Why We Are Supposed to Learn the Things We Learn in School

W.W.A.S.T.L.T.T.W.L.I.N

OR

The Philosophy of Education

(The driving force behind your learning Experience)

How is this going to work?

• First I am going to define philosophy and then I am going to define education.

(As an aside: a discussion over a definition is philosophical discussion in epistemology)

PHILOSOPHY

• The love of wisdom: Philo: love and Sophy: wisdom

• Wisdom is synonymous with truth- truth (philosophically) is synonymous with reality –reality is that which is real.

• A=A

SEEKING TRUTH

How are we capable of seeking truth/reality/wisdom?

• Through our perception

Your Perception

• It imprisons you/It liberates you• It defines who you are/It defines the world

around you• It can confuse you/It can be the only thing

that makes sense to you• It can be your most valuable asset/It can be

your greatest downfall

The Limitations of Perception

• Education• Gender• Emotion• Culture• Society• Historical Context• Environment• Lack of Education

• Fears• Abilities• Disabilities• Economics• Location• Age• Experiences• Parenting

Be weary of the difference between seeing the world and seeing the world through your

perception.

Our perception is our only way to know TRUTH

(THE): one

(THE)

•Hypothesis• Theorem• Theory • Thesis

The Philosophical POINT

• It’s not the subject areas themselves that have value –THE SUBJECT AREAS ARE INTENDED TO BE USED AS NOTHING MORE THAN A VEHICLE TO LEARN HOW TO ALIGN YOUR PERCEPTION AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE WITH THE REALITY OF THE WORLD AROUND YOU.

Also, we rejoice in reality!

• When we hear bad horrible news after the fact we tend to say, “I wish I had just known the truth –it would have sucked, but I would have wanted to know.”

• OR• When we hear something funny, we laugh and

then say, “But that’s so true!”

Philosophy of Education

What do you think the definition of “education” is?

EDUCATE

• “To Draw Out Of”• 6th Century BC/Ancient Greek Philosophers

(Socrates and Plato) believed man was born with innate knowledge and that the purpose of education was to draw out of man the knowledge/truth he already knows thus actualizing his potential.

How does an educator get the knowledge/truth out of a person?• Questions

On an index Card:

• Think back on your education and remember a unit of study you did such as a historical period, math concept, novel, a science experiment, etc.

• Then pretend you are a teacher and come up with one question you would put on a test for that unit of study.

The Best Approach to Actualizing Potential or “Educating”

•Critical Thinking Skills•Analytical Thinking Skills• Inductive Reasoning•Deductive Reasoning