Full Description
Teacher Education and the Pursuit of Wisdom takes its readers into the deep waters of investigating teaching not simply as a profession but as a precious "way of life." The author begins by investigating the nature of teaching as both an "active" and a "contemplative" endeavor and inquires into the resonance between the nature of teaching on the one hand and what has been said classically about genuine philosophizing on the other hand.
Having laid the groundwork for students to be able to recognize this intimate connection, readers are next challenged to take up the notion of teaching as a "way of life" in the pursuit of wisdom experimentally and to record their observations in a personalized journal format. Thorough explanations are provided concerning the value of journaling for self-knowledge, and exemplar texts by master journal writers are discussed.
This book is designed for use as a primary textbook in philosophy of education courses. Instructors will find it helpful as a means to organize engaging classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for genuine philosophic practices and inquiry. It contains a well-defined program of work that is modelled upon the latest research concerning "authentic task design." Its rich experimental approach is replete with a broad array of learning tasks, assessment tools, and practices that are aligned with the competencies-based approach taken in most professional certification and BEd Programs.
Contents
List of Figures - Acknowledgments - Introduction: A Note to Instructors and Student-Teachers About How to Interact With This Book - Journaling, Self-Knowledge, and Education - Plato's Meno and Education - Plato's Apology and Education - Isocrates—The Father of Modern Education - Francis Bacon and Education - Rene Descartes and Education - John Locke and Education - Rousseau's Educational Ideas in the Emile - John Dewey, Inquiry, and Progressive Education - Maria Montessori and Seeing the Child in Education - Jean Piaget, Constructivism, and Seeing the Child in Education - Jacques Maritain and Education - An Aporetic Ending? Assessment and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Education - Appendix A: Assessment Tools - Appendix B: Experiments for Philosophical Askesis - Index.
