Plato: The RepublicBooks VI & VII

EDUCATION ISN’T WHAT SOME PEOPLE DECLARE IT TO BE, NAMELY, PUTTING

KNOWLEDGE INTO SOULS THAT LACK IT, LIKE PUTTING SIGHT INTO BLIND EYES (P. 190)

What Education Isn’t…

Plato in Popular Culture

Blue Pill or Red Pill

Who was Plato?

Not the myth but the man(click on the picture)

ISSUES THAT I NEED YOU TO

KNOW Prior to John Dewey and the school of Progressive

Education (i.e. liberal education), Plato’s model

of teaching & learning dominated the America educational landscape

(and probably the world) for over 2,400 years!

How, you ask?

Teacher as the UNQUESTIONED authority in the classroom Students as sponges of knowledge

Relentless rigor and focus on classical knowledge (Greek & Latin) Education was NOT for the masses (HOW SHOCKING!)

Book VI: The Sun Metaphor

Even The Beatles were fans . . .

OK, thought that was corny . . .

Read from: p. 181 (really, do it now)

Answer the questions on the next

page . . .

Book VI: The Sun Metaphor

How is the “Sun” a metaphor for

teaching?

How is the “Sun” a metaphor for

learning?

How is the “Sun” a metaphor for

education?

MY VERSION OF THE SUN . . .

I WENT TO A VERY TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL. MY JUNIOR YEAR, I HAD AN ENGLISH TEACHER NAMED “MR. WICKE.” IN THIS VERY TRADITIONAL SCHOOL, MR. WICKIE READ TO US SOME RADICAL POETRY BY WILLIAM BLAKE, WHO SPOKE ABOUT THE ABUSES OF CHURCH & THE DANGERS OF INSTITUTIONALIZED RELIGION.

I WAS IN COMPLETE SHOCK! HERE WAS A MAN IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL SPEAKING ABOUT THE ABUSES OF THE CATHOLIC (& ANGLICAN) CHURCHES. IT WAS AS IF MY MIND WAS FILLED WITH LIGHT AND I BEGAN TO SEE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

YOUR VERSION OF THE SUN . . .

Do you have a “Mr. Wicke” in your past?

Great teachers can liberate their students from The Cave.

Four Conditions of the Soul

Understanding

Thought

Belief

Imagining

This hierarchy of Plato’s is not too familiar with modern notions of “intelligence” (i.e. Bloom’s Taxonomy)

In fact, these 4 conditions of the soul are not representative of “cognitive” intelligence, but more of a spiritual intelligence.

Four Conditions of the Soul

Understanding

Thought

Belief

Imagining

how do you see these 4 conditions in your personal life?

when it comes to teaching, what step are you at?

is it even possible to achieve “Understanding” as a new teacher?

what does this hierarchy have to say about the “art of teaching”?

Book VII: THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

Click on the picture! The music is really creepy, but the explanation is effective

The Cave AllegoryAnswer the questions . . .

Forget about for a moment if you “agree” or not with Plato’s Cave Allegory. After all, are you not becoming a “philosopher king

(queen)” here at Fordham?

How do teachers “enlighten” students? How do we bring students “out of the cave”? What have you learned in this class that has “brought you out of the

cave”? Aren’t you like the person going back & helping others? What truth are you trying to “show” your students? Have you lived in ignorance in some way and that is why you are

becoming a teacher? Do you owe something to your community? Why a teacher? Why not a banker? A stock broker? A money maker? Could it be that there is a bit of Plato in you?

More on Plato: Teachers being tested

“…they must show themselves to be lovers of their city when TESTED BY PLEASURE AND PAIN and that they must hold on to their resolve through labors, fears, and other adversaries” (p. 176).

What do you fear about teaching? Standardized tests, “tenure,” unsupportive administration, discipline & control, lesson plans, grading, being bad-mouthed in the news, etc….

We all KNOW the CHALLENGES, here’s a PLATONIC SOLUTION (READ ON POTENTIAL PHILOSOPHER KING)

HOW WOULD PLATO

Define Teaching & Learning?

How would Plato answer the essential question of this course:

TO WHAT END EDUCATION?

PLATO IS ALL AROUND YOU, IF YOU WOULD JUST OPEN YOUR EYES. . .

The Statue of Liberty is based upon the Platonic principle of “seeing the light.”

3 Philosophers; 3 different perspectives

Plato

BaldwinDelpit

Plato: THE END

You are DONE