Reflections on Galileo’s Dialogue

Galileo’s Dialogue (directed for television by Adrian Malone, 1998) is a documentary that features how Galileo defied the geocentric Christian view.

The film showcases how truly dynamic knowledge is.   Somehow, watching the video has led me to think that knowledge is and can never be absolute.  It is constantly growing over time and sometimes, is even constantly changing from one direction to another.  A clear example of this would be the way people viewed the motion of astronomical bodies in the previous millennia or so.  The seemingly simple concept of heliocentricity at the present time was considered a heretic view for many hundreds of years.  People essentially tend to believe authority.  And since the Catholic institution, being an extremely powerful and influential cloud of authority mandated that all heavenly bodies revolved around the earth, people believed it was so.  Anybody who opposed such views, even when backed by hard scientific evidence the way Galileo was, suffered dreadful consequences.

Teachers in a traditional setting are considered to be the supreme and sole authority of the classrooms that they run, and the students are mere subjects who are required to religiously follow and adhere to the established authority.  Every piece of information that teachers reveal is revered, considered true and may not be bent.  Such is the sad reality that still plagues many a Philippine classroom.

However, this should not be the case.  As responsible teachers who are aware of the dynamic nature of knowledge, it is important that we develop a sense of open-mindedness to our students.  It is one of our many responsibilities to develop students who think critically and independently, rather than mindless individuals who simply swallow and accept everything that is being fed them.  Thus, we likewise have to cultivate a dynamic learning environment, one where knowledge passes through a variety of channels and moves in a web of directions rather than the usual teacher-to-student way.

If, as teachers, we are successful in molding students who are more accepting of dynamicism in the field of learning, perhaps we will have also been successful in developing members of society who are more accepting of the dynamicism of life.