Four Anxieties about Open-mindedness: Reassuring Peter Gardner

In this article four anxieties expressed by Peter Gardner about our conception of open-mindedness and its educational implications are examined. It is argued that none of Gardner's anxieties undermine our view that open-mindedness requires neither neutrality nor indecision with respect to a matter in question, but rather that open-mindedness is compatible with holding of beliefs and commitments about such matters provided that the beliefs and commitments are formed and held in such a way that they are open to revision in the light of evidence and argument.     

Article Title Here

This article attempts to analyse the ongoing debate regarding open-mindedness as an educational value. The views of Hare, McLaughlin and Gardner are considered. They do not always agree on what open-mindedness is, and the discussion could benefit from a more unified terminology and better counter-examples. The value and limitations of open-mindedness in both science and the humanities are discussed and analysed. It is argued that open-mindedness, while clearly a virtue if not taken to excess, need not be a goal of the educational process.     

Rationality as a goal of education

Those who believe education should involve more than learning facts often stress either (a) development or (b) thinking skills. A focus on development as a goal of education typically entails a conception of knowledge as organismic, holistic, and internally generated. In contrast, thinking skills programs commonly assume a mechanistic, reductionist perspective in which good thinking consists of some finite number of directly teachable skills. A conception of rationality as a goal of eduction is proposed that incorporates the complementary strengths and avoids the limitations of the developmental and thinking skills approaches. Rationality is defined as the self-reflective, intentional, and appropriate coordination and use of genuine reasons in generating and justifying beliefs and behavior. Philosophically, rationality is a justifiable goal of education, not only because it is a means to worthwhile ends but because it is an important end in itself and because it can be promoted via nonindoctrinative means. A psychological account of progressive rationality is provided that postulates continuing multiple interactions of (a) domain-specific developmental stages, (b) the learning of specific thinking skills, and (c) content-specific knowledge. Suggestions are made for fostering rationality at various educational levels. Finally, it is argued that the proposed conception of rationality as a goal of education complements and clarifies a variety of other educational goals.     

Four Anxieties and a Reassurance: Hare and McLaughlin on being open-minded

In suppport of the idea that education should encourage open-mindedness, Hare and McLaughlin have argued that being open-minded about an issue, in a philosophically well-supported sense of 'open-mindedness', need not prevent one from holding a firm belief on that issue. In this paper I examine the lack of cohesion in this sense of 'open-mindedness', explain why I continue to be anxious about the tensions between open-mindedness and holding firm beliefs and present three further reasons for having reservations about Hare and McLaughlin's proposals.     

Luck,Choice, and Educational Equality

Abstract

Harry Brighouse discusses two conceptions of educational equality. The first is a type of equality of opportunity, heavily influenced by the work of John Rawls, which he calls the meritocratic conception. According to this conception, an individual’s educational prospects should not be influenced by factors such as their social class background. The other, radical conception, suggests a person’s natural talents should not influence their educational prospects either. Brighouse favors the meritocratic conception, but this article argues that it is flawed and that the radical conception ought to be preferred. Although a superior conception of educational equality, the radical conception is still not quite right, so this article develops a luck egalitarian conception of educational equality. It is argued that this conception reflects much current thinking about equality and avoids some of the difficulties with Brighouse’s two conceptions. Finally, two objections to a luck egalitarian conception are considered.     

Deaf and hearing individuals' beliefs about the capabilities of deaf people

The study explored the beliefs of 100 residents of Greece about the capabilities of deaf people living in that country. Participants included deaf adults who communicated in Greek Sign Language (GSL), deaf adults who communicated orally, hearing adults who attended GSL courses, and hearing adults who did not attend such courses. Beliefs were explored through the ODP (Opinions About Deaf People) scale (Berkay, Gardner, & Smith, 1995) and an open-ended interview. All participant groups viewed deaf people's capabilities positively, but Deaf users of GSL expressed the most positive beliefs. The findings suggest that less positive beliefs reflect diverse ideological views toward GSL and Deaf culture or an awareness of the obstacles preventing deaf people from developing their potential. The Deaf community's role in empowering deaf people and the role of GSL courses in promoting awareness regarding deaf people are also discussed.     

Sequential Patterns of Structures in the English Language Compatible with Written Expressions of Junior High Students

Abstract

Fifty-seven Ss were administered the Teacher Characteristics Schedule and measures representing open-mindedness and analytic set. The scores were intercorrelated and the matrix factor analyzed. Dimensions representing analytic set and open-mindedness were orthogonal to each other and dimensions representing anticipated teaching style. Measures representing analytic set and open-mindedness were explored as possible moderator variables. Low analytic-high dogmatic Ss were significantly different from other Ss in their tendency to give information indicating that they are dynamic or surgent teaching personalities. The results of the study suggest that open-mindedness and analytic set may be useful in the understanding of teaching behavior if their effects as moderating variables are investigated.     

