My Views on:
What Would Socrates Say?
By: Peter W. Cookson Jr.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/What_Would_Socrates_Say%C2%A2.aspx“My fear is that instead of knowing nothing except the fact of our own ignorance, we will know everything except the fact of our own ignorance. Google has given us the world at our fingertips, but speed and ubiquity are not the same as actually knowing something.”
Socrates believed that we learn best by asking essential questions and testing those answers.
Learning requires stable but flexible cognitive frameworks along with consistent forms of adaptive assessments. This means that data collection without judgment and discernment will not lead to a true understanding.
Some feel that the internet leads to a stunting of genuine intellectual development. It leads to a form pf permanent adolescence.
There are four elements of the 21st century mind could be the basis of a new approach to
education.
1. Critical Reflection – ability to distinguish between truth and fiction
2. Empirical Reasoning - abandon supernatural explanations for naturally occurring events
3. Collective Intelligence - recognition and acceptance of our shared evolutionary collective intelligence
4. Metacognition – not memorization, but metacognitive skills that enable us to monitor our own
learning and make changes if we perceive that our learning is not occurring effectively
Learning in the Electronic AgeA new electronic learning environment is replacing the linear, text-bound culture of conventional schools.
Cookson says we need ‘virtual libraries’ that “host genuine knowledge and that enable learners of all ages to interact with one another in knowledge creation, as they currently do on Wikipedia.”
We will someday use technology to further our teaching and learning when we think of it “as an extension of our minds.”
Technology Meets Socratic Inquiry
We need a method of systematically applying knowledge to real-world challenges.
An educational revolution could happen if students and adults would connect globally to hold
purposeful conversations to help make the world a better place. We would be prying the Socratic dialogue from the past and be lifting it into the future to help serve students (and people) everywhere.
What Would Socrates Do?
The population of the world has grown exponentially. We need to think of new ways to educate todays students.
Continuing to pour money into our current educational system is a waste of time and money.
Socrates was the first person who used purposeful conversation.
“I think Socrates would embrace the new learning era with all the energy he had.”
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I believe that technology stunts some intellectual growth but allows for a greater growth. Students use google, or Wikipedia, or spark notes to cheat on tests so they can spend more time on what they want. Our goal needs to be helping students find something productive to be interested in other than television and video games. Getting quick facts from the internet allows them to pass classes in school. They may not be as ‘well-rounded’ as we would like but I think that if they apply themselves to something purposeful (and meaningful to them), the world will continue to thrive.
I too think that Socrates would use all his energy to try and make the people of the world grow. However, I think he would be very disappointed by the responses of our youth today. Many of them cannot think on their own. Some of them simply would walk away from Socrates. Or shoot him and steal his wallet and shoes.
The world is a much different place than his world was. I am not sure there is enough time or energy or people to help today’s youth. But we still have to try ;)
