ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY Philosophy of Education Nel Noddings Chapter 3.

ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy of EducationNel Noddings

Chapter 3

Analytic Philosophy

What is Philosophy?

“…leaves everything as it is. That is, philosophy does not change the world; it just makes the world clearer.”

-Ludwig Wittgenstein

Analytic Philosophy

What is Analysis?A general and broad definition of analysis is:

Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it.

Analysis Interpretation

≠

Analytic Philosophy

Analytic Philosophy vs. Traditional PhilosophyAnalytic philosophy works toward neutrality; leaving out the values and beliefs of the philosopher.

Traditional philosophy allows the philosopher to interject his own ideas, opinions, and interpretations.

Many philosophers reject analytic philosophy claiming that personal values cannot be set aside as they engage in analysis

Analytic Philosophy

Nel Noddings explains:

One task of analytic philosophy is to take apart concepts, words, and sentences to figure out what each part means and what role it plays in the whole.

Analytic philosophy concentrates on the connection between language and reality.

Bertrand Russell

Analytic Philosophy

The focus of Noddings Chapter 3 pertains to the philosophical analysis of teaching and its

relation to learning.What does the word

“Teaching” mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZf6-P5018&feature=related

Please click the following link:

Pay specific attention to the note paper shown at :30. It is a list of what learning is and what it is not. The philosophical comments are by author and philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti 2:50

Analytic Philosophy

We will look at the following philosophers’ analyses of teaching:

Dewey

Scheffler

Komisar

Smith

MacMillian & Garrison

Laird

Analytic Philosophy

As described by Nel Noddings, John Dewey…

John Dewey was not solely an analytic or traditional philosopher.

- Challenged the notion that 'teaching implies learning'

- Believed the teacher should be viewed as a guide and director

- Believed the initiative to learn must lie with the learner

Analytic Philosophy

“Teaching may be compared to selling commodities. No one can sell unless someone buys. We should ridicule a merchant who said that he had sold a great many goods although no one had bought any.”

John Dewey

continued…

Analytic Philosophy

“But perhaps there are teachers who think they have done a good day’s teaching irrespective of what people have learned. There is the same exact equation between teaching and learning that there is between selling and buying.”

John Dewey

Analytic Philosophy

Israel Scheffler sought to…

- defend teachers from accusations of educational shortcomings as a result of poor teaching, when compared to Soviet counterparts

- demonstrate the difference of 'human teachers' from that of 'teaching machines' and technicians who merely follow scripts in the classroom

Analytic Philosophy

Israel Scheffler’s 3 criteria that characterize teaching:

1. The teacher intends to bring about learning.The teacher wants her students to learn a new concept.

2. The strategies chosen by the teacher must be “not unreasonably thought to be likely to achieve the learning aimed at”.

It would be inappropriate to teach a child to write number symbols and then expect him to be able to know how to add.

3. What the teacher does must fall under certain restrictions of manner.

The teacher must teach within the relationship to the student. Teaching machines and scripted programs, Schiffler suggests, are not teaching.

Analytic Philosophy

Paul Komisar

- sought to protect students from an overly narrow conception of learning

- opposed teaching that expected a designated answer for a question

-brought about a discussion of the concept of learning: "learning" vs. real

learning/developmental learning

Analytic Philosophy

“It is not some kind of learning, but some form of awareness, which is the intended upshot in the teaching acts...”

Paul Komisar

Philosophers debate/analyze the word “discovery”. Is discovery…

A way of learning? A method of teaching? A form of teaching characterized by a certain

outcome?

Is the above considered teaching or discovering?

Analytic Philosophy

B. Othanel Smith added to the conversation with this scenario:

If a teacher is presenting a lesson over a television and the power fails for the viewing students, is the teacher still teaching?

Teaching is relational. Both the teacher and the learner contribute. One relies on the other.

Analytic Philosophy

C.J.B MacMillian & James Garrison

“Erotetic” Concept of Teaching(Erotetic means: pertaining to questioning)

“To teach someone something is to answer that person’s questions about some subject matter.”

This is not to suggest that teachers merely answer students’ questions. Teachers answer the questions that students ought to ask. A teacher does this by creating lesson plans that anticipate what the student might want to learn at their developmental stage.

Analytic Philosophy

A teacher needs to let the students know that she cares about them and their development as people in order to help them find their motivation to learn.

C.J.B MacMillian & James Garrison cont…

Analytic Philosophy

Laird suggests that real teaching comes from considering the real-life human situations children are experiencing and helping children work through those issues.

Teaching is not just instructing students on solving intellectual questions anticipated in a lesson plan.

Susan Laird

Analytic Philosophy

John Milton Gregory's Seven Laws for Teaching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCb4ZDCbye0

Additional resource reflective of the teacher/learner relationship:

The following video was made using a text to voice program. The cadence is a little strange and the animation is basic. Please listen to the message; it is definitely something to think about. 4:47

Analytic Philosophy

Consider your teaching:

Do you know and consider the intellectual predicaments of your students prior to a lesson? (anticipate their questions)

Do you know and consider the human predicaments your students are facing?

Do you allow students to be involved in constructing their own learning objectives?

Do teachers have an obligation to encourage "why" questions?

Are there times when such questions should be discouraged?

Analytic Philosophy

How will you decide if you have had a “good day’s teaching”?