Teacher ignorance? Should it be cherished or denied?

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dc.contributor.authorLong, Fiachra
dc.contributor.editorMcDermott, J. Cynthia
dc.contributor.editorValentines, Josef
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-19T13:58:31Z
dc.date.available2019-06-19T13:58:31Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractWhat role does real ignorance play in teaching and learning? As far as learning is concerned, we almost expect to find that real ignorance precedes learning and that this real ignorance disappears once something has been taught. It is a type of zero sum game where ignorance + knowledge describes the full set. The more ignorant you are, the less knowledge you have and vice versa. One might expect that teachers know what pupils come to learn and that once learners have learned what the teachers know, they can move on. Something is wrong with this ‘transmission’ model, however. Teachers too learn things when they teach. They sometimes come to understand what they teach much better than before and they learn how to teach. Indeed learning and teaching is not a static process because learning is an ongoing and lifelong activity. It implies the desire to understand, which Aristotle spoke about, and which is an imperative levied on all, no matter what their age or their level of knowledge. Even established experts learn items they may have overlooked or may only be coming slowly to understand in their attempts to explain them. On the other hand, if we think of learning as a static zero sum game, then we might come to think of teacher ignorance simply as a useful ploy, a clever trick to get learners involved or to raise the standard of engagement of the class group, a method of camouflage which allows them to construct questions that seem to be sincere but end up being only an introductory ploy prior to giving instruction to learners. This issue is identical to the problem of Socratic ignorance. Was Socrates really ignorant or was he simply pretending to be so? Commentators have differed on this point in the past.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationLong, F. (2018) 'Teacher ignorance? Should it be cherished or denied?', in McDermott, J. C. and Valentines, J (ed.) Didactic Challenges. Los Angeles: Antioch University. pp. 7-22.en
dc.identifier.endpage22en
dc.identifier.startpage7en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/8076
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherAntioch Universityen
dc.subjectCollaborative learning movementen
dc.subjectTeachingen
dc.subjectLearningen
dc.subjectLifelong learningen
dc.titleTeacher ignorance? Should it be cherished or denied?en
dc.title.alternativeShould teacher ignorance be cherished or denied? The case for collaborative learningen
dc.typeBook chapteren
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