Plato’s early dialogue ‘Protagoras’ recounts a dramatic exchange between two leading figures in the educational world of Ancient Greece: Protagoras and Socrates.  Protagoras is clearly proud of his very high reputation as a Sophist and can charge high fees to anyone he chooses to accept as a student.  Socrates, by contrast, never considers charging a fee and carries on his enquiries in more inclusive settings – frequently in the open streets and squares of Athens. Intriguingly moreover, despite the evident educational nature of his work, Socrates declines to describe himself as a teacher.  

In the energetic to-and-fro of the debate the argumentative powers of both parties are displayed to memorable effect. But when Socrates at length begins to press the argument toward conclusions that reveal Protagoras’ erudition in an inferior light, Protagoras breaks off and departs: ‘Well, we will talk of these matters at some future meeting, whenever you like; but now it is time to turn to other things’ (361e).  The reasons for his abrupt departure seem clear enough. Protagoras can see that he is probably going to come out worse in the exchange with Socrates. He needs to make a strategic exit before that fate befalls him and news of it is carried around Athens and beyond by the growing crowd of onlookers.  His own and his school’s reputation are at risk. 

It’s intriguing to consider what Protagoras might have done on reaching the privacy of his own home. It’s unlikely that he would have dismissed such spirited event from his thoughts. Perhaps he replayed the debate in his mind and came up with strong points that he should have made but didn’t?  Perhaps he put together some argumentative ammunition that he would soon use on Socrates at a public opportunity of his own choosing?   We don’t know what he did.  But even if Plato’s tale were a fictional one, we could imagine a more fruitful kind of reflection for the Protagoras character than the kinds just mentioned above. It is such a reflection that I want to explore in this opening contribution to the Network 13 sessions.

Some particularly thought-provoking themes emerge when the Protagoras dialogue is read from a pedagogical perspective – not just a philosophical one. Such a pedagogical reading brings to light important insights that might otherwise remain in the background, or even be eclipsed.  These include:

•    a recognition of the mistaken epistemological  paths that get established, and routinely followed in educational thought and practice, when knowledge is regarded chiefly as a possession;

•    a consciousness of new possibilities that are disclosed when the experience of deliberate human learning is conceived chiefly as a co-operative quest – as distinct from a combative undertaking or an exercise in transmission;

•    an understanding of the incongruity – and injustice – of the notion that education is something that can be purchased for a fee; 

•    an alertness to the seductive thrall of the belief (historically influential to this day) that by gaining control of education one can shape the potentialities of the young to one or other pattern; 

•    an appreciation of the largely ignored idea that education may be primarily important  as a distinct and intricate human practice; a practice in its own right with inherent ethical orientations and its own ways of making the experience of human learning personally and socially fruitful.

My presentation will last for about 45 minutes and I’ll comment on the significance of insights such as these, especially their significance for how educational experience is to be understood and enhanced today. The chair will then open the forum for questions and comments