Why teaching philosophy could help

combat extremism March 16, 2017 11.25am GMT

Young people today are constantly at risk of indoctrination – whether deliberate or inadvertent. This can be by advertisers, politicians, religious extremists or the media – and can make it hard for young people to get a handle on the world around them.

But in this age of contradictory images and constant messages, I believe the teaching of philosophy can help young people think for themselves, challenge misinformation and resist attempts to indoctrinate them. This concept was touched upon by the British Council in its 2015 working paper which concluded:

Young people need to be taught how to think to immunise their minds against ideologies that seek to teach them what to think.

The Department for Education’s own research in 2010 also suggested a link between philosophy for children and protection against indoctrination.

This is because the teaching and study of philosophy can work towards these goals in an inclusive way. Whereas the government’s Prevent programme – which aims to stop young people turning to extremism – has been criticised by some for being divisive and “leading to a breakdown of trust in schools and colleges”.

Misinformation

The questioning and good reasoning fostered by philosophy are not just defences against specific attempts at indoctrination.

Indeed, in a world where the deliberate spreading of misinformation is commonplace, and the phrases “post-truth” and “alternative facts” appear with disturbing frequency, it is vital that schools do all they can to help young people analyse and reflect on what they hear. This should be done with clarity and precision, encouraging young people to make decisions based on rigorous arguments and examined evidence.

Philosophy can give young people the skills and confidence, not only to question and challenge purported facts but also to see through the current attempts in some quarters to discredit the very notions of fact, truth and expertise.

Analysing philosophical theories of what constitutes “reality” may also help young people to better understand the nature of virtual reality – making them better prepared to negotiate social media.

There is also the fact that freedom of expression and open debate are essential components of liberal democracy. And informed and well-reasoned free speech and debate among the current and future electorate is likely to improve the health of a democracy. It is also likely to improve the quality of service provided by a democracy’s politicians and public administrators.

Good philosophical practice also encourages listening skills. And it allows us to understand the points of view of people whose backgrounds and values may be very different from our own. Ultimately, philosophy can help to foster empathy.

A flourishing life

Philosophy, with it’s rich history of arguments and ideas allows young people to reflect on what constitutes a flourishing life – for both individuals and communities. A life in which potential is realised in a way that

benefits all. The techniques of reasoning that philosophy offers can help students to work out what needs to be done and to make ideas into reality.

The enjoyable and stimulating study and practice of philosophy can in itself be an important component of a flourishing life. The years we spend in school are not just a preparation for adulthood – crucial though that is. These years can and should also be fulfilling in themselves and philosophy can play an important role here.

The current state of the world is undeniably complex and turbulent. And philosophy can give young people sustaining goals to hang on to in these uncertain times. It can also help to provide them with the mental agility and clarity of thinking such times require. The call for more philosophy in our education system – including the introduction of a GCSE – is one that we would be very wise to heed.

http://theconversation.com/why-teaching-philosophy-could-help-combat-extremism-74386

Dr John Taylor | 7:30, Jan 18, 2015

What would be the benefit of a philosophy GCSE?

The answer’s easy: it would give young people the opportunity to discover the subject as a centuries-long conversation amongst the world’s deepest minds

Children are natural philosophers. If you doubt the capacity of young people to engage fruitfully with life’s deepest questions, drop a philosophical question into one of your lessons or a tutor group session: What makes me me? Is the mind separate from the brain? What is time? What makes an action right or wrong? Questions such as these have a catalytic effect: they energise conversation, stimulate thought and create a sense that here is something mysterious, intriguing, and worth arguing about.

As Aristotle put it, philosophy begins in wonder – and wondering is something children do well. It is also something that we’d like to see them do more of as they get older and questions such as “Do I need to know this for the exam?” or later still, “I didn’t really spend all that on credit last month, did I?” tend to take over.

The exciting potential of philosophical questions to stimulate inquiry and promote thought about the most important questions of all should be a sufficient reason for its inclusion on the curriculum at all stages. In primary schools, groups such as SAPERE (the Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education) and The Philosophy Foundation are already doing pioneering work involving children in philosophical inquiry. In the secondary sector, philosophy currently forms a component of religious studies GCSE.

The OCR religious studies GCSE has two specifications. In 2014, 5,159 candidates took the world religions exam whereas a vast 45,115 took the philosophy and applied ethics paper.

All this, however, looks set to change with the proposed new GCSE religious studies subject criteria. Whilst philosophy and ethics remain, their study looks set to be curtailed, as the focus moves back to study of religion itself, with philosophy and ethics forming only one component alongside these.

This is not unreasonable. The study of religion involves a great deal more than just the philosophy of religion or religious ethics. Moreover, there is a great deal of philosophy that really ought to be explored as part of the initial formal teaching of the subject and which simply would not fit under the religious studies umbrella.

It is time, then, to take seriously the proposal that philosophy should exist as a GCSE subject in its own right.

A philosophy GCSE would give young people the opportunity to discover the subject as a centuries-long conversation amongst the world’s deepest minds. If education is about opening up the minds of young people to the best of what has been thought and said, then leaving the story of philosophy as a closed book is a missed opportunity.

Engagement with the rich history of philosophical thought contributes to personal growth and ethical development. By encountering the rich diversity of ways in which thinkers have gone about trying to answer Socrates’ great question (“How, then, should we live?”) students learn that their own ideas about life are open to challenge and critical question, and through such discussions is the formation of understanding and tolerance.

All this questioning, though, leaves some teachers and students cold. What is the point of asking all these unsettling questions when secure answers seem to be thin on the ground? The great David Hume turned this argument on its head beautifully when he remarked that philosophical conversation has a civilising effect, precisely because of its uncertainty.

The benefits of teaching GCSE philosophy are nothing less than these: that it offers a rich and enjoyable topic of study, that it brings young people into contact with the thought of the greatest minds, that it offers them the opportunity to carry on the great conversation of humanity about the ideas that shape our lives and that, through the open nature of the conversation, they can learn to handle differences of opinion that have the potential to be seeds of discord and conflict, in more intelligent, reasonable and humane ways.

@drjohnltaylor

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/what-would-be-the-benefit-of-a-philosophy-gcse/