EDU 315 Introduction to Philosophy of Education Study Guide PDF

COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １ EDU 315: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION COMPILED BY A-MEDIA NOTE: THIS MATERIAL WAS MADE FROM THE CLASS NOTE, TUTORIAL WITH A-MEDIA & PLATO. KINDLY MAKE USE OF THIS PDF VER...

COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １ EDU 315: INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION COMPILED BY A-MEDIA NOTE: THIS MATERIAL WAS MADE FROM THE CLASS NOTE, TUTORIAL WITH A-MEDIA & PLATO. KINDLY MAKE USE OF THIS PDF VERY WELL AND SHARE WITH YOUR FELLOW COLLEAGUES. SUCCESS IS YOURS BY GOD`S GRACE. COURSE CONTENT  The Meaning, Characteristics and Nature of philosophy  What is Education & Nature of Education  Philosophy of Education  The Modes/Styles/Methods of Philosophy of Education  The Branches of Philosophy and their Relevance to Education  The Schools of Philosophy and their Relevance to Education  Philosophical Analysis of the views of some Western Philosophers  Philosophical Analysis of the views of some African Philosophers  An Examination of the National Curriculum Conference of 1969 to the Nigerian Philosophy of Education  The National Policy on Education Reference Textbooks you can study from 1. J.A Akinpelu (1981) - An Introduction to Philosophy of Education 2. Essential of Philosophy of Education by two writers; C.O Daramola and A.A Jekayinfa 3. Invitation to Philosophy of Education by Owan Enoch CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２ PHILOSOPHY Philosophy is derived from two Greek words or latin words; Philo and Sophia. Philo means love, Sophia means Wisdom , which simply means 'Love of Wisdom. However, scholars submitted that a wise person is a knowledgeable person. Therefore philosophy can be better referred to as 'love of knowledg' since a wise person will never get tired of seeking knowledge. It is a rational search for answer to the question that arises from the minds when the reflection is made on human experience. It is a systematic and critical process of finding out about the world view. Akinpela 1981 sees Philosophy as that which is Characterized with logical, Consistent and Systematic means of reaching sound and coherent conclusion. It is all about thinking. Philosophy is an effort to analyse, criticize and clarify the meaning of life. It can be viewed from various perspective. Characteristics of Philosophy 1. It involves a continuous search, i.e Searching for Continously for the meaning of life. 2 It involves rational search, i.e Searching rationaly for the meaning of our existence. 3. Conclusion raised in philosophy is tentative in nature. Education Education is derived from two Latin word 'Educere and Educare' which means 'to lead out or to draw out' and means 'to nourish, flourish, nurture, to bring up' respectively Education in Educere perspective implies that an individual is endowed with Certain potentialities that when him/her is assisted to discover such potentiality, he or she will be able to contribute his quota towards the development of his/her Society. In Educare perspective, it means the process of acquiring the necessary skills to cope with life problems. John Dewey, a renounced Philosopher, sees education as the process of reconstruction of our experience which, give meaning to our existence, which add up to our subsequent experiences. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ３ Fafunwa 1974 sees education as the aggregate of all the processes by which a child or young adult develop attitude or aptitude that are of positive values to the Society where he lives. Carte Good defined Education as the process of cultural transmission and renewal i.e the culture the custodians are held unto of and pass accross from one generation to another generation. Education is a life long process which aims to enable the child to learn how to think clearly and improve his fundamental capacity to solve problems as they arise Nature of Education Formal System of Education is the type of education that we acquire or gain within the four walls of classroom and has timing, curriculum, specialized teacher, certification, discipline etc. Example are; Primary Education, Secondary Education, Tertiary Education. Informal System of Education is the type of education that we gain anywhere, anytime, any how and it has no Specialization no timing, no curriculum, no specialized teacher, no Certification, no four walls of classroom. It is the types of education where the cultural practise of the society are tutored to the young ones and everybody is a teacher once you have the experience more than the person you want to teach. The examples are the way we eat, talk, dress and the way we do our things different types of Ceremony etc. Non-formal system of Education is the type of Education that is gained outside the regular Programme and there is specialised teacher, there is timing, four walls, administrative charges etc. The examples are; adult literacy Programme, extra moral classes, boy / girls brigade, NYSC Programme, Sandwich programme. However, the Certificate gained from this programme Can be used to enroll at the regular programmes. Pholosophy of Education Pholosophy of Education is viewed as a Systematic and Critical Process about the world view on Education. It can also be seen as an applied discipline that use educational doctrines of great philosophers and the general Schools of Philosophy in addressing Educational problems such as aims and objectives of education, curriculum, funding, Welfare, Educational Facilities, etc. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ３  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ４ It entails applying philosophical methods, approaches, principles in providing solutions to educational problems. It is tackling problems of education with philosophical principles. Historical Development of Philosophy The Western philosophy which is the most widely documented and accepted in the world dated back to 600BC. It started with the curiosity aimed at discovering the mystery of man and his universe. Later, it developed into the ethical standard of what man ought to do and those things he ought not to do. The development of Westem philosophy can be categorized into three stages, which are the pre-Socratic philosophy, the Socratic philosophy and the moder philosophy The Pre-Socratic Philosophy: Historically, Philosophy began as the theory of the universe. This was the time when people started wandering and were asking questions about the universe These wandering and curiosity developed into mythology and religion. The Pre- Socratic philosophers noticed that things around them were changing from one form to another, yet in the midst of the changes, there was continuity. These philosophers then believed that there was something that does not change but remains permanent through ages. Though the philosophers vary in their decisions, they all believed in the existence of an unchangeable changer. The apostles of the pre-socratic philosophy were Thales, Anasimander, Anadimanes and Heraclitus. The philosophers of the pre-socratic period included the sophists who were a group of paid Greek teachers of the 5th century BC. going from one place to another to teach the young ones in philosophy grammar and thetoric. The sophists were very critical and they taught their pupils how to argue and how to ask and answer fundamental questions concerning traditional beliefs and customs. These sophists believed in relative truth. Some of them were Gorgias and Protagoras Socratic Philosophy: The Apostles of the Socratic philosophy were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Socrates was a moralist and He lived and taught others not to be interested in cosmological speculation like the pre-socrate philosophers but to be concerned with man himself. He taught his pupils to find out the truth themselves through questions and answers. Socrates believed that every student has inborn knowledge and that the teacher should assist him to develop the knowledge. Modern Philosophy: The Apostles of the modem philosophy were Moore and Russeau. They laid emphasis on common sense as an important way of knowing the truth. They were also interested in analyzing language so as to clarity meaning in the midst of similar concepts. