Assignment No. 3

Step 1 We start off today with my second lecture on applying anxiety… which will also be used directly as an assignment on performance anxiety in any classroom regardless of the subject matter, i.e., math, science, music, art, geography etc. I hope you will enjoy it. Some of it will be familiar to you as I refer once again to the chapter on anxiety in The Artist in Crisis. Take your time reading it but do start right away!

Step 2 Write a 500 word minimum – 1000 words maximum – reflection on how you would apply my lecture to your teaching. I realize that not all my students are teachers or prospective teachers. It is commonly but erroneously believed that prostitution is the oldest profession. A moment of quality thinking will reveal very quickly that teaching has that great honour and certainly not the sex trade. We are all potentially teachers whether we like it or not! If you will be a parent someday you will also have to be a teacher and hopefully a good one for the sake of your current or future children. And even if you do not plan to have children, you will still have to be a teacher sooner or later in your future or current workplace. No one escapes teaching!

Step 3 Write a 500 words minimum – 1000 words maximum – reflection on Platos Book 3 of his Republic. By reflection I mean what is the most important idea in this reading and how would you apply it to your teaching?

Step 4 Read Tasos Kazepides book entitled Education as Dialogue: Its prerequisites and its enemies: Chapter 3. Write 500 words minimum – 1000 words maximum – reflection on this second reading. By reflection I mean what did you find most interesting and/or significant about the reading. It would also be a good idea to review the pages before chapter 1 to better your orientation and understanding of the reading

Out line:

Plato, Republic Book 3 Reflection

In Book 3, Plato shows that education is fundamentally about shaping character and the soul, not merely transmitting knowledge.

Simple Outline (5 paragraphs)

1. Introduction What Book 3 is about

• Transition from justice to education and upbringing
• Focus on education of guardians
• State what you see as the most important idea

2. The most important idea in Book 3

• Education shapes the soul before reason is fully developed
• Importance of stories, music, and poetry
• Why early education matters morally

3. Moral formation and control of content

• Censorship of harmful stories
• Fear, courage, moderation, and role models
• Education as value formation, not neutral learning

4. Application to teaching (most important paragraph)

• Teachers always shape values, intentionally or not
• What kinds of narratives students encounter today
• Responsibility of teachers in moral education

5. Conclusion / reflection

• Why Book 3 still matters for education today
• Education as character formation
• Implications for your own teaching approach

Kazepides, Education as Dialogue Chapter 3 Reflection

(5001000 words)

In Chapter 3, Kazepides argues that dialogue in education requires intellectual responsibility and cannot survive where manipulation or indoctrination dominates.

Simple Outline (5 paragraphs)

1. Introduction What Chapter 3 focuses on

• Brief orientation of the chapter
• Dialogue and responsibility for meaning
• State what you found most significant

2. Key idea you found most interesting

• Dialogue vs indoctrination
• Manipulation disguised as teaching
• Responsibility to reasons, not authority

3. Dialogue and intellectual honesty

• Role of truth-seeking in education
• Dangers of persuasion without understanding
• Teachers ethical responsibility

4. Connection to teaching practice (most important paragraph)

• How easily dialogue is replaced by control
• Curriculum pressure, ideology, and authority
• Creating space for genuine dialogue in classrooms

5. Conclusion / reflection

• Dialogue as an ethical stance
• Limits of dialogue in real education
• What kind of teacher you hope to become