UK Now | University of Kentucky News
Monday, September 23, 2024
Monday, September 23, 2024
Heather Cowherd
Freedom in Education: A Philosophical Critique of Current Educational Policies
Video, 1 hr & 6 mins
This video is a recording of the presentation I gave in Middle Tennessee State University’s Applied Philosophy Lyceum speakers series on November 17, 2023, in Murfreesboro, TN.
The talk is titled, “Freedom in Education: A Philosophical Critique of Current Educational Policies,” and the abstract for the presentation reads as follows:
Parents and guardians are naturally concerned about what their children are taught in schools. Some lament what they feel is a lack of control over curricula and what are thought to be forces or agendas that they believe are not in kids’ best interests. The arguments advanced in recent conflicts take two main forms. The first, advanced in similar fashion on opposing sides of issues concerning gender and early education, takes the form of arguments to “protect” children. The second, typically arising in discourse about desire for exclusion or selection of curricular messages or content, typically focuses on parents’ rights, in particular, to freedom of choice, whether regarding selection of schools, book banning, or inclusion or exclusion of desired or undesirable subject matters from curricula. In this talk, Dr. Weber will defend the importance of students’ and teachers’ freedom and challenge the overreach of dominant parental views that seek to silence the lived experiences and concerns of marginalized groups.
NOTE: At one point, I accidentally said “Transylvania State University,” which was intended to refer to Transylvania University, which is a private institution. This was an accidental case of misspeaking. The point was to contrast with state institutions, which was on my mind, and probably led me to use that word, “state,” resulting in the opposite of my intended meaning… My mistake!
Philosophical Research Methods: This talk was delivered in fall 2023, when I was teaching a course on Philosophical Research Methods in the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. I mention this because in this talk, I describe my methodology explicitly for the project beginning at minute 14 until minute 19. For those interested in that portion of the talk, you can jump to those minutes.
Dr. Phil Oliver
Thanks again! I am most grateful to Dr. Phil Oliver for organizing a wonderfully welcoming event, which featured a great turn out on a rainy Friday evening. I’m also grateful to the members of the MTSU department of Philosophy and Religion, as well as to Heather Gibbs, who kindly coordinated the details of my visit.
KY’s Potential for Leadership in Educational Ethics: Calling for an End to Corporal Punishment in American Schools
2023 Commonwealth Ethics Lecture at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY
In the spring of 2023, the Ethics and Social Justice Center at Bellarmine University issued a call for proposals for their yearly Commonwealth Ethics Lecture. They invited scholars from around the state to propose a talk to be delivered for their 2023 lecture, considering approaches from all disciplines and with special interest in interdisciplinary dialogue and topics, encouraging “critical reflection, dialogue, and constructive action on contemporary ethical issues in society.” They also welcomed proposals “related to politics, societal well-being, and individual happiness,” as well as that “intersect these themes with regional issues.”
I pitched my proposal in relation to the fact that Kentucky is a state that continues to permit and make use of corporal punishment in public schools. I have long thought about corporal punishment especially as an example of a practice long outmoded and for which evidence has become increasingly clear that better alternatives are available and that long-term effects of the practice are psychologically and medically discouraged. Given this opportunity, it was a great chance for me to focus on corporal punishment directly, so I jumped at the chance finally to focus extensively on this topic.
Kentucky has decreased the use of the form of discipline in public schools to nearly negligible levels, with 17 recorded instances of corporal punishment in the 2020-2021 school year, which suggests that the practice would not be difficult to end at the state level. Given that, Kentucky could serve as a leader among states that presently permit and engage in the practice, to show how others can follow the lead of the Commonwealth state of Kentucky, to end the practice around the country. The video here above is 1hr and 1 min long, concluding at the end of my talk, not including the question and answer session, though that was fun and rewarding for me also.
I am especially grateful to Dr. Kate Johnson for being a welcoming and great host at Bellarmine University for the talk. The attendance and recording of the talk were great and much appreciated.
The PowerPoint slides for my talk are available online here.
VIDEO: Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing
This video was recorded at Vanderbilt University on October 15th, 2022, at the John and Shirley Lachs Conference on American Philosophy. My presentation was titled “Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing.” Here’s the program for the conference. I am grateful to Vanderbilt University’s Philosophy Department for support for my participation in the conference and for permission to post the video.
I feel honored to be among the presenters at this important event honoring the incredible contributions of Dr. John Lachs of Vanderbilt University. I will be presenting my paper, “Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing,” on both the incredible importance of freedom in education as well as some of its dangers.
| Date: | October 14, 2022—October 15, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Event: | John and Shirley Lachs Conference on American Philosophy |
| Topic: | "Freedom in Education for Diversity of Flourishing" |
| Sponsor: | Vanderbilt University |
| Venue: | Alumni Hall |
| Location: | Nashville, TN |
| Public: | Public |
America’s Public Philosopher: Essays on Social Justice, Economics, Education, and the Future of Democracy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2021)
Description
John Dewey was America’s greatest public philosopher. A prolific and influential writer for both scholarly and general audiences, he stands out for the remarkable breadth of his contributions. Dewey was a founder of a distinctly American philosophical tradition, pragmatism, and he spoke out widely on the most important questions of his day. He was a progressive thinker whose deep commitment to democracy led him to courageous stances on issues such as war, civil liberties, and racial, class, and gender inequalities.
