tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post115920831768299485..comments2024-01-04T05:57:26.735-06:00Comments on Education Policy Blog: Hosted by the Forum on the Future of Public Education: Guest Posting by Michael Katz: The Gap Between Philosophy of Education and TeachingCraig A. Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18160288758906798678noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1159494301632205922006-09-28T20:45:00.000-05:002006-09-28T20:45:00.000-05:00Aaron, I wouldn't consider UWM a third or fourth t...Aaron, I wouldn't consider UWM a third or fourth tier university. What I learn about it, from you and your former president, Nancy Zimpher (a casual friend), impresses me greatly.A. G. Rudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065737458510256119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1159493122516536462006-09-28T20:25:00.000-05:002006-09-28T20:25:00.000-05:00I really appreciate what Michael has done in thoug...I really appreciate what Michael has done in thoughtfully addressing this important issue. I know philosophers of education have wrestled with this topic many a time, and recently too. After all, we talk about Socrates in the marketplace and Dewey's lab school, but wonder if our words resonate beyond the classroom walls of where many folks hear from us, namely, large, undergraduate required courses in "foundations of education" (that many undergraduates endure on the way to a teaching license).<BR/><BR/>Michael's points: <BR/><BR/>1 - This is right on, but we have also made arguments to our faculty here at Purdue that NCATE requires attention paid to historical and philosophical elements to teacher preparation. I used to know where that was in the NCATE standards. I would be willing to bet this is more of an important issue with TEAC.<BR/><BR/>2 - Again, correct and succinct. It gets worse too, when influential faculty (full professors) in areas such as agricultural education and ed psych ask whether they can just teach their students what they need to know about philosophy (this can happen if the students complain that the regular foundations faculty are: poor lecturers, too left wing, or some other characteristic they don't like. Some students would prefer not to have a gadfly for a teacher.)<BR/><BR/>3 - Many philosophers of education have not spent time in schools. Mine is scant, but I am deeply interested and passionate about what goes on in schools. But perhaps more to the point, it is hard talking to many undergraduates in education about philosophy, as they have virtually no background and many are not inclined to read or think about issues in the liberal arts. How many education undergraduates read what many of us read, namely, the New Yorker, the NYRB, the Atlantic Monthly, or other such journals that are standard fare for reading expectations among the kind of people who study philosophy with any seriousness. Or if you don't read these journals now, (I confess, I haven't read the Atlantic recently) at least you KNOW what they are and stand for. Most undergraduates haven't a clue. I asked my foundations class recently what the words "pragmatic" and "puritanical" meant, and I don't think more than a few out of 130 could say. And we had just talked about Puritan New England and earlier I had mentioned Dewey.<BR/><BR/>4 - I think a few might recall who Nel is (she does "caring" right, they might say) and a few who know about the arts might know Maxine, but you are right here.<BR/><BR/>5 - Many of us are actively discouraged from publishing in newspapers and such. A sociologist friend of mine said he got more feedback from a brief op ed he wrote for our local paper than from all the refereed articles he has published. And he said the feedback was thoughtful and immediate.<BR/><BR/>6 - I believe Nick purposely keeps his blog separate from his professorial work. Anyone with half a wit can Google Nick and find out what he does for the rest of the day after he posts PBD, and I wonder if any have made the connection. Since Nick does not have comments on his blog, it is hard for me to evaluate whether others are seeing what he does as part of his identity, just as being a philosopher of education is, and that of course the two are linked in the same person.<BR/><BR/>7 - We have had to fight for our positions here at Purdue. I am the lone "philosopher of education" with a historian, and next year, we got one of the coveted "strategic hires" in our university to search for someone in Latino studies, qual, with an anthro/soc bent. We have an active group in "curriculum studies" in our "other" department, C&I, and we are collaborating more, but it is hard to do at a large university, even if you are in the same building. Everyone is so busy.<BR/><BR/>8 - I am regularly called upon at the university to chime in with the philosophical angle on "learning" projects and such. At a place like Purdue, however, outside grants carry the day, so many want to know what kind of funds I could corral. And they don't mean small Spencers.<BR/><BR/>In closing, the publishing expectations for junior faculty are such that peer reviewed articles in prestigious journals are the sine qua non for fast promotion and healthy raises. Philosophers may percolate longer on topics, or they are naturally, as humanists, drawn to writing books. Such writing puts them at a competitive disadvantage at many institutions. <BR/><BR/>Philosophers of education, at least some, don't want to appear too popular or too involved with (what I remember from an opinion piece years ago) the dreaded "E" word, namely, education as practice. Education, especially teacher education at all but a handful of places, is lower status. As Sherman Dorn indicated, the colonization of education by psychology, and lately, more specifically, assessment and measurement, is pretty much hegemonic, and hard for folks who might get a puny Spencer small grant to do some writing to challenge.<BR/><BR/>I have said enough, and would enjoy hearing what others might say on this topic.A. G. Rudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065737458510256119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1159210188790422372006-09-25T13:49:00.000-05:002006-09-25T13:49:00.000-05:00Sorry--that's me above.--Aaron SchutzSorry--that's me above.<BR/><BR/>--Aaron SchutzAaron Schutzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667097977144954236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21843852.post-1159209703916155182006-09-25T13:41:00.000-05:002006-09-25T13:41:00.000-05:00Professor Katz has certainly hit the nail on the h...Professor Katz has certainly hit the nail on the head with this one. I would just like to add, again, that I also think the problem is that foundations has not made enough of an effort to sell itself as an independent degree option. Our own Cultural Foundations of Education Masters program is packed (we had the largest increase in enrollment in our entire school this year) and there is a growing interest in our Social Foundations Ph.D. program. And we're far from being a top-tier university. These are local folks, in Milwaukee (not the most intellectual place). So there are ordinary people out there--teachers and non-teachers--who are seeking just the kind of educational environment that foundations can provide. Remaining simply a service program for other departments is a losing strategy for us--for all of foundations, not just philosophy. In most cases, in third- and fourth-tier universities like mine, only departments who can generate their own credit hours will be able to maintain a robust enough faculty presence to be able to fight for more inclusion in teacher ed when the pendulum swings again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com