Christian Perring, Ph.D.
Office Phone: (631) 244-3349
Office: 330B RC (next to the computer lab)
Office Hours: T 430-530PM, W 130-230PM, R 1200-100PM
Class time: T
Email: perringc@dowling.edu
(please put “EDU5304” in the subject line of your email, and make sure your
message contains your first and last names)
This course is designed to help students examine the diverse
philosophical views that have affected, and are affecting, educational policy
in the
Four central questions in philosophy of education are:
· What
is the purpose of education?
· Which
people in society should be educated?
· What
are the ethical rights and responsibilities of teachers in relation to
students, students’ families, and other teachers?
· What
are the ethical rights and responsibilities of students in relation to teachers
and other students?
There are many more specific issues with strong philosophical
content, some of which we will address. These show that philosophy of education
is not a separate field from other areas within the academic study of
education, but rather is an examination of the debates of fundamental issues
that underlie both educational policy and classroom practices. The questions we may cover include:
· What
subjects should children be taught?
· Who
should receive a free education?
· What
are the responsibilities of society concerning the education of children with
exceptional talent or special needs?
· Is it
fair to stream or track classes with respect to children’s talent, or should
classes consist of children of mixed ability?
· Should
ethics and religious studies be taught in public schools?
· Is it
possible and right to teach children to be virtuous or to become good citizens?
· Should
education in the
· Should
mathematics and science be taught as neutral truths or as culturally specific
approaches to understanding the world?
· Is
single-sex education ethical?
· Should
parents or society have the most control in deciding what kind of education
children receive?
· Should
philosophy, logic or critical thinking skills be taught to children?
· Do
teachers or education policy-makers need to have some understanding of
philosophy in order to be good teachers?
|
Percentage of grade |
Work |
|
5% |
Attendance and participation. I will take attendance, and you should explain to me the reasons for any absences, since this can affect your grade. More than 4 unapproved absences will mean you fail the course. |
|
30% |
6 reflection pieces.
At least 500 words. 5 %
each. These are due by email,
preferably as an attachment, the day before class: i.e., by |
|
10% |
First short paper, at least 1000 words. |
|
15% |
Second short paper, at least 1500 words. |
|
40% |
Paper: At least 3500 words. (See below for instructions and paper
topics.) Note that I expect you to write a draft of your paper, at least 6 pages long, that will be due a month before the final version is due. |
(Unfortunately this is an expensive book. There is a copy on 3-hour reserve in the
library if you cannot afford to buy it.
I plan to use this book every semester I teach this course, so you
should be able to resell it at the end of the semester. If you would like, I can make your contact
info available to students in those future courses so they can purchase your
textbook directly. You can also sell
your copy at a good proportion of the original price at Half.com, Amazon.com,
or Textbooks.com)
Philosophy
of Education. Nel Noddings. Westview Press, 1995.
The
Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education.
Nigel Blake, Paul
Smeyers, Richard Smith and Paul Standish (editors). Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
Democratic
Education, Amy Gutmann,
|
Wk |
|
Work Due |
|
1 |
None |
None |
|
2 |
1. The Socratic
movement: C. D. C. Reeve 4. The Educational Thought of Augustine. Gareth Matthews |
Reflection Piece 1.
Describe in detail an event or personal experience at a school or
college where you were not sure what the right course of action was -- where
a difficult ethical or philosophical question was raised. Explain why it was not clear what to
do. I prefer that you use your own
experience as a student or a teacher, but you can if you prefer use an
example from fiction/TV/film. NOTE:
Please remove or alter identifying information so that if your reflection is
seen by others, they will not cause you problems. |
|
3 |
6. Enlightenment
liberalism: Amy M. Schmitter, Nathan Tarcov, and Wendy Donner 29. Church, State, and Education: William
Gallston |
|
|
4 |
7. Rousseau, Dewey
and democracy: Patrick Riley and Jennifer Welchman 11. Critical
theory: Douglas Kellner |
Reflection Piece 2.
In your experience, in what ways do schools prepare students to
participate in a democracy and take control of their lives? In what ways do schools teach students to
be unthinking followers of rules? |
|
5 |
28. The authority
and responsibility to educate: Amy Gutmann 30. Common
schooling and educational choice: Rob Reich |
First short
paper due. |
|
6 |
12. The analytical
movement: Randall Curren 20. Knowledge, Truth and Learning. Jonathan Adler |
Reflection Piece 3.
Do we need to distinguish between activities that are teaching
activities and non-teaching activities?
Do we need to have a definition of what a teacher is? Consider what reasons there are for making
these distinctions. |
|
7 |
33. Educational
equality and justice: Harry Brighouse 37. Inclusion and
justice in special education: Robert F. Ladenson |
Deadline for
creating your own paper question: it must be submitted in writing, along with
a list of 3 academic articles or scholarly books that you will use to answer
the question. |
|
8 |
31. Children's
rights: James Dwyer 36. The ethics of
teaching: Kenneth A. Strike |
Reflection Piece 4.
Give one example in which it is right for a teacher to impose his or
her moral views on children, and another in which is wrong to do so. Justify both examples. |
|
9 |
24. Teaching Science: Michael Matthews 25. Teaching Elementary Arithmetic through Applications:
Mark Steiner 27. Teaching Literature: Richard Smith (Note: read the
chapter most closely related to your field) |
Second short
paper due. |
|
10 |
22. Moral
education: Graham Haydon 23. Religious Education. Gabriel Moran 38. Sex education:
David Archard |
Reflection Piece 5.
