Just plain funny

Students in my block 2 epistemology class will appreciate this.

Coveritlive reflections

Today was another enjoyable day using coveritlive.This site has some interesting implications to it for the classroom, not the least of which being the ability to capture class discussions as well as being able to engage others outside the classroom to be a part of the conversation. I am considering setting up another blog specifically for the block 2 class and running a coveritlive session for every class discussion. It's a class of (mostly) highly engaged juniors and seniors, and being able to connect outside the walls would be a highly purposeful and useful activity for them.

(Update) I've now created the blog for the Epistemology class. The link to it is right here.

What is the goal of education?

"Mr., what's the definition of truth?": Adventures in Epistemology

I think I've mentioned before that I'm teaching an cross-cultural studies/epistemology class this year. It's a junior/senior level class, and I've been borrowing from the IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) curriculum for supplemental material for the class. This week's blog question asked the students to address whether or not truth is culturally based or if there are some truths that are universal. One of the students read the question, then looked at me and said, "What is the definition of truth?" And so began the class. At first, he stated that he was interested in the literal definition, but then found that the literal definition wasn't helpful and didn't give him the information he was really looking for, and so as a class, we began to discuss the philosophical side of the question. It was an amazing class period: the conversation ranged from culture to politics to semantics to science to religion and so forth. By the end of the class, we still hadn't answered the question, but one student acknowledged that she knew I wasn't going to answer the question, that the whole point of the class was to get them to ask the question and to think about it rather than answer it.

The student that asked the question was a student that I've had for the past two years and was in my IB-influenced class, so I wasn't surprised by the question, but very pleased to see that the seeds I had been planting for two years were beginning to bear fruit. It speaks well of the MYP program and speaks to the importance and urgency of implementing it here if our DP students are to be successful. I am fairly convinced that the encouragement to think differently in his freshman and sophomore years led him to begin the questioning that led him to asking that question in class today. He got bonus points from me for asking it, with the hope that he will ask more, and that other students will pick up on it and begin asking similar questions as well.

This is the realm where I function best, really. While I acknowledge that I do well working with freshmen and sophomores, I also flourish when placed into an environment where I can explore the "deeper" and less "traditional" questions in a class. I guess that's why in the long run, I definitely plan to apply to be in the IB Academy at the new school (this isn't exactly a state secret- I've been saying that since we found out about the Academies), for both MYP and IB TOK.

More importantly, however, it shows that providing a continuum of IB style teaching and learning definitely sets a student up for success within IB. I'm really excited about the implications for IB within the district, especially since the ultimate goal is a K-12 IB program. IB is an amazing program, and we have amazing students, so we're perfect match! :-)

Speaking of class blogs

As with my 9th grade classes, my Jr./Sr. level Epistemology class is also writing weekly blogs, and I do plan on keeping up with them and addressing the question of the week for them as well. Here goes. Should a knower’s personal point of view be considered an asset in the pursuit of knowledge, or an obstacle to be overcome?

A few of the students have tried for the whole "It depends" approach, but I don't want to waffle like that. I do think that a personal point of view deeply affects the pursuit of knowledge, whether one wants it to or not. The question comes down to how conscious of that effect the knower is, and once conscious of the effect, the issue then becomes whether or not that knower chooses to do anything about it. In Embracing Mind: The Common Ground of Science and Spirituality, B. Alan Wallace remarks that "Believing shapes seeing." (p. 69) I see this played out in the day to day life of many people, whether they know it or not. It's called bias, and when pursuing knowledge, it's a risk that the puruser needs to be conscious of and ready to respond when it rears its head, for good or bad.

We see this issue come about particularly when one is trying to make a point, regardless of subject area or interest. We all have a natural tendency to filter out what we don't like or disputes our already established point of view or theory, and to accept that which reinforces that which we think we already know and can reinforce our personal hypotheses.

This plays itself out in the work place and in society at large as well. There are repeated instances of organizations ignoring research or information that may prove detrimental to that organization and seeking out, or in some cases funding, research or information that will shore up that company's party line. Woe be to the employee that speaks up or out of turn.

There's an adage, "As ye seek, so shall ye find." This is the essence of a knower's personal point of view influencing the pursuit of knowledge. And while it seems that perhaps I consider that point of view to be a liability in pursuing Truth, at the same time, I do feel that awareness of that point of view can serve a knower quite well, driving that person further into depths of search that an unaware seeker of truth may ignore.

Part of this relates also to the source of knowledge. What good is it to be aware of your own personal point of view if you are not aware of the points of view of the sources of your information? Certainly there are those who relay information in a clear, unbiased manner... or are there? I would like to think so, and yet, there is plenty of room for doubt.

This almost seems like the age-old dilemma of whether or not we merely perceive reality or if in fact we actually construct it. On the level of Newtonian physics, it would appear that the former is true. However, once one enters the realm of quantum physics, all bets are off. In that context, one's point of view certainly becomes an obstacle, one that at least for now, seems to be insurmountable.

Yet if we do, indeed, construct our reality, is this a bad thing? If action follows thought, and if we truly decide to put our thoughts towards change and peace, then perhaps a little reconstruction is in order.