Analytic Teaching

Editor's Notes

Mort Morehouse

Introduction: This is a transition time for Analytic Teaching. First, Jason Howard and I will be co-editors for a short while until Jason takes over full time. With the new editorship will also come a new, or modified, name for the journal. Analytic Teaching: The Community of Inquiry Journal will become Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis: The Community of Inquiry Journal. The new name is intended to address two concerns: 1) potential readers interested in philosophy may not easily find the journal as it is now named, and 2) the idea of praxis best fits with what the journal has traditionally been about, that is, a blending of theory and practice regarding pedagogy, teaching and learning and philosophy.

J. Habermas and the Art of Dialogue: The Practicability of the Ideal Speech Situation

Barbara Weber

Introduction: Critical reasoning is a core element of the P4C program. Yet, the appearance of postmodernism, multiculturalism and ethnocentrism casts doubt on the Western concept of rationality and demands that its claim of universal purview be justified. In this context, the desideratum of this article is to provide a concept of rationality that has the potential to serve as the theoretical basis of reasoning in P4C. This is an important task, because if we cannot defend P4C against the postmodern criticism of rationality, we cannot claim that it is a multicultural program in a true sense, nor can we defend it against the charge that this is just another attempt of “western colonization”.

Philosophy in Red, Philosophy in Purple: Lebenswelt given, Weltanschauung Achieved, Lifeworld Contra Worldview

Terry L. Allen

Introduction: Light, energy, and color are corporate players in a dynamic drama, an integrated presence easily taken for granted and universally experienced. The use of color is itself a common diagnostic and therapeutic aspect of alternative forms of medicine. In both traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine reference is made to human “chakras” that are believed to represent positions, or regions of energy and life force associated with the human body. Ayurveda, in particular, is a concept from the ancient Sanskrit and has been practiced in India for thousands of years. The word “chakra” is also from the ancient Sanskrit language and refers to specific energy fields that are represented by designated, specific colors that are in turn themselves associated with certain centers of energy in the body. The color red, for example, is connected with the root or base chakra said to be located at the base of the spine. It is the lowest of the chakras and refers to one’s grounding and rooted stability in this life. Its element is earth. The highest of the chakras is referred to as the crown chakra and is thought to be associated with the crown of the head. Its element is thought, and its color is purple. In this paper I will refer to these colors as metaphors for interdependent but nevertheless contrasting aspects of human experience--lifeworld and worldview. Philosophy in red will be presented as the lifeworld or Lebenswelt. It refers to the pre- and unconscious factors and experiences that ground or anchor human individuals and communities in physical and historical-cultural lifeworlds for which they have no reflective or chosen responsibility. Philosophy in purple will in turn refer to worldview as Weltanschauung and represents the human capacity for the work of ontology through reflective practices that are self aware and open to inquiry. These forces (red and purple) serve to complement and support one another in a healthy individual and society. A community that permits and encourages inquiry and growth in its members as self reflective individuals who share in sense and meaning making activities that can make a difference, provides a nurturing stability and sense of identity characteristic of the red zone out of which the purplizing process of authentic philosophic dialogue and wonder can be experienced.

The Persistence of Gender Stereotypes in the 21st century and what we can do about it

Wendy C. Turgeon

Introduction: Query any group of undergraduates and you will discover that most of them do not consider themselves to be feminists and will quickly repudiate the title. They see feminism as either reflective of a man-hating attitude or as an outmoded social cause of the 1970s—the distant past. While the opportunities for girls and women have multiplied in many arenas of life, from sports to academic careers to such professions as engineering, the law and medicine, we still witness rigid gender roles subversively at work in schools, workplaces and society at large. What has changed is the way we speak about it. Now the language emphasizes choice and women declaim that they are choosing to adopt certain pattern of being women, often without realizing the iron fist of cultural expectations on these choices. In this paper we will first examine the gender roles and expectations set upon girls and women in contemporary society. A major force today is the media as we shall explore in its influence through toys, television, movies and the creation and sustaining of a celebrity culture. Secondly we will examine the extent to which the educational system has risen to the challenge of educating beyond gender stereotypes, if indeed it has. We will trace the inherent difficulties in introducing these ideas to elementary and secondary students in an atmosphere of cultural and ethical relativism. The main thesis of this paper will be the claim that we need to construct ways to engage young people in careful and nuanced reflection on gender and that philosophical inquiry offers us just such a methodology. In addition to taking a look at materials already accessible, we will sketch out some ideas for the development of materials that will further the enterprise of freeing young men and women to examine with a critical eye the gender roles assigned to them by their culture. However, in doing this, we acknowledge a need to be sensitive to a multitude of perspectives based on our nationalities, religious beliefs and practice, and cultural “homes.” What directions can and should we explore to work against the juggernaut of media and society’s pressures on girls and boys to adopt a particular view of gender and how can we remain open to plural modalities of gender without succumbing to unreflective acceptance of tradition for tradition’s sake?

Story Seeking: An Approach for Literacy Coaching

Phyllis A. Blackstone

Introduction: The concept of coaching has invaded American society. One cannot advance very far in learning any skill without encountering an advertisement promoting the use of a coach to attain one’s goals. The education sector has embraced the concept as well. The athletic coach is no longer the solitary coach in a school.

Learning Ethics in a Pluralistic Society

Richard Kyte

Introduction: Teaching ethics is always challenging, and it is especially challenging in a pluralistic society. One reason is that the participants in an ethical dispute frequently have different fundamental interests and perspectives, and they may not be fully aware of the extent to which they have, or share, or fail to share certain interests. It is a difficult task simply to sort out the various interests, both conscious and subconscious, that participants in a dispute bring to a table. And, partly because that is such a difficult task, we tend to forget that there are other causes of ethical disagreement, and that one particularly troublesome cause is the different level of commitment people may have to using words to settle ethical disputes in the first place.