Exploring the Hidden Assumptions in Education

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Develop advance communication and interpersonal skills, including a capacity to address ethical and social problems through collaboration with others

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Understand a range of philosophical theories and ideas that underpin and inform education practice and policy

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Demonstrate strong reasoning capabilities and a critical appraisal of philosophical arguments in education

• Introduction to the philosophy of education

An overview of the key thinkers, topics, and approaches to philosophical reasoning

• The meaning and purposes of education

Explore the rationale and various aims underlying education for individuals and societies

• Ethical theories and their application in education

Examine leading ethical theories in education and how they inform educational policy and practice

• Pedagogical neutrality, indoctrination, and moral education

Consider the ways teaching and education can encounter problems of moral, religious, and political bias

• Conceptions of teaching and the teacher

Explore conceptions and metaphors of teaching as an art and a science

• Philosophical approaches to education and the Socratic method

Examine how philosophical methods and philosophy as a subject can be incorporated into education

• Evaluating knowledge and truth claims in education

Investigate what counts as "legitimate" knowledge/subjects and how to evaluate different sources of evidence relevant to education

• Eastern educational philosophy

Delve into the philosophical traditions of the East and how they influence educational thinking and practice

• Justice, freedom, and equality in education

Consider issues of justice/injustice in education and how education can contribute to freedom and equality

• Democracy and education

Examine the relationship between and contribution of education to democracy, including an overview of the citizens' assembly process

• Addressing educational and social problems using philosophy

Students will work together to solve an educational or social problem using philosophical approaches

Teaching and learning methods

The various teaching methods to be used during the module will be applied and modified depending on the circumstances, students, and content being addressed. Some of these teaching methods may include scenario-based pedagogy, Socratic dialogues/methods, debates, lectures, jigsaw and cooperative learning approaches, group discussions, and inquiry-based learning. Both in-person and online activities will be organised during the course of the module. There will be a two hour in-person session each week of the module.

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Key Journals. These are some key journals to explore and draw on throughout the module: Journal of Philosophy of Education Studies in Philosophy and Education Educational Philosophy and Theory Educational Theory Ethics and Education

Internet Resources

Philosophy of Education: An Anthology.

The Sage Handbook of Philosophy of Education.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Textbooks

Nel Noddings (2018). Philosophy of Education. New York: Routledge.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.