The role of philosophy in curriculum development

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The role of philosophy in curriculum development

• By Craig A. Cunningham, Ph.D.
• Center for School Improvement
• University of Chicago

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Agenda

• What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?
• What are some examples of philosophical
  viewpoints?
• What is curriculum development and what do
  curriculum developers do?
• What are some curriculum development viewpoints?
• What are some philosophical questions that come
  up in curriculum development?
• What can curriculum developers learn from
  philosophers, and vice versa?
• Some ideas about philosophys role in Jewish
  education
• Questions and discussion

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What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?

• Etymology philos sophia (love of wisdom)
• Professional philosophy was invented in Ancient
  Greece by private tutors or teachers (called
  sophists) who trained citizens for
  participation in democratic public life
  (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)
• Historically, philosophy was used to refer to
  any intellectual discourse that which was not
  immediately practical or material
• Natural philosophy used to refer to science,
  that is, involving natural events, until
  scientists decided that the term overemphasized
  reason at the expense of observation
• Speculative philosophy used to refer to all
  other kinds of philosophy, concerned with
  existence, goodness, beauty, truth

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What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?
continued

• Religion was not traditionally considered
  philosophy at all rather, it was a set of
  beliefs and practices in which people related to
  God
• Philosophy and religion come together in
  theology, which applies speculative techniques
  to questions about the nature of God and of right
  and wrong
• Theology was invented by Thomas Acquinas, Ibn
  Rushd, and Moses Maimonides in their pursuit of a
  defensible view of God and morality
• They were each severely criticized by their own
  people for so doing, but they exemplify the drive
  toward reason (making sense of experience and
  culture) that defines humanity
• Many famous philosophers have blurred the line
  between religion and philosophy Spinoza,
  Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche

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What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?
continued

• So how do philosophers do their work?
• Textual exegesis close reading and writing about
  ways of interpreting readings
• Logical analysis setting up systems of entities
  and statements about those entities and testing
  formal relationships among them
• Hypothetical exploration thought experiments
  about what might be true and the consequences of
  that
• Intuitive phenomenology using ones own
  experiences and reactions as data for
  understanding self, others, the world
• Genetic analysis tracing ideas through history
  in the attempt to understand how words are used
  today
• Pragmatic participation rolling up ones sleeves
  and getting to work to solve a real problem,
  while using ones head to seek superior solutions

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What is philosophy and what do philosophers do?
continued

• Some philosophers have tried to make philosophy
  practical by applying it to problems of the real
  world Aristotle, John Locke, Jean-Jacques
  Rousseau, Dewey
• Each of these found in education a practical
  arena ripe for philosophical analysis
• Despite their efforts, these days, philosophy
  tends to be viewed as an academic discipline
  focused on speculation about itself that is,
  most scholarly philosophy is about philosophy and
  not much else
• Unfortunately, most people consider philosophy
  too academic, intellectual, pie-in-the-sky,
  ivory-tower,eggheaded, and irrelevant
• Philosophy is pretty much banished from K-12
  schools, American political discourse, foreign
  policy, and economic life

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What are some examples of philosophical
viewpoints?

• Idealism ideas are really real while material
  things are illusory or fleeting truth is
  absolute but perhaps unknowable to (ordinary)
  humans (Plato)
• Materialism ideas are illusory while physical
  and economic forces control the world truth is
  irrelevant since power is everything (Karl Marx)
• Pragmatism ideas are real things only insofar as
  they affect action ideas are true only insofar
  as they work in action (John Dewey)
• Formalism ideas are interesting in themselves
  and need no connection to things or actions to be
  the focus of inquiry truth can be derived from
  careful understanding of statements and
  counter-statements (Bertrand Russell)

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What is curriculum development and what do
curriculum developers do?

