WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.560 This is The Reading Instruction Show. I am your 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:07.860 host, Dr. Andy Johnson. Topic of today's podcast 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:13.359 is called Metaphysical Perspectives. In his book, 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:18.480 Global Mind Change, Willis Harmon describes three 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:23.199 views of reality which he calls Metaphysical 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:28.300 Perspectives. Metaphysical here refers to ontology 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:31.699 or the question of the origins of the universe 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:37.179 and the nature of reality. These perspectives, 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:41.420 these three perspectives, are materialistic monism, 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:46.079 dualism, and transcendental monism. And we'll 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.920 look at each one. First, materialistic monism. 00:00:50.509 --> 00:00:54.530 The materialistic monism perspective views the 00:00:54.530 --> 00:00:58.509 universe as being made up of only matter and 00:00:58.509 --> 00:01:03.009 energy. Consciousness is something that arises 00:01:03.009 --> 00:01:09.049 out of matter. That is, our sense of self is 00:01:09.049 --> 00:01:12.590 solely an end product of neurological activity, 00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:17.189 which in turn is an end product of millions of 00:01:17.189 --> 00:01:21.950 years of evolution. Again, our sense of self 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:25.870 is solely an end product of neurological activity, 00:01:26.189 --> 00:01:29.950 which in turn is an end product of millions of 00:01:29.950 --> 00:01:36.129 years of evolution. All things in this purely 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:40.430 materialistic universe consist of the sum of 00:01:40.430 --> 00:01:44.530 their parts and can only be understood by breaking 00:01:44.530 --> 00:01:48.950 them down into their most basic components, and 00:01:48.950 --> 00:01:52.689 measuring that which is observed and experienced. 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:58.650 Newtonian law of cause and effect governs all 00:01:58.650 --> 00:02:03.609 events and can be used to know, predict, and 00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:09.530 ultimately control all things. Positivism, a 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:12.389 philosophy consistent with this view, states 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:17.270 that knowledge exists outside the individual. 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:23.259 Truth can only be derived through objective observations, 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.699 which are proven through reliable tests and predictions. 00:02:28.979 --> 00:02:33.740 It's only by collecting empirical data, isolating 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:39.060 variables, testing and retesting, that we obtain 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:45.659 truth or say that a thing exists or is so. Quantitative 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:49.479 research methodologies are used to piece together 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.439 small bits of knowledge in order to understand 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:58.419 the world in which we live. The type of thinking 00:02:58.419 --> 00:03:02.080 valued here is deductive thinking, or thinking 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:07.580 in lines. From this perspective, learning consists 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:10.900 of receiving knowledge from outside the individual, 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:15.400 which must then be demonstrated outwardly for 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:19.500 it to have occurred. The purpose of schools then 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:23.180 is to supply students with a designated body 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:27.280 of knowledge and skills in a predetermined order. 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.620 Teaching from this perspective is a matter of 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:35.080 transmitting knowledge from point A, the teacher's 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:40.030 head, to point B, students' heads. An academic 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:43.610 achievement is students' ability to demonstrate 00:03:43.610 --> 00:03:47.969 or retransmit this designated body of knowledge 00:03:47.969 --> 00:03:51.889 back to the teacher or point A, or some other 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:57.030 measuring agency or entity. Quantitative psychometric 00:03:57.030 --> 00:04:01.289 methods are used exclusively to determine and 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:05.949 describe intelligence, achievement, and learning. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:11.620 The second perspective is dualism. The dualistic 00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:15.199 perspective views the universe as comprising 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:19.899 two distinctly different kinds of stuff. Matter 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:27.060 and energy, as well as consciousness. Here, consciousness 00:04:27.060 --> 00:04:32.120 exists separately from matter. From this perspective, 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:36.259 matter and energy are studied using the traditional 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:41.379 tools of science described earlier, and consciousness, 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:45.160 which is people's subjective interpretation of 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:49.139 the outer phenomenal world, is studied using 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:53.379 observation, descriptions, ethnographies, and 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:58.660 interviews. Consciousness also pertains to the 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:01.600 subjective interpretation