The Pursuit of Wisdom in Education

Date
2011
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Abstract
Wisdom is widely recognized as a precious good. In recent times, efforts have been made to incorporate the pursuit of wisdom into schools through Philosophy for Children (P4C) and Contemplative Education programming. However, such initiatives to reform education have missed their mark in various ways. Modern scholarship has struggled to come to terms with the meaning of wisdom and its significance in the field of education. This thesis examines the importance of pursuing wisdom in schools by turning to ancient and medieval sources for clarification concerning the nature of wisdom. I argue that our current emphasis on the development of rigorous critical-analytic thinking skills, on assessment, and accountability in education have negatively impacted the ability of schools to foster an environment in which both students and teachers might pursue wisdom. I therefore recommend not evermore aggressive work and efficiency in education for the purpose of ensuring our global competitiveness, but rather the institutional promotion of periods of leisure or schole in the school day in which students and teachers might begin to learn what it means to pursue wisdom as the ancients did: namely, as the practice of “immortalizing” and as “the art of dying."
Description
Bibliography: p. 393-418
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Citation
Steel, S. (2011). The Pursuit of Wisdom in Education (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/14876
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