First Things First: Lonergan & Systematics in Education (original) (raw)
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Bernard Lonergan’s Promise for Educational Philosophy
Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal, 2015
Philosopher and theologian, Bernard Lonergan, S.J., regarded as one of the most influential Jesuit thinkers of the twentieth century, focused primarily on cognitional theory, epistemology and metaphysics. His system of thought known as “intentionality analysis” has been applied widely to many fields of study, including education. While Lonergan directly addressed certain issues in education and educational philosophy, his thought has greater promise for educational philosophy through broader application, specifically in ordering and expanding educational themes related to the four key differentiations of consciousness he expounds. The differentiations are explained as distinct but interrelated levels of consciousness and consist of experiencing, understanding, judging and deciding. For educational philosophy, “experiencing” draws attention to the vast array of sensory input, affectivity and the experience of ideas. “Understanding” brings to light the questioning process that seeks ...
2014
This study explored the impact of implementing Philosophy, in the tradition of 'Philosophy for Children', on pedagogy. It employed an experimental design that included 59 primary teachers. The experimental group received an intervention of training in Philosophy and the comparison group received training in Thinking Tools (graphic organisers), a subset of the Philosophy training. Lessons were coded on variables of pedagogy, across the two groups, at three time-points. Teacher interviews were conducted to gather participants' perspectives. Between group analysis of variance on several measures of pedagogy revealed that Philosophy significantly broadened teachers' pedagogical repertoire.
A Philosopher's Pedagogy: A Three-Part Model for School Betterment
The pedagogical approaches used in teacher education implicitly shape teachers' "conceptual orientations towards teaching, learning, and learning to teach" (Grossman 2005, 429). This study explores what happens when the "philosopher's pedagogy" is used to create a new professional development model in the K-12 setting. The participants are the two authors, university faculty who conduct a self-study as they collaborate with students, teachers, and administrators in the Hawai'i State public school system to design and implement this new professional development model. Data includes transcripts of the participants planning meetings, electronic communication, workplace documents and personal memos. A constructivist approach to grounded theory methods is used to analyze the data. The findings are described in two parts. First, the three analytic themes that emerged from the analysis of the data illustrate how the philosopher's pedagogy helped the authors: ground the professional development model in their own experiences, find their focus, and view philosophy as the general theory of education reform. Second, each component of the three-part professional development model that emerged from this study's findings are explained. These three parts are: (1) an educative experience, (2) mentoring and coaching from a philosopher in residence, and (3) a meaningful peer/professional community of inquiry. At the study's conclusion, this three-part professional development model is offered as a viable alternative to traditional and usual education reform efforts. In addition, the need for future longitudinal research to examine the continued implementation and longstanding impact of the philosopher's pedagogy threepart professional development model is suggested.
2003
This study consists of an exploration and expansion of Bernard Lonergan's intentionality analysis into the field of educational philosophy. It contends that Lonergan's account of the structure and operations of human consciousness directed toward human experience, understanding, judgment and decision offers a mode of understanding a range of key topics in the field of secular education and educational philosophy. Moreover, the integrative nature of Lonergan's intentionality analysis provides a means of systematically ordering issues in educational philosophy related to human cognitive and existential development. Following a discussion of the key terms: education; philosophy; intentionality; knowledge; and consciousness; the first chapter contextualizes the study in reference to educational philosophy and to Lonergan Studies. Chapter two explores Lonergan's intentionality analysis as it occurs throughout his writings, but especially his principal philosophical text, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Lonergan's lectures on various topics in education and educational philosophy are discussed in chapter three, with the interpretive framework being his intentionality analysis. An expansion unfolds in chapter four where the structure and process of human intentionality are shown to inform educational issues related to the centrality and quality of human experience. These issues include the desire to know, the sense of wonder, the raising of questions, and the creative dimensions of imagination. Further issues emerge on the level of intelligence, including the notion of the self-correcting process of learning These dimensions of human intentionality then lead to an extensive account of the elements and processes of general human development. The expansion continues in chapter five concerning metaphysics and ethics. Educational topics pertinent to this dimension of his analysis include critical thinking, self-knowledge and humanness, human authenticity, wisdom as practical reasoning, the emergence of a worldview, certain social implications, and the ethical and moral ramifications of this account of intentionality. The study concludes with some criticisms and assessments, and finds, overall, in Lonergan's intentionality analysis a relatively systematic and comprehensive framework in which to understand and order key elements of educational philosophy. iii
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The paper explores the links between philosophy and learning with a view to highlight some of the today's most influential philosophical "paradigms" of education. The concepts of "paradigm" and "philosophical paradigm of education" are discussed -and nuanced -based on some explicit references to them in the current philosophical and pedagogical literature. While taking into account all the different ways in which philosophy may be inquired with regard to its influence on education, the paper focuses merely on philosophical contributions to the understanding of specific issues such as the human potential for learning; the concepts of cognition and learning; epistemological and value assumptions in teaching and learning; and psycho-social aspects exploring the relationships between the self and the "other" via communication and other forms of social interaction. While assuming that the relationships between philosophy and education are not unidirectional (in the sense that not only philosophy impacts on education, but also vice-versa, education issues may trigger philosophical reflection and debates), the paper analyses how different contemporary influential ４４ Philosophy of Education philosophical orientations (i.e. Pragmatism and Neo-pragmatism; The Critical Theory; Post-modern and Relativistic approaches; Constructivism) paved their way into educational thinking, policy making and teaching and learning practices. Whereas acknowledging that philosophy is not the only strong "foundation" for education, the paper stresses nevertheless the benefits of a reflective attitude in education with regard to its main (philosophical) assumptions. Choices in education are not always following a reflective pattern and changes are very often introduced because they are fashionable. Recurrent interrogations on important philosophical assumptions of educational theories, policies and practices may yet bring about a better balance between "innovation" and "tradition" and/or between "change" and "stability" while avoiding the many pitfalls of new and attractive, yet ephemeral, education fashions.