Philosophical Foundations of Education

Janeth G. Concepcion Joy R. Tolosa

Activity
Given the following situation/instances, as a teacher, which do you prefer or focus more? Write the letter of your choice.

Set I: 5 items

A
1. The teachers decided what is most important for the students to learn and place little emphasis on students interest.

B
1. The teachers help students define their own essence and they are given a wide variety of options from whish/what subject matter to choose.

A
2. more on academic content of education

B
2. more on vocational courses of education

A
3. The teachers focus heavily on students achievement test scores, longer school day, more challenging books, more core requirement

B
3. The teachers focus/encourage individuals creativity, potentials and imagination

A
4. Teachers should instill the traditional approach to education

B
4. Teachers show a strong rejection of the traditional approach to education

5. Math and 5. Humanities, Natural Sciences Philosophy and arts for aesthetics expression

Set 2: 5 items

Aims of Education

A
1. Education develops the individual spiritually, mentally and morally.

B
1. Provide an education that could produce individuals who can meet their principal needs and give direction to individuals basic potentialities and talents.

Curriculum

2. Philosophy, 2. Natural Theology, Values Sciences, Social Education, Sciences, Poetry Christian Living, ( acquisition of GMRC (essential for research skills, mental, moral and library skills, spiritual critical thinking development) skills, application of principles

Methods of Teaching

3. meditation, 3. scientific reading, methods question and discussion

Role of Teachers

4. chief source 4. develop of inspiration, initiative knowledge and and ability information to control their experiences

Role of School

A
5. develops moral character of a person

B
5. develops concepts and principles through scientific methods

Three Levels of Knowledge natural to man:

Common sense

Science

Philosophy

Philosophy

philo friend of or love of

sophia - wisdom

Etymology
- The introduction of the terms "philosopher" and "philosophy" has been ascribed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras.

- The ascription is said to be based on a passage in a lost work of Herakleides Pontikos, a disciple of Aristotle.

- "Philosopher" was understood as a word which contrasted with "sophist" (from sophoi). - Traveling sophists or "wise men" were important in Classical Greece, often earning money as teachers, whereas philosophers are "lovers of wisdom" and not professionals.

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is the science that seeks to organize and systematize all fields of knowledge as a means of understanding and interpreting the totality of reality.

Good

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is the attempt to give a reasoned conception of the universe and of mans place in it.

Montagne

Other Definitions of Philosophy

A complete philosophy includes a world view or reasoned conception of the whole cosmos, or a life-view or doctrine of values, meanings and purposes of human life.

Leighton

Other Definitions of Philosophy

It is a search for a comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at a universal explanation of the nature of things.

Weber

Summing up, philosophy is a systematic and logical explanation of the nature, existence, purposes and relationships of things, including human beings, in the universe.

Main Branches of Philosophy

Metaphysics Epistemology
- deals with knowledge and with ways of thinking

- origin and
essence of things

Axiology
-Ethics and Aesthetics

Logic
- systematic treatment of the relation of ideas

What is Educational Philosophy?

- is a branch of general philosophy and is concerned with the interpretation of education in relation to general philosophy.

Functions of Educational Philosophy

1. It focuses the attention of teachers and laymen alike on the values and objectives which the school should aim to achieve.

2. It provides a basis for criticism of the school system and of the educational process.

Functions of Educational Philosophy

3. It sets the procedure to be followed in the reconstruction of the educational program.

4. It helps the educator to organize and analyze educational objectives.

Importance of Philosophy of Education to Teachers

1. Provides the teacher with a basis for making his decisions concerning his work.

2. Helps the teacher to develop a wide range

of interests, attitudes and values concomitant to his professional life as a teacher.

Importance of Philosophy of Education to Teachers

3. Makes the teacher more aware of his own life and work and makes him more dynamic, discriminating, critical and mentally alert.

4. Philosophy of education saves time, money and effort.

Oriental/Eastern Philosophies
Philosophy Confucianism Origin Confucius, China China Philosophies The Golden Rule Harmony with Nature Enlightenmen t through Meditation Behaves in the Kami No Michi

Taoism

Buddhism

Buddha, Japan

Shintoism

Shotoku, Japan

Oriental/Eastern Philosophies
Philosophy Hinduism Origin India Philosophies Dharma

Modern Hinduism Buddhism

Gandhi and Tagore Siddharta Gautama, India Mohammed

Ahimsa

Eightfold path

Islam

One God, Polygamy

Filipino Philosophies
Philosopher Philosophy

Jose Rizal

His Educational Legacy for Todays Society Education is indispensable to the task of nation building and must occupy a top priority. Without education and liberty no reform is possible. Beside the duty of man to seek his own perfection, thereis the desire innate in man to cultivate his intellect. Individuals must develop his faculties of the intellect and the will, to master his talents contribute to the cause of justice and ommon good human progress.

Apolinario Mabini

Educational Philosophies
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Idealism Realism Pragmatism Essentialism Progressivism Reconstructionism Existentialism

1. Idealism
- is a term with several related meanings. It comes via idea from the Greek idein (), meaning "to see". The term entered the English language by 1796.

Examples of Idealism:
Utopia- Thomas More
Cultural RevolutionMaoism

Marxism

Examples of Idealism:
Leninism

Socialism

Thinkers
Plato Socrates

Rene Descartes

Assumptions - Emphasize the importance of mind, soul and spirit. - Believes in refined wisdom. Based on the view that reality is a world within a persons mind.

- Schools exist to sharpen the mind and intellectual processes. - One of the oldest school of thoughts with its origin traced back to Platos ideas.