of one's inner world 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.720 of feelings, memories, and impressions. These 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:10.300 are studied using interviews, gestalt, inner 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:15.620 exploration, dream analysis, and art. Some will 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:19.339 posit that consciousness also includes super 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:24.500 -consciousness or spirituality. Constructivism 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.959 is an educational philosophy consistent with 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:33.519 this view. Here, true knowledge is seen as personally 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:38.300 constructed by individuals as they interact with 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:43.339 the environment. Truth requires a valued judgment 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:47.980 and is different for each individual. We construct 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:51.560 our truths by observing and combining events 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.339 in the outer objective world with images and 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:58.660 impressions occurring in the subjective inner 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:03.180 world. Both quantitative and qualitative research 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:06.660 methodologies are used here, but qualitative 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:10.720 research using inductive thinking is more reflective 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:16.079 of this metaphysical perspective. Inductive thinking 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.459 can be thought of as thinking in circles. It's 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:26.139 the process of inducing order on a field. From 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:29.180 this perspective, learning is an interactivity 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:32.959 that uses both objective and subjective knowledge 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.480 to constantly build and revise our cognitive 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:43.620 webs. Learning then becomes a transaction between 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:49.589 the learner and what is to be learned. The purpose 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:53.189 of schools is to help students construct knowledge 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:57.430 and develop the skills they will need to successfully 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:03.069 live in their worlds. Teaching is a matter of 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:05.810 creating conditions whereby students are able 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:11.019 to transact with knowledge. Academic achievement 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:14.220 from this perspective is seen as students' ability 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:17.759 to use their knowledge and skills to solve real 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.839 -world problems or to create products or performances 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:26.079 that are valued in one or more cultural settings. 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.699 And this reflects Howard Gardner's definition 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:34.779 of intelligence. And it complements Robert Steinberg's 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:38.720 concept of intelligence as using creative analytical 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:42.259 and pragmatic thinking to adapt to or shape the 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:48.120 world in which we live. The third one is Transcendental 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:52.540 Monism. Transcendental Monism describes a universe 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:56.600 in which the basic essence is consciousness. 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:02.339 Here, consciousness is primary and matter and 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:08.040 energy materialize from this. From this perspective, 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:14.339 ultimate reality is not found solely in the physical 00:08:14.339 --> 00:08:19.100 or phenomenal world as we know it, rather it 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:23.779 lies in a dimension or dimensions beyond the 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:27.740 physical, which is hollow movement or the ground 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:34.419 of all there is. Quantum physics describes such 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:37.820 a reality in which all things in the physical 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:42.320 universe are connected at the quantum level. 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.759 Physicist David Bohm said that the universe can 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:52.480 be understood only if the unbroken wholeness 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:56.879 is perceived in a way that does not reduce things 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:02.220 to a series of individual entities. At the quantum 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:07.259 level, there is no fragmentation, only parts 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:10.539 that are interconnected with greater systems 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:14.940 and greater holes. The things that we encounter 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:18.360 in our phenomenal world, what's called explicate 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:23.159 reality, are merely an unfolding of a deeper 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:27.840 reality, implicit or implicate reality, which 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:34.509 is beyond our senses. It is consciousness, a 00:09:34.509 --> 00:09:39.470 very subtle form of energy that creates movement 