Philosophy of Education Syllabus — Spring 2024 Yonsei University
EDU2111

This course aims to provide a pluralistic introduction to philosophy and education though a broad survey of the diverse philosophical perspectives, problems, and approaches to education and educational research around the world. This survey will not primarily seek to evaluate the truthfulness of each philosophy, but rather to appreciate the vast diversity of thought, meaning, value, and perspective involved in the education of human beings.

Overview

Your Responsibilities

1. Attend 14 weeks of class.
2. Each week:
   • submit a discussion question related to the readings or the current topic
   • participate in small group discussions with your peers
   • read one or more of the suggested readings, or do your own research.
3. Over the course of the semester, draft a “manifesto” that expresses your philosophical views about education.

My Responsibilities

1. Curate a broad yet thorough survey of diverse perspectives and problems in the philosophy of education.

2. Engage participants with insightful lectures and audiovisual presentations, and make these accessible in various formats.

3. Facilitate discussions and adapt the lecture contents according to participants’ interests and questions.

4. Provide thoughtful feedback on participants’ written assignments.

5. Clearly communicate the criteria and results of evaluation, and provide participants with the opportunity to appeal my assessment of their work.

Objectives

Deliberation

Participants will identify their own beliefs, desires, preconceptions, prejudices, etc.

Appreciation

Participants will consider alternative points-of-view and how these problematize their own positions.

Reflection

Participants will critically evaluate and adapt their own values and perspectives in light of the alternatives studied in this course.

Expression

Participants will become familiarized with the main currents in world philosophies of education, past and present, and will therefore more effectively develop, articulate, and defend their own perspectives.

Problem Awareness:

Participants will develop their ability to recognize problematic conditions in their own experiences and inquiries by familiarizing themselves with the various problems addressed in the philosophy of education.

Course Format

This class will consist of a one-hour lecture period on Wednesdays, and a two-hour discussion period on Thursdays. Wednesday lectures will provide an overview of the themes and readings that will be discussed on Thursdays, and will occasionally consist of brief multimedia presentations.

Each week participants will read one or more chapters, articles, or essays from the list of suggested reading materials for the current week’s topic. Before the start of class every Thursday, participants will complete a very brief online form to comminicate to the instructor:

1. How they prepared for the class discussion (i.e. what they read, watched, or researched about the weekly topic);

2. A single discussion question related to the readings, weekly topic, etc.

During Thursday sessions, students will meet in groups of up to 3 people to share their thoughts on the readings or related topics. Each group will share a few brief comments, questions, or notes about their coversation through an online form. The instructor will use this pool of comments and questions to facilitate class discussions and adapt the contents of the supplementary lecture. Discussion groups will be assigned at random each week, so over the course of the semester participants will have a chance to work directly with almost everyone in the class. Prompts or discussion questions may be provided by the instructor to stimulate conversation.

Accessibility

All of the course contents will be provided in various formats on LearnUs. Participants need not purchase any books or special materials for this course; a comprehensive course reader will be provided.

All lectures and presentations will be recorded so participants may review them at their own leisure. The slideshow presentations and digital whiteboards for each class will also be provided in a number of formats to facilitate individual study and note-taking. All of the original course materials created by the professor are dedicated to the public domain through the CC0 1.0 Universal license.

Assignments

Over the course of the semester, participants will compose and revise a manifesto that expresses their own philosophical positions concerning education. By the second week of class participants will submit a very brief and rough sketch or outline of their current thoughts, opinions, or criticisms about education. These might be general statements, or they may be specific to one’s own experience being educated or educating others. This first sketch should be very brief and succicnt. Participants are encouraged to keep them simple and explore various methods of organizing their ideas—such as mind maps, outlines, collages, etc.

During midterms week, in lieu of an exam, participants will submit a revised version of this first draft. This second draft should develop the ideas originally expressed in the first draft in response to the various philosophical perspectives and issues discussed during the first half of the course. During finals week—also in lieu of an exam—participants will submit the final draft of their manifesto which will be a further refinement of their ideas in response to the views examined in the second half of the class.

Manfestoes will be submitted through an online filedrop. PDF files are preferred, but if your manifesto consists of mostly images, video, or audio, then other suitable media formats will be accepted.

The format of the “manifesto” is to be decided by each participant. It can be an essay, a formal article, a succinct manifesto, a poem, a brief autobiographical narrative, an outline which details one’s interpretation of and response to the various ideas/themes discussed in the class, etc. No matter the format, the final draft should adhere to the following guidelines:

• All drafts should be relatively brief. If your manifesto consists entirely of text, then 1 or 2 A4 pages sholud be sufficient. Longer and shorter pieces will be accepted, but the quality of their contents should justify their length.