To what extent is it appropriate for schools to be trying to influence
the sexual behavior and beliefs of children and adolescents? Judging from what you have seen in schools and
know of modern society, is sex education likely to have a beneficial effect? |
|
11 |
8. Kant, Hegel, and the Rise of Pedagogical
Science: G. Felicitas Munzel 19. The
measurement of learning: Andrew Davis |
6-page
paper draft due. |
|
12 |
34. Multicultural
education: Robert K. Fullinwider 35. Education and the Politics of Identity:
Yael Tamir |
Reflection Piece 6.
What understanding do children have of their own cultures, and how
does exposure to other cultures change their perspective? Try to draw on your own experience from
your youth or as a teacher. |
|
13 |
41. Academic Freedom: Robert L. Simon. 45. The Role of Ethics in Professional
Education |
|
|
14 |
Teaching children philosophy
workshop, led by Megan Laverty of Montclair State College, NJ |
Paper due. |
Instructions for class. It is important that you do the assigned
reading before class. It will be a good
idea for you to take notes during the explanation of the assigned readings to
enable you to explain some of them in your take-home exam and include
discussion of them in your paper.
Participation is strongly encouraged and your grade will be partly
assessed on this. Discussion and dialog
between students is also an essential part of the learning process. I expect students to respect me and each
other, which includes the following: you should make every effort to arrive on
time, and avoid bathroom breaks during the class unless absolutely necessary;
cell phones should be silent; you should not bring food into class, especially
if others can hear or smell it; you should not be doing reading or writing
unrelated to the course during the class
Instructions for reflection pieces. The aim of these reflection pieces is to encourage you to reflect on the philosophical issues raised in the readings and class discussion and relate them to your own experience as a student and as a teacher. They are meant to help you thinking and writing philosophically and to help you draw connections between abstract ideas and everyday experience. Since each piece is worth up to 5% of your grade and should be at least 500 words, I expect you to craft a thoughtful and well-written reflection. These are not meant to be "mini-papers" and should not include any research, but it is a good idea for you to consider the relevance of some of the assigned course reading to the topic of the reflection and for you include your own opinion.
Instructions for short papers. These short papers are means to take the
place of exams, and are designed to test your understanding of the texts we
have read in class.
Instructions for term papers. All papers should show evidence of research beyond the main textbook. You should demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the philosophical ideas you discuss, and an ability to show how those ideas help us understand difficult cases facing teachers or policy makers. It may be useful to include facts about law, psychological theories of childhood development, or educational studies about how different teaching methods work in the classroom, but you need to go beyond those facts and engage in philosophical discussion. Papers should discuss in detail at least two scholarly works published in an academic journal or book. It is better to give a through discussion of a few authors than to give a superficial discussion of many. Papers will be judged on the quality of their research the strength of the argument, and the clarity of the writing. It is essential that papers engage in philosophical argument, so it is not enough simply to compare statistics, state opinions or describe personal experience of the writer or an interview subject. It is also essential that you consider counter-arguments to your conclusion and explain why you believe they are unsuccessful. Papers should have a clear structure, with an introduction, different sections in logical sequence, and a brief conclusion.
Referring to other sources in your exam and paper: Any quotation from other work must be explicitly labeled, with a page number or exact URL. Any paraphrasing must also be explicitly noted. I recommend APA style for your references. It should be easy for the reader to check on your sources. If you quote from a non-academic website, you should include a print-out of the relevant webpage when you hand in a hard-copy of your paper.
All papers and exams should be submitted via Turnitin.com or sent to me by email as an attachment in MS Word or RTF. I will give you information about how to use Turnitin.com. Note that I view any form of academic dishonesty very seriously, and if I find that you have engaged in any form of plagiarism or cheating I will fail you in this course and report my action to the Dean of Students.
Compare and contrast the different views of the role of education in society of Plato in The Republic and the Enlightenment liberals.
Compare and contrast the different views about the ultimate aims of education of John Dewey, Amy Gutmann and Paolo Friere, paying particular attention to how compatible they are with existing public education in NY State or with the education you received.
Final Paper Topics.
1. What do we mean by "character
education" and what sort of teaching is meant to achieve it? Are there good reasons for adopting character
education, and what assumptions about ethics does such education make? Is character education likely to achieve its
aims? Are there other ways to make young
people think more clearly about morality and act ethically?
2. For children who have disabilities or
impairments that could make it more difficult for them to benefit from a
standard education, what moral obligations does our society have to use extra
resources to educate them? Relate this
to the general purpose of education, and provide some justification for the
theory that you endorse. I encourage you
to discuss the foundations of rights of people with disabilities.
3. In what ways can children and adolescents
benefit from studying philosophy? Is it
appropriate to try to educate even young children about philosophical issues
and methods? Can a case be made for
making philosophy part of a required curriculum? Include some research on what efforts have
been made to teach philosophy in schools and how successful they have been.
4. There are fierce debates over the
appropriateness of teaching children of different ages and levels of maturity
about various aspects of human sexuality.
Discuss the fundamental ethical issues behind these debates, with
reference to some specific issue -- preventing teen pregnancy or STDs, wise
sexual decision-making, or gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual
identities. Be sure to include
discussion of the extent to which it is possible and desirable to teach these
topics in value-neutral ways, and whether it is appropriate for the state to
provide or even insist on such education.