Philosophy In Secondary Schools

Philosophy in ! Secondary Schools! Brent Silby!

Philosophy Today I will attempt to convince you that Philosophy needs to be offered in all schools.

An example Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti Students choose all of their subjects on a block by block basis. There are usually about 60 different courses on offer at any one time. Each block between 10-20% of students are doing Philosophy Student feedback indicates a high level of enjoyment, and an ongoing desire for more Philosophy courses

A selection of statements from Unlimited students. These were made in response to the question “How does Philosophy help you?” asked by Daryl Macer from Unesco during a class visit in 2009.

“Philosophy gets us to think differently about real world problems” “Philosophy helps me in my other subjects because it teaches me how to question the truth of information … now I know that opinions and facts need to be justified.” “I now know how to make an argument and back up my conclusions” “Philosophy is my favourite subject because I’m allowed to ask questions about things like whether God exists instead of just being told what to think”

Another example Tauranga Boys College Two ways into Philosophy: 1.  Students are given choice to do Philosophy as optional subject 2.  A group in a certain module are forced to do Philosophy Survey of students Was Philosophy enjoyable? Volunteer group 96.67% enjoyed Philosophy Forced group 87.76% enjoyed Philosophy Was I glad I did a term of Philosophy Volunteer group 93.33% glad Forced group 70.59% glad

Tauranga Boys College Survey of students Did Philosophy help with other subjects Volunteer group 88.33% Yes Forced group 55.10% Yes

Would I do NCEA Philosophy even if it meant more work? Volunteer group 100.00% Yes Forced group 72.92% Yes * Figures from survey of Tauranga Boys College students, carried out by George Ter Wal, and presented at the annual Philosophy Teachers’ Conference 2009

These results are quite revealing They show us that students find Philosophy helpful and enjoyable, and they want more.

For a highly engaging subject Philosophy is taught in surprisingly few schools Schools offering full programmes in Philosophy Hagley Community College (Christchurch) St Peters College (Auckland) Unlimited (Christchurch) There are several other schools offering courses in Philosophy: Auckland Girls Grammar, Tauranga Boys College, Rangi Ruru, Western Springs College, Riccarton High School

So what exactly is Philosophy? Traditionally broken into 3 main areas: 1. Theories of Knowledge – “Epistemology” What can I truly know about the world, and how do I gain that knowledge? Can I ever know for certain that: Matter is made from atoms? That I am not currently dreaming? Sherlock Holmes lived at 221b Baker Street?

2. Theories of Existence – “Metaphysics” What sorts of things exist in the universe? Does God exist? What is consciousness? Does freewill really exist in a causally determined universe?

3. Ethics How should we live our lives? What’s right or wrong? And how do we know? Is abortion morally acceptable? Ought we to help the poor? Is it morally permissible to eat meat?

Quote from our Teaching and Learning Guidelines Philosophy is the subject that specializes in exploring fundamental questions about the world and our place in it. For example: What is reality? What does it mean for me to ‘know’ something? What is reasoning? What is a Mind? Does God exist? How should I live, and who should decide? Philosophical discussion draws on imaginative speculation, scientific evidence, sustained reflection on lived experience, and the different histories, cultural perspectives and texts that shape current thought. Philosophy is highly discussion based and aims to develop critical thinking skills. Through a range of applied Philosophical topics, students learn how to assess arguments for validity and soundness. They also learn how to refute arguments logically and construct their own rationally convincing arguments.

Philosophy, true holistic teaching With current moves towards breaking down the compartmentalization of the curriculum, Philosophy offers a natural, authentic way to learn holistically. Derek Browne (Dept of Philosophy, University of Canterbury) suggests that the future of Philosophy is the pulling together of multiple domains in order to answer questions about the world and our place in it. Philosophy is a multidisciplinary subject. (personal communication, 2008)

Philosophy, true holistic teaching Question: Why does music make me feel good? This is a wonderful philosophical question, which can only be answered holistically.

Both these people know what music people like. But why do people like their music?

Philosophy, true holistic teaching Music theory Chord progressions Rhythm patterns Key changes

Neuroscience How are neural patterns set up? Do musical pattern representations interact with other modules in brain? Can we point to where the “feeling” is?

Anthropology Cultural significance of music

Why does music makes me feel good?

Evolutionary Psychology We are evolved beings, why has natural selection provided us with joy of music? What selective advantage does it serve?

Physics

Sound waves How do different instruments produce different sounds?

Biology What happens in the ear? How does data get from ear to the brain?

Technology/ICT Build instruments Produce music

What do students get from Philosophy? It is amazing to walk passed students at lunchtime and hear them discussing Philosophy. It’s a stark contrast to what we often hear students chatting about. Adolescent brain is at a critical stage of development—arguably as important as the language acquisition stage. If exposed to nothing but narrow commercial influences their conversations will center around these ideas. Their neural wiring will reflect this influence.

Philosophy broadens the ability to think flexibly and creatively about a range of ideas.

Their interpersonal relationships reflect this skill, and their brains hook up more broadly Philosophy makes better thinkers !

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools The Current State of Philosophy Teaching There are several schools teaching Philosophy either as complete courses, or as optional modules. There are many more schools with teachers bringing in philosophical thinking into their learning programmes. In 2006 we formed the NZAPT (NZ Association for Philosophy Teachers) - serves as a point of contact for teachers and for the MoE. Since the end of 2008, a group of Philosophy teachers have been working with the MoE to construct Teaching and Learning Guidelines for the subject. The initial edit of these guidelines is goes online at end of November. We are now a recognized subject 

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools Philosophy days held in Christchurch and Auckland Students asking for more of these days, and we are planning Café Philosophy nights

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools Website for people interested in reading and discussing Philosophy

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools Where we are going: The aim is to bring Philosophy into more secondary schools Current Challenge: There are no Achievement Standards specific to Philosophy, which means either: • Students do Philosophy with no credits; or • Courses are run by pinching credits from other learning areas

Our long term goal has been to write Achievement Standards for Philosophy, but this will not happen for a couple of years, and there is no guarantee that we will be given the license to do so. Another option is to continue to build good learning programmes in Philosophy by using credits from other domains. With the current trend towards integration in the curriculum, this makes good sense. Do we really need more Achievement Standards? Best to make better use of what we have.

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools Problem is that students want the word “Philosophy” on their transcripts Suggested Solution: Standards could be generic, with no specific name. Students could achieve the standards in context. Example: Fred achieves a “conduct a speech” standard in the context of History, while Mary achieves a “conduct a speech” standard in the context of Philosophy. Their transcripts could contain this type of information….this is obviously “blue sky” thinking.

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools Despite the fact it has no Achievement Standards, many students are choosing to do courses in Philosophy. The demand is high! This is what young people want! I would like to encourage all teachers of Social Sciences to support the growth of Philosophy in Secondary schools – maybe even introduce Philosophical thinking into existing courses.

The Future of Philosophy in Secondary Schools For more information on Philosophy teaching in schools, visit the NZAPT site

www.nzapt.net Or contact

[email protected]