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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY |
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“The nature of education is not really such as
some of its professors say it is; as you know, they say that
there is not understanding in the soul, but they put it in, as
if they were putting sight into blind eyes.”
“….this power is already in the soul of each, and is the
instrument by which each learns; thus if the eye could not see
without being turned with the whole body from the dark towards
the light, so the instrument must be turned round too…”
Plato, The Republic, Book, VII (517c-519c).
A teacher has a dual role in the learning process. As an
educator, a teacher is a facilitator, who makes necessary
adjustments in the learning environment and intellectually
challenges the learner to achieve academic goals with
excellence. But in order to ensure success, a teacher must
provide consistent and committed support to the student.
Hence, the teacher is also a counselor. Like SOCRATES, a
teacher must have a passion for promoting excellence to help
initiate an unending search for truth, and like MENTOR, a
teacher must have a true compassion for the well-being of
students. Socrates gave his life for his love of knowledge and
an indomitable desire to pass it on to the next generation.
And Mentor, Odysseus’ trusted friend and counselor, under
whose disguise Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, acted as the
guardian and teacher of Telemachus (Odysseus’ son), became a
symbolic figure representing perfect guardianship and true
friendship. A sense of total accountability and
responsibility, and true concern for students over and above
intellectual excellence, are indispensable virtues that every
teacher must possess.
There is no doubt that the Socratic search for the highest
truth is the ultimate goal of all learning; but this pursuit
of truth would be meaningless unless it is embellished with
the highest possible goodness. A teacher, therefore, must be
there for those who need directions and this must be the basic
rule of all teaching. Teaching is primarily a cognitive
process; it is about “knowing.” Knowing mirrors our
perceptions of the world as we see it, respond to it, and
articulate it to each other. How well we perceive and respond,
depend on the development of certain skills or, ways of
knowing. These ways have been organized harmoniously into
categories such as “science” (rational explanation of nature),
“technology” (use of the discoveries of science to create
tools for a better quality of life), and “art” (a way of
translating sensations and intuitions into a “form”). The
essence of this knowing lies in knowing “the other” – the
object of knowledge and perhaps, more importantly, in knowing
a mind (the learner). That is why knowing necessitates caring
and sharing.
Teaching is a relationship which is about sharing of
knowledge, and sharing it with caring, enough to share the
fruits of wisdom as equally and fairly as possible. There are
obviously many varieties of methods of teaching. One of these
methods is the dialectical method which was introduced by
Socrates; it encourages discussion among the participants.
Starting with this dialectical method in the classroom and
then, extending it beyond any spatial constraints through
research, technology, and travel, participants of learning can
initiate a meaningful dialogue among themselves. And, as long
as a “machine” is used as tool, and not as “the second self,”
technology can make knowledge more accessible.
Teaching is only a matter of changing the direction, as Plato
claims. Every time a question is answered or, a problem is
solved, a new state of knowing takes place, and both the
partners of the learning process get enlightened, and a
process of “becoming” unfolds itself, which continues to grow
like a “Bodhi Tree,” in an unending journey to truth and
goodness. |
