1. Questions
Throughout my courses, I convey to students the value of questions, and the idea that in the process of learning, what matters most is how you arrive to answers, rather than the answers themselves. I emphasize questions in a variety of ways. First, I advise students that when they approach a philosophical text they should first ask what question the author is engaging with, even before they identify what the author’s proposal is. I train them to do this with in-class exercises in which we identify the guiding questions of different texts and list related questions that each text is not addressing.
Second, I dedicate a lot of attention to students’ own questions, guiding students through formulating these questions, following up on them with more questions, and tracking down the motivations and underlying assumptions. I push students to organize their questions into a coherent line of inquiry. I demonstrate that frantic questioning of everything, posing questions that are disconnected from each other, is not, in spite of a common misconception, what philosophy is about. That type of questioning does not facilitate understanding and creates a false sense of justified skepticism. In order to help students with the process of organizing their questions I encourage them to keep track of them by writing down the questions that pop up in their minds when reading a text for the first time, and contrasting them with the questions they ask after reading the text for a second time and/or discussing it with others, and also with the questions their classmates and I raise in class. At the beginning of my courses, I invite students to start a “question journal” to keep track of their questions, as well as of their progress in formulating and organizing them. This exercise is an effective way of engaging students and making them see connections between the course material and their personal interests.
The emphasis on questions has two main benefits. First, it makes classes more welcoming. The space of possible questions when discussing a text is certainly more open and flexible than the space of (correct) answers to posed questions. Second, and more importantly, this vastness of the space of questions clearly shows the need for training and sharpening one’s questioning skills to be able to build a coherent inquiry; otherwise each question remains an isolated stroke in space that takes you nowhere. An additional benefit of the emphasis on questions is that through their questions, I (and students themselves) can track their learning trajectory more accurately, for asking relevant questions requires understanding, while correct answers can always be given without understanding. I acknowledge that some students may have difficulty with posing questions in class. For some, it is due to shyness and insecurity; for others, the main barrier is the lack of engagement with the topic that is required in order to be able to pose a relevant question. To reach every student in my classes, I provide a broad range of opportunities to engage with the course material: whole-class discussions of academic and non-academic texts, small-group discussions, video displays, analyses of everyday situations. As a discussion-starter, I may share some questions that I myself would ask about the reading/video/debate, which usually helps students to open up and start sharing their own questions.
Second, I dedicate a lot of attention to students’ own questions, guiding students through formulating these questions, following up on them with more questions, and tracking down the motivations and underlying assumptions. I push students to organize their questions into a coherent line of inquiry. I demonstrate that frantic questioning of everything, posing questions that are disconnected from each other, is not, in spite of a common misconception, what philosophy is about. That type of questioning does not facilitate understanding and creates a false sense of justified skepticism. In order to help students with the process of organizing their questions I encourage them to keep track of them by writing down the questions that pop up in their minds when reading a text for the first time, and contrasting them with the questions they ask after reading the text for a second time and/or discussing it with others, and also with the questions their classmates and I raise in class. At the beginning of my courses, I invite students to start a “question journal” to keep track of their questions, as well as of their progress in formulating and organizing them. This exercise is an effective way of engaging students and making them see connections between the course material and their personal interests.
The emphasis on questions has two main benefits. First, it makes classes more welcoming. The space of possible questions when discussing a text is certainly more open and flexible than the space of (correct) answers to posed questions. Second, and more importantly, this vastness of the space of questions clearly shows the need for training and sharpening one’s questioning skills to be able to build a coherent inquiry; otherwise each question remains an isolated stroke in space that takes you nowhere. An additional benefit of the emphasis on questions is that through their questions, I (and students themselves) can track their learning trajectory more accurately, for asking relevant questions requires understanding, while correct answers can always be given without understanding. I acknowledge that some students may have difficulty with posing questions in class. For some, it is due to shyness and insecurity; for others, the main barrier is the lack of engagement with the topic that is required in order to be able to pose a relevant question. To reach every student in my classes, I provide a broad range of opportunities to engage with the course material: whole-class discussions of academic and non-academic texts, small-group discussions, video displays, analyses of everyday situations. As a discussion-starter, I may share some questions that I myself would ask about the reading/video/debate, which usually helps students to open up and start sharing their own questions.
2. Communication skills
Philosophical training and research tend to be seen as something to be done in solitude. This view, somehow attractive amongst philosophy apprentices, runs the risk of turning philosophy into a conversation with oneself, where clarity of communication and rigorous conceptual articulation might end up sacrificed. To prevent students from developing this dangerous habit, I emphasize how critical conversations and exchanges (in a variety of formats) are for philosophical inquiry. I highlight the importance of working on their communication skills, on making their doubts, questions and proposals accessible to others, in order to expose their ideas to scrutiny of colleagues and to advance their own understanding. I tell students that the first drafts of an idea are usually transcripts of an internal monologue that makes little sense outside the author’s mind. That transcript needs to be translated into an articulated idea that can stand by itself, and this translation requires a lot of work.
When working with students on their communication skills, I encourage them to explore different ways of expression. In addition to training students on the classical format of an academic paper, I often ask students to elaborate a summary or write a critical review of a text in a format other than linear writing: mind maps, comics, diagrams, etc. I share samples of handouts I myself have prepared in these formats, and it is very gratifying to see that this paves the way for an interesting display of creativity. Some students see in these assignments the opportunity to connect what perhaps seemed to them disconnected things: creativity and rigor.
When working with students on their communication skills, I encourage them to explore different ways of expression. In addition to training students on the classical format of an academic paper, I often ask students to elaborate a summary or write a critical review of a text in a format other than linear writing: mind maps, comics, diagrams, etc. I share samples of handouts I myself have prepared in these formats, and it is very gratifying to see that this paves the way for an interesting display of creativity. Some students see in these assignments the opportunity to connect what perhaps seemed to them disconnected things: creativity and rigor.