163 research outputs found
Educating for Intellectual Virtue: a critique from action guidance
Virtue epistemology is among the dominant influences in mainstream epistemology today. An important commitment of one strand of virtue epistemology â responsibilist virtue epistemology (e.g., Montmarquet 1993; Zagzebski 1996; Battaly 2006; Baehr 2011) â is that it must provide regulative normative guidance for good thinking. Recently, a number of virtue epistemologists (most notably Baehr, 2013) have held that virtue epistemology not only can provide regulative normative guidance, but moreover that we should reconceive the primary epistemic aim of all education as the inculcation of the intellectual virtues. Baehrâs picture contrasts with another well-known position â that the primary aim of education is the promotion of critical thinking (Scheffler 1989; Siegel 1988; 1997; 2017). In this paper â that we hold makes a contribution to both philosophy of education and epistemology and, a fortiori, epistemology of education â we challenge this picture. We outline three criteria that any putative aim of education must meet and hold that it is the aim of critical thinking, rather than the aim of instilling intellectual virtue, that best meets these criteria. On this basis, we propose a new challenge for intellectual virtue epistemology, next to the well-known empirically-driven âsituationist challengeâ. What we call the âpedagogical challengeâ maintains that the intellectual virtues approach does not have available a suitably effective pedagogy to qualify the acquisition of intellectual virtue as the primary aim of education. This is because the pedagogic model of the intellectual virtues approach (borrowed largely from exemplarist thinking) is not properly action-guiding. Instead, we hold that, without much further development in virtue-based theory, logic and critical thinking must still play the primary role in the epistemology of education
Die invloed van die onderwys op ons suid-afrikaanse beskawingspatroon
As ek, uit 'n wetenskaplike oogpunt gesien, reg aan hierdie lesing moet laat geskied, sou hierdie lesing hoofsaaklik drie komponente moet hĂȘ, naamlik: wat word alles ingesluit in ons beskawingspatroon, wat is die doel en wese van die onder wys en daarna sou ons dan kon aantoon wat die invloed van die onderwys gedurende ons geskiedenis op ons beskawings patroon was
The Philosophical Dimensions of Teachers' Research Literacy
In this paper, I investigate the place of philosophical literacy in teachersâ research literacy. Drawing on Pring, Bridges and Winch, I ask what the relationship is between being âresearch literateâ in the field of education and understanding key philosophical debates in the field. I hold that properly implementing research findings in educational practice depends on a philosophical understanding of (a) normative, (b) conceptual and (c) methodological matters and that, therefore, âresearch literacyâ in education must also include âphilosophical literacyâ. I question whether it is too much to expect that, in order to become research literate, teachers must also become philosophically literate. However, I demonstrate that questions of the utilisation of research cannot be separated from questions of the production of research. In the end, I hold that âresearch literacyâ is simply a different way of looking at deep methodological questions that have always been part of the discipline of Education
The Epistemic Goods of Higher Education
In this paper, I investigate two clashing perspectives regarding the good of the university: a socio-economic and an epistemic perspective. I position current writing on the university in the philosophy of education as being largely socio-economic and contrast this view to an earlier tradition of writing about the university that I position as mostly epistemic. Following on from this discussion, I review the universityâs role in the distribution of social and epistemic goods. I hold that the university directly controls only the latter, not the former and hold that whatever socio-economic roles the university plays in society, it must do so through the distribution of knowledge in society. Next, I explore what this means for the universityâs socio-economic functioning: I hold that seeing the good that the university distributes as knowledge places limits on its socio-economic functioning. Lastly, I ask what the university can do to promote epistemic justice in how it conducts teaching and research. I hold that one of the most important things that the university can do in the name of epistemic justice is to educate others (especially employers) about the true worth of a university degree
Taal en kerkeenheid: Calvyn se 1545-Kategismus in Latyn
Language and church unity: Calvinâs 1545 Catechism in Latin In 1545 Calvin wrote a catechism. He defended the fact that he had done it in Latin, saying: âI judge it useful that there should be public testimonies, whereby churches which, though widely separated by space, agree in the doctrine of Christ, may mutually recognize each other.â Although he was constantly being accused by the Roman Catholic Church of being a schismatic, Calvinâs ecumenical intentions were above re-proach. At every opportunity he stressed the sinfulness of schism from a church that bears the marks of the true church. By the time of the Reformation Latin wasnât regarded any more as a âholyâ language, but as a role model for other languages. Although the reformers increasingly propagated the use of the vernacular in religious service, they still maintained cor-respondence with each other in Latin and wrote many of their treatises in this language. The art of printing presented the same phenomenon: both vernacular and Latin (especially academic works), were produced and distributed. Calvinâs âCatechismâ of 1545, written in Latin, was soon translated into many languages, even into Greek and Hebrew. Thereby Calvin reached his goal of promoting unity of faith between the different reformation churches. The fact that the catechism was written in Latin gave it a special status as church-historical document: a symbol of Calvinâs hope for church unity
The fundamental role of storytelling and practical wisdom in facilitating the ethics education of junior doctors
Practical wisdom is a key concept in the field of virtue ethics, and it has played a significant role in the thinking of those who make use of virtue when theorising medical practice and ethics. In this article, we examine how storytelling and practical wisdom play integral roles in the medical ethics education of junior doctors. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 46 interviews with a cohort of junior doctors to explore the role doctors feel phronesis has in their medical ethics practice and how they acquire practical wisdom through storytelling as an essential part of their medical ethics education. Through thematic analysis of the interviews, we discuss the key role storytelling about moral exemplars and role models plays in developing medical ethics education, and how telling stories about role models is considered to be one of the most useful ways to learn medical ethics. We finish by developing an argument for why practical wisdom should be an important part of medical ethics training, focusing on the important role that phronesis narratives should have in teaching medical ethics
The ecohydrology of the Franschoek Trust Wetland: water, soils and vegetation
Magister Scientiae - MScThe research was driven by a need to increase the knowledge base concerning wetland ecological responses, as well as to identify and evaluate the factors driving the functioning of the Franschhoek Trust Wetland. An ecohydrological study was undertaken in which vegetation cover, depth to groundwater, water and soil chemistry were monitored at 14 sites along three transects for a 12 month period. The parameters used include temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate, total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and phosphorus. T-tests and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to analyze trends and to express the relationship between abiotic factors and vegetation.South Afric
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