Exam 1: Learning

Because things now are so much more uniform, we should recognize and promote this uniformity by socializing students in our schools.

This passage is an allegory because things within it are metaphors for other things. What interpretation(s) can you give to the allegory of the cave? How would you justify your interpretation(s)?

Foucault speaks of two levels of power in order to emphasize one over the other. Describe these two levels and provide examples of what you think Foucault might have in mind.

The university is a place sheltered from the circumstances around us where we can learn excellence.

We are all models for the education of others, according to Snyder's poem.

The person who leaves the cave has a transformation that changes that person's relationships with other people. What other examples can you think of where an educational experience changes a person's relationships with others?

Which of the following is a key concept for Foucault?

In what terms should we think of the political problems of intellectuals?

In what sense does Oakeshott use the term "liberal"?

How would Krishnamurti respond to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" (Reading 1)? Do you think he would agree with Plato? Why or why not?

Foucault says that the problem of the intellectual is to __________.

Oakeshott says one role of education is to free us from the boundaries of our specific time and place.

If a student and professor were both to approach a course from the perspective of engaged learning, what attitudes and questions do you think that each would have to bring to the conversation? Would they have to agree in their political positions?

The handle in Snyder's poem is symbolic of

Why does Hooks see engaged pedagogy as a form of political activism? Support your answer by citing specific things that she says in the reading. Do you think that this kind of political activism is appropriate? To what extent is political activism appropriate in the classroom? For example, what if a professor had a deeply held belief that she could support with good reasons and solid data that showed that women students are better able to engage in critical thinking in a women-only classroom, and she therefore limited enrollment to women? Or what about a professor who gives students lower grades if their work reflects disagreement with his political positions but argues that this is justified because those students haven't fully grasped the facts?

Contrast Krishnamurti and Oakeshott on the importance of understanding and becoming a part of contemporary culture?

Krishnamurti thinks that we should __________.

What does Plato say would be the probable first reaction of someone freed from the cave and shown the light?

Are there any points on which you agree with Krishnamurti? If not, why not? If so, do you think that he would challenge you to make changes in your life? What are they? Would you make them?

For Hooks, engaged pedagogy can lead to a student being deeply challenged, unsettled, and changed. Do you agree that this is a goal of a college course? Have you ever had such an experience? If so, what were the conditions that made it possible? Did everyone involved strive to be neutral? Open-minded? Thinking critically? Is neutrality or objectivity a worthwhile goal in the classroom? To what extent? Why?