The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical theory of Horkheimer and P4C program in order to present a program for incorporating critical thinking in social studies curriculum. The main question of the study concerns the... more
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical theory of Horkheimer and P4C program in order to present a program for incorporating critical thinking in social studies curriculum. The main question of the study concerns the important capacities of the two approaches for incorporating critical thinking in social studies curriculum. Using a mixedmethods desgin, the foundations and principles of the curriculum were formulated, and then through the application of deductive methodology the major themes were identified and presented. The results of the study illustrated that deduction of foundations rest on four aspects called ontology, anthropology, epistemology and axiology taking into account the the afore-mentioned theoretical approaches and the hard core is P4C program. In this paper was argued that the goals of the curriculum originate from the goals underlying the two approaches which include the following: educating activist citizen, educating personal and social responsibility morale, attaining the ability for establishing true social relationships, develping the ability of conscious and logical criticism of social acts, developing the ability of judging the aims and functions of social institutes, and developing comprehensive thinking orientations in idenfigying social problems. Also, the following seven essential themes in the curriculum were presented: recognition of basic social concepts, awareness of the reason why these concept should be explicit, getting to know effective social institutes, identification of effective social factors, recognition of natural and unnatural factors influencing the destiny of society, getting to know criteria and their functions, and distinguishing between personal and social aims.
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The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning of mathematical analysis based on the integration of philosophical analysis and neurocognitive findings. For this purpose, learning mathematical analysis, as one of the aspects... more
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning of mathematical analysis based on the integration of philosophical analysis and neurocognitive findings. For this purpose, learning mathematical analysis, as one of the aspects of mathematical thinking, has been studied using learning numerical symbols in children based on the neurophilosophical method. To that end, three observational propositions have been deduced from cognitive neuroscience findings on symbolic mathematics: symbolic learning of numbers changes children's brains; the processing of symbolic numbers and nonsymbolic numbers are heterogeneous and there is a vague, bidirectional connection between them; the symbolic knowledge of numbers plays an important role in the future development of children in higher-level mathematics. Then, based on these three propositions, an attempt has been made to examine the philosophical questions of the research and the challenges related to them. In this paper, we argue that combining symbolic numbers learning with the knowledge of how numerical symbols are created and encouraging children to make consistent connections between numerical symbols and their mental meaning and verbal expression can provide the necessary grounds for the enrichment of metacognitive abilities such as error detection. However, it is necessary to consider challenges such as how children become acquainted with the theory of evolution taking into account cultural issues, the type of strategies needed to improve the relationship between semantic and symbolic understanding of numbers in children, and the level of emphasis on problem-solving processes (which also requires symbol-based analysis) in mathematics' education in Iran to improve children's thinking abilities.
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In this study, Thomas Nigel's view of Panpsychism is examined to determine whether this approach is a more appropriate basis for the neuroeducation approach than the physicalist approaches. For this purpose, descriptive-analytical... more
In this study, Thomas Nigel's view of Panpsychism is examined to determine whether this approach is a more appropriate basis for the neuroeducation approach than the physicalist approaches. For this purpose, descriptive-analytical research method has been used. The physical basis of the Neuroeducation approach, instead of solving the problem of the relationship between mind and body and also explaining mental states, by adopting eliminatory and reductionist views and eliminating the problem without considering the phenomenal and first-person characteristics of the mind (by eliminating or reducing the apparent consciousness to events and brain processes) looks at mental states from an objective and third person perspective. Nigel considers the external/objective conception of the world incomplete and presupposes "Panpsychism" in order to fill the explanatory gap of mind and body, and to explain the origin of consciousness and intellect. Nigel's Panpsychism approach, compared to the physicalist approaches, is more appropriate for the general field of education, and especially for the special field of teaching-learning in terms of paying attention to the totality of human existence and the intertwined nature of mentality and objectivity. However, since Nigel's Panpsychism has not adequately explained the problem of composition, it can not be a flawless solution in explaining mental causation and consciousness. As a result, the relationship between mind and body still remains a problem to solve.
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One of the significant concepts in the educational area is the concept of the "gifted" or "talented". This concept has been the concern of the educational intellectuals and in the 20th century has become a main stream in the psychology.... more
One of the significant concepts in the educational area is the concept of the "gifted" or "talented". This concept has been the concern of the educational intellectuals and in the 20th century has become a main stream in the psychology. Owing to developmental concerns, in some developing countries like Iran this concept has been noteworthy and many gifted policies have been planned and put into action. Using analytic approach, in this paper, we examine this concept from a philosophical-educational view and evaluate its practical challenges. Next we propose some turns in the gifted students policies (gifted casting and developing) by applying inferential approach and tacit deduction. There are four theoretical challenges like ambiguity of the concept of superiority, challenge in the concepts of value and usefulness, the concept of potentiality as an instrument of domination in the educational system and the potentiality as an stemming from the narcissism of the modern man. On the other hand, in the practical domain, some dichotomies like inherent/acquired, potential/actual, and instantaneous/gradual challenge educational judgments about students' potentiality. Due to these theoretical and practical challenges, the utility and usefulness of the present policies have come under question. At the end we proposed five turns in potentiality policies.