I'm most likely incorrect in my definition, but I will start my philosophy of education as loftily as possibly and come down to meet the rigors of reality as I become more engrossed in my study. Therefore, I find education to be, primarily, an abstract endeavor. Meaning there is no end result, per se. Rather, education is the intellectual institution where consciousnesses are expanded, where students begin to escape their everyday experiences to see and think things that are not found in their dry day-to-day realities. It’s a process that seeks to expand and refine modes of thought and human existential perception. As such, education is rife with the machination of a spiritual and intellectual romanticism. Therefore, education's enterprise can be condensed to a methodology, which serves to instill interest and passion in the student. This installation is the crux of education and the mechanism with which all other learning with take place. It is comparable, if only in pragmatics, to Dewey’s approach when he asserts that learning can only take place if it is relevant to a student’s “interests and powers” via the immediate social context; a student will want to learn to sew because of the direct social implications. In this I see Kohn’s warning about how education should not be directed by any other reward, other than the fruits of education itself; the reward here being social grace as opposed to the joy of sewing. Going back to my model, if the installation of interest and passion is a success then, for example, social graces will follow. For example, using sewing as our education analogy, once a student become so enamored with all things sewing, then not only will he possibly be more skilled than a student educated for a social end, but he will be more socially “graceful”. This seems to make sense when we consider various passionate people in history and in our lives. The passionate seem to be the most interested and skilled, and most possessing of broad and dynamic bodies of knowledge and culture. This as opposed to those who are educated for a specific vocation, who when we interact with them seem somewhat angry and limited.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Evolving Education
I'm most likely incorrect in my definition, but I will start my philosophy of education as loftily as possibly and come down to meet the rigors of reality as I become more engrossed in my study. Therefore, I find education to be, primarily, an abstract endeavor. Meaning there is no end result, per se. Rather, education is the intellectual institution where consciousnesses are expanded, where students begin to escape their everyday experiences to see and think things that are not found in their dry day-to-day realities. It’s a process that seeks to expand and refine modes of thought and human existential perception. As such, education is rife with the machination of a spiritual and intellectual romanticism. Therefore, education's enterprise can be condensed to a methodology, which serves to instill interest and passion in the student. This installation is the crux of education and the mechanism with which all other learning with take place. It is comparable, if only in pragmatics, to Dewey’s approach when he asserts that learning can only take place if it is relevant to a student’s “interests and powers” via the immediate social context; a student will want to learn to sew because of the direct social implications. In this I see Kohn’s warning about how education should not be directed by any other reward, other than the fruits of education itself; the reward here being social grace as opposed to the joy of sewing. Going back to my model, if the installation of interest and passion is a success then, for example, social graces will follow. For example, using sewing as our education analogy, once a student become so enamored with all things sewing, then not only will he possibly be more skilled than a student educated for a social end, but he will be more socially “graceful”. This seems to make sense when we consider various passionate people in history and in our lives. The passionate seem to be the most interested and skilled, and most possessing of broad and dynamic bodies of knowledge and culture. This as opposed to those who are educated for a specific vocation, who when we interact with them seem somewhat angry and limited.
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I wholeheartedly agree with your idea that education is where consciousnesses are expanded. That is definitely how I view the classroom, and these are my most memorable classes. I am not sure I agree with the idea that passion and interest will in turn lead to better social graces. I am sure that many of us can remember brilliant classmates who were heavily engrossed in their fields of interest who were exceedingly socially awkward. I believe that passion and interest from the teacher can instill it in the student however I am not sure that social graces follow.
ReplyDeleteEducation is one facet of our society in which learning is a constant and never has an end result. As teachers we will be continually learning and adding to our toolbox. I agree with the points you've made especially where you talk about the escape of everyday experiences. The classroom often can offer more to students in their quest to develop interests and to become passionate about something. I do disagree with your last line since it seems to minimize accomplishments made by those educated in a specific vocation along with their place in society. Passion can take many forms even if it is as a teacher who may be viewed as a Jack of all trades, master of none. Does a person become angry and limited if there is no passion or if they are educated for a specific purpose?
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