UND professor publishes textbook on philosophy and education

Kate Menzies

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

5-8-2013

Campus Unit

College of Education & Human Development

Abstract

Samuel Rocha, an assistant professor in the University of North Dakota's Department of Educational Foundations and Research, has published A Primer for Philosophy & Education: an accessible introduction for anyone interested in philosophy andeducation.

Rocha specializes in philosophy of education, phenomenological research, aesthetics, social foundations of education, issues in multiculturalism and philosophy of race, and histories of schooling.

This book began as an essay he wrote in December 2011, pertaining to students enrolled in his philosophy and education courses at Wabash College in Indiana. Rocha's intent was to bridge the gap between the disciplines of philosophy and education, while providing a general introduction to his way of thinking about those disciplines.

"The text is first and foremost an instructional book, a book written to and for my students," said Rocha.

This book is intended to serve as a beneficial resource for students.

"I think any student who wonders why they are a student -- how they got there and why they study and what that has to do with anything important -- can find a very specific message in this book," said Rocha.

"This book is about preparing to take life seriously, and using philosophy and education as tools to that end. For my students, I think the book will, at the very least, show them what I think and how I feel about philosophy and education, and what will be expected of them in my classes."

This text marks the third of Rocha's self-published books. He will have another book coming out next year with Atropos Press (the press of the European Graduate School).

For Rocha, this book signifies that "the world doesn't belong to intellectuals or academics, that knowledge and understanding are not exclusive to a few, self-regulated people or institutions."

"What this means is that philosophy and education are ordinary things that can and should be pursued by ordinary people. In the end, the book means that I love what I do and I want to show and share that."

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