1/28/09 Class Summary

Housekeeping:
Dr. Pope started out the class on Wednesday, January 28 by announcing that he had made revisions to the class schedule. Please see the new reading schedule posted on this blog. The revisions will allow us time to catch up. Dr. Pope has added two links on the blog to articles he would like us to read. Dr. Pope also announced that the law presentations are now due 2/25/09 and 3/4/09...and there was great rejoicing!

We then began discussing the reading of Aristotle's Liberal v. Mechanical Education. Dr. Pope gave a little history of Plato and Aristotle's relationship. Plato was Aristotle's teacher, but Aristotle ends up disagreeing with Plato. Aristotle's star student was Alexander the Great.

Liberal Education - an education on a higher level of thought, the value is intrinsic (within ourselves), connection between liberal education and leisure (opportunity to flourish).
Mechanical Education - education for a particular job, vocational education, a trade, the value is extrinsic (ex. we work because we need money). Grades are an extrinsic value in education.

Aristotle believes that education should be the same for all (public). We should not only want the best for our children, but should want the best for all children. Education should be in the hands of the state. Aristotle's goal in education is excellence. "Arete" is the Greek work for excellence or virtue. Aristotle believed that everyone ought to do what they were born to do. The individual achieving excellence coincides with society functioning. Education helps people figure out what they are supposed to do . People can only be happy once they have found their place in society.

Aristotle believed it was bad to be limited to a mechanical education, but mechanical is necessary for leisure. Aristotle points out that just as war is necessary for peace, work is necessary for leisure. Work is vital for society to function, but work is inferior to leisure. Some people, such as women, slaves and servants were not suited for much, but they would find their niche. These individuals would not be happy with lofty pursuits, so they were suited to provide the work that needed to be done, so others could enjoy leisurely pursuits.

"People of leisure" describes a person who has enough money not to worry about finding a job. This person is free to travel, write, and become educated. They are able to do things to pursue happiness. We discussed why Aristotle chose the term "liberal". We decided that it meant a person is free to liberate themselves and be free from the structure of mechanical work. Certain aspects of a mechanical education are necessary in a liberal education. Reading and writing are considered mechanical skills, but they must be mastered to learn or pursue other interests. We discussed how these elements are seen today in Liberal Arts Programs. Students study a variety of subjects that may not seem immediately useful, but the study of these subjects will make a person well rounded and more adaptable.

Leisure may turn into mechanical. Dr. Pope gave the example of working at the bookstore. He explained that he loves books, but when he started comparing the prices of the book to the amount of money he made, or when he became frustrated with shelving books or with sales contests, the job was no longer joyful or delightful, hence it became mechanical.

Once we had completed our discussion of Aristotle, we turned our attention to John Dewey's Education for Labor and Leisure. Dr. Pope pointed out that Dewey is known as the philosopher of American Education and has had a great impact on schools and education. Dr. Pope also explained that Dewey tries to resolve conflict in his writing. He usually states two opposing ideas, explains each idea, explains the differences in the ideas, and states his view at the end. Dewey attempts to see the good and bad in both points of view.

In the Education for Labor and Leisure, Dewey struggles with the conflict of liberal v. mechanical education. Dewey disagrees with Aristotle's view of education. He believes that liberal and mechanical educations should work hand in hand. In a democracy we should not separate classes, but promote both liberal and mechanical positions. Dewey views the separation of classes as undemocratic. Dewey believes that the ultimate goal of education should be to get all people to act intelligently. We need to project aims and figure out ways to achieve those aims.

Dewey says a strictly mechanical education is bad because:
1. It limits opportunity. If you only know how to do one thing and you lose that job, you are not qualified for any other type of employment.
2. The narrow skill set can blind you from understanding how it fits into society. This mind-set suppresses creativity and limints new ideas.

We tend to believe that certain jobs are better than others. 3 ways to overcome this are:
1. understanding how jobs are interconnected to make society functional
2. remembering that mechanical jobs require intellect also
3. deglamorize certain professions that are viewed highly such as professional athletes and musicians.

Our society tends to enforce the importance of earning a paycheck (the BIGGER the better!) This is not good. People need to take pride in their work and not just do it for the money. Dewey views this as a societal failure rather than an individual failure. Instead we should recognize the value in all occupations and acknowledge the shared interests among humans to make a society better. Dewey states that working just for a wage is immoral. As educators we need to teach that all jobs are useful and beneficial to society. We should not teach that certain jobs are better than others.

Ethics Intro...
Dr. Pope gave an introduction to Ethics (which we will dive into next week).
3 questions to ask yourself about ethics:
1. Is an ethical claim possible?
2. What are they?
3. Are they claims of fact or preference? (Ethical claims are not either of these, but we try to reduce them to this.)

Ethical claims are normative and make a statement fo what to do.

Compiled by Cathy Lewis and Anna Richards