Chapter 10: The Nature and Scope of Philosophy of Education PDF

**CHAPTER 10** THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ***Philosophy of education*** is a system of rationally supported assumptions and beliefs about education. It uses traditional philosophical concepts and methods to show how children's experiences, if organized in accordance with cert...

**CHAPTER 10** THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ***Philosophy of education*** is a system of rationally supported assumptions and beliefs about education. It uses traditional philosophical concepts and methods to show how children's experiences, if organized in accordance with certain assumptions, will result in the achievement of what may be considered the good life. The assumption can be made and related to four basic questions: 1\. **What is there to know?** This involves the nature of reality and asks about the universe. 2\. **How do we know?** This concerns the processes and characteristics of knowledge -- how men acquire knowledge and distinguish truth from falsehood and error. This is studied in logic and epistemology. 3\. **Who or what is most worth of?** This raises issues about man's preferences, and his reasons for choosing one thing rather than another. This study of values or axiology is intrinsic to question in ethic, aesthetic, and religion. 4\. **What is the nature of man and culture?** This concerns the characteristics of human behavior and its setting, and they are studied in psychology, sociology, anthropology, and the like. **What is Philosophy?** It came from the Greek words "*philo*" meaning love and "*sophia*" meaning wisdom. It is a set of ideas formulated to understand the basic truth about the nature of being and thinking. **History of Philosophy** The birthplace of philosophy was the seaport town of ***Miletus***, located across the sea from Athens, on the western part of Iona in Asia Minor, and for this reason, the first philosophers were called ***Milesians or Ionians***. It is wealth made possible the leisure, without which the life of art and philosophy could hardly develop, and the broadmindedness and inquisitiveness of its people created a congenial atmosphere for the intellectual activity that was to become philosophy. **Four Areas of Philosophy** - ***Metaphysics*** -- concerns with the fundamentals of existences and reality. - ***Epistemology*** -- refers to the theory of knowledge that has something to do with approaches to teaching and learning. - ***Logic*** -- focuses on the formal structure of truthful arguments. - ***Axiology*** -- sets the values desirable to live by at any given time or place. **Two Divisions of Axiology** - ***Ethics*** -- refers to the moral values and right conduct. - ***Aesthetics*** -- refers to the value of beauty and art. OUTSTANDING EXPONENT OF THE DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES ------------- **REALISM** ------------- **Realism** believes in the world as it is. It is based on the view that reality is what we observe. It believes that truth is what we sense and observe and that goodness is found in the order of the laws of nature. As a result, schools exist to reveal the order of the world and universe. Students are taught factual information. **THE NATURE OF REALISM** - Advocates that values are dependent upon the attitudes of the sentiment beings experiencing them. - Believe that investigation and reasoning are important in any effective adjustment to the real world in the control of experiences. **ASSUMPTION** - The primary qualities of experience exist in the physical world. - Mind is like a mirror receiving images from the physical world. - The mind of a child at birth is similar to a blank sheet of paper upon which the world proceeds to write its impressions. - Nature is a primary self-evident reality, a starting point in philosophizing. - Consciousness is not a substance, it is an awareness of experience and experience is a medium in which objects and organism are related. **EDUCATION AIM** - Gives direction and form to individual's basic potentialities. - Determines the direction of the individual's inherited tendencies. - Provide an education that could produce a good individual and a good society by meeting 4 principal needs of an individual: 1. Aptitude needs 2. Self-determination needs 3. Self-realization needs 4. Self-integration needs **TEACHING METHODS** Scientific Methods Steps: 1. Defining problems 2. Observing factors related to problem 3. Hypothesizing 4. Testing the hypothesis **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Training in rules of conduct. **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** Combination of subject matter and problem-centered concepts or real problems towards acquisition of desirable habits: 1. Study habits 2. Research skills 3. Library skills 4. Evaluation 5. Observation 6. Experimentation 7. Analytical and critical thinking 8. Application of principles 9. Effective use of words 10. Habit of enjoyment Subject Areas: 1. Natural Science 2. Social Science 3. Arts 4. Poetry 5. Literature 6. Biography **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - Help the students realize irresistible necessarily of earth's physical forces. - Help develop initiative and ability to control their experiences. - Help realize that they can enter into the meaning of their experiences. - The students would be taught factual information for mastery. **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Further develop discipline - Utilize pupil activity through instruction - Speak with authority - Regard the pupil as more superior than other objects - Chang in the school would be perceived as a natural evolution towards perfection of order. -------------- **IDEALISM** -------------- ***Idealism*** is a system of thought that emphasizes the importance of mind, soul and spirit. Truth is to be found in consistency of ideas. Goodness is an ideal state, something to be strived for. Idealism believes in refined wisdom. It is based on the view that reality is a world within a person's mind. It believes that truth is in the consistency of ideas and that goodness is an ideal state to strive to attain. As a result, schools exist to sharpen the mind and intellectual processes. Students are taught the wisdom of past heroes. **NATURE** - One of the oldest schools of thoughts with its origin traced back to Plato's ideas. - Stresses the mental, moral and spiritual nature of an individual and his universe. - Advocated that education is both a basic need and a basic right of