Wednesday, April 13, 2011

pfc: too good to ignore

Coming into college, and before nature of human nature my Sophomore year, I had never taken a Philosophy class, talked about Philosophy, or even thought about Philosophy. Since then, I've realized that I think about things in a whole new way, and the honors philosophy courses I've taken have been a worthwhile addition to my entire four years here at the College. I believe I would have benefited from philosophy at a younger age. As we discussed on Monday, the go-to excuse for teachers seemed to be a crowded curriculum, and the need to make sure students pass standardized tests, rather than become independent learners and critical thinkers. I think it was Becky-Jo who commented that a brief 10 minutes from each subject block devoted to philosophy of the certain subject could help students. There is definitely always downtime in every class. If each minute was used, and a solid 10 minute discussion was conducted, students would benefit without a question. Besides, discussions can be seen as a fun time to speak out and up to the student, rather than what they truly are. Matthews is correct in stating that students have these questions and are making the proper connections to be able to participate in an age-appropriate discussion. It reminds me of those shows, like "Kids Say the Darndest Things," and that new Heidi Klum one on Bravo. Kids absorb and connect more things than anyone ever thinks. They're fully capable, and would benefit from, philosophical discussions. In our class discussions about helping students critically think, we talked about encouraging students to make connections throughout all of their subjects in order to see and realize a bigger picture. I believe that this bigger picture could more readily be realized with the implementation of these philosophical discussions. I guess my question is then: If philosophical discussions are evidentally worthwhile to the student, should a teacher utilize them in their curriculum themselves? It seems hard to believe that a school district would implement such ideas, so is it up to the teacher? Should teachers in college now be encouraged to put such "new concepts" in lesson plans?

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