Stephanie's Question

Stephanie's Question: If philosophical discussions are evidentally worthwhile to the student, should a teacher utilize them in their curriculum themselves?

In my opinion, I think a good teacher would incorporate philosophical discussion into his/her classes. A good teacher would see the benefit philosophical discussions were having on the students' learning, and therefore would not hesitate to implement a tool, even if it is not included in the curriculum. The overall goal of (almost) every teacher is to teach their students. In my experience, when students are having difficulty learning the material, many teachers reflect on what they are doing wrong and what they can do to help the kid, rather than what the student is doing wrong. If a teacher knows that discussion is increasing learning, comprehension, understanding, and retension, then he/she would be a fool to ignore the method and probably should not have a teaching license. I think philosophical discussion can easily be incorporated into any subject, and most often, discussion has the added effect of breaking up the monotony of the day and introduces new things to the lesson. Discussion encourages diversity and understanding, and should be a daily part of classroom learning.