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ４  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ５ There are some landmarks in the history of philosophy, particularly with the evolution of idea related to educational practice. These include the contributions of Socrates (467-399 BC) and his inductive method of teaching: Plato (429-347 BC) and his doctrine of justice Aristotle of Stagira (384-322 B.C.) and his doctrines on ethics and polities, Quinallian, Rousseau, Pestalozzi and others. The historical development of philosophy is Interwoven with the historical development of educational ideas and none of the great philosophers left out the issue of educating the young in their doctrines. Modes of Philosophy Modes of Philosophy , styles and types are the same thing. They are as follow; Speculative Philosophy is a systematic and critical thinking about everything that exists in immediate environment of man, the cause, reason and effect of such occurrence. The aim is to see how everything that has been discovered form a meaningful whole. Speculative philosophers search for the order that should exist in our thinking. In speculative Philosophy, knowledge is not meaningful until it's comprehensive in nature. Therefore, in speculative Philosophy, words such as what, where, who, how , when etc are used in speculating. Prescriptive Philosophy is a process of setting standard for accessing human value and conduct in a society. This philosophy is whereby norms and standards are established for accessing various values and for making judgement. Value is anything that we admire, appreciate, desire, love , give us noble emotion. It is multidimensional. The essence of prescriptive value in any society is to ensure the continuation in that society. In Prescriptive Philosophy, words such as right, wrong, good, bad, acceptable, unacceptable are words that are used in assessing human conduct in any society. The end product is to achieve a goal worthwhile Analytic Philosophy is a act of clarifying the meaning of word in the means of similar words. It's the act of the presenting fact in a logical manner. What's logic? Logic is a sense of correct meaning. It's the theory of right thinking. It deals with language clarification as it's used in discussion. The word 'Analysis' means breaking down of concepts into meaningful parts. Analytical philosophy tries to look at meaning of words, concepts, phrases in order to eliminate ambiguity. Branches of Philosophy There are 2 major branches of philosophy, which are Core branches and Applied branches. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ５  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ６ 1. Core branches are four in numbers, they are; Metaphysics, Epistemology, Axiology and Logic 2. Applied branches are numerous in numbers, they are in different categories and they are; Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Medicine, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Law Etc The major concern for this course is the core branches of philosophy. Let's take them one after the other. 1. Metaphysics is the Branch of Philosophy that goes beyond human sensory perception and things that goes beyond nature. It's a branch of Philosophy that deals with the fundamental nature of reality about man, universe, and physical object. Metaphysical questions are ; what's life?, What's knowledge?, Who created God?, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people etc. They are questions beyond our reasoning. The term ‘metaphysics’ is derived from two Greek words ‘meta’ (after) or (beyond) and ‘physica’ (physics) or (reality) literally it means ‘after or beyond physics or reality’. It is the discipline which studies the essence of being. It tries to find answer to such questions as what is the essence of being? It's simply the study of ultimate reality. Metaphysics came into existence as a result of a treaty signed by a group of metaphysicians where they debated on things left of them to know, they concluded on studying things that are existing yet not seen, this gave birth to the term "metaphysics" (things beyond seen). The study of things that are beyond the physical realm, things beyond human perception. The study of things that are in existence yet cannot be seen. These are the sub division under metaphysics and they are as follow; Cosmology - study of universe Ontology - study of God/being sent. Theology - study of priest. Casuality - deals with the cause and effect of a particular things. 2. Epistemology is derived from two Greek words; EPISTEME and LOGOS, which means Knowledge and Theory respectively. It simply means Theory of knowledge. It's the branch of Philosophy deals with nature, origin, methods, extent and limitations to human knowledge. The philosophers go by asking questions such as What's knowledge?, What's this to know?, What are the sources of human knowledge? What's the limit of knowledge, CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ６  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ７ What's the existence of human knowledge?, What are the different prices we can place on knowledge? An attempt to answer all those questions, results in epistemological realm. This branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge. There are two divisions of knowledge and they are; Apriori Knowledge: This is the type of knowledge that is gain through the use of our reasoning faculty i.e. the meaning we give to an object as it appears to us is what's called as apriori knowledge. Examples of objects that makes use of apriori are mathematics and philosophy , because it deals with our reasoning faculty before we arrive at. Aposteriori knowledge: This is the type of knowledge that we gain through the use of our senses, examples; sense of sight, taste, feeling, hearing smell. It is the type of knowledge that we gain by performing experiment. Sources of Knowledge 1. Revelation source: This is the type of knowledge that's gained from deities through trances. It's only God or who God has chosen to revealed itself too, receive such information. The information received directly from God cannot be subjected to any verification. It's divine knowledge revealed to special men through dreams and visions. 2. Emperical/scientific source: it's the type of knowledge that's gained through observation of things (subjects, objects) around us, through the use of our senses or by performing experiment in the laboratory. 3. Intuition source: This is the type of knowledge that come willingly and directly to the knower without the use of intellectual exercise. It comes with a lot of insight and full of meaning. 