| CODE | EDS4407 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Themes in the Philosophy of Education | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Education Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Introduction. The Situations and Themes in Education Programme is intended to serve as an introduction to teaching, the day to day life of our schools and classrooms and the Maltese educational system in general. It aims to discuss those practical professional skills of teaching which are informed by the latest educational theories. The theme lectures and seminar discussions will help students sharpen their perceptions; develop a capacity for understanding educational issues and policies as well as a critical attitude towards policies and pedagogical practice. The situations component of the programme locates educational issues in the context of professional practice. In Situations and Themes in Education 1 the focus of discussion is on the following issues: (i) The Curriculum (ii) The School/Classroom (iii) The Learner (iv)Teacher Becomings. The Themes component extends and deepens the analysis of these issues by linking the concerns of practice with the wider framework of philosophy of education and research. Theme 1: The Curriculum A presentation on the following three curriculum theories is made by the lecturer followed by a discussion on what the notion of a holistic education (an all-round education that balances the different aspects of the learner’s needs), found in the National Curriculum, means and whether and how these views can be reconciled into the aim to create a holistic education. The three curricular theories are: (a) The liberal curriculum, which has a long tradition dating back to the Greeks, which identifies education with the development of the mind and contends that the curriculum should include that knowledge which helps the mind to grow. Paul Hirst in the 1970s suggested that since knowledge is the food of the mind, what makes it grow, we should look to the nature of knowledge to decide on what to go into the curriculum. Liberal education privileges academic, pure or abstract, or theoretical knowledge and defines the end of education as creating autonomous individuals. It tends to distinguish a hierarchy of knowledge where the practical is defined as extra-curricular. (b) The contrary approach to the curriculum represented by what is sometimes called progressivism emphasises the value of experiential, practical, knowledge as opposed to academic. It argues that the point of departure is not the nature of knowledge but the nature of the learner and emphasises the importance of the learner’s readiness to learn, hence of developmental psychology in curriculum planning. It also stresses that school learning, the curriculum, should be related to the life of the learner. The end of education for progressivism is the achievement of each individual all round potential. (c) On the other hand, the curriculum everywhere always has a political and economic agenda corresponding with the need of the school to contribute to the upbringing of the young. This means: (a) socializing the young into the society’s culture and making them good citizens, and (b) ensuring their future ability to contribute to the economy. Both are regarded in all societies as essential duties of the school. The political aspect of the curriculum. A short presentation of the NMC is made followed by discussion. Students should be made aware of the historical background to the present NMC: The 1988 Education Act that empowered the Minister to publish an NMC, the first NMC documents in the early 1990s, the publication of the Tomorrow’s Schools document in 1995, the publication first of the draft then of the new NMC document in 1999, followed by the 5 year strategic plan for its implementation in 2000. The final part of this theme focuses on the Curricular Principles in the new NMC (pp. 29-45). These principles are identified by the tutor with the students with a discussion to follow. The political aims of the NMC should be followed by that part of the document that refers to the challenges faced by our schools (pp. 21-28), then to the philosophy of a holistic, learner-centred education that characterises the principles (47-69). Theme 2: The school/classroom This theme focuses on how the nature of the classroom has changed with the publication of the National Minimum Curriculum, and the document "For All Children to Succeed". The change has been from a system that focused mainly on subject teaching to one which pivots round the needs of the child; from a system based on streaming to one based on setting. Such a change requires a transformation in the philosophy of the teaching and the role of the teacher. In the first part of this theme the focus is on the study of the texts that explicate such a transition, and their philosophical underpinnings. Within this debate, the concept of child centred education is discussed, as well as issues of justice and equality, equity and difference in education, In the section part of this theme the focus is the classroom. Issues discussed from a philosophical perspective, within this session are: the management of classroom and issues of discipline, punishment and authority, the classroom as a community of inquiry, the classroom as a site for enhancing particular values, including the value of democracy, the role of the teacher, critical thinking, as well as the ethics of teaching and education as a moral practice. Theme 3: The Learner The educational community generally agrees that a dynamic curriculum should provide an educational experience which: (1) promotes fundamental values among students; (2) facilitates their holistic development; (3) motivates and prepares them to be lifelong