Primary Principles
(An Analysis of Plato’s Pedagogy in Republic) Plato was one of the founding fathers of western philosophy. To be a philosopher one must, “Have an interest in the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.” (Philosophy) Plato’s focus was education, this is not limited to mere schooling, but the exposure and sheltering of certain materials. Plato followed in the footsteps of his teacher, Socrates, and questioned the nature of the world. In Plato’s dialogue, Republic, he uses Socrates as a mouthpiece to express his ideas of the ideal state. Education in regards to exposure is the intentional or random selection or deselection of materials and experiences …show more content…
Plato states that there are two basic ways that one can learn new concepts, through a well thought out process of intentionality, or a random placement of lessons learned through everyday life. The first type of exposure requires careful planning and more work on the behalf of the instructor, although it often leads to a predetermined goal. One is aware of the behaviors and ideals of the child based on the lessons that child has been taught. The other method of education is random exposure. This method requires no planning or organization often the child does learn concepts through basic social interaction, “In its broadest definition, “civic education” means all the processes that affect people's beliefs, commitments, capabilities, and actions as members or prospective members of communities. Civic education need not be intentional or deliberate; institutions and communities transmit values and norms without meaning to.” (Crittenden) Although, this path is more difficult because there is no way of knowing what that child will learn. Quite often this method is not very rigorous and does not produce very successful students. One area that this exposure occurs is at the home. If a child grew up in a calm, loving home that encouraged learning and manners the child is more likely to be successful at the next stage of learning. While if a child grew up in an …show more content…
Failure is an important part in learning, it is often said that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. As humans we tend to fear the unknown and new experiences, in order to advance to the next stage of knowledge one must overcome some unwanted task. For those who argue that encouraging failure is completely awful, think of a child learning to ride a bike. When a parent of guardian takes off those training wheels for the first time that child is more than likely going to fall and get hurt. Although it is common knowledge that this failure is essential to later success, and a great life lesson can be learned from this moment. One will fall to failure at some point in their life, but it is the response that matters one must get back up and try again. It is the task of the parent to push their child to success even if they know the child will fail before they succeed. As Plato explains in his cave allegory, learning new information is scary, although it will lead to greatness. “That someone should crag him thence by force, up the rough ascent, the steep way up, and never stop until he could drag him out into the light of the sun, would he not be distressed and furious at being dragged; and when he came into the light, the brilliance would fill his eyes, and he would not be able to see even one of the things now called real?” (Page 367) This shows that even though the sun and the outside world is a
(An Analysis of Plato’s Pedagogy in Republic) Plato was one of the founding fathers of western philosophy. To be a philosopher one must, “Have an interest in the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.” (Philosophy) Plato’s focus was education, this is not limited to mere schooling, but the exposure and sheltering of certain materials. Plato followed in the footsteps of his teacher, Socrates, and questioned the nature of the world. In Plato’s dialogue, Republic, he uses Socrates as a mouthpiece to express his ideas of the ideal state. Education in regards to exposure is the intentional or random selection or deselection of materials and experiences …show more content…
Plato states that there are two basic ways that one can learn new concepts, through a well thought out process of intentionality, or a random placement of lessons learned through everyday life. The first type of exposure requires careful planning and more work on the behalf of the instructor, although it often leads to a predetermined goal. One is aware of the behaviors and ideals of the child based on the lessons that child has been taught. The other method of education is random exposure. This method requires no planning or organization often the child does learn concepts through basic social interaction, “In its broadest definition, “civic education” means all the processes that affect people's beliefs, commitments, capabilities, and actions as members or prospective members of communities. Civic education need not be intentional or deliberate; institutions and communities transmit values and norms without meaning to.” (Crittenden) Although, this path is more difficult because there is no way of knowing what that child will learn. Quite often this method is not very rigorous and does not produce very successful students. One area that this exposure occurs is at the home. If a child grew up in a calm, loving home that encouraged learning and manners the child is more likely to be successful at the next stage of learning. While if a child grew up in an …show more content…
Failure is an important part in learning, it is often said that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. As humans we tend to fear the unknown and new experiences, in order to advance to the next stage of knowledge one must overcome some unwanted task. For those who argue that encouraging failure is completely awful, think of a child learning to ride a bike. When a parent of guardian takes off those training wheels for the first time that child is more than likely going to fall and get hurt. Although it is common knowledge that this failure is essential to later success, and a great life lesson can be learned from this moment. One will fall to failure at some point in their life, but it is the response that matters one must get back up and try again. It is the task of the parent to push their child to success even if they know the child will fail before they succeed. As Plato explains in his cave allegory, learning new information is scary, although it will lead to greatness. “That someone should crag him thence by force, up the rough ascent, the steep way up, and never stop until he could drag him out into the light of the sun, would he not be distressed and furious at being dragged; and when he came into the light, the brilliance would fill his eyes, and he would not be able to see even one of the things now called real?” (Page 367) This shows that even though the sun and the outside world is a