known rather than socially constructed. We recognize that we think about the things that are in the
world. And as Socrates points out, some of those things we think about are not sensible objects,
rather they are perceivable only by the mind. But the thinking of these objects did not bring those
objects into being, and the availability of these objects for thought, while it may have stimulated our
thinking right now, did not bring our capacity to think into being. Or as Schall pithily remarks,“We
find intelligibility in the universe; we do not put it there.”^49 There was, so Socrates maintained,
sufficient evidence of such self-existing truth and being for the thoughtful and reflective person to
take this perspective as a guiding principle of their life.
Between these alternative“methods”–Dewey’s and Socrates’–the decision to try as best we can
to embrace Socrates’“erotic skepticism,”as it has sometimes been called, is more productive and
more compatible with our responsibilities as political science professors entrusted with the dual
purposes of liberally educating our pupils and educating them for their regime, recognizing our
situation for what it is (and what it must be for every teacher): that we inhabit a less than ideal
regime, though the one which, if it is decent and permits freedom of inquiry and the rule of law,
deserves our principled support more than it need us to dissolve its roots using eristic sophistry or to
replace it with misplaced hopes for a socially constructed utopia.
Notes
1 Ernest L. Boyer,“Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate,”Special Report for the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching(Jossey-Bass, 1997).
2 Faculty teaching and learning centers (TLCs) often offer a variety of classroom teaching supports for
faculties, including curriculum design and classroom organization strategies. Some of these are basic,
practical, and useful, such as reminders to be clear with students about classroom expectations and grading
scales. A consistent refrain of TLCs is the promotion of“active learning,”or“experiential learning”–
pedagogies associated with John Dewey’s theories–and the downplaying of traditional teaching methods.
For example, the LEAP Institute at the University of Wisconsin promotes“philosophies that are hallmarks
of learner-centered instruction”(https://teachingacademy.wisc.edu/i-leap-2/); The University of South
Florida’s Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence encourages“problem-based learning, pro-
ject-based learning, team-based learning, and inquiry methods of instruction.”These“:::can be thought
of as mirror images of traditional instruction.”(www.usf.edu/atle/teaching/teaching-methods.aspx).
Among the principles listed by Carleton University which ought to guide faculty teaching are the follow-
ing: education should be“learner-centered,”“experiential, active and collaborative,”and“innovative.”
The University of North Carolina, Charlotte has an Active Learning Academy associated with its Center
for Teaching and Learning. The Academy’s goals are to promote“active learning”which“can be under-
stood as instructional activities involving students‘doing’and‘thinking’about what they are doing.”
These are just a few examples which could be easily multiplied. The point being that university TLCs by
and large promote Dewey’s key concepts of“experiential learning,”“active learning,”or“discovery-
learning,”and these same phrases have migrated to campuses from K-12 curriculum development, where
they have been deployed since at least the early 1950s.
3 Steven Olusegun Bada,“Constructivism Learning Theory: A Paradigm for Teaching and Learning,”IOSR
Journal of Research & Method in Education5/6 (2015): 66. The“constructivist view of learning considers
the learner as an active agent in the process of knowledge acquisition. Constructivist conceptions of
learning have their historical roots in the work of Dewey (1929), Bruner (1961), Vygotsky (1962), and
Piaget (1980).”
4 In a talk entitled“OnSchools in Need of Re-Education,”(TVOntario, June 21, 2013), education con-
sultant Michael Fullan claims that kids in school need to be“engaged”and“they won’t stand to be bored
any longer.”Fullan also expressed his hope that“impatient”students will pressure faculties to change their
teaching methods. He likens his approach to Machiavelli’s introduction of“new modes and orders.”Hence
one of the stated objectives of progressive, public education reform is to change the university. Fullan’s
website indicates he is currently helping the state of California change its education system“across the
entire system and at all of its levels”(http://michaelfullan.ca/).
5 K. Ananiadou and M. Claro,“21st Century Skills and Competences for New Millennium Learners in
OECD Countries,”OECD Education Working Papers, No. 41, OECD Publishing (2009), 5. The
majority of the 17 countries surveyed by the OECD responded positively when asked if they have90 David W. Livingstone