Philosophy isn’t just about studying the life around us and reasoning about it, it’s also about understanding it. When you see the world around you it’s the study of using reason for explanations to your best possible extent as well as training your ethical capabilities.
There’s already an elective at Woodbridge High School regarding Philosophy, so why couldn’t there be one for Woodbridge Middle School? I questioned multiple people in WMS such as teachers like Mr. Malmstrom (a Philosophy minor), Mrs. Douglas, a language arts teacher (Philosophy’s related to English), and a student who loves history, Bishoy.
Philosophy is a key factor for life and development. As WMS student, Bishoy, stated, “I think the number one weapon in the entire universe is not any gun or spear, it’s your mind.” This emphasizes the fact that even though many underestimate philosophy, it’s an important aspect for life and understanding the world around us. It helps us people assess things clearly, as a mind is often sharper than any weapon.
Even if one has the advantage tool-wise the other can use their mind and wisdom to use that against the other person or counteract it. Furthermore, Mr. Malmstrom also stated that philosophy “helped people figure out who they are,” which is true on many levels of thinking and understanding.
Moreover, philosophy can also aid in school and its subjects. Philosophy also helps people think about their school work and the best way to make oneself a more enlightened individual. As Mr. Malmstrom explained, “It gets overlooked, and it actually gets woven into all the subjects that we teach and we learn in school. Students would benefit from learning what it is.” Overall, philosophy ties in with history because after learning about all these historical figures such as Julius Caesar and others, we can analyze their character, motives, and ethical capabilities.
When it comes to English Language Arts (ELA), we examine poems and poets to think about the deeper meaning of their language. There’s many more examples throughout the school day where you learn different common subjects. Yet, even whilst Philosophy is tied in with other things, there’s no elective for it.
Philosophy does not just help students, but teachers too. Teachers need to reflect, question, and think about their core lesson plans and if it aligns with their students, which make learning more engaging. As Mrs. Douglas illustrated, “I think even being a teacher, sometimes we look deep into what our own philosophies are. As an educator, you need to come up with a philosophy of education.”
Mrs. Douglas also pointed out that although teachers should have a philosophy of education, they cannot “know what’s going on in every person’s life.” This shows that teachers should have an idea of philosophy so they can relate to their students and remain as non-biased as possible.
To conclude, Philosophy plays a massive role in our daily lives even if we know about it or not. It also plays a huge role in subjects in school such as ELA, History, and a little bit of Math. Almost everyone is affected by it and has to face different parts of philosophy such as ethics or logic.
Once more, Woodbridge High School already has an elective regarding philosophy. Therefore, we should make an effort to include this minor subject with major pros into our curriculum for WMS as an elective too.