Education for autonomy and open-mindedness in diverse societies

In recent years, democracies across the globe have seen an increase in the popularity and power of authoritarian, nationalist politicians, groups, and policies. In this climate, the proper role of education in liberal democratic society, and in particular its role in promoting characteristics like autonomy and open-mindedness, is contested. This paper engages this debate by exploring the concept of autonomy and the obligations of liberal democratic societies to promote it. Presenting the conditions for the exercise and development of autonomy, I argue that the intellectual virtue of open-mindedness is necessary (though not sufficient) for possession of the capacity for autonomy and the motivation to exercise this capacity. In considering the importance of autonomy in liberal democratic societies, I argue that education for autonomy and open-mindedness can be justified by appealing to several liberal democratic aims: ensuring fair opportunity in the pursuit of the good life and preparing students for citizenship in diverse society. My analysis of the relationship between autonomy and open-mindedness aims to contribute to the literature by identifying a conception of autonomy that explicitly acknowledges its connections to intellectual virtue, thus clarifying one aspect of its value and identifying an important component of education that supports autonomy.     

Do Pre-service Chemistry Teachers Reflect their Beliefs about Constructivism in their Teaching Practices?

This study aimed to explore pre-service chemistry teachers’ beliefs about constructivism and the influence of their beliefs in their teaching practice. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were carried out with eight pre-service teachers in order to understand their belief structures. Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about constructivism were classified in three categories which are weak, moderate, and strong conceptions of constructivism. For detailed exploration, three cases of pre-service teachers representing these three categories were selected. The findings of this study showed that most pre-service teachers in this study did not have a strong conception of constructivism and the relationship between the pre-service teachers’ beliefs and their practice was not clear-cut.     

从文化的视角透视美国私立高等教育

就高等教育而言，美国无疑是最发达的国家，私立高等教育也雄踞世界榜首。美利坚民族文化的兼容、开放，人们对自由平等的不懈追求以及他们的宗教文化，个人主义文化等一系列的因素，对美国私立高等教育起到了不可忽视的推动作用。     

Young Children''s Understanding of Different Types of Beliefs

The purpose of this investigation was to see whether children's understandings of different types of beliefs develop concurrently. Children of 3, 4, and 5 years of age were told or shown that child story characters held beliefs different from their own or from one another, not only concerning matters of physical fact ("false beliefs"), but also concerning morality, social convention, value, and ownership of property. In contrast to the older subjects, most 3-year-olds had difficulty in attributing to others deviant beliefs of all types, except perhaps ownership, sometimes even after having been told repeatedly what the other child believed. In addition, intercorrelations among different belief tasks were positive and substantial. It was suggested that an emerging representational conception of the mind is what enables older preschoolers to understand the possibility of belief differences of all these types.     

The influence of pedagogical beliefs on technology acceptance: a structural equation modeling study of pre-service mathematics teachers

Pedagogical beliefs are a critical factor in terms of integrating technology into teaching, but very few technology acceptance models (TAMs) have considered them. Hence, this study aims to extend the TAM by incorporating pre-service teachers’ conception of teaching and learning. The revised model examined the influence of pre-service mathematics teachers’ constructivist and traditional pedagogical beliefs on their technology acceptance through perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude toward technology, and behavioral intention to use. Survey data were collected from 714 pre-service mathematics teachers in Turkey and analyzed through path analysis. The results showed that pre-service mathematics teachers’ pedagogical beliefs were more constructivist-oriented than traditional-oriented, and constructivist beliefs had a significant influence on the components of the TAM. On the other hand, pre-service teachers’ traditional-oriented beliefs did not influence their perceived usefulness of and attitudes toward technology but had positive effects on perceived ease of use. Implications for pre-service mathematics teacher education were discussed.

     

How is a professional development programme related to the development of university teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and teaching conceptions?

This study explores how the impact of a five ECTS professional development programme for university teachers affects their self-efficacy beliefs and teaching conceptions using a mixed methods approach. For the quantitative part of the study, participants completed pre-post surveys. From these surveys, we find that the programme led to an overall significant increase in reported self-efficacy beliefs. A sub-sample of ten participants participated in the qualitative part, which consists of four phases: three reflective assignments and an interview. Individual teachers demonstrate a dominant teaching conception in each phase and in almost half of the sub-sample it developed over time, moving from a teacher-centered to a more student-centered conception. When examining the development of self-efficacy and teaching conceptions collectively, three development groups are identified. Noteworthy is that teacher development is credited to the programme as a whole and not to a specific aspect.     

