Philosophy in Schools:
1. Intro
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Hello and welcome along. Thank you for joining me this afternoon. My name is Jay
Sloss, and I’m the Head of Philosophy at Rangi Ruru Girls School in CHCH. And
President of the NZ Assoc. for Philosophy Teachers – which unfortunately shares an
acronym with a number of other professional organisations.
New Zealand Association of Psychology Teachers
The New Zealand Association for Psychological Type
New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists
New Zealand Association of Philosophers
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Today I would like give an overview of the current status of Philosophy in NZ
secondary schools, and also look to what it could be in the future. I also hope to
convince you that it is an increasingly viable career option for philosophy graduates.
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For myself, I graduated with a Masters degree from the Uni of Canterbury with a
substantial student loan only to work at a hi-fi store selling stereo equipment on
minimum wage for a number of years. It was by chance my wife found an ad in the
paper advertising a part-time Philosophy teacher position at Rangi. A programme
established by Dr. Clemency Montelle who happens to work on the 7th floor of this
very building.
Okay, To begin…
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The first thing to point out is that Philosophy in schools is not new. It is an
established part of many school curricula around the world, as has been so for
decades, or in some cases, centuries.
%%%SLIDE Well, until ISIS came along.
%%%SLIDE Here you can see many of our Australian, British and North American
counterparts – all with advanced and longstanding programmes in place.
Affiliates
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AQA (Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) UK
ALP – A Level Philosophy UK
FAPSA – Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Assoc. + newly
founded JPS
Victorian Association for Philosophy in Schools
Ontario Philosophy Teachers Association
P4C – Philosophy for Children
Is philosophy in schools a good idea?
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The first question to consider, is whether Philosophy in schools is a good idea? The
question is especially pertinent since in a sense, wisdom is something that is often
beyond the fledgling experience of most young people. So what exactly is the goal of
teaching philosophy in schools? In its simplest terms, the goal is to encourage young
people to philosophise. %%%SLIDE
—To incorporate aspects of philosophical thinking into their daily lives. The goal is
not to produce high-level logicians or metaphysicians or whatever flavour you prefer..
%%%SLIDE Rather the goal is to produce action philosophers—students who in
some way use Philosophy in their daily life. Whether it be using some kind of moral
judgement when making decisions about what they spend their money on or where
they do so, or
%%%SLIDE Whether they’re working at Farmers and think about the morality of
importing cheap clothing from unsafe textile factories in Bangladesh or where their
toys and decorations come from at Christmas.
%%%SLIDE Or whether they can read philosophical themes into Films and TV
shows
%%%SLIDE At a more general level, the goal is to promote a sense of wonder at
existence. A sense of awe that there is something rather than nothing.
In a further sense, the goal of
provoke %%%SLIDE.
teaching Philosophy in schools
is to
To paraphrase Emerson, “it is not instruction that I can receive from another soul, but
provocation”
This is also how David Birch describes philosophy education in his 2014 book by the
same name. He claims that in a philosophy classroom the pupils become a group,
rather than a ‘random assembly of separate individuals; and in this sense Philosophy
is similar to PE and drama—they are subjects that cannot be done solo, the class
itself is a crucial part of the lesson. Now beyond playing and performing together (as
students do in PE and drama) Philosophy suggests we also talk together.
And this I think is becoming critical in schools as we enter the age of BYOD.
2. What has this got to do with University Philosophy?
So, What has this got to do with University level Philosophy? I think Philosophy in
schools helps to expand the reach of philosophy education. I’m sure we all agree
that Philosophy is good for people, rather than detrimental. I believe that Philosophy
in schools partly functions as a feeder for University Philosophy courses. And this
may become increasingly relevant as departments vie for enrolments. And may even
help to unhinge student and parental prejudice that University is more about
vocational training, than the pursuit of wisdom.
However, given that many students are attending University for vocational purposes,
I do believe that Philosophy teaching (at a secondary level) is an increasingly viable
career option for graduates. One gets to research and teach to their interest, awaken
young minds to the wonder of things, and ultimately, give them the skills to rewire
their own thinking and develop real independence of thought. Such things are deeply
satisfying. If you’ll forgive a little self-indulgence, here is some student feedback
from my 2014 senior classes.
