Module 5- Questionnaire

Questions for Final Blog/e-Portfolio Reflection, PME-811, Fall 2017

Your name: ______________________________________________________

1. Please provide your own definition of Philosophical Thinking (200 words or fewer):

Philosophical thinking is a difficult term because every philosopher would define it differently. Every student of philosophy would find something to take issue with. Therefore the definition must be broad and contain the ability for each interpretation to manifest itself from the broad criteria at hand.

Philosophical thinking contains two parts, acquiring and contemplating knowledge. It often has a third part, which is documenting or teaching that knowledge but it is not contingent on the thinking aspect of philosophy.

The acquisition of knowledge can happen through experience or through tutelage. Most often it is a mixture of both. The important part of acquiring knowledge is retaining that knowledge and finding a use for it within an existing network of knowledge.

The contemplative aspect is internalizing newfound knowledge and integrating it into a network of existing knowledge, with the intention of coming closer to objective or subjective truths.

Philosophical knowledge is the process of interpreting, categorizing and combining knowledge for a better understanding of sensory or abstract phenomena.

Philosophical knowledge then demands rational and logical methods of thought, according to the knower’s understandings of rationality and logic. This network of knowledge is almost always used for the betterment of the individual and that individual’s society.

2. What future role do you see for your own philosophical thinking within your professional context?

I have always had a keen interest in history and philosophy, I find them anywhere I go. So it is inevitable that my hobbies factor into my day to day life. Philosophical thinking for me is something that can be exercised when it seemingly has no need. It is important to always have a fresh perspective on things that we interact with, especially ones that we interact with often. So I often contemplate the best ways in which to teach, question why those are the ways in which I teach and how I can improve my teaching for the sake of my students and for my own sake. This keeps work from becoming overwhelming or boring, since it is always under examination, positive or negative.

I think as the future reveals itself I will continue to use philosophical thinking, as a lens to see the new and interesting things I have learned in this course and this master’s program in general. I have not learned a new way to think and process things, but I have certainly learned an abundance of things to process. I am so grateful for my peers, professor and the course for helping me come to terms with so many aspects of this profession that I had taken for granted before.

3. What learning from this course have you found most valuable to you? (250 words or fewer)

I have found this entire course to be helpful to me. I think objectively the most valuable aspect it has given me is the ability to address aspects of my vocation that I would not have before, and I have been given the opportunity to think on them and apply them to my own professional context. The most important parts of these are defining terms and historical thinking.

The first spur for my contemplation of my vocation was being asked to define the major terms in the course. This allowed me to find a functional definition from which to begin my thoughts on the subject matter. There is a reason that most of the world’s creation myths begin with chaos and end with the naming of created things in the world, by having functional definitions we can better understand relationships between things. So that was a liberating experience for me and one that I have been applying to other areas and words in my life.

I also really enjoyed the historical thinking aspect of the course. I think in the modern classroom it is an integral piece of the methods students should use to approach the world. The work of Ken Osborne in particular was really inspiring to me. The history themed module of the course showed me the many ways we can approach education in Canada and why they are so important, and why it is important not to take anything for granted in the professional world.

4. Please indicate two ways in which you think that you can be innovative and/or creative in your future professional activities:

Two ways I can be creative in my classroom moving into the future are to use old knowledge that is considered supplementary or irrelevant and show how it is not only relevant but essential to understanding how to go about today’s world, and to find ways to engage students in the 21st century through irregular means and methods.

As a lover of mythology and classical literature, I find most of our cultural norms, moral systems and literary tradition stem from the Bible and the Homeric epics. This can be evidenced in the history of epics leading straight up to Don Quioxte and onward into the realm of the novel. It can be seen in our ethical and moral obligations and societal norms and it can be a great way to come to have an outside look at how our culture functions in order to understand how others may feel when peering into our accepted norms.

These ideas have so many uses in the classroom and can be taught in many different ways. I want to show that the more historical knowledge one acquires, the less daunting and broad history becomes. I want to teach interpretative techniques that can help people to understand the necessity of history and ideology in partaking in modern society.

I also want my classroom to be unique for the students, so that they feel they can express themselves in different ways or if they do not wish to express themselves in a certain way that they have the ability to do so in a way that they deem appropriate. In my ESL classes we regularly had productions that would include creating board games, city tours, restaurant skits and the like to internalize and maximize the usage and potentiality of the content at hand. I think with an open mind, one that is unbridled by specific avenues of thought, that rather by the ends and completely open to different means to achieve it. I think the root of a lot of creative and innovate thought rests in the imagined end and the willingness to embrace abstract methods for the means.