learners; (4) enables them to live a full and productive life in a shrinking global village; (5) prepares them for the world of work, where change is a fact of life. (NMC, 1999, p.14) The main aim of this theme is to question: “What is learning? Who is the learner? What constitutes a learner?” As can be seen from the above quote taken from the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum, a number of assumptions are being made about the learner. (1) the learner acquires a set of fundamental values – what are these values? do they change over time? do different learners have different values? if yes, how are they going to engage with other learners? (2) the learner grows holistically – what is growth? who sets these goals, the learner or the person guiding the learner? (3) being a learner is a permanent and ongoing phase in life (life-long) yet there is a moment in our lives where we are forced to be learners (compulsory schooling). What rights do young learners have? And what rights do adult learners have? (4) the learner and the world and employment. All these assumptions need to be problematised and this theme takes up these issues concerning the learner. Teacher Becomings This part of the course focuses on the formation of the teacher with reference to philosophies of becoming. Students teachers will be actively engaged in the process of re-inventing themselves as teachers with reference to the theories and practices of becoming teachers. In giving them the space to articulate of their own stories, and voice their subjugated knowledges in their self formation as teachers students will move from narrating to theorising and developing their own philosophy of education. Through a critical reading of various relevant texts and educational documents student teachers will explore in depth the discourses about the teacher to trace the formation of the teacher. These lectures will look into the grand narrative of emancipation and how teachers are engaged in an educational process of maturation and progress. Student teachers will be made aware of how and why educational institutions have become the legitimate means through which human beings become emancipated. Particular attention will be given to the function of schools in this process and how teachers in particular are constructed as reproducers of the discourses whose job is to disseminate the “truth”. The idea of teachers as agents of the state that ensure the efficient and effective control of the population will be discussed. Within educational contexts that emphasize performativity, student teachers are made aware of the importance of developing their own visions for educational practices. Rather than being technicians of knowledge teachers are made conscious of their broader political positions namely through a critical reflection on what they experience within educational institutions and through the reading and writing of philosophies of teaching. Study-unit Aims The Situations and Themes in Education Programme is intended to serve as an introduction to teaching, the day to day life of our schools and classrooms and the Maltese educational system in general. It aims to discuss those practical professional skills of teaching which are informed by the latest educational theories. The theme lectures and seminar discussions will help students sharpen their perceptions; develop a capacity for understanding educational issues and policies as well as a critical attitude towards policies and pedagogical practice. The situations component of the programme locates educational issues in the context of professional practice. In Situations and Themes in Education 1 the focus of discussion is on the following issues: (i) The Curriculum (ii) The School/Classroom (iii) The Learner (iv) Teacher Becomings. The Themes component extends and deepens the analysis of these issues by linking the concerns of practice with the wider framework of philosophy of education and research. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Know what a Liberal Curriculum is. - Understand what a Progressive curriculum is, with its emphasis on experiential practical knowledge as opposed to academic knowledge. - Be aware that curricula always have a political and economic agenda, including the socialization of the young into society's culture, and their preparation to contribute to the country's economy. - Be familiar with the main text preceding the current National Minimum Curriculum, including the draft documents as well as Tomorrow's Schools. - Comprehends the curricular principles as identified in the National Minimum Curriculum (pp.29-45). - Is aware of the main challenges currently being faced by our schools. - Knows well what a holistic, learner centred education entails. - Be familiar with the document: For all Children to Succeed. - Understands the philosophy behind streaming and setting. - Be conscious of issues of justice, equality, equity and difference in education - Is aware of moral considerations when it come to issues of discipline, punishment, power and authority. - Know how to transform their classroom into a community of inquiry. - knows how to use the classroom as a site where one promotes particular values, including the value of democracy and education for responsible citizenship. - Understands the ethics of teaching, and feel their profession as a moral practice. - Bring out the complexity in describing what learning is; - Demonstrate the complexity in analysing who learner is. The students will be able to question taken for granted understandings of who the learner is. Also the student teacher will be able to provide answers, even is partially, through engaging with various concepts that make up the philosophy of the learner. They will also be able to reflect on their own past experience as learners, be more aware of the learners that they are going to encounter with in their teaching career. - understand teachers’ engagements in educational processes of becoming. - develop their own philosophy of education. - What the difference between a curriculum, a syllabus, scheme of work, and a lesson plan is? 