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:43.129 from implicate order to explicate order of our 00:09:43.129 --> 00:09:49.190 physical world. Thus, consciousness is the cause 00:09:49.190 --> 00:09:55.570 and physical phenomena are the effect. A helpful 00:09:55.570 --> 00:09:59.009 analogy can be found in music and the images 00:09:59.009 --> 00:10:02.480 created in the heads of the listeners as they 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.539 engage in the act of consciously attending to 00:10:06.539 --> 00:10:10.840 the music. The music can be thought of as hollow 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:15.679 movement or implicate reality. As the consciousness 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.440 of the human listener interacts with the music, 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:25.460 various mental images are created. These mental 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:29.299 images which do not exist in the absence of a 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:34.039 conscious listener are analogous to explicate 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:39.460 reality. In this sense, phenomenal reality does 00:10:39.460 --> 00:10:45.500 not exist in the absence of an observer. This 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:48.940 reflects the Copenhagen interpretation, which 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:52.870 posits that if a tree falls in a forest, and 00:10:52.870 --> 00:10:55.990 no one is there to hear it, not only does it 00:10:55.990 --> 00:10:59.370 not make a sound, but the tree does not exist 00:10:59.370 --> 00:11:05.149 in the first place. Holism, a thesis consistent 00:11:05.149 --> 00:11:07.850 with this perspective, states that the universe 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:11.669 is made up of integrated wholes that cannot be 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:16.169 reduced to the sum of their parts. We can never 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:20.840 come to know We can never come to know the whole 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:25.100 of reality by isolating variables in order to 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:30.480 examine small parts. Instead, the whole is best 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:34.860 understood by examining the principles that govern 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:40.379 behavior within the system. Both quantitative 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:43.759 and qualitative methodologies are used here. 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:48.850 However, they must always be combined with a 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:52.269 greater perspective in the form of transcendental 00:11:52.269 --> 00:11:58.389 methodology in order to approach truth. Transcendental 00:11:58.389 --> 00:12:02.169 methodologies are those activities that allow 00:12:02.169 --> 00:12:06.830 an individual to move beyond personal consciousness, 00:12:07.509 --> 00:12:12.450 emotion, will, and logic, to approach universal 00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:17.210 consciousness and include meditation, systematic 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.690 contemplation, vision questing, the arts, journal 00:12:20.690 --> 00:12:24.149 writing, poetry, creative writing, personal narratives, 00:12:24.710 --> 00:12:27.789 stories, religious traditions, spirituality, 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:32.950 sacred writing, deep silence, sensory deprivation, 00:12:33.389 --> 00:12:38.289 ritual, chanting. These can all be used as a 00:12:38.289 --> 00:12:42.850 way of seeing and re -presenting or representing 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:47.559 reality. From this metaphysical perspective, 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.720 all types of thinking are valued, although deep 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:57.179 reflection, intuition, and associative thinking 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:03.940 are used to provide the ultimate context. Holistic 00:13:03.940 --> 00:13:09.379 education is based on theories of wholism. It's 00:13:09.379 --> 00:13:12.320 constructed around the principle of interconnectedness 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.700 and seeks to integrate multiple levels of meaning 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:20.059 and experience. Making connections is central 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:24.419 to the curriculum process here. These connections 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:28.320 occur between concepts, subject areas, communities, 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:32.980 cultures, humanity, the arts, the sciences, mythology, 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:38.769 religion, ecological systems, and history. True 00:13:38.769 --> 00:13:42.730 knowledge is seen as ultimately residing within 00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:48.049 each individual. Thus, teachers strive to create 00:13:48.049 --> 00:13:52.549 experiences whereby students are able to encounter 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:57.669 phenomena, both internal and external, so that 00:13:57.669 --> 00:14:03.429 this knowledge can be realized. To learn, one 00:14:03.429 --> 00:14:07.610 must transcend one's cultural bias, values, ego, 00:14:07.769 --> 00:14:12.690 past experience and sense of self in order to 00:14:12.690 --> 00:14:19.370 see things as they really are. Learning is said 00:14:19.370 --> 00:14:24.370 to have occurred when this view elicits a transformation 00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:27.870 of consciousness that leads to a greater nurturing 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:33.730 of self, others, and the environment. From this 00:14:33.730 --> 00:14:38.299 perspective, A school's fundamental purpose is 00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:42.379 the creation of better human beings, which occurs 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:46.879 through self -actualization and self -transentance. 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:50.460 This has been The Reading Instruction Show. I'm 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:51.879 your host, Dr. Andy Johnson.