Descartes’ Hostages: Mind and Observability in Education by Shannon Rodgers B.A. (Hon.), Simon Fraser University, 1994 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Curriculum Theory & Implementation: Philosophy of Education Program Faculty of Education © Shannon Rodgers 2017 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2017 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Shannon Rodgers Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Descartes’ Hostages: Mind and Observability in Education Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Stephen Smith Teaching Professor Dr. Charles Bingham Senior Supervisor Professor ___________________________________________ Dr. Heesoon Bai Supervisor Professor ___________________________________________ Dr. Sean Blenkinsop Supervisor Assistant Professor ___________________________________________ Dr. Allan MacKinnon Internal Examiner Associate Professor ___________________________________________ Dr. Taylor Webb External Examiner Associate Professor Dept. of Educational Studies University of British Columbia ___________________________________________ Date Defended/Approved: June 14th, 2017 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract My purpose in this dissertation is to argue that given the relationship among the concepts of mind, knowledge, education and assessment, educators must pay more attention to our current view of mind. Educators use assessment practices, for example, to reduce complex, abstract concepts such as knowledge, understanding and mind because of a commitment to a particular view of mind. Further, to understand this relationship, mind’s primacy must be acknowledged. As there is significant debate about the idea of mind, examination of this debate must precede discussion of deep, conceptual problems in our learning theories, assessment practices and views of education. The primary concerns I address in this dissertation include: the degree to which a particular view of mind frames the aim(s) of education, particularly framing what knowledge and understanding are and what assessment practices are best; and that any view of mind inherits a problematic history and confused vocabulary. To address these concerns, the analysis includes: • A brief, historical account of mind from philosophy of mind • An examination of how metaphors of mind are used in an attempt to clarify the concept of mind • Thought experiments from philosophy of mind used as entry points to encourage new and deeper dialogue • A summary of informal discussions with teachers about views of mind, knowledge, education and assessment • An examination of the language from British Columbia’s new curriculum to more closely analyze the hold our current view of mind has on education • A discussion of the concepts of invisibility and visibility as they relate to the larger analysis of the mind-knowledge-education-assessment relationship iv Acknowledgements Family matters. Thank you to my entire family for your support and interest throughout this experience. To my mother, in particular, thank you for your unwavering commitment - to my wellbeing in general and to the possibility of this work in particular. Exemplifying for me and nurturing in me a love of dialogue, ideas, and philosophy, along with your own contributions to philosophy of education, help shape this dissertation. Commitment matters. Thank you to my Committee. To Dr. Charles Bingham, thank you for taking a chance, for your support, flexibility, trust, and making this possible. “Was there a teacher here before I entered the room?” Your engaging questions and attention to relation guide my writing, and continue to change my own teaching. To Dr. Heesoon Bai, thank you for introducing me to mindfulness. Your contemplative practices and ideas helped me through those dark hours that anyone who has written a dissertation well knows. These ideas and practices I now share with family, friends, colleagues and students. To Dr. Sean Blenkinsop, thank you for your many hours devoted to reading, re-reading and excellent feedback. Do you sleep? Philosophy matters. To Dr. John Searle of the philosophy department at University of California, Berkeley, thank you for hosting me as a visiting student and for welcoming me into your classes. Your account of the history of philosophy of mind grounds this dissertation. To Jennifer Hudin and the Berkeley Social Ontology Group, thank you for inviting me into this extraordinary reading group and for the opportunity to present the ideas in this dissertation to philosophers of mind. Colleagues matter. Thanks to the many students and colleagues – especially Heinz Senger and the late Mike Kerry - who love philosophy. To Laura, Jason, Emily, Antew, Alma, caroline and especially Eleanora, thank you for welcoming me into your class – my first graduate class. Listening to your interpretations and insights inspired me. To Dr. Rod McKellar, thank you for your guidance, excellent instruction and the opportunity to teach Theory of Knowledge. And to Margaux Molson, thank you for moving the mountains. Because of you, philosophy for all students in the Surrey School District is reality. v Table of Contents Approval ........................................................................................................................................... ii Ethics Statement .............................................................................................................................. iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. ix Epigraph ........................................................................................................................................... x Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Inherited mistakes ................................................................................................. 15 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 15 Some views of mind influential in education ................................................................................. 19 History of philosophy of mind ....................................................................................................... 22 The Mind-Body Problem ............................................................................................................... 24 Materialism .................................................................................................................................... 27 Behaviorism – Mind is Behavior ................................................................................................... 29 Methodological Behaviorism ..................................................................................................... 29 Logical Behaviorism .................................................................................................................. 31 Physicalism and its Family Tree – Mind is Brain .......................................................................... 33 Type-type identity theory ........................................................................................................... 33 Token-token identity theory ....................................................................................................... 34 Rigid designators and Anomolous Monism ........................................................................... 34 Functionalism – Mind is a set of causal relations ...................................................................... 36 Computationalism ...................................................................................................................... 37 Eliminative materialism ......................................................................................................... 38 Brainism, Personalism, Externalism and the Extended View of Mind ...................................... 38 Brainism ................................................................................................................................. 39 Personalism ............................................................................................................................ 40 Extended view of mind .......................................................................................................... 41 Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................... 43 A Mindful Approach? A Buddhist Account of Mind ................................................................ 44 Chapter 2. What it’s like to be a student, what teachers don’t know & the classroom ..... 48 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................