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And here if I get a little JFK on it, we can see that it’s not so much what you can do
with Philosophy, but what philosophy can do with you that matters.
3. What is secondary school Philosophy like?
Firstly, What is NCEA?
We have to work within the NCEA framework. That is, the National Certificate of
Educational Achievement framework? This is the main national qualification for
secondary school students in New Zealand.
Among other things, it is used as the criteria for entrance into universities and
polytechnics.
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The assessments are known as Achievement Standards. There are three levels of
NCEA assessment: students work through levels 1 to 3 in years 11 to 13 (which you
may remember as forms 5-7)
At each level, students must achieve a certain number of credits to gain an NCEA
certificate. AS’s range from 3-6 credits each.
80 credits are required to pass any level, along with certain numeracy and literacy
milestones.
Before looking at how NCEA Philosophy works, it should be noted that one can
teach philosophy outside of the NCEA framework. Which is to say, one can teach it
as part of a special programme of outside of formal assessment. However, the
problem rests with a prejudice amongst students that a subject only counts as
legitimate if it is assessed. That is, subject legitimacy depends on accredited
assessment. And the MoE has virtually said as much in 2012 in a press release
stating “there’s a tension that if only they had NCEA achievement standards they
would be moving” —The idea being that if we have large enough number of students
doing philosophy and demanding standards, then we might actually get the
standards, but to get a students to start demanding standards, we have to attract
them with standards first. The Ministry spokesperson referred to this as a “chicken or
egg thing”.
So, How does NCEA Philosophy work?
Despite this so-called chicken-egg bind, there are a growing number of secondary
and primary school level programmes in place. Currently, they only number in their
tens, but each year that number is increasing. This is thanks in part to a teaching
and learning guideline that we helped to publish with the MoE. There are some
copies at the front, which you are welcome to take. Or simply google “TKI Philosophy”
- TKI, or te kete ipurangi is a MoE site which translates as ‘online baskets of
knowledge’). The T&L guidelines help teachers implement philosophy programmes
and outline Key Concepts, Pedagogical considerations, Learning Objectives,
Connections to other subjects and so on.
While this is a fantastic step forward to have a guideline for teaching Philosophy in
schools, we do not have actual Achievement standards to assess what we teach.
We have to adapt Achievement standards from other subjects such as Social
Studies, or Religious Studies, or Media Studies for example. The problem here is
that these standards are seldom fit for purpose. Without dedicated AS’s in
Philosophy we are not able to access full extent of Teaching and Learning guidelines,
nor the Philosophical canon more generally. So while we can bend the criteria in
Social Studies, say, to fit a Philosophical context, large parts of the teaching and
learning are taken up with specifically sociological aspects of the achievement
standard.
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For example, consider the five criteria of this level 3 social studies achievement
standard. The focus concerns the philosophy behind Neoliberal ideology as it relates
to issues of Income Inequality. The task requires students to “Examine a campaign
of social action to influence policy change.” There are five criteria that student must
satisfy in order to pass. And only one of the five criteria offer a philosophical foothold.
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1. Describe the issue from different points of view, values and perspectives
 Ethics—Michael Sandal’s What’s the right thing to do?
 Robert Nozick on Taxation: Anarchy, State, and Utopia
 Diogenes of Sinope: Cosmopolitanism
 Pierre Bourdieu: cultural/social reproduction
 Peter Singer - Practical Ethics
 Tom Regan: Regan’s Lifeboat
 Critiquing Capitalist and Neoliberal ideology (Karl Marx)
The remaining four criteria are strictly sociological in terms of content.
2. Explain the aims of the campaign
3. Explain of the differing reasons for individuals and/or groups involvement
in the campaign
4. Explain the reasons for individuals and/or groups selecting the actions
within the campaign.
5. Critically evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign.
The same holds true for virtually every other standard we have adapted for
Philosophical purposes. This not only erodes the amount of time we can spend
teaching Philosophical content and skills, it also restricts the range of Philosophy that
can be taught, by pruning out other significant branches of Philosophy that cannot be
worked into the curricula of other subject areas.
More concerning still is the lack of any direct assessment for capabilities of reason,
logic and ethics within the current NCEA framework. These are core elements of
thinking and are crucial for young people to interrogate their choices of thought.
