Blakbuzzrd asks an interesting question about education in reference to "covering the known" (diplomacy) and "uncovering the unknown" (archaeology)--where does the teacher's job fit?
I immediately thought of Plato, and his contention that education is primarily a calling forth of knowledge that is already inherently there. Certainly, I think that the largest part of my job is not necessarily to impart new information, but instead to help the students connect and reconceive of the things they already know. And from my perspective as the instructor, I find that much of the intellectual work that I do as instructor involves 'covering the known,' i.e., reviewing and refining the things I already know.
Perhaps some of this is discipline-specific, at least as far as things like English and History and Philosophy can be called disciplines? Certainly, I don't think that a biology or physics professor would see the teaching process the same way. So much for answer #1. . . I'm still chewing on this one.
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