TOK notes 1-25-02 Friday

We talked about what are the different sources of knowledge and how we 
judge the reliability of those sources. Here are some answers:

1) consistency among sources
2) past history
3) professionalism of source
4) experiment on your own
5) is the source first hand?

Then we spent most of the remaining time talking about what requirements
should be placed on teachers, since they are generally a trusted source
of information for many. Here are some answers given:

1) Four year degree
2) not lazy
3) Know "more" about the subject than they have to teach
4) be able to teach in more than one way
5) they should not pick favorites
6) they should have an internship before they start
7) periodic testing
8) like teaching

Then we talked about how some of these qualities are easy to verify,
while others are very difficult.

Finally we talked about requirements that parents should have.
Some of the things listed:

1) unconditional love
2) understanding
3) let you make your own decisions
4) practice what they preach
5) be honest
6) be strict and do not bend the rules
7) don't compare their kids to others

As can be seen many of these are about specific behaviors instead of
general qualities. In any event, on the flip side, kids have to keep
in mind what experience the parents have to work with when they lay
down their rules and make their decisions. No prior experience can
completely prepare a parent for what they have to do. Certainly, there
are very good arguments against parents adhering to make of the behaviors
listed above. A parent's job is to provide for the future success of a 
child. But if the parent allows the child to make a fatal decision, no
future would exist.