4. Authoritative Source: This is the type of knowledge that's gained through renounced experts such as mathematical table, encyclopedia, textbooks, magazines, dictionary, newspaper etc. Renounced experts such as Isaac Newton that developed the law of motion, Babs (Babatunde) Fafunwa ; History of Education in Nigeria. 5. Rational source: It is the type of knowledge that's gained through the use of our reasoning faculty. or by deducing new knowledge from what we know already. It has two types; 1. Deductive reasoning is the reasoning process that starts from general discussion and ends with a specific conclusion. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ７  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ８ 2. Inductive reasoning is an inverse of deductive reasoning, that's a reasoning process that starts from a specific discussion and ends with a general conclusion. 3. Axiology: It's derived from the Greek word "Axios" which means "value", and "logos" which means "theory". When combined, axiology is the study of the theory of value. It's a branch of philosophy that deals with the study of the nature of belief about human conduct such as good, bad, true, false, acceptable, unacceptable. It deals with what makes an action acceptable in the society. It's equally the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of belief about man, what makes an action right or wrong etc. There are different types of value, majorly ethics and aesthetic, and others. They are below; Religious value: What's valuable in religion value is worship and adoration, fellowshiping with one another. The exponent of religious value connotes monotheist. This is because they believe in the existence of God and that's why religion is more valuable to them. Ethics is also known as Moral Philosophy. It deals with the study if what makes an action, right or wrong in any society. Concepts such as good, bad, right, wrong, true, false, acceptable, unacceptable, are used in measuring moral standard on any society. The flowing question are asked in ethics; is it good to steal government money?, Is it good to cheat in examination hall?, Is it good for a security officer to molest a student?. Every right thinking individual will know that it's unethical to steal government money. Ethics is derived from the Greek word Ethikos, which means moral. It's therefore the science of morality/moral. We have different kind of morals, which include Public Morals, Private Morals, and Societal Morals. Aesthetic Value: This studies the beauty of nature and art and the criteria that is used in passing valuable judgment. Beauty is the recognition of perfection through our senses (sight, smell, taste, feeling etc. Aesthetic is derived from the Greek word Aisthetikos which means beauty. It's the science of beauty, ideas and acts as manifested by philosophes of the words like Plato, Aristotle etc. Social values: orderliness is what is valuable in social value, no one is born in isolation, we are meant to interact. There should be no segregation or discrimination among one another. We are inseparable, there should be no imposition, there should be peace among individuals. Utilitarian Values: It means anything that gives maximum happiness to the maximum number of people on the society. Example, a society who has a single educated elite will always beckon on that person for social amenities. Utilitarian value is making one knowledge proved useful. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ８  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ９ 4. Logic is derived from the Greek word Logikos, which means reasoning. It's therefore the science of reasoning. Logic simply means Theory of right thinking, science of correct reasoning. It's a branch of Philosophy that deals with the principle of sounds reasoning. It examines a statement to what makes a statement valacious or it is in good form. It deals with the process of assembly our thoughts, facts and presenting it in a sequential form. There are two types of logic, which are; Deductive Logic is the reasoning process that starts from a general discussion and end in a specific conclusion. E.g every insect walks on six legs (major premises) cockroach is an insect (minor premises). Therefore, cockroach walks on six leg. Another example; every normal human being walk on two legs (major premises), A-Media is a normal human being. Therefore, A-Media walks on two legs (conclusion). Another example; All 300L students are very brilliant (major premises), science education are 300L students (minor premises), therefore, science education are brilliant (conclusion) Inductive Logic is the reasoning process that starts from a specific discussion and ends with a general conclusion. Examples; Gbenga walks on two legs (major premises), Gbenga is a normal human being (minor premises), therefore all human being walk on two legs. Another examples; all Arts Education students are brilliant (Major premises), everything 300L students are brilliant (minor premises). In logic, we also have semantic. What's sematic? It's a branch of linguistics that study the meaning of words. There are different types of definition so as to know those different contexts in which a word can be used. 1. Denotative Definition: This simply means dictionary meaning, the ordinary or surface meaning of words 2. Simulative Definition: This is the definition given by an individual based on his/her understanding, in a way an individual wants the definition to be used over a long period of time 3. Pragmatic Definition: this is type of definition given based in the action. 4. Connotative Definition: this is also a type of definition given after examining the various characteristics of books. The deeper meaning of words. Schools of Philosophy CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ９  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １０ They are simply known as Philosophical doctrines or philosophical thought or Schools of thought. They are as follow: Idealism Realism Naturalism Existentialism Pragmatism Reconstructionalism 1. Idealism: This derived its name from the word idea that emanated from form or image. It's a school of Philosophy that believes that the word first exist as an in the mind of man. And that the existence of the words depends on man's perception. The universe is serving a spiritual purpose. According to the idealists, if there is anything that we want to do, we will first conceive that as an idea in the mind before it's translated into action. This school believes that ideas comes first before any other thing. Idea must comes first before anything. Hence idea is spiritual and mental, once idea is heard , whatever that's means to be done can be done and done again. This school holds that reality exist outside what we see,touch,hear, feel or experience with human senses. it believes what is real must be permanent. Plato is the founder of this school of thought. The other exponents of this school of thought are George Berkeley, Fitche, Froebel, Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Francis Bacon, John Locke, G. E Moore, Ayn Bismarrck, Carl Von Clausewitz, Hegel etc. However, Plato said man is biological being. I.e man has a body that's physical. Some of the aims of education according to the idealism ;  To enable the learners have self realization, i.e knowing what you want, how you want it, and how best you can get what you want.  