man. **ASSUMPTION** - God is the absolute ideal and all positive values are fully realized and enjoyed through Him. - Every individual is born good, and is capable to sense, perceive, and think. - The self is the ultimate reality of individual experiences. - The individual self has all the freedom for self-determination. - One's perception of the world is rooted in his existence. - Values depend on how individual persons pass and enjoy them in their experiences. - Social values are realized when an individual recognizes that he is a part of the total society. **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - To develop the individual spiritually, mentally, and morally. **TEACHING METHODS** - Lecture-Discussion Method - Excursion - Question Method - Project Method **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** Imitating examples of heroes. **ROLES OF TEACHERS** - Chief source of inspiration - Creator of education environment **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - An agency of the society - Thinking institution **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** Subject Matter of mind: 1. Literature 2. History 3. Philosophy 4. Religion 5. Mathematics 6. Arts -------------------------------- **PRAGMATISM/EXPERIMENTALISM** -------------------------------- ***Pragmatism*** is primarily an American philosophy, although its roots go back to Greek thinking. Pragmatist is primarily conceived with the knowledge process, the relationship of ideas to action. Basically, this concerns with the method of reflective thinking. ***Experimentalism*** believes that things are constantly changing. It is based on the view that reality is what you experience. It believes that truth is what works right now and that goodness comes from group decisions. As a result, schools exist to discover and expand the society we live in. students study social experiences and solve problems. **NATURE** - Encourages people to find processes that work in order to attain desired goals. - The doctrine that practical consequences are the criteria of knowledge, meaning and value. - Conservative. **ASSUMPTION** - The world is uncertain and incomplete. It allows a room for improvement. - Past is a potential instrumentality for dealing with the future. - Experience is not primarily an affair in knowing but is incidental in the process of acting, doing and living. - Sensation is not merely a gateway but the avenue of active relation with the world. **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - For social efficiency - Train the students to continuously and actively quest for information and production of new ideas needed to adjust to an ever-changing society. **TEACHING METHODS** - Experimental methods Steps: 1. Statement of the problem 2. Hypothesizing 3. Investigating or data gathering 4. Testing hypothesis 5. Forming conclusions - Other methods: 1. Creative and constructive projects 2. Field trips 3. Laboratory work 4. Library work - Activity-centered - Pupil-centered - Opportunity to practice democratic ideals **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Making group decisions in light of consequences **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - Keeps order in the class - Facilitates group work - Encourages and offers suggestions, questions and help in planning - Curriculum planner **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - A miniature society - Gives child balance and genuine experience in preparation for democratic living. - Place where ideas are tested, implemented and restructured. **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Creation of new social order. - Integrated and based on the problem of the society - Subjects are interdisciplinary - Academic and vocational disciplines 1. Mathematics 2. Science 3. History 4. Reading 5. Music 6. Arts or metal works ------------------ **PERENNIALISM** ------------------ ***Perennialism*** is the most conservative, traditional, or flexible philosophy. The distinguishing characteristic of humans is the ability to reason. Education should focus on developing rationality. Education is preparation for life, and the students should be taught the world's permanencies through structured studies. It is largely a product of Aristotle's rationalism and its subsequent treatment by Thomas Aquinas. It assumes that man's basic or essential characteristic is his ability to reason. Only through reason can man understand existence and how he is required to live. Perennialists believed that one should teach the things that they believe are of everlasting importance to all people everywhere. **NATURE** - Views truth as constant and universal. - Education is good if it enables the student to acquire knowledge of unchanging principles. - Great ideas have the potential to solve problem in any area. **ASSUMPTION** - Education should promote continuing search for truth since truth is universal and timeless. - Education should cultivate human's rational mind. - Education should stimulate humans to think critically and thoughtfully. **EDUCATION AIM** - To develop power of thought, internalize truths that are universal and constant. **TEACHING METHODS** - Subject centered - Methods of disciplining the mind through reading and discussion. **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Develop the intellect of all learners and prepare them for life. **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Great ideas or universal principles. - Focused on arts and sciences and areas such as History, Language, Mathematics, Science, Logic, Literature and Humanities. **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - A known master of discipline. **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Produce intellectually elite individuals to become intellectual. ------------------- **PROGRESSIVISM** ------------------- It assumes that the world changes, which in the universe that is not particularly conceived with him, man, can rely only upon his ability to think straight. In education, this means that the child must be taught to be independent, self-reliant thinker, learn to discipline himself, be responsible for the consequences of his behavior. Progressivism emphasizes the concept of progress which asserts that human beings are capable of improving and perfecting their environment. **NATURE** - Exactly opposite of perennialism - Stresses the child's needs and therefore child-centered. **ASSUMPTION** - The curriculum should be derived from the needs and interests of the students. - Effective methods of teaching