true, valid, good or worthwhile

•Assumes that one will later assume expected social responsibilities.

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THE INSTITUTIONAL VIEW OF EDUCATION

• The development of the person as a result of institutional influences.

• Assumes that education only takes place in formal institutions.

• That all who have gone through the same institutions are similarly “educated”

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THE GENERAL ENLIGHTENMENT VIEW OF

EDUCATION

• Education beyond socialisation and formal schooling.

• Education as a form of human achievement• Development of the mind.

• Characterised by knowledge and understanding

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IMPLICATIONS OF UNDERSTANDING

EDUCATION AS HUMAN ENLIGHTENMENT

• That education is intrinsically valuable• The intrinsic – extrinsic distinction• Conceiving education as a means to something is different from considering education as desirable and worthwhile in itself.

• Intrinsic value draws us to something as good for its own sake and not for some other ends.• In this case the primary purpose of education is the development of the mind, and the capacity to think.

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• Education involves knowledge and understanding for its own sake

• The simplest denominator of knowing may refer to (simple) acquaintance of different objects, for instance that there are 5 people living in the second floor of my flat.

• Understanding shows a deeper awareness of the connections between the different elements under consideration.

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IN GENERAL WHO CAN BE CONSIDERED AS AN EDUCATED PERSON?

• One who has mastered a wide range of types of knowledge.

•More than superficial acquaintance.

• Depth and breadth compliment each other in the “educated” person.• Q: Is it possible to have an educated person who has never gone to a formal school?• The depth and breadth enable a person to have a unified coherent view of life.

WHAT THEN IS EDUCATION?

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THREE DIMENSIONS IN THE “CONCEPT OF EDUCATION”

Education

General

Enlightenme

nt

Sociologic

al

Institution

al

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING • This is the central role of education• Education has the capacity to liberate a person from the here and now.• It has the capacity to engage people in worthwhile activities that develop the rational mind and the capacity to think.

WHAT KNOWLEDGE SHOULD SCHOOLS BE PROMOTING?• Knowledge for Its own sake• Knowing sth for the sake of knowing it and not using that to

one’s advantage

• Knowledge for work.• The most popular usage of knowledge.• Knowledge enabling one to perform certain tasks.

• Knowledge for well-being• For the advancement of the human kind.• Enabling the person to fulfill one’s desires• Enabling one to make significant options in life.