This book gathers the clearest and most powerful of Dewey’s public writings and shows how they continue to speak to the challenges we face today. An introductory essay and short introductions to each of the texts discuss the current relevance and significance of Dewey’s work and legacy. The book includes forty-six essays on topics such as democracy in the United States, political power, education, economic justice, science and society, and philosophy and culture. These essays inspire optimism for the possibility of a more humane public and political culture, in which citizens share in the pursuit of lifelong education through participation in democratic life. America’s Public Philosopher reveals John Dewey as a powerful example for scholars seeking to address a wider audience and a much-needed voice for all readers in search of intellectual and moral leadership.
Endorsements
In these troubled times, Eric Thomas Weber has compiled a magnificent set of essays by John Dewey, the preeminent American public philosopher of the twentieth century. With the help of Weber’s commentaries, all Americans will be able to see how Dewey still speaks to us today, with wisdom and urgency. — Elizabeth Anderson, author of Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk about It)
In this collection Eric Weber presents expertly curated essays by one of America’s great public intellectuals. John Dewey’s insights into the core issues of American life, then as now, are as fresh today as when they were first published. They provide ample evidence of his continuing relevance for our exceptional time. — Larry A. Hickman, editor of The Correspondence of John Dewey
John Dewey is the American philosopher of democracy. He understood that democracy, making choices together, is an end in itself, and that attempts to short-circuit democratic processes in the name of something else, whether it’s ethnic nationalism or globalization, diminish us as human beings. His wisdom never goes out of style. There is no better (or worse) time to read him again. — Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club
This is an outstanding collection, unique and most timely, that should receive attention from the sphere of public policy and politics. Weber has chosen writings that speak to America and the world today. — John Robert Shook, coeditor of Dewey’s Enduring Impact: Essays on America’s Philosopher
Reviews
John Dewey is on the short list of America’s greatest philosophers. He has changed how many people think about democracy, politics, education, economics, and science. The problem, however, is that many of Dewey’s books are impenetrable for those without time and philosophical training. His book Democracy and Education, for instance, was a textbook that Dewey wrote for his philosophy of education students at Teachers College, Columbia University, and it sometimes can be hard to figure out how the discussion of Plato and Rousseau, for instance, matters for the question of how to educate children here and now. Fortunately, John Dewey wrote lively articles for newspapers and magazines. If Dewey was not the first public intellectual, he was certainly one of the most energetic, publishing hundreds of articles in The New Republic, Atlantic Monthly, and outlets that no longer exist. But how can a newcomer find these articles and make sense of them? — Nichlas Tampio, author of Common Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy
America’s Public Philosopher was published in January of 2021 with Columbia University Press.
Stoic Pragmatism for Parenting a Child with Disabilities
An Essay Addressing Philosophers, Parents, Teachers, and Educational Policymakers
It takes a village. Raising children takes all hands on deck, including parents or guardians, teachers, administrators, and educational policymakers. This paper examines common philosophical norms relevant to each of these groups. The norms include the idea of wanting a better future for our children than we had; the idea that human beings are rational animals; and that the unexamined life is not worth living. What does that mean for parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers when our children are intellectually or communicatively impaired?
My daughter Helen in 2019.
WARNING: At least for me, rereading this paper inspired an emotional response. The stoicism called for in the paper is intended to help ease emotional reactions, but the fact of such a need for some readers (and others have let me know that they have shared such a reaction) is itself worth noting in advance.
Download the paper here.
We think of the norms I have mentioned as cultural. Philosopher John Dewey saw philosophy as the critique of culture, essentially as thinking about thinking. How we think plays a powerful role in how we treat people and how we educate ourselves and others. In this context, this paper examines one of the difficult contexts for education and the raising of children. And, I offer my own and my family’s experience for consideration, bringing philosophical ideas to bear on tough moments, decisions, and questions.
I first presented a draft of this essay at the annual meeting of the eastern division of the American Philosophical Association in January of 2019. It has just now been published in Disability and American Philosophies, edited by Nate Whelan-Jackson and Daniel J. Brunson in January of 2022 with Routledge Press of London.
It may be worth noting that in 2019 I was still married, something no longer true now, in 2022, when the essay has finally been released in print.
I agreed to publish this article with the understanding that I would have permission to share the essay in this way. You can download a copy of the essay in PDF format here or by clicking on the Adobe image above in this post.
