Epistemic insight: engaging with life's Big Questions | Berry Billingsley | TEDxFolkestone скачать в хорошем качестве

Epistemic insight: engaging with life's Big Questions | Berry Billingsley | TEDxFolkestone

We all grow up wondering about the so-called Big Questions. Young people these days have the challenge of trying to come up with answers that make sense of what we see, know and do thanks to science and technology. Questions such as: Can robots become persons? Will they one day claim that they own their own thoughts? Why does the Earth exist and is there a purpose to life? What's the best way to keep each other safe and well during a pandemic? Are computers better at making decisions for us and at driving our cars than we are? My question is - what is the role of schools in helping children to think about these big questions? For more than fifteen years I've interviewed and surveyed children and teachers to look for patterns in the information that children get. I've also tried to find out - where do children ask their questions and what kinds of questions do they ask? The results of my research reveal that the timetable has a huge influence on children's perceptions of what they can ask in their lessons ... to the point where getting the right answer in each subject matters more than getting to an answer that makes sense. At the same time, young people admit that what they do, how they live, and the choices they make depend on how they answer life's Big Questions. Please join me as I deconstruct the school experience and argue the case for a more joined up way of teaching. Can you imagine a secondary school where every teacher knows the purpose and value of teaching the other subjects? How would students react if the history teacher and the science teacher turned up at the same time - to teach a lesson together? Would schools be transformed if teachers can explain how we know which questions are good ones for science, for religion or for both and how scholars of mathematics, computer science and the arts can work together to find solutions to real-world problems? These changes are happening and it's exciting to see that our research is having an impact in schools and teacher education. And the missing ingredient that makes it work and links all the fragments of teaching together? It's called 'epistemic insight' and it means 'knowledge about knowledge'. Take for example the questions, ‘Can you tell the time with your feet?’ ‘Can a pet really love you back?’ and ‘Can we control the weather?’ – how ‘big’ are each of these questions and which discipline or disciplines would you use to help you to answer? You can call epistemic insight 'EI' for short and we believe it's a game-changer in education. I hope that in my talk - if not before - I can convince you to agree. Berry Billingsley is Professor of Science Education and Director of the LASAR (Learning about Science and Religion) Centre at Canterbury Christ Church University Berry leads the Epistemic Insight Initiative, which seeks to transform children's experiences of school so that there are more opportunities to ask and explore Big Questions across the curriculum subjects. See www.epistemicinsight.com Berry’s wider interests include young people’s engagement in science, artificial intelligence, Big Questions and how advances in science and technology are reported in the media. Equipped with a degree in Physics and a passion for asking questions, Berry’s first job was with the BBC where she produced and presented science stories for television and radio. This included BBC World Service’s ‘Science in Action’, BBC TV’s ‘Tomorrow’s World’ and BBC Education’s ‘Search out Science’. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx