On the urgent need for philosophical practices in mainstream education today

Abstract

This essay is written based in a concern of ours that the dominant forms of teaching and learning in education today seem to be more in line with what Aristotle called techné and poiesis than with phronesis and praxis. The reason for that appears to be the aim-, skills- and competence-oriented approach in education as well as the quest for scientific “evidence based” practice. Using a reflective practice research approach, the authors take their point of departure in two concrete cases drawn from their lives as associate professors and researchers in teacher education. Some core themes are extracted from the cases and reflected upon critically and philosophically. Among those themes are, i.e., “reflecting freely and personally” vs. “adjusting to given frameworks and meeting required standards”. Other themes are “answering correctly and reaching predefined goals with the least effort” as opposed to “exploring possible answers”, “learning for its own sake” and “searching wisdom” on the other.