Finding Meanings in Anomalies

Philosophy in the classroom focuses on language interactions. The community of inquiry is about dialogue, about interpersonal communication. The philosophical method offers students the chance to be creative in constructing their own meanings through dialogue.

Discovering and proving takes longer than just proving but it is far superior educationally. Cartwright et al (1985) outline their excellent proposal for such discovery through discussion:

"By discussing problems among themselves, students often sort out each others' misunderstandings. Such discussion groups thus require comparatively little supervision, and consequently are very economical of staff time . . . By pooling their ideas, the group will often be able to find solutions to problems that no individual member of the group could solve; . . . It increases their confidence in facing unfamiliar situations." (pp. 14-15).

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Borasi (1992:190) outlines several novel strategies for practising such thinking skills in an humanitarian inquiry method:

• Exploit the complexity of real-life problematic situations;
• Focus on non traditional mathematical topics where uncertainty and limitations are most evident;
• Uncover humanistic elements within the traditional mathematics curriculum;
• Use errors as springboards for inquiry;
• Exploit the surprises elicited by working in new domains (anomalies);
• Create ambiguity and conflict by proposing alternatives to the status quo;
• Generate reading activities as a means of sustaining inquiry;
• Provide occasions for reflecting on the significance of one's inquiry.

Borasi, Raffaella (1992) Learning Mathematics through Inquiry Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Research shows that more successful problem solvers in physics are skilled at metacognition. Silver and Marshall (1990:278) report research that shows that successful students engaged in reflective thinking more often than did the less successful. It is a process of self-monitoring, regulation and evaluation of thinking. Experts, unlike novices, check, recheck and monitor. Philosophy teaches this habit of metacognition.

"A comprehensive review of the broad sweep of history and culture is very timely. Western democracies are in critical need of a knowledge of their roots, a reminder of their own distinctive values that glue their common way of life together. With so many different social changes and challenges to basic values occurring all at once in the late twentieth century, we are at risk of losing what is valuable and fundamental to our way of life. Gaardner's Sophie's World is a timely reminder of that which sustains us." (Greg Smith May 1995)

1. Questions, complications and follow-up research are best handled in Philosophy or other subject.

2. Non- human issues (?) are easier to get into at this age. Darwin and Darwinism is big, broad and complex but interrelated to subject studies. Gifted should not be shielded from real life complexity.

3. Students need an explanation of the development of our cultural systems, values and attitudes. Plotting the history of ideas is one way of teaching civics, culture, understandings about democracy.

4. Focus on a current issue/problem/dilemma (e.g., environment, euthanasia, etc) and then open up its history, ramifications?

OR begin at the beginning and trace the rise of democracy (History), or Do a History and Philosophy of Science lecture/series of 3.

5. Focus on a person or a period or a country, e.g., Renaissance Italy.

6. Show an episode of The Ascent of Man and discuss it.

7. Arrange a panel of speakers from a variety of disciplines.

8. Many media sources must be used in teaching the History of Ideas.

9. Is it useful or indeed interesting to give a broad sweep of Western history including migrations, politics, cultures, religion, science, geography/exploration, anyway? Would they comprehend it?