“Philosophy is not to blame; the textbook is”

Op-Ed, Publications by Erblin Vukaj
In this article

In recent days, a group of philosophy lecturers and scholars has asked the Ministry of Education to restore philosophy as a compulsory subject in high schools. They have also asked for philosophy to become a compulsory State Matura examination, while stressing the need for a new textbook. Shekulli interviewed Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aleksandër Kocani, a lecturer at the University of Tirana’s Faculty of Social Sciences, about the issue.

Professor Kocani said this was not the first time the need to strengthen philosophy teaching had been raised with the ministry. Requests had also been made in 2011 and 2012, when philosophy had recently changed from a compulsory to an elective subject. For the professor, philosophy is what turns individuals into citizens.

He attributes high-school students’ limited interest in the subject to the philosophy textbook, which he says has historically been flawed and impossible for students to digest.

Philosophy in high schools

My starting point is that secondary school aims to provide a general education. Its backbone is the knowledge, habits and values that shape future citizens. A general high school, unlike a vocational school, does not produce professionals, but broadly educated individuals.

At this level, only through philosophy can these individuals become citizens, because alongside general education, only philosophy enables and allows individuals to judge with their own minds, hold their own positions and avoid manipulation by higher authorities, such as those in power. Philosophy allows us not to conform to what leaders say. The nonconformity of future citizens can therefore help clarify rights and duties once and for all.

Only philosophy takes you to that point, to criticism. Avoiding manipulation, one of the greatest problems societies everywhere face today, is achieved through philosophy.

Philosophy as a compulsory subject

Naturally, this is a very appropriate request and one to be welcomed. But it is not the first time the ministry has been asked for such an intervention through specific proposals. At least two seminars that I also attended, held by the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Political Science, one in Korçë and another in Tushemisht… These academic gatherings called for an adjustment, so to speak, and the restoration of philosophy in high schools.

These requests have been made since after 2010, when philosophy became an elective for high-school students. I remember that Agim Leka, a philosopher who is also an MP, attended one of the seminars. He was among those who undertook to lobby on this issue in the Education Committee, on the premise that philosophy in high schools should be strengthened rather than reduced.

So the requests concerning philosophy were made some time ago.

Philosophy’s main problem: the textbook

Certainly, the textbook has always been problematic. Alongside concepts, it also addresses the history of philosophy from the beginning, and this has not provided the right grounding for secondary school. This is a longstanding debate that was much discussed: whether to include the history of philosophy or philosophy itself.

In my view, we need the basic concepts; we need philosophy. The historical element will then emerge naturally, because in referring to Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and so on, their history will come through the time periods in which all these authors lived. The focus should therefore not be on history.

Not history as the basic element… The basic element should be the concepts that provide the grounding. This is where the problem then arose. A textbook was made that jumbled the two together: the history of philosophy at the beginning, and its concepts from the middle onward.

That is not how it should be done. I think this also comes from the problem the ministry has always had: it does not make a practice of asking the specialists themselves, the experts in philosophy. When a specialist is consulted, their opinion is sought because they know the field.

This professor has been in France, that one in Italy, another elsewhere… They have produced research and articles… These people know better.

How this approach to the philosophy textbook contributes to students’ loss of interest and enjoyment

I remember, in 2005, if I am not mistaken… when we ran a series of training sessions for philosophy teachers, they complained to us a great deal about the textbook. I worked extensively with it at the time and could see that it had problems. The history-of-philosophy section had been taken from Italy, and the concepts section from France.

That part was not bad in itself, but the presentation was indigestible for students, because even the teachers themselves could not digest it. To sum up, the problem was not with philosophy itself but with the way it was presented to students, in a way that could not be understood. If it had been presented simply, things would have been very different.

Interest in the subject would have been greater. I am not saying students would then have chosen philosophy of their own accord, but at least they would not have been inclined to avoid it. The same applies to teachers. If teachers did not understand it, how were students supposed to understand it?!

So the first problem remains the book.

The request

A group of philosophy lecturers has called for a rethinking of philosophy’s role in education, especially in high schools. They have asked the Ministry of Education and Sport to restore philosophy as a compulsory subject in pre-university education, and even make it part of the State Matura examination. Since 2010, philosophy in secondary schools has been an elective, and a marked decline has been observed in students choosing it.

