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Relativism, as I understand it, does plays a daily role in our teaching practice.

The reading we
had went into a lot detail and at some points was difficult to follow but having a background in
math, I appreciated the reference the author chose to use regarding functions (y is dependent
on x). In my context, I took this as x being what and how we teach students (Stand and Deliver,
Simulations, Inquiry etc) and y being the knowledge they acquire from the process. Below is an
oversimplified illustration of what I mean:

Knowledge acquired (y) = Previous Social/Emotional Context*(x) + Cultural Context*(x)

We could probably fill the right side of the equation with many more pieces but I think this
illustrates my point that regardless of what our intentions are, the student needs to synthesize
the information and make it real for themselves.

In the K-12 context in BC, the curriculum is designed in such a way that we take large topics
from the junior years and continually delve deeper to uncover the inner workings. I am familiar
with the high school mathematics, science and business education curriculum in British
Columbia and can attest that what we teach the students is relative to how well (we think)
students will be able to manage the content. For example, in science 10, we begin to look at
Newtons Law of Motion but examine it from a very macro level. In physics 11, we are exploring
very similar concepts but in much more detail, but still ignoring items such as air resistance; the
class would come to a grinding halt with the calculus required to actually explain what happens
when a baseball is tossed in the air. From a business education perspective, we introduce the
basic income statement in grade 11 but ignore so many factors that students would encounter if
they entered the business world and prepared an income statement for the CRA.

In terms of my teaching practice, I firmly believe that students need to be guided through a
process of inquiry in order to make learning meaningful and lasting. The complete high school
curriculum can be learned for free through Khan Academy (and the lessons are really good!) so
it poses the question, what is the teachers role? The evolving role of the teacher, in my
opinion, is to pose larger questions related to the curriculum and help students discover the
answer. In addition, whenever possible, choice should be offered to the student to increase
engagement - I understand this is much easier to do in some subject areas than others. Before
entering the world of education, I worked as an accounting manager in the private sector and
definitely would have scoffed at the idea that students require choice; if it worked for me, it will
work for them. In just 14 years (since I graduated), the workplace has completely changed so
what worked for me, wont work for them. If I can teach a student how to adapt and learn, then I
think I have done my job as an educator.

Any thoughts or additions?

References
Swoyer, Chris, "Relativism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/relativism/
Fosnot, C.T. (2005). Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice [Kindle Edition].
Pritchard, D. (2013). What is this thing called knowledge?. Routledge.

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