Last, but not least, I have generated a computer-created text-to-speech recording of the essay. If I had more time, I would record myself reading the essay. The following recording took me only a few minutes to generate, by contrast to over an hour or more of work to record it myself. For the sake of accessibility, and at a friend’s request, I generated this audio file, which can be listed to if that is preferred over reading the text. I did not include the notes or bibliography section in the audio file.
Citation: Weber, Eric Thomas, “Stoic Pragmatism for Parenting a Child with Disabilities: An Essay Addressing Philosophers, Parents, Teachers, and Educational Policymakers,” Chapter 11 in Disability and American Philosophies, Edited by Nate Whelan-Jackson and Daniel J. Brunson (London: Routledge, 2022), 182-198.
[VIDEO]: YOU Should Join my ‘Philosophy of Education’ (EPE525/640) Course Next Fall!
Snag a seat!
Graduate students and advanced undergraduates at the University of Kentucky, watch this VIDEO (4m29s) about why you should take my EPE 525 / 640 course in the fall of of this year on the Philosophy of Education. The EPE 525 course is the undergraduate version of the EPE 640 class, which is for graduate students, and both meet at the same time and in the same room.
Why study the Philosophy of Education?
a) Educators and leaders are expected to have a meaningful grasp of their own philosophies of education;
b) All research is rooted in frameworks of ideas that support and contextualize our work and thought, and that can clarify and help us to focus or be conflicted and confuse us if not carefully considered;
c) Everyone working in educational administration contributes to a system that functions with respect to or in conflict with underlying philosophical ideas. That calls for appreciating and always keeping in mind what we ought to be doing in education.
What you’ll get out of it / create:
Photo Credit: Jacob Slaton
1) A short “teaching statement,” “Statement on Educational Philosophy,” or related document commonly requested in academic job applications, as well as for administrative positions that often involve teaching courses or otherwise supporting them;
2) A book review for possible publication (optional route for students’ presentation);
3) A conference-length paper ready for submission to professional calls for papers;
John Dewey, concerned that you’re not yet signed up for the course.
4) A full-length research paper suitable for submission to journals and that could support your other projects;5) An op-ed-length version of the research paper for possible submission to newspapers or educational periodicals (optional);
6) Credits that can contribute to the Graduate Certificate in College Teaching and Learning.
When & Where?
It’ll be on Mondays from 4-6:30pm in Dickey Hall rm 127. If you’re interested in enrolling in this course virtually, through Zoom, reach out to let me know: eric.t.weber@uky.edu.
Former Students’ Success
From the Fall of 2020, 5 students, including one undergraduate, had their papers accepted for presentation at the 2021 Southeastern Philosophy of Education Society conference. Two more students have had their book reviews accepted for publication in the journal Essays in Philosophy. One published his op-ed in the Kentucky Kernel. All wrote fascinating statements on teaching philosophy.
In Fall 2019, 3 of 6 grad students in my EPE 640 class submitted their papers to conferences and had them accepted for presentation. They included: Joseph Barry and Josh Smith presented their papers at the 2020 Southeastern Philosophy of Education Society conference at the University of Georgia in February 2020. Also, Samer Jan had his paper accepted for presentation at the 2020 conference of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World. Josh Smith also will be publishing his book review of Teaching In the Now by Jeff Frank in Columbia University’s Teachers College Record. The photo on right features Weber with two students from his Spring 2019 Ethics and Educational Decision Making course, Andrew Nelson and Maria Richie, whose papers from that class were accepted for presentation at the 2019 Midwest Educational Research Association conference.
Questions? Email me at eric.t.weber@uky.edu. You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Academia.edu.
Prepare to Act Naturally! …
Or, Be Nice, Not Machiavellian, in Professional Networking
Today, I led a discussion for the department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation’s Lunch & Connect series, which we run to keep people connected despite the pandemic. My meeting was titled: “Prepare to Act Naturally! … Or, Be Nice, Not Machiavellian, in Professional Networking.”
For the talk, I created a handout, which is available here: etw.li/networking.
We recorded today’s talk, which you can watch here:
If you enjoyed this video, consider sharing it with anyone looking for thoughts about professional networking in higher education.
In the video, Dr. Kelly Bradley mentioned a resource that I may get ahold of and be able to share with you here, updating this post.
Listen to the interview here:
This episode of “Behind the Blue” spotlights one of the six Great Teacher Award winners for 2024. Eric Thomas Weber is an associate professor in the UK Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation in the College of Education. He specializes in the philosophy of education, ethics and public policy, political philosophy and American philosophy.
In addition to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, Weber is co-chair of the faculty and student recognition committee for the College of Education and has served as a member of the Lewis Honors College’s faculty council.
Weber received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University with a double major in philosophy and communication studies; his master’s in philosophy from Ohio University and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Southern Illinois University. He joined the UK faculty in 2016 as a visiting associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and then in 2018 as an associate professor of educational policy studies and evaluation in the College of Education. His published academic work consists of five books, 36 articles or essays, 56 popular media publications and 151 presentations.
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