The following is an excerpt from Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues by Rosemary Laoulach. It’s a featured Speakeasy selection, and there are still limited review copies available for qualified reviewers.
Introduction
How do we engage students in the important questions? Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues provides the pedagogical tools of inquiry and philosophy as its main approach. Research has suggested this to be effective in engaging students in deep learning—what is currently termed “meta-cognition.” This exploration is based on the premise that if the right questions are posed within a positive learning environment, students can demonstrate a natural ability to wonder and be inquisitive. A setting that challenges preconceived notions allows for intellectual exploration and creativity. The teacher’s role will not be one of providing answers, but engendering thoughtful discussion; it can be likened to Socrates’ analogy of teaching being a midwife to the truth.
As a resource, Inquiry incorporates a student-centered holistic approach to teaching and learning. The book aims to develop the skills of inquiry and critical thinking, while encouraging the ability to reflect and wonder. Its epistemological analysis explores not only the importance of reason in gaining knowledge, but also emotions, intuitions, and imagination. Although the focus is on developing cognitive skills through inquiry, there is also an affective and experimental component. The discussions on happiness, personal meaning, emotions, therapy, and the importance of listening seek to develop life skills, while promoting a level of student well-being.
The book includes a range of activities such as research, listening tasks, group and individual work, essays, presentations, debates, interviews, conferences, and role-play. The activities within each lesson are structured so that the questions posed provide students with the opportunity to integrate their learning through further reflection questions. Stimulus materials stem from philosophy, religion, theology, and psychology, with the inclusion of suggested research tasks for further exploration.
This book—a contribution to the hard work of those educators who have incorporated an inquiry and philosophical approach to education—allows many common questions students ask related to truth, meaning, and happiness to be addressed. The focus is not on information, but rather acknowledging student questions that naturally emerge while they are engaged in religious and philosophical issues. While not claiming to be definitive or comprehensive, Inquiry moves away from the content-driven comparative religion and sociological approaches, instead raising important questions within the broad disciplines examined. It should be noted that the scope of the book does not fully explore non-Western perspectives in depth, and teachers are encouraged to draw on knowledge and personal experiences—both the students’ and their own—where possible to extend this analysis.
Why is this book useful today?
Assessing definitively whether young people today are in a worse situation than the previous generation is difficult, yet there are signs that perhaps things are not as they could be. Psychoanalyst and philosopher Julia Kristeva writes, in New Maladies of the Soul, about the negative influences of modern society on our psyches. Additionally, Hugh McKay’s sociological analysis points to the alienation of individuals from community life. Research from psychology currently suggests that our young people’s state of the soul is not as it could be, with conditions such as depression and anxiety prevalent in most Western countries.
If these observations are even partially true, then the role of education is even more crucial. In response to these issues, educators must continually think of creative ways to educate the whole person. The approach should lead students to a learning that has personal meaning or internalized knowledge, reflecting what is termed in educational literature as the Bildung aspect of education.7 It is here that the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers becomes relevant; they understood education as not only for developing the mind, but also the soul.
This book may be a useful resource for the following programs
- Religious education programs wanting to either implement an inquiry-based and philosophical approach, or complement existing curriculums.
- The Theory of Knowledge course within the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. The exploration of epistemology, ethics and religion addresses relevant issues and questions within this course. Many IB teachers will be familiar with the inquiry approach embedded throughout the book.
- Gifted and talented programs wanting to provide materials which will stimulate a high level of critical thinking skills.
Why is the study of epistemology important?
Epistemological explorations are crucial in formulating core understandings of nearly all topics, including religion, ethics and science because of its foundational nature. In asking epistemological questions, students are able to examine some of the strongly held assumptions and claims to certainty, allowing them to consider different ways of viewing the world. Epistemological questions are asked throughout the book, prompting an examination of claims and basis of knowing. While there are debates about theories of knowledge within philosophy that extend beyond the scope of this book, it focuses here on exploring general (classical) epistemology and commonly posed questions within the epistemology of religion.
Praise for Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues
“Curiosity is a gift, which young people have in abundance. In many ways, philosophy is the discipline that honors the gift of curiosity by exploring the things that matter, and how we go about exploring. To this end, Rosemary Laoulach has written an introduction to religious education, with clarity and substance, which will encourage young people to think, question, and explore.”
