Philosophy, buber and metaphors
Choose from one of the texts written by Buber, a concept, idea or metaphor and explore its implications in relation to your understanding of the role of the teacher.
Martin Buber was an Austrian born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue. This philosophy was centred on the distinction between the I-thou relationship and the I-It relationship. According to Buber the sought for treasure, the fulfilment of existence, can be found right in the midst of genuine dialogue. The I-thou relationship is a genuine relationship in which partners are mutually unique and whole. I-It relationships are those relationships with things in the world, things which are seen simply in terms of a fixed meaning or function. Buber’s distinction between I-Thou and I-It relationships reminds educators that relying solely on I-It relationships in education fosters loss of humanity. “Without it man cannot live. But he who lives with it alone is not a man.” Therefore, in my opinion it is extremely important that the teacher develops a meaningful caring relationship with each of their pupil’s. Without human community and human culture we are nothing more than a bundle of unengaged capacities. Relationships are a central feature of humanity. They permeate and mediate a large part of our experience of growing up. Without a shadow of a doubt a teacher is one of the most important relationships a child will have throughout their childhood and for some children it may be the only stable relationship in their lives. As a future teacher, by building a strong stable relationship with my students their self-esteem and confidence will rise. Increasing a student’s self-esteem will result in increased achievement and increasing a student’s achievement will result in increased self-esteem. Buber uses a tremendous metaphor to show how a teacher can foster a magical relationship with their student.
This is the metaphor of the gardener which symbolises a
Martin Buber was an Austrian born Israeli Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue. This philosophy was centred on the distinction between the I-thou relationship and the I-It relationship. According to Buber the sought for treasure, the fulfilment of existence, can be found right in the midst of genuine dialogue. The I-thou relationship is a genuine relationship in which partners are mutually unique and whole. I-It relationships are those relationships with things in the world, things which are seen simply in terms of a fixed meaning or function. Buber’s distinction between I-Thou and I-It relationships reminds educators that relying solely on I-It relationships in education fosters loss of humanity. “Without it man cannot live. But he who lives with it alone is not a man.” Therefore, in my opinion it is extremely important that the teacher develops a meaningful caring relationship with each of their pupil’s. Without human community and human culture we are nothing more than a bundle of unengaged capacities. Relationships are a central feature of humanity. They permeate and mediate a large part of our experience of growing up. Without a shadow of a doubt a teacher is one of the most important relationships a child will have throughout their childhood and for some children it may be the only stable relationship in their lives. As a future teacher, by building a strong stable relationship with my students their self-esteem and confidence will rise. Increasing a student’s self-esteem will result in increased achievement and increasing a student’s achievement will result in increased self-esteem. Buber uses a tremendous metaphor to show how a teacher can foster a magical relationship with their student.
This is the metaphor of the gardener which symbolises a