Education to aim at developing the soul of the learners since the soul plays a prominent role when it comes to acquisition of knowledge.  Education should aim at developing the minds of the learners since the mind plays a prominent role when it comes to the painting of idea in the mind. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １０  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １１ Methods of Teaching recommended by the idealists include; Lecture Method, Discussion method, Dramatization method, Imitation and memorization Method. Curriculum of study according to the idealists include; History, Literature in English, Government, Theater Arts. Roles of teachers according to the idealists  A teacher should go into the class and teach idea, teach them the reality of life.  A teacher should be a disciplinarian.  The teacher should be an epitomy of knowledge pacinified 2. Realism: This derived its name from real; must be seen, touched, feel to believe that realism is in existence. According to the school of thought states that the physical objects exist independent of man and the minds of man. That's the trees, the houses, the mountains, the river, including man exist Independent of man and his mind. Realism believes so much in matter. Matter is any thing that has weight and occupy space. The major exponent of this school of thought is Aristotle. According to him, he said there's a union between physical object and the divine spirit. It's the divine that is in every physical object that make the object to exist. Nothing exist in realism without seeing it physically, that's nothing is real except it is physically seen. Realism believe only what they see. This school knocked out Plato's idealism. Aristotle believes that all ideas must be real. Idealism is when you envision or see things in an ideal or perfect manner. While, realism, on the other hand, tends toward a more pragmatic and actual view of a situation. The two concepts can, in layman’s terms, be deemed different in perspectives; with idealism focusing on "what could be" and realism focusing on "what actually is." Realistic epistemology has it that there are two types of knowledge. Direct knowledge is the knowledge that we gain through the knowledge of our senses by perceiving the physical objects Indirect knowledge is gained as it is impressed on our mind when we see the physical objects, that's the way an object appears to us, the interpretation we give to it The methods of teaching recommended by the realists include : Experimental Method, Scientific Method, Project Method etc. Curriculum of Study According to the realists include; Geography, Physics, Agricultural Science etc. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １１  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １２ Some of the aims of education according to the Realism  Education should enables the learners to discover the world and adjust themselves to what is real.  Education should enables the learners to be temperate, brave and just.  Education should enables the learners to adjust to the spiritual realities of every physical objects. 3. Naturalism: This School of thought believes that Nature is what is real and that anything that's natural can be best be explained by the law and principles of natural science. According to the school of thought, Nature is what is real and not spiritual that's everything that's good, beauty, knowledge fall within the physical constituent of nature known as matter. The universe requires no super natural curse and government. Hence, it's self directive, self explanatory, self operating, self government. Man's ethical values (Naturalistic axiology) can purely be explained by law of nature because, value is man- made and there should be no super natural sanctions. Man is the creator and inventor of value. Therefore, value is relative. The exponents of naturalism are Pestalozzi, J.J (Jean- Jacques) Rousseau (founder), David Barcon etc Some of the aims of education according to the Naturalism  Education according to the naturalist should be child centered, that's emphasizes should be on the child not on the content.  Education according to the naturalists should not be seen as the preparation for live but should be seen as live in itself.  Education according to the naturalists should enables the learner to enjoy each stages of his/her own development. The methods of teaching recommended by the Naturalists include; Roleplay Project method, Experimental method, Observation method Etc. The curriculum of teaching include Agricultural Science, Nature studies, creative arts, physical and health Education etc Naturalism and the roles of teachers  Teacher and parents should cooperate to aids the Natural development of the learner in a controlled, organized and sulmilating environment CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １２  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １３  Parents and Teachers shouldn't see the learner as evil and devil incarnate but should be seen as somebody that has a brighter future.  Teachers and parents should assist the learners to enjoy his stages of his/her development  Teachers while in the class should recognize individual differences of the learners. 4. Existentialism talks about our existence, freedom, choices we make. Etymologically, the concept ‗existence‘ comes from the German word existentia meaning ‗that which stands out‘ or ‗emerges‘. This School of thought says Man is free to design his/her own the way he/she wants. According to the existentialists, existence precede excess. Existentialism as a school of Philosophy is connected with the Philosophers like Soren Kierkergaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Jasper, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre (father of this theory). It's also connected with determinism, intuition and personal philosophy. The school of Philosophy believes that man is at the center of universe. He's seen as being unique and independent but surrounded with an hostile world. The school believes that man is the architect of his destiny i.e he can design his destiny the way he/she wants, he can pattern his life the way he wishes as he bears the responsibility of the consequences of the choice he makes in life. Man owns nothing for nature except its existence, hence, man is free to do whatever he/she wants as he bears the body of the responsibility of the choice he made. Existentialism is a philosophy of freedom and responsibility. The Existentialists Believe that for man to establish himself in the world, he needs to understand human condition especially on the issues of freedom which has to do with humanity, suffering, problems and the issues of death. Some of the aims of education according to the Existentialism  It's to enable the individual to adjusts to his/her environment adequately.  It's to enable the individual to understand him/herself fully i.e knowing what he wants, why he wants it and how best he/she can get it.  It's to enable the individual to take a realistic decision in life. The methods of teaching include; Problem solving method, Project method, Roleplay method, Dramatization method, Discussion method. Etc The school curriculum; Existentialism favours arts, humanity and social sciences subjects to be the school curriculum. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １３  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １４ The role of Teachers according to Existentialism  The teacher, according to the Existentialists Should give the learners the opportunity to choose what they learn in school.  Learners should be given the freedom to express their minds while they are in the class.  Learners should be treated according to their Level of individuality while in the class and not on the based of group.  Learner should be made to see reasons why crowd are not always right but they should be made to reason on their owns, either to join the crowd or handle issues individually. 5. Pragmatism is derived from the Greek word Pragma which means deed. The philosopher that first formulated the idea of the pragmatism was Charles Pierce Sanda in 1887. Other exponents of Pragmatism are Williams James, Horace man, John Dewey. Pragmatism is also Known as Instrumentalism, functionalism, & operationalism. Pragmatism is a school of thought that means "putting into practice". It started in America, it is a 'theory of meaning' that explores the meaning and essence of an idea. It is putting things into practice in order to determine its meaning and essence. For any assertion to be real, it has to be tested practically, i.e it has to be put into you. The question that comes to the mind is that does it work? If it works, is that means it's real? If it doesn't work, you reject the assertion or go back to your drawing board. Nothing is static according to the pragmatics, an assertion is not real except is verifiable. There should be harmony between man and the society to usher in development in such a society and that society should change as changes are coming into the environment. Some of the aims of education according to the Pragmatism  Education should enables the learners to investigate into the issues and problems through scientific methods and reject all falsification of ideas.  Education should enable enable/assist to be incusitive, exporatory, and creative spirit should be encouraged while acquiring knowledge. The Methods of teaching: Results oriented method are to be used by the teacher while teaching in the class. Methods such as ; Roleplay, Dramatization method, project method, group method, experimental method, and problem solving method etc. The curriculum of study: All subjects to be included in the school curriculum to cater for the all round development of the man because there's a need to carry out scientific CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １４  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １５ investigation, call for the need to include subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics etc. Also, because of the need of man to interact with the environment, there's a need for man NEC Subjects such as social studies, Citizenship Education, Economic and political Science etc. Moreover, because you need to understand the past in relation to the present for us to determine the future, call for subject such as History, Literature In English etc. Pragmatism and the role of Teachers  The teachers should ensure that acquired knowledge to be scientifically tested. Theoriazation that's being practiced in Most Nigeria schools should be discourage.  The teacher should be resourceful and make you of varieties of teaching aids and learners should be made to interact with such aids.  The teacher according to the Pragmatism should be moralty personified. He should known that he's the custodian of the learners. Therefore his or her old action should be a model for learners to emulate. EDUCATIONAL THEORIES OF SOME GREAT PHILOSOPERS. Philosophers are people who philosophize. Socrates is a Greek philosopher, Hegel is a German philosopher, Hume is a British philosopher, Dewey is an American Philosopher. Tai solarin, Awolowo, Sodipo, Nyerere, Wiredu, Kwame Nkrumah, Leopold Senghor are all African Philosophers. SOCRATES Socrates was a Greek Philosopher, he was also a moralist. He is regarded as the father of philosophy. According to him, the universe is in moral order serving a definite purpose. He was uncompromising of upholder of Justice. Socrates was indifferent/indefinite with material world he was not keen with the material world. A situation that the wife was displeased of, because Socrates believes that intellectual acquisition is more better off than the material or worldly materials. He believed that knowledge is a great antidote to anxiety, a surest key to emotional stability. and that is why Socrates faced death fearlessly because he believed that death is an eternal sleep undisturbed by drama. it is Journey to a better world. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １５  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １６ Socrates sees virtues and Knowledge as the same because a virtuous person is of good habit. Therefore, Virtuous is a source of happiness. Anybody can acquire money or worldly material in a fraudulent manner and think he is happy, he is not happy but doing himself more havoc in the society because of the time he would be rejected. A just person is an happiest person according to Socrates. Education according to Socrates should enable the learner to understand him/herself carefully. He stressed further to say that an unexaming life does not worth living. Learners should be assited to know who they are, what they need and they are capable of doing. Education should produce an individual that has high moral standards. Method highly powered by Socrates is questioning method also known as probing method. PLATO Plato is the earliest important educational thinker. He was a student of Socrates. He saw education as the key to creating and sustaining his republic. He advocated extreme methods (removing children from their mother's care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taking to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education. Education should be holistic, they must be disciplined physically, he believes in music and arts, children should appreciate music as it is therapeutic. Creating a just society full of fairness Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and must not be found in children born in any social class. His believes moves away from aristocracy as a political system. He builds on this by insisting that those suitably gifted are to be trained by the state so that that may be qualified to assume the role of railing class. Today's tracking systems could be justified with Plato's ideas. Plato should be considered foundational for democratic philosophies of education both because later key thinkers treat him as such Plato's writings contain the following ideas; Elementary education would be confined to guardian class till the age of 18. It may be so responsive to the environment. Elementary education consisted of music and gymnastics, designed to blend and train gentle and fierce qualities among individuals and create harmonious person. At the age of 20, a selection was made. The best ones would take an advanced course in mathematics, geometry, astronomy and harmonics. And at the age of 30, there would be another selection and those who qualifier would study dialectics and metaphysics, logic and philosophy for the next five years CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １６  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １７ Two years of compulsory military training and Higher education for those who qualify. It helped the soul to search for truth which illuminated it. The first course the scheme of higher education would last for ten years, it would be those who had a flair for science Plato's father died when he was very young. He wrote so many books among are THE REPUBLIC , THE LAW, THE CRYTO. He is the major exponent of Idealism. According to Plato, nothing is real, except its spiritual. He said the soul of man is immortalize. Plato divides the state to three classes. He argued that in a state there are similar three classes of people, corresponding with the three parts of the soul ; the apartheid or the masses (desire, pleasure, seeking etc), the spirited or the Guardians (energy, courage) and the rational or rulers (wisdom). Plato suggested a kind of society where the rationale and the military classes (auxiliaries) would be highly educated while members of the apartheid class would be given some adequate education and left free to indulge in the acquisition of wealth and thereby satisfy the basic principle of appetite.  Apartheid parts are menial jobs seekers e.g businessman/woman, farmers, bricklayer  Spirited part should defend country and should not get married e.g police, soldier  Rational parts are the ruler, it is only people the are learned should rule the state/country. Plato said if these three parts work together, there will be harmony. He was the first to divide into stages: Infancy, Childhood, Nursery/Kindergarten, Secondary and Tertiary education It was in platonic theory that education at all level should be the state responsibility since the individual citizen existed mainly to serve the state, the state should give him the type and level of education needed by him to perform that function. ARISTOTLE Aristotle, a student of PLATO seems to have agreed with Plato on the division of Greek education into stages corresponding with the levels and years of schooling, although he did not really support his master's theory of community in education. He condemns Plato's communism as being too ideal to be put into practice because it would be unthinkable to indoctrinate both parents and children, to mould them to think and act in a way prescribed by the state. The system as Aristotle interpreted it, laid too much emphasis on specialization in a state that needed a measure of diversity, especially in view of the fact CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １７  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １８ that the state of later days of Aristotle was by far larger and more populous than the city- state of Plato's time. Aristotle further believed that since the state is an organization unit and is to be ruled by men who have been brought through education to a vision of the true form of the highest goodness, education should be a state affair and no forbidden system of education should be allowed to exist. A good part of the educational theories of Plato and Aristotle has much relevance to educational policy and practice in Africa today. A cross reference to the growth of educational ideas, starting from Greece and passing through Rome and Western Europe to modern Africa, will show why this is so. The areas of influence of Plato and Aristotle are as below; 1. The idea and practice of free education at all levels, for all citizens irrespective of religious or ethnic background 2. equality of educational opportunity for male and female 3. development of an education system based on a sound philosophy of life 4. the training and retention of teachers for all categories of educational institutions Aristotle also divided education into parts, which are; infancy, Childhood, Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education. MARIA MONTESSORI Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Italian educator and physician, best known for developing the Montessori method of teaching young children. She introduced the method in Rome in 1907, and it has since spread throughout the world. The Montessori method stresses the development of initiative and self-reliance by permitting children to do by themselves and things that interest them, within strictly disciplined limits. She was born in Chiaravelle in the Ancona Province of Italy. She was educated at the university of Rome and in 1894, she became the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. In 1907, Montessori opened the first Montessori school or children's house in a slum district of Rome. She was convinced that Universal adoption of her teaching method would be of immense vakur in bringing about world peace, and she stressed the Importance of education as the 'armament of peace'. The major aspect of her teaching method is freedom CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １８  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO １９ of movement which she decides into three parts, which are; the Motor Education, Sensory Language Education and Academic Learning. She taught through playway method. WESTERN PHILOSOPHERS: FRIEDRICH FROEBEL & JEANS JACQUES ROUSSEAU No nation in the world today whether developed, developing or underdeveloped doesn't need philosophy. A nation's philosophy serves as blueprint for achieving their overall goal. Our aim can be materialized by philosophy lifestyle. Therefore, Froebel and Rousseau are western philosophers but they are renewed thinkers whose thought have positive effects on education and the society FRIEDRICH FROEBEL Froebel Friedrich was born in 1782. He was a German educator who developed/invented the kindergarten. He considered childbirth mental ability, emotional well-being. He established his own institution in 1837 for young children of ages 3-8 this was where his knowledge, philosophy, and his idea of kindergarten was established. He worked as a teacher and an Educational reformer. He wrote a book tittled 'The Education of Man's. He saw the universe as a single whole with God occupying the central position and serving as its moving force. Froebel's Philosophy is called pantheism. Froebel likens the education of the child to the growth pattern of a child. He contends that role of education is to develop the whole man as an individual and as a part of the society. According to him, a child has his own inner beliefs or principles that naturally develop to adulthood. He divided the totality of the life of man into four stages: Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Mature Adulthood. He considered Infancy and childhood stages as the most important of man's life. He identified the method of teaching that is suitable for these stages. He came up with 'playway method' He noted that education develops children through different playing activities. He contributed greatly to early childhood education. Froebel said that every child has everything that he will need in the future, and it is through development he can achieve self-activation In 1826, he emphasized that education can take place by means of instructions and training. He also said that education should lead and guide man to clarity and unity with God. He came up that children learn about this world by imitating adults. He said that incorporating play way to educating the children is the best way to show or discover children's ability and potentials CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 １９  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２０ Froebel maintained that mothers and kindergarten teachers must be carefully educated by the child's nature, inclination (feelings), disposition, and stages of development. He said perfect location will enhance the understanding of learners JEANS JACQUES ROUSSEAU Jeans Jacques Rousseau was born in 1712 and died 1778. Hos mother died at his birth but was brought up by his father who taught him about his republic city. He was a Genevan (a city in Switzerland) philosopher, a prolific writer. His theory is based on 'Age of Reason'. He was also called a naturalist. Rousseau wrote the book 'Emile'. He held that there was one development process to all humans. This differed from Locke's 'Tabula rasa'. He beliefs that everyone has the right to contribute freely to the society and that the fundamental nature of a man is to land. He believes that a child should be left alone. A man can be a natural man rather than a civilized man. He believes in liberty and equity. He believes that God makes everything good and perfect, but it's man's interference with them that make them evil. Rousseau also declared that everything is good as it comes from the Author of Nature but everything degenerates in the hands of man Jeans Jacques Rousseau beliefs that the following should be include in the curriculum for grooming of children 1. Science subjects which deals with nature (physics, chemistry etc) should be included in the curriculum 2. Mathematics should be included in the curriculum as it is considered as a tool to understand science subjects 3. Drawing should be included for freedom of expression among the children 4. For traditional subjects, no place should be given in the curriculum. Rousseau was against the control of 5. Moral training through the nature experience should be accommodated in the curriculum, the reason 6. He was in support of liberal education for children 7. Physical and health education should be given to the children such as jumping, running, etc 8. From the past experiences, history and social studies should be included CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２０  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２１ Jean-jacques Rousseau admits that it is possible to learn from other ideas since those ideas contribute meaningfully to the development of education. Teacher should protect the children from mental conflicts, subjugation, and mental disorder. He believes that teacher should not interfere in the activities of the children. AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION According to Fafunwa, 1974, the African indegenous education system and the Africa philosophy of education embodied in it as old as man him. The educational idea of some notable African philosophers are as follow: JULIUS NYERERE PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY J.K Nyerere was sometimes a President of Tanzania. He maintains that educational system is an instrument in the society to protect the ideal of the society and to propagate it among the citizen. He critized the economy system which was introduced to Tanzania by the Colonial Master. He said that development can only take place in the presence of two things; money and people. He said there are only people in Tanzania and not money and to make up for the development of the people of Tanzania, he submitted that formal and informal education must be recognized to cater for the education given to Tanzanians which gives room for inequality. He further emphasized that the curriculum of the country was to produce and not practically oriented. Therefore, Nyerere came up with the following; 1. Socialist educational system; socialist education which will encourage equality of resources 2. Encourage pupils to combine practical works with their intellectual abilities 3. The curriculum must prepare youths to live and adapt in rural environment In order to achieve the goals, School age was changed from 5 to 8 years to ensure maturity and preparedness. The educational curriculum is prepared for people who are ready to work after school and not for those who are after professionalism. Teaching was tailored for skill acquisitions. The importance of examination was reemphasized. Candidate admission into the university was based on academic performance and work attitude CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY Obafemi is full of philosophical idea, he believes in Christian ideas that man was created in the image of the Almighty God and the Breathe of Life sustain him in physicality. According CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２１  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２２ to Awolowo, man is predominantly entity in the universe, man consists of physical body, the soul and the mind. Man is supposed to use his environment to his influence, man is expected to maximize his talent and potentials. Obafemi Awolowo is a philosopher of Ontology and existentialists. He can be described as a religious humanist. He rejects the atheists, and the agnostics views that man is just an evolutionary anim. Obafemi believes that man is a dualist, that man is composed of body and mind. Only mental nature separate man from animals, as inferred from his mental nature believes. The primary characteristics of this mental nature is thought According to Awolowo, human personality is divided into two layers; 1. Subconscious: this is the superior area and it dominates the conscious area. Subconscious is the master of the conscious 2. Conscious: it is divided into objective and subjective. This corresponds to the physique, the mental magnitude, the hemisphere where the mental ability lies For other animals according to Awolowo, the hemisphere does not include the seat of mental intellects, they cannot think unlike man. It is the soul which is absent in animals that affect the conscious layer. The difference between man and animal is the absence of the soul. Awolowo believes that the more a man thinks, the more he will be intellectually and personality wise, the more the intellectual development. He submits that what differentiates one man from another is his level of intellectual development. Awolowo also sees man as having a doyl, which he calls "the dwelling place of God". To him, Man is a manifestation of three major phenomena which are; the soul, the subjective mind and the objective mind In 1960, Awolowo saw education as a process of mental and physical culture whereby a man's personality is developed to the fullest. He sees it a process of human nature, which is designed to promote the efficiency and constructive capacity of the subjective level of the conscious layer of the mind. He submits that the root of all the social vices can be traced to lack of education among the generality of the people. Since the mental is always superior to the physical, he recommended that only those who have fully developed their mental ability should rule. To him, Education must be all round, mental, physical and spiritual. He suggests that efforts should be made to acquire spiritual depth. AMINO KANO AND HIS PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY The root of his ONTOLOGY can be traced to his concept of the three gifts of God. The first is in the man's palm as the material possession he has or endowed with, the second is CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２２  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２３ contained in the head as the power of creative thinking and the third is the most important and it is supended in heaven as the source of spiritual power for man in the world. The ability to benefit from the the third depends on the proper use of the first and second. Amino Kano is ready to pay any price for knowledge acquisition. He believes that knowledge should be sought and could be gotten anywhere. Amino answered many questions about life in his practice of education, he refused to be contended with the tradition of inherited knowledge. Aminu Kano is known for questioning the Superstition concept of Kisinet, the unknowing acceptance of the unknown. He attempted to answer many questions about life in his practice of education. He refused to be contented with the tradition of inherited knowledge, he therefore developed the spirit of enquiry. He questioned the social and cultural system into which he was born. To him, man has the ability of knowing and developing an attitude of self and social consciousness and education is seen as a very powerful instrument of bringing about this consciousness in man. He shared many characteristics with Socrates. To Aminu Knowledge is a potent instrument for social liberation. Amino educated the masses on various subjects and encouraged them to probe all areas of learning like politics, education etc. He taught with the purpose of rousing the consciousness of his students. He submitted that man is free despite the religious and social totalities that may surround him. According to him, dignity of man can be ensured through the freedom of individual. TAI-SOLARIN AND HIS PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY Tai-Solarin is a Yoruba man who didn't believe in the existence of God. His philosophy of education is that education should be for social responsibility. To him social responsibility could be taught both theoretically and pragmatically. Tai-Solarin theory is similar to John Dewey, they are both seen as pragmatists, he demonstrated the pragmatic method of teaching social responsibility. He emphasizes tax payment as one of the social responsibilities as the accumulation is used for social works in the society According to him, the goal of education is to educate members of the society who are not mature to become mature members of the society and responsible participants of the society. Therefore, education is to address an individual and his ideas in such a way that will affect his behaviour fundamentally and positively. The characteristics of social responsibility include: Character, Understanding, Tolerance, Competence, and Faith Tai-Solarin sees curriculum as all the learning experiences both planned and unplanned. In addition to Tyler's questions about the curriculum, Tai-Solarin added that how can experience be organized so that they will have the practical and direct influence on the CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２３  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２４ learners now and in the future (known to unknown). He also stress on evaluation (evaluation can be achieved through test) Solarin emphasizes the importance of communication skills in education objectives and practical skills acquisition especially in agriculture such as piggery, fishing, etc. He opines that students from secondary or post secondary schools should be able to drive tractor, wash dishes, type letters and cook food on their own. He recommends that workshops where electric gadgets could be repaired should be available in Universities and polytechnic. He recognizes the crucial roles of sports and games. Tai Solarin recommends that Science must be included in the secondary school curriculum. He agreed with the authority of NPE (1981) that Nigeria and Modern European languages should be taught in Nigerian schools. He is of the opinion that Education should be free at all levels. He suggests that government should impose an Education Levy on any individual who attend a social gathering and whose attire and jewelries are valued more than #100. He submits that hardwork enables one to be aware of his strength over Nature. He recommended that students should be exposed to works that will enable the to develop Physically, Emotionally and Intellectually THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM CONFERENCE, THE NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION, AND NIGERIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION The African Philosophy of Education was akin to the Spartan Philosophy and the practice of education. This philosophy emphasized the utilitarian aspects of learning. Learning by imitation and communalism in education and training of individual members of the society. Several years back, traditional education was based of communalism "respect for elders" working together for sole objective. Everything is tailored towards what is generally acceptable and useful to such society. The Christian Missionary came to Benin for evangelism, where they discovered that language remains a barrier in communication. They pondered on what to do, they concluded on establishment of schools alongside churches. This idea gave birth to 'Western Education'. After they have settled down, they encouraged people to attend the school as a means of expanding their territory (Lagos, Benin). As time flies, they needed people who will assist in managerial affairs, clerk etc. this made them to start employing the local people. The local people who had the opportunity to study abroad came back with the findings that Blacks and Whites are same and even Blacks are more intelligent, the only difference is colour. They started the agitation for independence and this gave birth to the National Curriculum of 1969 which accommodate people to deliberate on what educational system CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２４  COMPILED BY A-MEDIA REVIEWED BY PLATO ２５ will be needed in Nigeria for the utilization of resources. Every profession gather to tender their submission on education (8-12 September, 1969) under Late Chief Adebo. Their submission was put on white paper which was passed to all zones as at that time. The first attempt at national Level to introduce a Nigerian philosophy of education was made at the National Curriculum Conference held in Lagos from 8th to 13tg September, 1969. The conference also spelt out what they considered as the purpose of each Level of education within the proposed 6-3-3-4 education system. By 1973, another conference was called for, where the submissions of 1969 were revisited, the agreement was supposed to signed but was delayed till 1977 which was the first signed white paper known as the "National Policy on Education of 1977". The NPE contains respect for one another, the culture of greetings and national value. It has several chapters and sessions - Early Childhood, Nursery, Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education. It also contains the objectives of them all respectively. The aim and objectives of primary school is the inculcation of numeracy skills. Other objectives of NPE include: - a free and democratic society - a just and egalitarian society - a united, strong, and self reliant nation - a great and dynamic economy - a land of bright and land full of opportunities for all citizens - respect for dignity of labour (equity in wages and salary) The aims and objectives of university tertiary education is for every student to be good in research. It is believed that when a student is versatile in research, s/he will be a problem solver. One the same vein, the aim of setting up Faculty of Education in any university is to build a teacher that can serve in any community The first edition of NPE was issued in 1977, it was revised in 1981 and the rivised edition was published in 1984. Other revision was in 19198 and later 2004. THE END. Compiled by A-MEDIA : 09123315386. CONTACT A-MEDIA @ +2349123315386 ２５