teaching

The following is a guest post * from Yann Benétreau-Dupin, a lecturer in philosophy at San Francisco State University, about an interesting and innovative response to the California State University system’s change to its general education requirements: a course on math and the arts, taught in the philosophy department. (more…)

Teaching Controversial Topics In High School Philosophy

Last summer, Landon Hedrick, a PhD student at the University of Nebraska who, while working on his dissertation, teaches philosophy at the Vanguard Classical School in Chicago, wrote in with questions about teaching logic and critical thinking to high school students. He now has some questions about teaching more controversial topics in a high school philosophy clas..

Learning Through Teaching

Well, given my background I knew virtually no philosophy. So I have taught myself most of the philosophy I know by teaching it. If I wanted to learn about something, I would teach a course on it (keeping a couple of weeks ahead of the students). I have learned a lot of philosophy this way, and it’s been a blast.

That’s Graham Priest (CUNY) in the What Is It Like ..

What Graduate Students In Philosophy Are And Should Be Paid For Teaching

The graduate students in the philosophy program at the University of St. Andrews are concerned about their teaching conditions, some of them tell me, but they don’t have a good grasp on how their situation compares with that of philosophy students elsewhere, particularly in the UK. (more…)

Favorite Teaching Experiences 2016-17

The school year is wrapped up at some places, and about to be wrapped up at others. We could use some positive vibes around here, philosofriends, so please share some of your favorite teaching experiences from the past year. (more…)

51 Years Teaching Philosophy Is Not Good Enough, says Accreditor

Professor Katherine Butler has taught philosophy at Wayne State College (WSC) in Wayne, Nebraska, for 51 years. It doesn’t look like she’ll be doing it again, though. It’s not that she is retiring. Rather, Higher Learning Commission, the accrediting agency that evaluates the school, has issued new guidelines that disqualify her from teaching philosophy. (more…)

New Philosophy Teaching Prize from the APA, AAPT, and TPA

The American Philosophical Association (APA), the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT), and the Teaching Philosophy Association (TPA) have announced the creation of the Prize for Excellence in Philosophy Teaching. (more…)

Teaching Under Trump: A Writing Exercise

This is what author and professor of literature and creative writing Melissa Febos (Monmouth University) did with her students the day after the election: (more…)

More Funding To Study Effects on Teaching Kids Philosophy

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), an independent charity in the United Kingdom, has awarded a £1.2 million ($1.46 million) grant to SAPERE for it to expand and study its Philosophy For Children (P4C) program, according to Schools Week. (more…)

Preparing Teaching Assistants

Many graduate programs in philosophy provide funding for their students in exchange for their labor as teaching assistants (TAs). The job of a TA varies across institutions and courses, but typically involves grading assignments, running weekly discussion sections of a larger course, and providing guidance to students. (more…)

Improve Your Philosophy Teaching With This One Weird Trick

What if I told you there was an easy, scientifically-proven, five-minute method for improving your teaching? Just five-minutes, and your teaching ratings go up. No, I’m not talking about giving your students candy when you have them fill out the course evaluation forms. I’m talking about an actual improvement in learning outcomes, based on real science. How much wou..

Philosophy Teaching Games

Do you use games as a teaching tool in your philosophy course? And if so, which games, and to teach what? The questions were prompted by a friend drawing attention to “The Hobbes Game” by John Immerwahr (in the Fall 1976 issue of Teaching Philosophy). He lays out the game in the first few pages of the article, reproduced below. See the full article for a discus..

Teaching Students Logic Improves Their Logical Reasoning Skills

Newflash: teaching students logic improves their logical reasoning skills—at least according to some new research. You may be thinking, “duh,” but that would be a mistake. After all, “teach” isn’t a success term. And as it turns out, “there is little evidence that studying logic itself improves one’s logical thinking.” (more…)

Teaching and the Philosophical Canon

“Perhaps all professional philosophers have wrestled with the problem of how to cover all the important things in the limited time of a single course.” But what are the important things? And who are the important figures?

In a post at the Blog of the APA, Peter Adamson (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität), who produces the podcast History of Philosophy without any Ga..

Small Changes to Improve Teaching

In a series of columns at the Chronicle of Higher Education, James M. Lang, a professor of English at Assumption College, has been suggesting small changes to teaching that, he argues, could make a big difference in student learning. Among the suggestions:

Before class:

Arrive early to have a little small talk with individual students (different ones each tim..