Education and Mind: A New Look

Education has accepted a reductive explanation for the phenomenon of mind, thinking that the brain is the source of consciousness. It has also accepted the Copernican principle, wherein humans are seen to be mediocre. However, many academics now argue that conscious mind is exterior to or added upon the functional states of the brain, as nothing in the brain is seen to produce consciousness. As a result, they claim mind to be a material phenomenon existing in the wider universe. In addition, the hard sciences have been forced to rethink mind and reality. This is due to both the collapse of superpositional wavefunction in quantum mechanics by observation of conscious mind and the statistically impossible, complex environment humans inhabit. Physicists now argue that mind, life, and the cosmos are intertwined and participatory, rather than accept a mind-independent reality. One result of a reexamination of mind is that humanity must be seen as an intrinsic good, for human minds are universal participatory causal agents. Educators can, therefore, use a theory of material conscious mind to provide an objective ethical foundation for excellence in teaching, as well as offer a better theoretical foundation for pedagogies and qualitative research. In addition, teaching practices that encourage innovative thinking should include the utilization of fuzzy mental categories and phenomenal raw feels. Educators teach material conscious mind, and pedagogies that utilize this worldview will create the best educational environment