Education 603
Historical and Philosophical Influences in Education
Dr. Robert Boostrom
Fall 02

Coarse Description: Examines the nature and functions of formal education through a historical survey of educational development and a study of major philosophers whose thinking has influenced educational practice.

Evaluation: This course was a great overview of education from Socrates through the present. For me it filled in a lot of gaps I had in my own educational philosophy. The discussions each week along with the reading challenged my thinking greatly. I really enjoyed hearing what the other students thought from their own teaching experiences. Not only did I learn from Dr. Boostrom's thoughts and words, but also from the way he conducted the class. 

• Reflection on P. Jackson's "The Practice of Teaching" - Do the Morals of a Teacher Matter?

    In today's world when actions in one's personal life does not matter (only what one does in his/her job), I was very curious in exploring Jackson's idea of unintended consequences. "The well-known phenomenon of unintended consequences , sometimes referred to as 'incidental learnings' when they take place within the context of a classroom, leads us to suspect that the delivery of moral messages and actions of transformative significance may often take place whether the teacher intends them to or not. Indeed, it is far more interesting to ask whether such outcomes are inevitable, which is equivalent to asking whether all teachers are ultimately working within the transformative tradition whether they realize it or not (129)." Using Phillip Jackson's "The Practice of Teaching" and "The Moral Life of Schools," along with Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" and Plato's "Meno," I explored the question, "Do the Morals of a Teacher Matter?"  This reflection encouraged me to examine not only my style of teaching, but my words and non-verbal mannerisms in responding to students.

• Reflection on J. Dewey's "Democracy and Education" - Reflections on John Dewey

    “Why is it, in spite of the fact that teaching by pouring in, learning by a passive absorption, are universally condemned, that they are still so intrenched in practice (38)?” This reflection allowed me to look at my own educational practices and evaluate them using Dewey's "Democracy and Education."  This was a very difficult book to read and process, but the class discussions really helped to clear away the fog and illuminate some important principles and philosophies of Dewey. It challenged my own thinking and teaching practices...and will continue to haunt me in the future.

• Oral Presentation - Charlotte Mason, British Educational Reformer

    Since I homeschooled our daughter for many years, I had read about Charlotte Mason and used her philosophy of teaching via "narration of living books." I wanted to read her own writings and to explore where she fit into the history of education. She was influenced greatly by Rousseau and Pestalozzi. I could also see the influence of Dewey (a contemporary) and Aristotle. I personally saw the effectiveness of some of her principles in my own home-teaching. I wonder if any of them would work today in the public school. Ms. Mason states that "the function of the schools is to feed their scholars on knowledge until they have created in them a healthy appetite which they will go on satisfying for themselves day by day throughout life." I would love to be one such educator.


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