Philosophy in Schools

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Overview: what we do & what is missing

• Is philosophy in schools a good idea?

• What has this got to do with University Philosophy?

• What is secondary school Philosophy like?

• a. What is NCEA? • b. How does NCEA Philosophy work?

Is philosophy in schools a good idea?

“For it is owing to their wonder that [wo]men begin to philosophize”

- Aristotle, Metaphysics

What is NCEA?

• Three levels of NCEA Achievement Standards: levels 1 to 3 in years 11 to 13 (form 5-7)

• At each level, students must achieve a certain number of credits to gain an NCEA certificate.

• Assessments are known as Achievement Standards.

• 80 credits are required at any level 

Level 3 – Income InequalitySocial Studies AS91600: Examine a campaign of social action(s) to

influence policy change(s) rights.

Neoliberal economics and growing divide between New Zealand’s poorest and wealthiest

Social Studies AS91600: Examine a campaign of social action(s) to influence policy change(s) rights.

1. Describe the issue from different points of view, values and perspectives

2. Explain the aims of the campaign

3. Explain of the differing reasons for individuals and/or groups involvement in the campaign

4. Explain the reasons for individuals and/or groups selecting the actions within the campaign.

5. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign

Describe the issue from different points of view, values and perspectives

• Michael Sandal’s What’s the right thing to do? • Robert Nozick on Taxation: Anarchy, State, and

Utopia• Diogenes of Sinope: Cosmopolitanism• Pierre Bourdieu: cultural/social reproduction• Peter Singer - Practical Ethics• Tom Regan: Regan’s Lifeboat, • Critiquing Capitalist and Neoliberal ideology (Karl

Marx)

Philosophy free zones

• Explain the aims of the campaign• Explain of the differing reasons for individuals and/or

groups involvement in the campaign • Explain the reasons for individuals and/or groups

selecting the actions within the campaign.• Critically evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign.

Mental Health and Addiction Support 22836 Analyse the application of ethical values for mental health support work Health23392 Describe ethical behaviour in a health, disability, or community setting 91464 Analyse a contemporary ethical issue in relation to well-being

Religious Studies90818 Describe the application of the key ethical principle(s) of a religious tradition to an issue

90822 Explain how a contemporary social action derives from the ethical principles of a religious tradition

90826 Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue

Key Competencies

1. Thinking

2. Relating to others

3. using language, symbols, and texts

4. managing self

5. participating and contributing

Philosophy as a trans-disciplinary non-isolable domain

Stephen E. Toulmin (1972) Human Understanding

2nd: Refined NZ Curriculum

NZAPT 2015Sept. 25-26Auckland Girls’ Grammar School

Philosophy Club

• If Zombies existed, would they still have Rights? • Is a Zombie still a person?

• Should a dog be punished for behaving like a dog? • Should a vampire be held morally accountable for behaving like

a Vampire?

• Can art be bad for you?

• Is education a form of brain-washing?• Does it matter whether or not God exists?• Should we support the research and development of synthetic,

genetically-engineered meat?

Co-Curricula and Inter-

school Philosophy

Co-Curricula and Inter-school Philosophy

S.T.A.R. Philosophy

Philosophy Awards

Intermediate school

NON-NCEA Philosophy through Junior Social Studies

Four conceptual strands:

1. Identity, Culture and Social Organisation

2. Place and Environment

3. Continuity and Change

4. The Economic World

1. Identity, Culture and Social Organisation: – personal identity– Plato’s Republic

Non-NCEA: Junior Social Studies

Non-NCEA Senior School

• Year 11: Aesthetics

• Year 11/12: Philosophy of technology

• Year 12: Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology

• Year 12/13: Safe relationships (Sartre on sex and love)

• Year 13: Existentialism and the Meaning of life

Level 1-3 NCEA

Level 1 – Protest Art and Civil Disobedience Social Studies AS91043:

Describe a social justice and human rights action

• Slavoj Zizek: correspondence with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot

• Leo Tolstoy: What is Art? • ‘Oppositional/Protest art’ • civic activism /engagement• Feminist Philosophy: Feminism in Russia, Simone de

Beauvoir• Henry D. Thoreau and John Rawls - ‘Civil Disobedience’,

Conscience• Socrates/Plato—Crito: Social Contract theory + Thomas

Hobbes,

Level 2 – Animal Ethics/RightsSocial Studies AS91600: Examine a campaign of social action(s) to

influence policy change(s) rights

• Peter Singer: Animal Liberation,• Paul Snowdon – on Persons and Animals;

‘Non-human Persons’)• Michael Freeden – political philosophy, (the

nature and extent of rights)• Gary L. Francione• Charles Darwin: The Descent of Man, • Joseph Raz: The Morality of Freedom, • Stephen Law – The Philosophy Gym,

Level 3 – CapitalismSocial Studies AS91598: Demonstrate understanding of how ideologies shape society.

AND,Religious Studies AS 90826: Examine the response of a religious tradition to a

contemporary ethical issue

• Karl Marx: Das Kapital• Georg Hegel (+Steven Pinker: The Better Angels of Our

Nature)• Plato: The Republic• Heidegger: ‘enframing’ • Thomas Hobbes : Leviathan and the Social contract, • John Locke: Natural reason, natural law, natural rights

to private property• Slavoj Zizek: The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology.• Jean-Paul Sartre –libertarianism

Learning Objectives – Curriculum GuideStrand Level 6 Level 7 Level 8

Inquiry 1.1 Identify and describe philosophical ideas

2.1 Describe and explain philosophical ideas

3.1 Analyse and compare philosophical ideas

Reasoning 1.2 Identify and describe reasoned arguments

2.1 Develop reasoned arguments

3.1 Analyse and evaluate reasoned arguments

Philosophical perspectives

1.3 Identify and describe ideas in philosophical perspectives

2.3 Develop and explain ideas in philosophical perspectives

3.3 Analyse and evaluate ideas in philosophical perspectives

Applied philosophy

1.4 Identify and describe how philosophical inquiry can be applied to a range of issues

2.4 Describe and explain how philosophical inquiry can be applied to a range of issues

3.4 Analyse and evaluate how philosophical inquiry can be applied to a range of issues

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