Conceptions of Teaching Art Held by Secondary School Art Teachers

Research into teachers' conceptions of teaching can be justified in that deep seated beliefs impact upon the way teachers teach and influence the learning approaches of their students. This study examined conceptions of teaching art, through interviews with 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. The analysis resulted in a two‐level characterisation of conceptions under broad essentialist and contextualist orientations. There were four subordinate conception categories, namely moral development in art and aesthetic development in art under the essentialist orientation, and intellectual development through art, and expression and therapy through art as sub‐categories of the contextualist orientation. The categories were defined and delimited by six dimensions. The categories were seen as clearly distinguishable but related, though not hierarchically. There was no evidence of the category scheme being culturally specific, as the majority of the teachers held beliefs which were not consistent with the traditional manner of Chinese painting.     

聊斋俚曲中的“人伦关系”探析

在聊斋俚曲中,人伦关系是蒲松龄反映当时社会生活的一个核心内容,主要有父（母）子关系、兄弟关系、婆媳关系和夫妻关系,不仅表现了他浓浓的儒家情结,还体现了较为开明的思想。     

从汉语外来词的译借方式看汉民族的语言文化心理

外来词是不同文化接触的产物。一种语言对外来成分的接受方式和程度的不同，一方面反映出该语言的特性，另一方面更折射出以该语言为母语的民族的语言文化心理。纵观历史，在汉语动态词汇库的进化中，母语同化外来语、意译排挤音译是主流；但在不少情况下，外语词异化了母语词，音译词淘汰了意译词，也是屡见不鲜的。前者反映出汉民族恪守传统的保守性和汉语强大的传统惯性，后者则映射出面对发展汉文化的宽容博大与汉语的开放性。     

基于道德品格存在之争的品格构建及其启示

经典的亚里士多德的品格观遭到了以哈曼和多里斯为首的情境论哲学家的挑战,但他们对于品格的理解存在着过多注重行为的气质性倾向,以至于把行为的气质性倾向等同于品格特质的偏差。而品格的构成,不仅包含着作为品格外在表征的行为气质性倾向,而且还包含道德信念以及道德义务影响行为的气质性倾向的本质和程度等内在因素。因此,品格构建应着力通过自我调控来缩小道德义务与行为的气质性倾向之间的差距。而品格构建的现实启示就是品格的教育需注重外在的行为与内在的道德心理;细微的情境因素都可能影响主体的道德心理和道德行为,导致道德偏差的出现;需要加强对情境的控制,但决不能否认品格的存在。     

论古典诗词的“四季模式”

古典诗词中有许多描写四季的作品,在以同一季节为描写对象的作品中意象和意境具有相同或相似性。究其文化根源,主要是“天人合一”的哲学观念和传统“文化——心理”的因素,它们在四季诗词的创作中扮演了重要角色,使得四季诗词呈现出叙写的模式化倾向,对于诗词意境的研究不妨从此角度出发。     

CREATIVITY: IDIOGRAPHIC VERSUS NOMOTHETIC APPROACH

Two main approaches exist in the study of personality: idiographic vs. nomothetic. A combination of both is called psychological biography, i.e., an integration of nomothetic objectives and idiographic completeness. This approach was applied by Gardner in analyzing seven creative‐productive personalities. In Gardner's view the development of creating minds is not only dependent on a supportive environment, but also cultural and/or societal acceptance. The mastery of a particular creative direction starts in the early years and mastery needs exercise. Moreover, the examples given by Gardner lead to the conclusion that creativity does not exist as a general trait, but is alway domain specific.     

Michael Hand,Indoctrination and the Inculcation of Belief

In ‘Religious Upbringing Reconsidered’ Michael Hand revisits the debate on the right of parents to give their children a religious upbringing in a liberal context. According to him, the logical difficulty lies in the fact that parents cannot both impart religious beliefs and avoid indoctrination. While Peter Gardner and Jim Mackenzie have responded to Hand's paper and raised a number of pertinent issues, what is missing is a fuller treatment of indoctrination and belief inculcation for children. In this paper, I argue that Hand's fallacy lies in his flawed understanding of indoctrination and belief inculcation: the inculcation of non‐rational beliefs, far from being indoctrinatory, is in fact necessary for children in the process of growing up.