must consider interests and needs of the students. - Effective teachers provide experiences that will make students active than passive. - Effective education is one that provides the learners with a future better than the past. **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - To provide the pupil the necessary skills to be able to interact with his ever-changing environment. **TEACHING METHODS** - Cooperative Learning Strategies - Reflective Strategies - Problem Solving Strategies **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Activity and experienced centered on life functions. **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - Acts as resource person - Guide or facilitate - Teaches students how to learn and become active problem solvers. **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Develop personal and social values - Set up a classroom environment along the lines of democracy **ESSENTIALISM** ***Essentialism*** is often called *traditionalism* or *conservatism*. It assumes that the values of men are embedded in the universe, waiting to be discovered and understood. In education, there are some things the child must learn which tend the curriculum relatively static. There is a core of essential and traditional subjects; certain literary classic, language, religion, mathematics, science and history, and other materials. **NATURE** - Emphasis is on race experience or the social heritage. **ASSUMPTION** - The study of knowledge and skills for the individual are imperative for him to become a productive member of the society. **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - Education provides sound training of the fundamental skills. - Education develops individuals to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously. **TEACHING METHODS** - Deductive method - Drill method - Recitation - Giving assignments or homework - Testing and evaluating - Systematic analysis and synthesis **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Values of discipline, hard work, and respect for authority. **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Emphasis on the essential skills (3R's) and essential subject such as English, Math, and Foreign Language. - Hard sciences and vocation courses **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - Provide stimulating activities for learning - Prepare well-organized lesson to prove he is an authority of instruction. **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Ensure master of essential skills - Prepare students for real life situations - Teach students to communicate clearly and logically. **EXISTENTIALISM** Man has no fixed nature and he shapes his being as he lives. The existentialist sees the world as personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth and reality are individually defined. Reality is a world of things, truth subjectivity chosen, and goodness, a matter of freedom. ***Experimentalism*** believes that things are constantly changing. It is based on the view that reality is what you experience. It believes that truth is what works right now and that goodness comes from group decisions. As a result, schools exist to discover and expand the society we live in. students study social experiences and solve problems. If school existed at all, they would be places that assist students in knowing themselves and learning of their place in society. If subject matter existed, it would be a matter of interpretation such as the arts, ethics or philosophy. Teacher-student interaction would center on assisting students in their personal learning journeys. Change in school environments world be embraced as both natural and necessary phenomenon. **NATURE** - Focuses on the experience of the individuals. - Offers individuals a way of thinking about the meaning of life. **ASSUMPTION** - Existence precedes essence **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - To train individual for significant and meaningful existence. **TEACHING METHODS** - Inquiry Approach - Question-Answer Method **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Individual responsibility for decisions and preferences **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Subject-centered - Literature - History - Arts for Aesthetic expression - Humanities for ethical values **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - God provider of experience - Effective questioner - Mental disciplinarian **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Create an atmosphere for active interaction - Plan better solutions to their everyday problems - Discuss the different situations based by an individual. ------------------------- **RECONSTRUCTIONALISM** ------------------------- The belief that man to a significant degree plan and control his society, that in a democratic society this should be done in the public interest, and that the school have a significant part to play in the process. The philosophy of reconstructionism contains two major premises: 1.) Society is in need of constant reconstruction or change, and 2.) such social change involves a reconstruction of education and the use of education in reconstructing society. **NATURE** - Social change - Schools should have initiative in reconstructing the present social order. - Believes that educational philosophies are based on one's culture. **ASSUMPTION** - We live in a period of great crisis, as is most evident in the fact that humans now have the capability of destroying civilization overnight. - Mankind has the intellectual technological and moral potential to create a world civilization of abundance, health and human capacity. **EDUCATIONAL AIM** - Education enlivens the students' awareness of different societal problems. - Education based on the quest for a better society **TEACHING METHODS** - Community-based projects - Problem-oriented method **CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT** - Provide vision for better world **CURRICULAR EMPHASIS** - Stresses learning that enables the individual to live in a global milieu - Controversial national and international issues. - Emphasis on social sciences and social research methods; examination of social economics and political problems; focus on present and future trends. **ROLE OF TEACHERS** - Lead the young in designing programs for social, educational, practical and economic change. **ROLE OF SCHOOL** - Primary agent of social change - Critical examination of cultural heritage - Center of controversy where students discuss controversial issues, political and educational.