• Traditionally, curriculum development has been
  seen as planning for a sustained process of
  teaching and learning in a formal institutional
  setting
• Curriculum comes from Latin word for race
  course
• The curriculum can be likened to a race (or,
  better, obstacle) course through a given terrain
  of human endeavor
• The assumptions usually are
• Time is too short to allow for learner
  self-direction
• The real world is too messy a place for learners
  and other immature people
• Messy reality needs to be translated into
  schemas and logical orderings (subject matter) so
  immature minds can grasp it quickly and avoid
  wasting time, materials, or injuring the learner
  or others

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What is curriculum development and what do
curriculum developers do?

• Curriculum development always involves
• Assumptions about the nature of learners (and
  teachers)
• Assumptions about the purposes of schools
• Assumptions about what kind of knowledge is
  important
• Assumptions about what kind of world we live in
• Assumptions about what kind of world we want to
  live in
• (Different curriculums and different schools are
  more or less likely to reveal these assumptions)

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What is curriculum development and what do
curriculum developers do?

• While curriculum development seems on its face to
  be a very specialized, technical, almost clerical
  function, .
• it can also be thought of as
• The intelligent management of how learners
  interact with the world so that
• It forms learners values, dispositions, habits,
  selves
• Curriculum development is the creation of a
  better future

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What are some curriculum development viewpoints?

• Viewpoints vary along a number of dimensions
• Ultimate goal
• Nature of child
• Definition of learning
• Selection of texts for study
• Relative importance of knowledges and skills
• Value of student interest and choice
• Whether truth/goodness/beauty are predefined or
  indeterminate

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Examples of Curriculum

• Drivers Education Curriculum Examples
• Missouri Drivers Education Curriculum Core
  Competencies and Skills
• Environmentally-healthy drivers education
  curriculum
• Judaic Studies Curriculum Examples
• The Perfect Shabbat Egg Salad
• Jewish History Tour

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What are some philosophical questions that come
up in curriculum development?

• Should children be coddled or pushed?
• How important is it to achieve uniformity of
  behavior or belief?
• Should individual differences be exalted or
  denied?
• Should students be able to choose what they
  learn?
• Should schools seek to change (improve) society
  or sustain it?
• Should tolerance and understanding outweigh
  nationalism and distrust? (What is the schools
  role in this?)
• Should everything that is learned have practical
  or economic value?
• Should schools seek to further parental goals or
  goals defined outside the family?
• What are the relative values of reading, writing,
  figuring, playing, working, sweating, debating,
  talking, listening, agreeing, disagreeing,
  relaxing, persisting, resisting, conforming,
  participating, expressing, creating,
  problem-solving, thinking, experimenting?

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What can curriculum developers learn from
philosophers, and vice versa?

• Philosophers can help curriculum developers
• Be more explicit about assumptions
• Be more willing to challenge assumptions
• Understand more consequences of choices
• Expand sense of possibilities and alternatives
• Curriculum developers can help philosophers
• Focus on what is really important
• Understand the consequences of their ideas and
  theories
• Come out of the ivory tower
• See that philosophical analysis can make a
  difference in the world

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Some ideas about philosophys role in Jewish
education

• Jewish cultural value on education comes from
  ancient relationship to the WORD
• The Bible as text has always been key to Jewish
  education Jewish educators are more likely to
  take reading and discussion of reading seriously
• Philosophical inquiry is taught (to some extent)
  in context of hallachic discourse
• Jewish education spans the entire range of
  alternative viewpoints and assumptions
• Jewish schools have more sense of ultimate
  purposes than secular schools
• Jewish schools are more subject to parental will
  than other schools
• Jewish schools may be more likely to increase
  nationalism than other schools

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Questions and discussion

• To get us started
• Choose a partner
• Think for a minute about the last time you were
  involved in a dispute about curriculum in your
  school
• Describe your disputes to each other
• Choose one dispute to focus on
• Think about the philosophical issues underlying
  the dispute
• Did philosophy play a role in the resolution?
• How might philosophy have helped to resolve the
  dispute?
• Be prepared to share your discussion with the
  group

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The end

• To contact me
• My home page http//craigcunningham.com
• My email c-cunningham_at_uchicago.edu
• My phone [phone]

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