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CHAPTER 6: Philosophical Roots of Education
Taking Issue Read the brief introduction below, as well as the Question and the pros and cons list that follows, and then answer the question using your own words and position.
Teacher Objectivity or Commitment on Social, Political, and Economic Issues There have been longstanding debates over the issue of whether teachers should teach matters dealing with society, politics, and the economy as objectively as possible or if they should teach in a way that is committed to deliberate social reform. In particular, the essentialists, progressives, and critical theorists take very different positions on teacher objectivity or commitment to social reform in their classrooms. Question Should teachers be objective when they teach about social, political, or economic issues in their classrooms? (Think about this question as you read the PRO and CON arguments listed here. What is your response to this issue?) Arguments CON
Arguments PRO 1. Teachers should not use their classrooms to indoctrinate students to accept a particular ideology of social, political, and economic change.
1. Teaching, like education, represents commitment to certain values; teachers need to endorse democratic and egalitarian values that are committed to social justice.
2. Teachers should be objective and present the various opinions on issues as fairly as possible.
2. Objectivity or neutrality is not possible for teachers. When teachers claim to be objective, they are really supporting the status quo.
3. Teachers should provide students with objective information on social, political, and economic issues, but student action on these issues should take place when they are adults not when they are children or teenagers.
3. If teachers really want to have a voice in curriculum and instruction, they need to be actively—not passively— engaged in the political and economic decision-making process.
Question Reprise: What Is Your Stand? Reflect again on the following question by explaining your stand on this issue: Should teachers be objective when they teach about social, political, or economic issues in their classrooms?
which you sum up your ideas on your philosophy of education and state your views on knowledge, education, schooling, and teaching and learning. In summing up your philosophical project, you can reconsider such questions as the following: ●● Do you believe that knowledge is based on universal and eternal truths, or is it relative to different times and places? ●● What is the purpose of education? Is it to transmit the culture, to provide economic and social skills, to develop critical-thinking skills, or to criticize and reform society? ●● What are schools for? Are they to teach skills and subjects, encourage personal self-definition, develop human intelligence, or create patriotic and economically productive citizens? ●● What should curriculum contain? Should it include basic skills and subjects, experiences and projects, the great books and the classics, inquiry processes, and/or critical dialogues? ●● What should the relationship be between teachers and students? Should it be based on teaching academic skills and subjects, students’ interests, problems, or changing the society?
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