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The Analogy Episode 

Poem: “Shine” by Robinson Jeffers 

Statement of the Whole: Out of the darkness and shadows of the past, a clear voice can still be heard speaking about education.  That voice is Socrates, through the dialogues of Plato.  In this three part series, Steve and Jason play with shadow puppets, stare into the Sun, and generally mess around in the beautiful analogies Plato has given us concerning Truth in his Republic.  This first part simply introduces the fun. 

Quote: “In every man there is an eye of the soul, which…is more precious far than ten thousand bodily eyes, for by it alone is truth seen.” The Republic, Book VII 

1. What is the Republic? 
   1. A dialogue on Justice and how one might found a Just City. 
   2. In the middle, it presents the reader with three analogies concerning how truth is discovered. 
2. What does it say about education? 
   1. At the heart of good government, ie. a just society, is an education in virtue and wisdom 
   2. Education is about a search for truth, and that the student might love the truth, not use it for power 
   3. By teaching us through analogies, Plato demonstrates the analogous nature of good teaching 
3. What are the three analogies? 
   1. The Sun 
   2. The Divided Line 
   3. The Cave 

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The “Tongue in Cheek” Episode

Statement of the Whole: With our society rejoicing in that which is extraordinary, we offer numerous suggestions to the classroom teacher on how to “be the worst teacher ever.”  Only by faithfully pursuing these characteristics will a teacher someday here those wonderful words, “You were the worst teacher I ever had.” 

One characteristic of really terrible teaching is to eschew all forms of form, including outlines.  These only make things confusing by making them so clear.  So we refuse to offer an outline of this episode. 

Books these days seem focused on helping teachers become better teachers, not the worst teacher ever.  So we don’t have much in the way of resources to offer.  But here is one work that you might find interesting after listening to this episode: 

• Fires in the Bathroom, by Kathleen Cushman