"Teaching Philosophy for the Graduate Classroom"
Dene Grigar
Texas Woman's University

Personal Philosophy of Education: Organicism and Its Practical Application to the Graduate Classroom       I. The Philosophy of Organicism  Knowledge is organic; the "body" of it grows, and this growth creates change. Thus, it is not finite, it is not final, for while we may view it in some particular point in time as a static entity, over time it will not appear so. This essence of knowledge, what we may call Organicism, has ontological, epistemological, and teleological implications for education, as well as embodies an ethos for knowing. Ontology. Organicism implies concomitant states of being and becoming, of statis and evolution. Knowledge isn't simply an "is" but also a "becoming": The very essence of the word, the origin of the concept of "knowledge" (Greek> gno-) implies both "a thought" *and* an interpretation or judgment about that thought. Thus, while facts, viewpoints, and opinions certainly exist within a tradition (or exist in a state of being, an "is"), they also exist in a state of "becoming" because facts are shaped, views enlarged, opinions broadened in the knowing process. While scholarship may begin in a state of being, we must recognize (again the Greek root gno-) its potentiality for becoming---that is, for finding what may be changed or new in the knowledge that we seek. Epistemology. Organicism implies movement. Because the body of knowledge is infinite and ever-changing, it is far easier to perceive knowledge as fixed, static entities--or what we may refer to as "iterations" of knowledge--in fixed, static points of time-- *rather than* as an organic whole over a course of time. But if we consider that each iteration represents a point on a continuum and that "moving" across the continuum allows each of us to gain a larger perspective of, perhaps, multiple iterations of knowledge, then we can see that the process of learning and knowing can be likened to a journey, a movement from place to place on the continuum of knowledge. Thus, we learn by doing, or undertaking the journey so that we can seek and come to know various iterations of knowledge. Teleology. Organicism implies the pursuit of wisdom. The immensity and the open-endedness of the continuum suggests in order to gain knowledge, we do not journey *to* some end point of knowledge, but journey *through* multiple iterations of it. Journeying through the vast points (or space) on the knowledge continuum and through long periods of time never results in omniscience, since knowledge is always in a state of perpetual change, but it provides a larger perspective of it, a perspective we may refer to as wisdom. Thus, the end goal of the pursuit to know knowledge is to know wisdom. Ethos. Organicism requires participation and collaboration. The vastness and evolving nature of knowledge suggest that in order for humankind to know knowledge and wisdom, the journey must be undertaken by a large number of learners over an indefinite period of time, *and* that all who journey for knowledge and wisdom must share with others their particular perspectives of the particular iterations that they learn. Thus, the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom cannot simply be viewed as the undertaking of a sole individual but the participation and collaboration of many, many learners who undertake the journey whose duty it is is to share what they know with others.   II. Practical Application of Organicism in the Graduate Classroom As we study and learn the tradition and conventions of a field or body of knowledge, we keep at the forefront of our minds that new information is shaping, new ideas are enlarging, and new views are changing both the tradition and the conventions of that field or that body of knowledge. Thus, when we study and learn a field or a body of knowledge, we are really talking about numerous traditions and changing conventions. We come to know a field and its texts by engaging ourselves, by *doing* something both physical and intellectual (reading, writing, speaking, thinking, listening), and we come to know a particular subject by taking control of our classroom experience. The particular books, articles, and other resources assigned for a course are only the starting point of exploration into a field and subject. And because no one person can know all there is to know about a field, we approach the field and subject matter as a community of learners. In this community the teacher acts as guide, helping students to know what it is students define as *needing* to know to undertake their own particular part of the journey. As a mentor to students, the teacher provides the groundwork for the subject matter and opportunities for students to expand the information and knowledge into areas students are interested in pursuing. Students, on the other hand, learn to become part of the larger community of scholars and participate in the knowledge-making of a field by coming to class prepared with questions relating to the material and their own areas of interest and by risking their ideas to a larger audience outside the classroom. The end goal of the course is not a "grade" but an understanding of the field, where students fit into the field, and how the field contributes to a larger body of knowledge and to the world. Learners are not those who memorize facts and cite texts but who understand what those facts and those texts mean within a larger framework. Because we are a *community* of learners working within a particular field and looking at a particular subject within that field rather than numerous isolated individuals looking at disparate and disconnected bits of information, we share our knowledge and collaborate with one another. We learn who our colleagues are and what areas they are all pursuing, so that if one of us comes across an article or information relevant to another learner in the community, we give it to her. If we see someone struggling with a problem or a technology tool, we reach out and help her. This approach does not mean we do the work for our colleagues but that we provide them with assistance and leadership. Working together as a group contributes to a successful journey for all learners. And successful journeys result in a better understanding of the world around us.

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