Hey guys! here are our questions. Please look at Strike as we will start with that book first on Wednesday. Think about reflective equilibrium and how do we find it in our schools, in our social groups, in our communities.
Thanks!
Billie and Kelsey
1. On Page 132 Strike suggests that neither consequentialist or nonconsequentialist views are sufficient. The authors suggest that one view offers what the other lacks. Do you now believe that a person has both consequentialist and nonconsequentialist tendencies? Why or Why not?
2. In the postscript discussion, Strike and Soltice disagree about the justification of ethical concepts, but they agree that people should be treated fairly and that dialogue and reflection are how people find common ground. Do you feel that we have accomplished a common ground through our discussions. In chapter 6, they call this common ground "reflective equilibrium". What are some of the moral intuitions and moral theory on which we as future teachers base our professional reflective equilibrium?
3. Do you agree that creating persons is the first and foremost business of teachers? Why or why not? Do you feel that we as a democratic society have been successful in caring about others and that we as a people are willing and able to accept responsibility for ourselves and that we engage in open, undominated dialgoue with others about a common life and accept shared responsibility for the group's (society's) life?
Dewey
1. American democracy has been successful because it has been mutable and ever-changing. Our forefathers allowed for interpretation because they knew that we would have conflicts as a nation. They expected radical change in our society. Do you feel that radical change is possible in our institutions such as education?
2. In Creative Democracy, Dewey says that democracy as a way of life is controlled by personal faith in personal day-by-day working together with others. He also says that democracy is the sole way of living that believes in the process of experience as end and as means. He also said this about education. What correlations exist between democracy and education? Do they have the same ends and means?
3. Given the end of the Strike book and the final readings from Dewey, would you say that the two books agree or disagree in their beliefs in the role of the teacher? What should our professional goals as teachers truly be? Is this a universal or individual belief?
5 comments:
That first article was interesting. What really stood out to me was the phrase "Enculturating the young into a social and political democracy." This sounds very Dewey-like to me, but I can see how "enculturating" could come across as "indoctrinating." Parents don't want schools brain washing their kids, especially on political matters. But the mission statement "Educating all students to ensure the future of our democracy" seems harmless to me. The point is to prepare children to be informed, active members of society. I think that was the intent of the slogan. And I think that's a good goal to have as educators.
OK, now I’m commenting on the second article y’all posted. In light of our discussions on nationalized education, I think it’s interesting to see that Australia is headed in that direction and has nationalized curriculum. Going back to our discussion of national culture, Australia faces many of the same issues America faces in regard to this issue. During my time there, I learned that they are dealing with developing a sense of national identity. Like us, they’re a fairly young country with a high immigrant population (especially from Asian countries). In addition, they’ve had issues with Aboriginal peoples, who are still highly segregated from the rest of Australian society. They face the question—should everyone be expected to adopt a national culture? Or should immigrants form ethnic ghettoes where they hold on to their cultures of origin? Or should there be some middle ground? Australia already has a history of forcing people to succumb to a national culture. Up until the 1970s, Aboriginal children were taken from their families by the government (now called the Stolen Generations). It’s interesting to see that other democracies struggle with some of the same issues America faces. I agree with Dewey that democracy works best when people are tolerant and understanding of differences.
Starting off with Strike, I do believe that for each tendency it is what the other one lacks. With this being said, I find it almost impossible for an individual to be either one in every situation. I only find it healthy that you approach a situation from both perspectives. In all of our classes we continually talk about being open-minded and unbiased. By approaching situations from both tendencies we are achieving that goal.
Moving on to the second question, reflective equilibrium is something that is forever changing within each individual. Within our class we have a lot of strong personalities and I would have to say that with some situations we have found that equilibrium but with many we have not. With our discussions new ideas and concepts have been brought up which could have potentially thrown off that equilibrium. I really do not think that anyone could reach that equilibrium until they not only reflected with the class but on their own time as well. I believe that in the profession that we have chosen it is going to be important that we continually reflect and try to find that equilibrium and that means picking and chosing out battles that we are going to fight.
Question 3: For me creating would be a bad word to use as a teachers first responsibility. I do not believe that the teachers job is to fully teach a child what is right from wrong but they should merely be a guide to help them learn for themselves what is right and wrong. As a democratic society, I feel that we spend so much time blaming other people and being selfish that we often times do not see the problem for what it really is. Americans strive to be the best of the best and often times whatever it takes to get the top we as people are willing to do, even if that means stabbing people in the back and knocking people out of the way on that journey to the top. Don't get me wrong, there are some really caring people in this world but the majority of people are selfish and materialistic. Often times it is when people know that they will be noticed for good work that they will do it. America needs more people to do the little things a long with the big things if we as a society are going to change and really concentrate on what matters the most. America's ultimate goal should be sharing responsibility and keeping an open mind.
DEWEY:
I agree with Julie and Dewey that democracy works best when people are tolerant and understanding of differences. If we as a society can not see and respect differences then as a society we are ALWAYS going to be fighting with one another. If we can not get a long as a country, how do we expect our own to fight against someone else? The same can be said about education. With education not nationalized, it is going to be different depending on where you live. Parents and students need tobe patient with the educational process as they should be with other aspects of life. As for question 1, anything is possible if we put our minds to it. Radical change could occur in education but teachers, parents, and the community need to work together to make it is as smooth as a process as possible. No matter what happens people are not going to like the change because a lot of people do not like change but in a lot of situations change is a good thing. Education must change like the times like ou society does. Overall, people need to keep an open mind and be willing to go with the flow and not try to fight every suggestion that is presented. As individuals we should express our opinion but only at an appropriate time and place. You may not like what is going on but sometimes you can not change it. So instead of bickering about it, do something about it!
I agree with Julie that the intent of mission statement was to prepare children and empower them to take control of their future. All it took was a spark to make an uncontrollable fire, and that's what happens in today's society. If you get enough support on an issue no matter how right or wrong it is, it's going to make a scene.
For the Strike, I do agree that while the consequentialist view and nonconsequentialist view are the extremes, we should lie somewhere in the middle. While there are current rules in our school systems that require a strict consequentialist response, I agree with Ashley that if we are to be unbiased and fair teachers, we must be somewhere in between these responses and that we must understand that not every situation is going to be black and white. I do like the phrase "reflective equilibrium" because it recognizes that we must each reflect on not only our way of thinking but on the points of view of others as well.
This was one of my favorite Dewey readings, possibly because I am in many ways an idealist and enjoy studying politics. This section inspires me to look beyond the day to day political practices and the legal rights given by our government documents to recognize that we must enact these in our day to day lives or they are worthless. I appreciated how it discusses that it is not the rules and regulations that we use that create a democracy but it is the "free play of facts and ideas which are secured by the effective guarantees of free inquiry, free assembly and free communication". It's so easy to think of a democracy as merely our government institutions but really it is the ability to trade ideas and experiences that create our democracy.
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