Title: Primary and Secondary Qualities: waiting for an educational Godot
Abstract:Abstract This paper argues against the current tendency to regard the acquisition of facts and useful skills as primary in education. While this tendency has often been criticised in theory before, it...Abstract This paper argues against the current tendency to regard the acquisition of facts and useful skills as primary in education. While this tendency has often been criticised in theory before, it remains prevalent in practice. Moreover, influential theses in philosophy of education are often taken to support such a tendency, and the current political climate appears to be influencing educational policy in that direction. Hence it is worth opposing it again with, it is hoped, some fresh lines of thought. An outline is sketched of a philosophical position which supports a different kind of approach which the author has seen in practice. While there is a place in education for factual knowledge and useful skills, they should be recognised as secondary. The primary qualities, it is argued, are the development (a) of moral values and attitudes, and (b) of critical independent thinking in a spirit of creative enquiry. In practice one sees a more widespread commitment to a Personal Enquiry conception of edu...Read More
Publication Year: 1985
Publication Date: 1985-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot