When Pascack Valley Regional High School District’s English Supervisor Valerie Mattessich was reviewing English courses for the 2023-24 school year, Pascack Valley English Teacher Matt Morone approached her with a new idea for a course. Morone wanted to start a Philosophy class for seniors.
“This was Morone’s baby from the beginning, and he wanted to get the class started as soon as possible,” Mattesich said. “He worried that it was too close to the school year to start it that fall but was very eager to teach it.”
The class ran that fall with three sections of seniors, two of which were honors-level classes.
Morone says part of his inspiration for the class and some of his experience with philosophy came from taking an introductory class during his undergraduate studies at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).
“I really liked the fact that it was asking me to think very differently than many classes I had taken,” Morone said.
However, Morone says that most of his education in philosophy has been self-taught: “You know, going down rabbit holes, finding YouTube videos, reading books, and stuff like that,” Morone said.
As a graduate of PV, Morone said that some of his high school teachers influenced how he teaches the class.
“I honestly think having certain teachers at PV made me really consider the big picture for how I would teach a class like this,” Morone said.
Morone said that his class is similar to how his class was structured in college. Having a course similar to one at a college like TCNJ is something that Mattessich really liked, and thought it would be beneficial to students one year away from college.
“I think from the beginning we both knew that it was a class really only appropriate for seniors who have more of an outlook on life, especially going into their post-high-school years,” Mattesich explained.
Morone, who described himself as a student who was “always interested in different concepts,” says that the “biggest thing” for teaching the class is giving each student freedom.
“I think that a big part of the class is that I’m not gonna tell you what your opinion should or should not be,” Morone said.
Morone’s intention, as he explains it, is to “get out of [the students’] way.” He does this by “letting [them] wrestle with some of these ideas,” and then he “kind of mediates and notices things” without telling the students what he thinks.
As a current student in Morone’s period two Philosophy class, I believe Morone is doing exactly what he has intended to do. Two of my favorite parts of the class are our reflections and discussions about articles from The Ethicist section of The New York Times and our Philosophers’ Cafe: a whole-group discussion during which we share food and talk about an article we read and annotated on our own earlier in the week.
In its second year in the district’s English Curriculum, Philosophy and Literature is a popular choice among PV seniors. There are currently four sections, three of which are honors-level.
“I’m learning a lot as I go,” Morone said. “Some of the philosophers and the concepts I teach I’m more familiar with than others, but I always try to stay as well-read on this stuff as possible.”
