Having touched upon some elements in another thread that I've now abandoned, I thought I'd bring some useful parts of it here to pose a question.
If you were going to have Philosophy and Ethics as a post-compulsory subject taught to students in Years 11 and 12 (essentially, the final two years of school), where the criteria for doing the subject was open to all (any student can do it - there are levels of 'difficulty' in terms of what is addressed in each unit, with units in pairs - let's call them 1A, 1B; 2A, 2B; 3A, 3B) and students can choose to do a pair of units (eg. 2A, 2B) for a year and gain accreditation towards their graduation requirements... what do you think should be taught?
And what would be in the 'harder' pair of units (3A, 3B) as opposed to the 'easier' (1A, 1B) [I say this with quote marks as with the outcomes based education, you should be able to demonstrate a certain competency in an outcome in the 1A course that could also be shown by a student in the 2A course... but perhaps that's not as relevant here] ?
Here's the draft of the course as it stands so far:
Word document - http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/pages/pcreview/stagetwo/COS_docs/134298_3.doc
PDF version -
http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/pages/images/pdf_icon.jpg
...if you're interested in seeing where it's heading... but don't let that limit you!
Other links I made in terms of my Year 10 English one term length unit:
Term Four - Philosophy elective, Year 10
It was only for one term - we had one term where we could create our own programme based upon what students thought they'd like to study and this is a basic overview. Quite willing to email it out (a word document, rather large!) to anyone who wants to adapt it.
English Outcomes that will be addressed in this course:
•Demonstrate knowledge of some of the major philosophers of the Western European tradition.
•Demonstrate knowledge of some main concepts in philosophy, including definitions of key concepts
•Identify assumptions that underpin theories, arguments and positions in selected writings and the media, and in everyday life
•Thing write and speak clearly and recognize clarity of thought in the work of others
•Use reasoned arguments to support your views
•Identify and articulate counter arguments to your own positions
•Ask questions to clarify problems further
•Extract central ideas and arguments from print and non–print sources (you will be applying philosophical thinking to your viewing of the feature film The Matrix and to your reading of feature articles/ news articles, short stories, etc).
Here are some outcomes that relate more to over-arching educational outcomes about values and attitudes. I hope, that apart from demonstrating the skills and knowledge above, that you will also be able to:
•Demonstrate openness and intellectual humility by approaching discussions involving a conflict of views in a spirit of inquiry
•Recognize that there are alternative approaches to apprehending ‘truth’ and ‘reality’
•Demonstrate increasing awareness of the complexity of many issues and of the necessity of examining issues from many different perspectives.
General overview:
- Philosophical Questioning - introduction.
- Communities of Inquiry - Matthew Lipman, 'Lisa'.
- Background to Greek Philosophy - first assignment task, create a general overview of an allocated philosopher and a short talk on their importance and relevance.
- Reasoning and Logic - 'Love is a Fallacy', argument worksheet – Deductive reasoning, Logical Statements and Venn Diagrams.
- How Are We To Live?
- When should we call things “good�
- Right and Wrong.
- Rights and Obligations - short story 'Babycakes' by Neil Gaiman
- Privileges and Duties.
- Do Women and Men Think Differently about Ethics? Short story 'The Knife' - Phillip Cam.
- Free will and determinism - 'The Matrix'.
Note - that was for Year 10s and they managed fine with it. What could be added on for older students?
Phillip Cam's work :
http://philosophy.arts.unsw.edu.au/...tm#Publications
A short story I used in teaching it - 'Love Is A Fallacy' by Max Shulman: http://eepel.snu.ac.kr/~wjlee/pds.htm
If you were going to have Philosophy and Ethics as a post-compulsory subject taught to students in Years 11 and 12 (essentially, the final two years of school), where the criteria for doing the subject was open to all (any student can do it - there are levels of 'difficulty' in terms of what is addressed in each unit, with units in pairs - let's call them 1A, 1B; 2A, 2B; 3A, 3B) and students can choose to do a pair of units (eg. 2A, 2B) for a year and gain accreditation towards their graduation requirements... what do you think should be taught?
And what would be in the 'harder' pair of units (3A, 3B) as opposed to the 'easier' (1A, 1B) [I say this with quote marks as with the outcomes based education, you should be able to demonstrate a certain competency in an outcome in the 1A course that could also be shown by a student in the 2A course... but perhaps that's not as relevant here] ?
Here's the draft of the course as it stands so far:
Word document - http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/pages/pcreview/stagetwo/COS_docs/134298_3.doc
PDF version -
http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/pages/images/pdf_icon.jpg
...if you're interested in seeing where it's heading... but don't let that limit you!
Other links I made in terms of my Year 10 English one term length unit:
Term Four - Philosophy elective, Year 10
It was only for one term - we had one term where we could create our own programme based upon what students thought they'd like to study and this is a basic overview. Quite willing to email it out (a word document, rather large!) to anyone who wants to adapt it.
English Outcomes that will be addressed in this course:
•Demonstrate knowledge of some of the major philosophers of the Western European tradition.
•Demonstrate knowledge of some main concepts in philosophy, including definitions of key concepts
•Identify assumptions that underpin theories, arguments and positions in selected writings and the media, and in everyday life
•Thing write and speak clearly and recognize clarity of thought in the work of others
•Use reasoned arguments to support your views
•Identify and articulate counter arguments to your own positions
•Ask questions to clarify problems further
•Extract central ideas and arguments from print and non–print sources (you will be applying philosophical thinking to your viewing of the feature film The Matrix and to your reading of feature articles/ news articles, short stories, etc).
Here are some outcomes that relate more to over-arching educational outcomes about values and attitudes. I hope, that apart from demonstrating the skills and knowledge above, that you will also be able to:
•Demonstrate openness and intellectual humility by approaching discussions involving a conflict of views in a spirit of inquiry
•Recognize that there are alternative approaches to apprehending ‘truth’ and ‘reality’
•Demonstrate increasing awareness of the complexity of many issues and of the necessity of examining issues from many different perspectives.
General overview:
- Philosophical Questioning - introduction.
- Communities of Inquiry - Matthew Lipman, 'Lisa'.
- Background to Greek Philosophy - first assignment task, create a general overview of an allocated philosopher and a short talk on their importance and relevance.
- Reasoning and Logic - 'Love is a Fallacy', argument worksheet – Deductive reasoning, Logical Statements and Venn Diagrams.
- How Are We To Live?
- When should we call things “good�
- Right and Wrong.
- Rights and Obligations - short story 'Babycakes' by Neil Gaiman
- Privileges and Duties.
- Do Women and Men Think Differently about Ethics? Short story 'The Knife' - Phillip Cam.
- Free will and determinism - 'The Matrix'.
Note - that was for Year 10s and they managed fine with it. What could be added on for older students?
Phillip Cam's work :
http://philosophy.arts.unsw.edu.au/...tm#Publications
A short story I used in teaching it - 'Love Is A Fallacy' by Max Shulman: http://eepel.snu.ac.kr/~wjlee/pds.htm