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Have the skill to transfer the issues discussed in class to his/her daily practice in school - Reflect on his/her daily practice as a teacher - To use better the main texts published by the Ministry of Education - To apply the ideals of justice and fairness in his/her daily dealings with children - To analyze texts from a critical perspective, and creatively come up with alternative solutions to perceived problems - To synthesis the theories discussed in class, and create his/her own theories as resulting from his/her daily practice - To value his/her role as a 'political' agent in schools - Communicate his/her ideas about important issues in education. - Engage in a critical description of who the learner is through engaging with a set of concepts; - Articulate their own experience (both past when they attended compulsory schooling and now as students reading a PGCE course) and read this experience through particular concepts. - engage in a critical and deconstructive reading of the texts relevant to processes of becoming teachers. - articulate their own teaching narratives. - use these narratives to engage in processes of reflection and theorising Main Text/s and any supplementary readings - Barrow R St C and Woods R.G. (1975) An Introduction to Philosophy of Education. Chapter 7: Child Centred Education. London: Methuen and Co Ltd. - Blake Nigel et. al. (1998) Thinking Again: Education after Postmodernism Bergin & Garvey. Chapter 6: Giving Someone a Lesson. - Carr David (2003) Making Sense of Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Theory of Education and Teaching. Chapter 13: Justice, Equity and difference. Chapter 14: Freedom, Authority and discipline. RoutledgeFalmer. - Carr W. (2005) The Routledge Falmer Reader in Philosophy of Education. Routledge. Chapter 14: Inclusion and Fairness. Chapter 15: Education as a Moral Practice. - Curren R. (ed) (2007) Philosophy of Education. Blackwell. Chapter 6: The Democratc Conception in Education, Chapter 7: Education as Initiation, Chapter 18: Democracy and Democratic Education, Chapter 38: Beyond the Reflective Teacher, Chapter 48: Education for Critical Thinking. - Curren R. (ed), (2003) A Companion to the Philosophy of Education. Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 36: The Ethics of Teaching. - Kohli W. (ed) (1995) Critical Conversations in Philosophy of Education. Routledge. Chapter 17: Education for Citizenship. - Ministry of Education (1999) Creating the Future: National Minimum Curriculum. (http://www.curriculum.gov.mt/nmc.htm) - Ministry of Education Youth and Culture (2005) For all Children to Succeed A New Network Organisation for Quality Education in Malta. http://www.education.gov.mt/networks.htm - Noddings Nel (1995) Philosophy of Education Oxford: Westview Press.. Chapter 9: Social and Political Philosophy. - Plato The Republic The Parable of the Cave. Book VII (514a–520a). - Wain Kenneth (1991) The Maltese National Curriculum: a Critical Evaluation. Malta: Mireva. - Winch, C. (2008) Learning How to Learn: A Critique. Journal of Philosophy of Education. Volume 42, Issue 3, Pages: 649-665. - Masschelein, J. (2001) The Discourse of the Learning Society and the Loss of Childhood. Journal of Philosophy of Education. Volume 35, Issue 1. Pages: 1-20. - Masschelein, J. and Simons, M. (2008) The Govermentalization of Learning and the Assemblage of a Learning Apparatus. Educational Theory. Volume 58, Issue 4, Pages: 391-415. - Luntley, M. (2008) Training and Learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory. Volume 40, Issue 5, Pages: 695-711. - Swann, J. (2009) Learning: An evolutionary analysis. Educational Philosophy and Theory. Volume 41, Issue 3, Pages: 256-269. - Horn, J. and Wilburn, D. (2005) The Embodiment of Learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory. Volume 37, Issue 5, Pages: 745-760. - Wain Kenneth et al., (1995) Tomorrow’s Schools (Education Ministry). - Wain Kenneth (1992) Theories of Teaching. Malta: Mireva. Chapter 7. - Winch Christopher (1996) Constructing Worthwhile Curricula, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp 45-56. - Leach, J. And Moon, R. (1999) Learners & Pedagogy (Learning, Curriculum and Assessment series) - Chappell, C. Et al. (2003) Reconstructing the Lifelong Learner: Pedagogy and Identity in Individual, Organizational and Social Change. - Wain, K. (2004) The learning Society in a Postmodern World. The Education Crisis. Peter Lang. - Tubbs Nigel (2005) “Philosophy of the Teacher” Journal of Philosophy of Education Vol 39 Issue 2 Special Edition. - Galley Micheline (1993), Maria Calleya’s Gozo Unesco Publishing, Utah University Press, Logan. - Galea Simone (2006) “Face to face with Emmanuela: Reflections on the uses of the memoir in exploring the life story of a nineteenth century woman teacher” in Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies 11( 2) pp 35-51. https://www.um.edu.mt/emcer/mjes/backissues. - Connelly M. F & J.D Clandinin (eds) (1999) Shaping a Professional Identity Stories of Educational Practice New York, Teachers’ College Press. - Ritchie J. and Wilson D. (2000) Teacher Narrative as Critical Inquiry New York, Teachers’ College Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Matthew Luke Agius Maria Stephanie Bugeja Simone Galea Mario Testa |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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