Submitted by jrlewis on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 11:45am.
My philosophy of education is about increasing awareness of oneself
and one's environment. Awareness in terms of experiences and
knowledge that lead to the analytic ability to compare and contrast
concepts. This might take the form of a child differentiating
between themselves and their puppy. Conversely, the teacher might
compare the response of a chemical system and a human to the appearance
of stress. Le Chatelier's Principle may be described as when
stress is applied to a system at equilibrium, the equilibrium position
shifts to reduce the stress. This idea is applicable in both
science and psychology. In biology, its application to living
systems as homeostasis. Anthropomorphic principles can be
incredibly powerful tools for facilitating a student's connection to an
abstract topics, such as chemical reactions. Primo Levi's work,
"The Periodic Table," treats the elements and their properties
metaphorically and for literary purposes. This technique augments
the meaning of each chapter in the text by comparing it to a particular
element.
While anthropomorphic principles can be useful
techniques for teaching students, they can be abused. These
principles promote a homocentric or speciesist perspective. This
is the assignation of rights or values to beings based on their species
membership. They should not place a special significance on
features that make "things" similar to themselves. By things, I
mean all the animate and inanimate objects that populate the
universe. It is important for students to be able to appreciate
the difference between themselves and the "things" in their
environment. This is part of the practice of engaging with
diversity. Some "things" have properties that are not present in
humans, yet are very important to know about.
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Narrative is determined not by a desire to narrate
but by a desire to exchange. (Roland Barthes, S/Z)
Psychology of Chemical Reactions
My philosophy of education is about increasing awareness of oneself and one's environment. Awareness in terms of experiences and knowledge that lead to the analytic ability to compare and contrast concepts. This might take the form of a child differentiating between themselves and their puppy. Conversely, the teacher might compare the response of a chemical system and a human to the appearance of stress. Le Chatelier's Principle may be described as when stress is applied to a system at equilibrium, the equilibrium position shifts to reduce the stress. This idea is applicable in both science and psychology. In biology, its application to living systems as homeostasis. Anthropomorphic principles can be incredibly powerful tools for facilitating a student's connection to an abstract topics, such as chemical reactions. Primo Levi's work, "The Periodic Table," treats the elements and their properties metaphorically and for literary purposes. This technique augments the meaning of each chapter in the text by comparing it to a particular element.
While anthropomorphic principles can be useful techniques for teaching students, they can be abused. These principles promote a homocentric or speciesist perspective. This is the assignation of rights or values to beings based on their species membership. They should not place a special significance on features that make "things" similar to themselves. By things, I mean all the animate and inanimate objects that populate the universe. It is important for students to be able to appreciate the difference between themselves and the "things" in their environment. This is part of the practice of engaging with diversity. Some "things" have properties that are not present in humans, yet are very important to know about.