(Live-Blogging the presentation at the FAPSA conference: ‘Democracy and Philosophy Education’ by Phillip Cam – this isn’t strictly live-blogging, since I did it using a Word document on the day and only now have had the chance to post it)
An interview with Phillip Cam, an associate professor of history and philosophy at the University of NSW, who developed the NSW’s 10-week trial for secular ethics classes, will feature on the Token Skeptic podcast.
The title of paper borrowed (clearly) from John Dewey. The intro to the senior secondary curriculum, particularly P4C in primary, has been a recent innovation (especially in Victoria and Western Australia). There’s a remote possibility that Philosophy may be included in the national curriculum. The possibility of philosophy being outside the academy has interesting implications for training. ‘What can Philosophy offer to the general school population, and what difference might it make to Australian society?’
[I should point out that the lecture later done in the day by representatives of the ACARA - The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority - indicate that it is more likely that such outcomes will be embedded in the subjects that will be on offer, as part of 'general capabilities']
Cam addresses this by responding in one possible way – that Philosophy education can help to deepen the democratic way of life and society. Model a theoretical basis and draw out intellectual and social disciplines that are relevant. Show how Philosophy education helps underpin and strengthen those dispositions that are part of democratic life.
No society embodies their ideas to the full. May be democratic in tenor but failing to fulfil democratic ideas to a degree. Dewey’s democracy is social as well as political – a way of life, not just a form of government, an inclusive form of society in which open communication and reciprocity extend participation to everyone whose interests are affected. The more complete involvement of people in all kinds of affairs, the greater the input that they have in all that concerns them. So – how can democracy’s guiding ideals be helped and developed by Philosophy education?
Personal qualities – democratic dispositions:
- an inquiring and open minded-outlook;
- being prepared to look at things from other people’s points of view and to consider their interests;
- being disposed to respond to differences and disagreements with others on the basis of reason rather than resorting to abuse or force;
- being inclined to be actively involved in matters of community concern;
- being willing to think for oneself and to take responsibility for one’s decisions and actions.
If democracy involves full and free interplay in the satisfaction of our mutually interpenetrating interests, then it requires us to relate to each other on the basis of reason, rather than resorting to the use of force or abuse. Therefore, we need to do all we can to strengthen the disposition of students to be reasonable in the ways that they respond to one another.
To be someone who is not inclined to think for themselves is to be less ready to take responsibility for their own decisions and actions – and be more in need of being told what to do. To be ill-prepared to take an active part in dealing with all kinds of problems and issues that affect one’s interests, to be less able to establish equitable relations in their lives – is to be deprived of the many fruits of a democratic way of life, including an array of social and personal accomplishments, that depend on being willing and able to take one’s share of responsibility for whatever is done in cooperation with others.
To think is to inquire, in Dewey’s proposal. It is of interest that Dewy had science rather than Philosophy in mind when he thought about inquiry-based teaching and learning (it is doubtful that the latter ever occurred to him; even if the thought of including Philosophy in the curriculum had ever crossed his mind). While Philosophy cannot clearly claim to be the only discipline to promote thinking in education, it is a discipline self-consciously devoted to thinking, and it has developed an abundance of tools and techniques aimed at improving the quality of thought.
As Dewey and [Mathew] Lipman made clear, there is a world of difference in outcome to be expected from an education that emphasises the memorisation of knowledge and one that treats such knowledge as material with which to think. Nothing is more likely to develop an inquiring outlook than philosophical inquiry, and there is nothing like learning to inquiry philosophically, for developing a capacity to think for oneself.
“A robust democracy needs an inquiring citizenry rather than an unquestioning one, and this requires a population that has been taught how to think, rather than one that has been constantly told what to think.”
Though engaging in collaborative inquiry, students can be taught to listen to other people with whom they may not agree. They can be taught to hear each other out, and to broader outlook in their own thinking. As children grow up, they grow to consider other’s points of view, and not to think that those who disagree with them about matters of value and conduct must be either ignorant or vicious – and pave the way for active engagement in community life.
For all its generality, this kind of account is useful in helping us to gain our philosophical bearings – so far as I’m aware, education that centres on collaborative and inquiry-based learning has a patchy existence in the education systems of our so-called democracies. We need to transform the way that we go about teaching and learning, to better reflect the style of education implicit in those ideals.
Q&A at conclusion:
Question – Shape paper on Geography – ‘we’ve got inquiry covered?
Answer – more omnivourous. Not confined in the way that other disciplines are. In a way, has a special place, or could occupy a special place that could connect up with other disciplines – ‘I don’t think that for all the effort other subjects might make, Philosophy could do it better – but how situate it within a future broader curriculum’. Proposal that best way to teach civics and citizenship via P4C. Not just about giving authority or sharing authority, but authority in their learning.
You must log in to post a comment.