I am a freshman in college, and I am studying liberal studies to become an elementary school teacher. Do you think that to be a good elementary school teacher, philosophy is an important subject to study?

Do you believe in the socratic method in the teaching of children?

As a teacher I am concerned about the aftermath of the killings at Virginia Tech. Many have said that we teachers should be responsible for monitoring the content of our students' writing assignments, and that we should notify the authorities if we identify any particular student as repeatedly making statements that are disturbing, violent, or indicating mental illness. How would a philosopher approach this topic? What are the ethical issues involved in monitoring students' thoughts via their personal writing, which is handed in for course credit?

I am a philosophy student and I have noticed that there are some days (rarely) in which I simply can not absorb. A lot of times I will work extra hard to concentrate but find that it is simply useless and a waste of times. Is it necessary to take breaks from intellectual work? I always just assumed the mind could handle whatever you could feed it, is this false? Are there things in which I can do to improve my concentration and productivity in situations like this? Or do I just need to slow down? Thanks, Josh

I am a starting my second year as an eleventh and twelfth grade global history teacher in the South Bronx this fall. In the spring I suggested that our school offer a philosophy course to some of our strong seniors and was told it would not fit into our curriculum. Much to my delight I was informed yesterday that I will be teaching the course. The only problem is that I am overwhelmed with the task of creating a curriculum. My class is set to meet for about an hour a day for a year. In addition to deep and thoughtful philosophical conversations I would also like them to read several original works of philosophy although not in their entirety. I need to be able to take my students to reading and uncovering meaning from the texts, to read and figure out Sartre for themselves. Finding resources to teach with has been very problematic. So often I find philosophy books explain philosophers well but fail to suggest reading Plato. While my students' literacy levels are not at the same level as most...

In case I would like to know more about philosophy of education, but my background is Political Science...which authors you recomend me to start with?

Does anyone know the national average number of Americans that will study philosophy in their lifetimes?

What is the relationship between having charisma and being a good teacher?

It would seem to me that the best introductory college course in philosophy would be one that determines and explores what one's own philosophy is and its origins in history. It also seems to me that a multiple choice test could be created by someone very well versed in philosophy: if each question is answered truthfully, one's philosophy, its historical origins, and a reading list could be had at the end. Is there such a test? Does anybody approach college philosophy in that manner? If not, why not? The typical chronological approach to teaching philosophy belongs with the dinosaurs, in my opinion.

Is teaching religion in public schools morally wrong?