Currently there is only provision for the assessment of applied ethics within the
Science, Psychology and Religious studies curricula. There is no option to assess
ethical principles which serve as the very foundation for this application. Nor is there
any real option for assessing ethics beyond a religious framework. Here I am
referring to secular ethics. For example, here are some of the standards which offer
some opportunity to assess applied ethical thinking:
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Mental Health and Addiction Support
22836 Analyse the application of ethical values for mental health support work
Health
23392 Describe ethical behaviour in a health, disability, or community setting
91464 Analyse a contemporary ethical issue in relation to well-being
credits
Rels
90818 Describe the application of the key ethical principle(s) of a religious tradition to an issue
90822 Explain how a contemporary social action derives from the ethical principles of a religious
tradition
90826 Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue
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The NZC also mandates teachers to inculcate students with five ‘key competencies’
Thinking is the first key competency, and is arguably the taproot of the rest. The
remaining KC’s concern:
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Relating to others
using language, symbols, and texts
managing self
participating and contributing
In this light, the MoE’s apparent commitment to values surrounding thinking,
especially in terms of the NZC’s the ideological Vision of “confident, connected,
actively involved lifelong learners” becomes an obscene vision of indoctrination,
precisely because thinking itself is not formally measured. (in terms of reasoning and
(secular) ethical frameworks)
The remedies are simple—dedicated philosophy AS’s. Philosophy specialises in
thinking, which links it directly with the core KC of the NZC—reasoning and ethical
AS’s will provide these direct links.
On a further and final point, you may be interested to know what the NZ MoE’s
official stance is on Philosophy as a subject. The ministry regard philosophy as an
‘orphan’ subject. Disconnected from any lineage in NZ education. To me this is
absurd. Philosophy is a progenitor subject; the taproot of virtually every other subject
in the Curriculum
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and certainly one that cannot be isolated or housed in any one particular subject
area. Philosophy is trans-disciplinary. However, the Ministry currently house
Philosophy under the Social Sciences – this is where you’ll find our T&L guideline.
The MoE further claim that Philosophy has not yet matured as a subject. Again, the
absurdity is astounding. Philosophy has been taught for several years in many NZ
schools, and in some cases decades.
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Finally, I warmly invite you to join us for our annual conference. This is typically held
toward the end of September (24-25 Sept.). We have been meeting since 2006, and
discuss a different theme each year. This year will focus on teaching ethics in
schools
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Secondary School Philosophy resources:
http://schoolphilosophyresources.com/
compiled by graduate students in the Department of Philosophy at the University of
Auckland,
NCEA Philosophy: (social studies AS’s)
At Level 1: there is a unit on Protest Art and civil disobedience, using freedom of
speech and artistic expression as the vehicle, with an examination of the case of the
Russian punk bank, Pussy Riot.
At Level 2: there is an Animal Rights unit examining notions of Personhood and the
nature of rights. Here the documentary Blackfish provides the stimulus.
There are a number of Level 3 units, ranging from
 Internet Piracy and Copyright Law
 Income inequality in NZ
 Free will and responsibility
 The Philosophy of Capitalism and Neoliberalism
 And also units relating to the Philosophy of Religion
NON-NCEA programmes
conceptual clarification and the analysis of the logic of the arguments. Purple
passages
1.
Firstly with Intermediate school level (Yr7&8)
2.
Secondly, through junior social studies (Philosophy is housed under
the Social Sciences banner.) Four conceptual strands:
Identity, Culture and Social Organisation
Place and Environment
Continuity and Change
The Economic World
Co-curricula Philosophy
lunchtime Philosophy Clubs
host an occasional Philosophy Film and Pizza evening
We meet with other Philosophy Clubs from neighbouring schools twice a year for
Café Philosophy afternoons
attend one of the annual Julie Arlis conferences
Bioethics seminars run by Otago University’s Dr. Deborah Stevens
Her colleague, Dr. Lyn Bowyer, runs a larger scale Roadshow with graduate
students and other professors from Otago University
STAR programmes offering University level Philosophy papers by distance,
Frederic Woods Bequest fund. This fund was bequeathed in 2001 by Mr. Edwin
Frederic Woods to promote Philosophy education in NZ secondary schools. It is a
$110,000 fund that is managed by the University of Auckland, and takes applications
for all sorts of projects, as long as the outcome in some way promotes Philosophy in
NZ schools.