I am finding it very interesting to experiment with different strategies in teaching a college course in philosophy. Obviously, I want to teach perfectly, and design a perfect course. Yes, I am setting my hopes impossibly high, but striving to get things as great as possible is the ultimate goal. Conceptually, there is no perfect class in general, but I do have some things in mind in terms of end goals, and I think it is possible, at least conceptually, to construct a perfect course for those goals.
End Goals of my courses:
I have written versions of this many, many times: every time I plan a new semester or write a syllabus, I write end goals, and I re-think them every time. However, I am never satisfied with my answer. I am always dancing around the issue, but never striking at its heart. So, I will make an attempt here, again, while I have the luxury of three months before Spring semester begins.
I wonder if it is possible to express the essence of my ideas in a single sentence. A unifying theory, so to speak. I don’t know. But trying to guess at that essence is not a good place to start. Perhaps a good place to start is a laundry list, with no eye toward order, importance, or inclusion.
- Develop critical reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills. (incredibly vague for such an important subject, nut I’ll just let it there for now)
- Challenge the prejudices, or pre-conceived notions of students.
- Present myself, not as a profess-er or lecture-er, but a teacher, and guide.
- Provide means, a practice ground, for students to practice independent, free, critical thinking (these are not exactly synonyms).
- Be gentle, not commandeering. Follow, to some extent, Confucious’ notion that the virtuous leader leads while apparently doing nothing. That is, students’ instruction should well up within themselves, rather than given to them by me.
- Teach students how to be their own teachers.
- Stay engaging, interesting.
- Provide the entire semester with a basic arc, one that puts the philosophy in such a way that each philosopher profoundly builds upon, or destroys, the previous philosopher, simulating an evolution in thought and perspectice.
- The student should be able to understand their own perspective at the end of the semester better than they had before.
- The student should be able to encouraged, almost forced, to expand their perspective by the end of the semester.
- The student should have a clear understanding of what their perspective was and is, and of the process by which the perspective was challenged and expanded.
Natural Causes 