Uncorrected proof Forthcoming in Teaching Philosophy 38:2, June 2015 Sarah Cashmore Changing Values in Teaching and Learning Philosophy: A Comparison of Historic and Current Educational Approaches Sarah Cashmore 1 Ontario Institiute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto This paper examines the pedagogical values inherent in various traditions of philosophy education, from the ancient Greeks to current policies in Ontario high schools, and asks whether our current educational practices are imparting the philosophical values we wish to bestow upon our learners. I compare the approaches of Socrates, Descartes, and Dewey on the nature of philosophy and the pedagogical frameworks they defend for transmitting the “spirit” of philosophy, and then examine the Ontario curriculum guidelines for the teaching of philosophy. In past philosophical traditions, dynamic growth, free questioning, and social responsibility are considered essential to the practice of philosophy. Certain factors in today’s educational institutions limit students’ abilities to achieve those values, although the appeal to these values is the same. I end with recommendations for amendments to the Ontario curriculum expectations that would help put the philosophical development of the individual student more clearly at the centre of these guidelines. “Discourse about philosophy is not the same thing as philosophy.” Pierre Hadot, 1995, p. 267 In 1994, after decades of discussion between teachers, philosophy professors, and policy makers, the province of Ontario instituted Philosophy as an elective course in its secondary schools (Jopling, 2000). Over the years it has evolved to become two university stream courses, one offered in Grade 11 and the other in Grade 12. Being able to offer philosophy in all of its secondary schools (as desired) makes Ontario one of the unique school systems in the English speaking world. With the instantiation of this program, curriculum standards were developed setting the benchmarks, or goals, to guide all of the philosophy teachers in Ontario’s public schools. In 2011, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University 1 I would like to thank Drs. Eric Bredo, Trevor Norris, Brad Rowe, and Jeff Stickney and the reviewers of Teaching Philosophy for their insightful feedback on various drafts of this paper. All limitations of this paper remain my own.