• Final drafts must demonstrate that the participant has considered their positions/ideas with respect to those examined in the class (even if it does not detail the participant’s response to each of these individually). Non-textual manifestoes will also be accepted, but they should sufficiently express to the instructor your philosophical perspectives on education.

A Word About Formatting

While participants are free to format their manifestoes however they see fit, participants are encouraged to adhere to the following typographic guidelines and conventions for text-based submissions:

1. The structure of the document should be semantic. That is, headings should be headings and not just bolded or enlarged text, lists should be lists and not just lines starting with a star or hyphen, etc. If you are not already in the habit of writing documents this way, you will not regret making it a habit to do so!

2. Choose a sensible font, font size, and line height. Double spacing is unnecessary. 10-12pt is a good size for body text.

3. Ample margins are your friend. Margins should’t be so wide that there are only a dozen words on each page, but they should also not be so narrow that lines stretch all the way across the page. In general, it is a good idea to make margins wide enough that brief notes can be written in them.

4. Page numbers in multi-page documents are nice to have.

5. Anything you write should have your name and other relevant information on it—such as the name of this class, the date, title, etc.

Exams

This course will not hold formal examinations.

Evaluation Policy

Every participant in this course begins with an A+. Points will only be deducted according to the criteria detailed below. At the end of the course, participants will be given the opportunity to write an optional self-evaluation to appeal and negotiate their final grade, or to reflect on the course overall and provide feedback to the instructor.

Evaluation Criteria

Attendance (20%):

Participants will be considered late after ten minutes, and absent after thirty. In accordance with university policy, participants who miss one third or more of the total class hours will receive a failing grade.

Participation (30%):

Participants will each submit at least one thought-provoking, open-ended discussion question before the start of each class every Thursday.

Participants will actively participate in group discussions with new partners each week. The comments that partners/groups share via the online form (via LearnUs) should communicate to the instructor some noteworthy points from their discussion.

Participants are not expected to formally debate or argue their positions. It is perfectly acceptable to be confused, unsure, offended, inspired or nonplussed by the readings. Discussions are a chance to communicate your thoughts, even if they are questions or criticisms about the reading or related topics.

Constructive critcism of other participants’ perspectives and values is allowed, but disrespect and verbal abuse is not tolerated.

Manifestoes (50%):

All drafts should be clearly and neatly composed. While grammar is not evaluated, the presentation should be organized and consistent. (See the above section, A Word About Formatting)

Each successive draft should demonstrate that the participant has reflected on the ideas and problems discussed throughout the class and the implications these have on their own views.

Should be the participant’s own work and not just a collage of citations or a summary of existing views. It is acceptable to adopt an existing philosophy as one’s own, however, participants will still be expected to demonstrate how and why they have adopted it, especially with respect to the other contending points-of-view examined in the course.

Course Materials

All reading materials will be provided in electronic formats via LearnUs. Each week, the instructor will recommend several readings or videos related to the current topic. Participants will read or watch at least one of the items on this list, or they may do their own research.

Agenda

1. ORIENTATION

   • MAR 6–7

2. METAPHILOSOPHY

   • MAR 13–14

3. THE ENDS AND MEANS OF EDUCATION

   • MAR 20–21

   • Manifesto Draft Due by March 19th

4. THE ENDS AND MEANS OF EDUCATION

   • MAR 27–28

5. EXISTENCE, WONDER, AND THE AESTHETIC

   • APR 3–4

6. KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH, AND CRITICAL THINKING

   • APR 10–11

7. PHILOSOPHY OF CHILDHOOD & YOUTH RIGHTS

   • APR 17–18

8. MIDTERMS

   • APR 24–25

   • Manifesto first revision due: April 26

   • No class, no exam

9. ETHICS, MORALITY & CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION

   • MAY 1–2

10. CRITICAL PEDAGOGY & THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCHOOLING

    • MAY 8–9

11. THE PROBLEMS OF LITERACY & EQUALITY

    • MAY 15–16

12. THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLASS, GENDER & RACE IN EDUCATION

    • MAY 22–23

13. INCLUSIVE SEX EDUCATION & OTHER BOOGEYMEN

    • MAY 29–30

14. THE SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS OF EDUCATION IN A PLURALISTIC DEMOCRACY

    • JUNE 5–6

    • JUNE 6: 현충일 — Makeup class on June 13

15. READING WEEK

    • JUNE 12–13

    • Makeup class: June 13

16. FINALS

    • JUNE 19–20

    • Manifesto final draft due: 06/21

    • No class, no exam