A problematic textbook since 1994

Professor Aleksandër Kocani was among those who undertook to create the first philosophy textbook for high schools. As a member of the philosophy department at the time, he tells Shekulli how the textbook came to be of poor quality from the outset. “Initially, I was in the Department of Philosophy, in 1993,” Professor Kocani says.

“At that time, the question arose of how we should approach philosophy in secondary schools. Our initial idea was to base it on a foreign school of thought. We judged that the most solid, most universal school in philosophy was the French school, because of the way the French taught and teach philosophy, I mean in the lycée.

“This was considered the best of those we had seen.” The professor goes on to explain that the ministry of the time rushed things and shaped the whole process for the worse.

“The Ministry of Education agreed, and it was decided that we, the group of lecturers in the department, should take a textbook considered the most representative of this school and translate it. The way ministries did things… backward! A translation was made, but before it was properly finished, we were told that the book was needed urgently, because of this and that… and so on. The book went out unprocessed, simply with a first-draft translation.

“It did not even have the chance to be edited after translation, so it came out with problems, including in its Albanian. This happened in 1994.” The professor of philosophy and Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods says the book was later reworked, but still had its problems.

“It was a small philosophy book by Artan Fuga, which, of course, once it was put into use, once it came out, people asked to have changed. Naturally, because it had errors, resulting from the way the ministry itself had acted.

“Initially, three of us worked on the changes and adjustments: Artan Fuga, myself and Gjergj Sinani. Later, only Gjergj, who knows the French school of philosophy, worked on the textbook. Naturally, more should have been invested in it, because it was not for just one class, but for high schools throughout the Republic of Albania.” The professor says that, to make philosophy more appealing, it is not enough simply to make it compulsory; the reworking of the textbook begun in 1994 must continue.

In his view, the same school of philosophy should be retained, but the book should be simpler. “In terms of content, I still insist on taking a French textbook, because I think the French school is strong and makes a strong connection between the literature and the problems of the time. But I think the book should be simpler. That would then make the subject more attractive and more likely to be chosen by students.”

Philosophy students: There is no job market for this subject

Shekulli interviewed three philosophy graduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences: Alma Nikolli, Arjeta Toma and Elsa Vorfi, who are continuing second-cycle master’s studies in communication at the University of Tirana’s Faculty of Philology. All three say that “philosophy in high school was overloaded, and even the teachers were not very well prepared.” They believe philosophy should be neither a compulsory subject nor a compulsory examination.

“The book contained a great deal of information, and everything was packed together. I remember one section on ‘Death’ that was about a page and a half long. It had all those terms, and however much you read them, they were still difficult to understand,” says Alma, who describes the book as a jumble.

“That is where the idea came from that philosophy is a difficult, abstract subject, and everyone avoids it. So when it is an elective, students no longer choose it. But I think that, if they simplify the book and adapt the topics, the subject will become what we all expect: a subject that develops thought, and people will no longer prejudge it.”

Elsa says: “The philosophy book in high school was utterly useless.” “Things in that book were presented in bits and pieces,” says Elsa, who believes philosophy should be elective rather than compulsory. “I think philosophy should be an elective.

“It does not give you knowledge you can put into practice. I say this in comparison with the exact sciences, which are more necessary. But I must say that even as an elective, this subject needs a better-quality textbook, because it has always been of poor quality. Teachers must also be qualified to teach it, rather than coming from another field and, so to speak, not being prepared themselves.

“This is very wrong, because it has also turned philosophy into mere recitation rather than a real exploration of ideas.” Arjeta thinks the same.

“Philosophy should be an elective, because I think it is also a matter of aptitude. Some students do not have an aptitude for social subjects. The teachers who teach it in high schools should also be from the field, not from something else entirely.” As for making it a compulsory examination, the women unanimously say: “A subject taught for only one semester or one year cannot be a compulsory examination.”

The women also describe another problem with philosophy: the job market, where there is little room for it. Now experiencing this after her studies, Arjeta says she chose to study philosophy because she did not have much information about the job market.

Published in “Shekulli” on 29/03/2015

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