Introduction to the examination of educational theory and practice from philosophical perspectives, classical and contemporary. CI ED 440 CI ED (EDTHP) 440 Introduction to Philosophy of Education (3) The major objective of EDTHP (CI ED) 440, Introduction to Philosophy of Education, is to broaden and deepen the students' understanding of the nature of education. Such a study involves exploring the ends as well as the means of education. It includes both an examination of some of the distinctive or defining characteristics of "educated persons" as well as the different elements of the learning experience (including curricula, pedagogies, and evaluative processes) that encourage the development of such persons. As part of developing an understanding of the educational enterprise, this course will introduce students to some of the important ideas and theories that comprise the rich tradition of educational philosophy. In the design of a course of this nature with constraints established by space, time, and the background of the student, it is necessary to confront the task of making judicious selections from the vast literary wealth accumulated over the centuries. In doing so, the decision made has been to focus primarily on the literary contributions of western philosophers of education. In the interest of making the sample varied and interesting, however, an effort has been made to include writings of some philosophers of education from different cultural contexts. The educational thoughts of A.S. Neill, John Dewey, Eliot Wigginton, Maxine Greene, Paolo Freire, Mohandas Karamchand Ganddhi, David Orr, Ivan Illich, and Wendell Berry, among others, will be explored in this class. The exposure to diverse, rich, and provocative ideas of the educators included for study here will, it is hoped, stimulate students to re-examine and further develop their own philosophy of education into a more comprehensive, coherent, and consistent one.