—Steven Ogden, Charles Sturt University, author of The Church, Authority, and Foucault
“In her book titled Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues, Rosemary writes about issues in a way that encourages students to ask questions everyone should ask themselves at some stage in their lives. Being inquisitive and wondering about ideas, building patterns, making connections, and thinking beneath the surface of things is crucial to endeavouring to find answers to life questions. … An engaging and resourceful book that will inspire students to become learners who enjoy asking the big questions and thinking independently.”
—Maria Caristo, St. Luke’s Grammar School
“An Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues is super important to the debate affecting the Western world right now namely the always re-emerging fight between religion and science. This book shows us how not to apply religious epistemological concepts of knowledge to non-religious issues or scientific matters. Instead we are shown how reason and faith can be appropriately applied to critical world views and decisions in real life that create human well-being, not confusion, for others and ourselves.”
—Christopher A. Ulloa Chaves, author Liberal Arts and Sciences: Thinking Critically, Creatively, and Ethically
“A valuable new resource to facilitate critical thinking. Rosemary Laoulach has provided educators with a valuable new resource to facilitate critical thinking in schools. It uses a student-centred, cross-disciplinary approach, drawing in religious, philosophical and psychological perspectives to explore complex questions. Through a variety of activities such as role-play, debate, interview and research, students are encouraged to become more inquisitive and creative thinkers.”
—Laurel Dodson, reviewed in Amazon, August 22, 2020
“A unique text which challenges the reader with engaging activities. This book is a must for teachers and students in Religious Education, the IB programme and Philosophy. It is unique from other texts which focus on factual information as it actually engages students to think about broad topics and challenging questions. It includes an inquiry approach in the classroom which all teachers should incorporate. I particularly liked the chapter “How do we find Meaning and Happiness?”, especially relevant in today’s climate of uncertainty for the future.”
—Hugo Kaag reviewed in Amazon, October 19, 2020
“One of my favorite books recently. . . . A book that teaches you how to think. . . . Rosemary puts together theology, ethics, psychology, and history, and explains difficult concepts in a simple, accessible way that is a pleasure to read. . . . All the activities and questions are written in a way that creates a will to debate, which is exactly what she is aiming to achieve–she welcomes readers to debate and question what she has written, to ask those questions in a way that makes them think and disagree with her, if needed. . . . This book is remarkable, and I highly, highly recommend it.”
–Shalom Drimer, Light Chiropractic and Wellness
“Finally, I would like to mention the book’s readings and assignments. It offers a wide range of sources from book passages and YouTube videos to blog posts and paintings. This provides a mixed media method of doing philosophy that is more in line with how we receive information today. We read newspaper articles, then watch YouTube videos, then look at memes, and listen to songs. Each of these different mediums are in constant relation to one another. Allowing students to explore philosophical issues in this manner promotes a deeper connectivity and understanding as it integrates their reflections into the world they live in. The assignments amplify this deep exploration. For instance, the book regularly asks students to write reflective essays on what they are feeling and thinking as the book progresses. In addition, each chapter begins with a list of keywords for which students are asked to look up definitions. Such assignments are important because they ensure that students remain tethered to the learning process. It can be easy for someone who has never taken a philosophy course to feel lost in the depth of information they are encountering.
In the end, this book lives up to its claim to be a practical intervention into the crisis of meaning plaguing the west. Though it lacks adequate sources from perspectives outside the West, it provides an excellent framework and tools for those seeking to make learning philosophy into a transformative process. ”
–Darian Spearman, Gonzaga University
Ordering Information for Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues
View the book on Google Books.
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From the author – discounts rates when ordering over 2 books: laoulachr [at] gmail [dot] com
About the Author
Rosemary Laoulach is an educator, counsellor, and author of An Inquiry into Philosophical and Religious Issues: A Practical Resource for Students and Teachers. She has a PhD in Philosophy from Notre Dame University Australia Sydney and an MA of Counselling. Rosemary has worked as an educator in international schools and universities for many years and counselling in private practice. She has lived and worked in Australia, Germany and the UK. Rosemary’s work is interdisciplinary, drawing on Philosophy, Theology and Psychology. She is currently working at the Australian Catholic University Sydney. Visit her scholarship on Academica.edu.
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