Role of Teachers

- Transmitter of knowledge - Chief source of inspiration, knowledge and information - Creator of educational environment (teachercentered). - Excellent mentally, morally and spiritually - A reserved person/conversant

Models/Strategies
- Lecture-Discussion Method - Excursion - Question Method - Project Method - Informal Dialectic - Meditation - Reading

Educational Aim -To develop the individual spiritually, mentally, and morally. - Education develops the individual spiritually, mentally and morally

Curriculum Emphasis Subject Matter of mind: - literature - history - philosophy - mathematics -arts -Christian Living -Values Education -GMRC

 Role of School - A thinking institution - Promotes high cognitive level of education - Promotes cultural learning - Develops moral character of a person

Realism

Aristotle

Harris Broudy

John Comenius

Johann Henrich Pestalozzi

John Locke

Jean Jacques Roseau

 Assumptions - Reality is what we observe. - Experience exists only in the physical world. - Mind is like a mirror receiving images only from the physical world.

 Role of Teachers - Help develop initiative and ability to control experiences. - Help realize that they can enter into the meaning of their experiences - The students would be taught factual information for mastery.

 Models/Strategies - The use of Scientific Methods - Defining the problem - Observing factors related to problem - Hypothesizing - Testing the hypothesis

 Educational Aim - Gives direction and form to individuals basic potentialities. - Determines the direction of the individuals inherited tendencies. - Provide an education that could produce a good individual and a good society by meeting 4 principal needs of an individual.

4 principal needs of an individual

1.

Aptitude needs 2. Self-determination needs 3. Self-realization needs. 4. Self-integration needs

 Curriculum Emphasis - Study habits - Research skills - Library skills - Evaluation - Observation - Experimentation -Analytical and critical thinking -Natural science -Literature -Poetry -Natural science -Social Science

Role of School
Further develops discipline Utilizes pupil activity through instruction Regards the pupils as more superior than other objects Develops concepts and principles through scientific methods

Pragmatism/Experimentalism
Thinkers

Charles Sanders Peirce

John Dewey

Pragmatism

William James

Richard Rorty

 Assumptions - Conservative philosophy - Primarily an American philosophy. - Focuses on reflective thinking. The knowledge process, the relationship of ideas into action. - Encourages people to find processes that work in order to attain desired goals. - Makes use of experience as a source of knowledge

 Role of Teachers

- Keeps order in the class - Facilitates group work - Encourages and offers suggestions, questions and help in planning - Curriculum planner.

 Models/Strategies Experimental Methods

Statement of the problem Hypothesizing Investigating or data gathering Testing hypothesis

Forming conclusions Creative and constructive projects Field trips Laboratory work Activity-centered Student-centered activities

 Educational Aim -For social efficiency. - Train the students to continuously and actively quest for information and production of new ideas needed to adjust to the everchanging society.

 Curriculum Emphasis - Creation of new social order - Integrated and based on the problem of society (NCBTS based). - Subjects are interdisciplinary. - Combined academic and vocational disciplines.

Role of School
A miniature society Gives child balance and genuine experience in preparation for democratic living A place where ideas are tested, implemented and restructured An agency for transmitting heritage A specialized environmentalist established to enculturate the young people.

Essentialism
Educational essentialism is an educational philosophy whose adherents believe that children should learn the traditional basic subjects and that these should be learned thoroughly and rigorously. An essentialist program normally teaches children progressively, from less complex skills to more complex.

Thinkers

Karl Popper

Plato

John Stuart Mill

William Bagley

 Assumptions - Assumes that values are embedded in the universe waiting to be discovered and understood. - Learning is relatively static, since there is only one way to understand the world that is already written in the book (textbook approach to learning). - Study of knowledge and skills based on the book is imperative to become productive member of the society.

 Role of Teachers - Base the lesson to the book. - Prepare wellorganized lesson to prove that he is an authority of instruction.

 Models/Strategies - Deductive method - Drill method - Recitation -Memorization

 Educational Aim - Provide sound training of the fundamental skills. - Develop individual to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously.

 Curriculum Emphasis - Natural science and Math

Progressivism
Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people.Progressivists, like proponents of most educational theories, claim to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning

 Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning: 1) Become aware of the problem. 2) Define the problem. 3) Propose hypotheses to solve it. 4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience. 5) Test the likeliest solution.

Progressivism

Thinkers

William Heard Kilpatrick

John Dewey

Assumptions Exactly opposite of perennialism. Assumes that the world changes. Learner must be taught to be independent, self-reliant thinker, learn to discipline himself, be responsible for the consequences of his actions. Emphasize on the concept of progress which asserts that human beings are capable of improving and perfecting their environment. Curriculum must be derived from the needs and interests of the students.

 Role of Teachers - Acts as a resource person - Guide or facilitator of learning (student-centered). - Teaches students how to learn and become active problem solvers. - Teachers provide experiences that will make students active and not passive.

 Models/Strategies - Cooperative learning strategies - Reflective strategies - Problem solving strategies

 Educational Aim -To provide the learner the necessary skills to be able to interact with his ever changing environment.

 Curriculum Emphasis - Activity and experience centered on life functions. - 4 Hs (health, head, heart and hand)

Reconstructionism
Thinkers

George Sylvester Counts

Theodore Brameld

Reconstructionism
Thinkers

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire

Ivan Illich

 Assumptions - Man to a significant degree plan and control his society. - Society is in need of constant reconstruction. - Social change involves a reconstruction of education and the use of education in reconstructing society. - Mankind has the intellectual, technological, and moral potential to create a world civilization of abundance, health and human capacity.

 Role of Teachers - Lead the learners in designing programs for social, educational, practical and economic change. - Primary agent of social change. - Initiates lively discussions on controversial issues, political and educational. - Enables the learners to critically examine their cultural heritage.

 Models/Strategies - Community-based projects -Problem-oriented method

Educational Aim - Education is based on the quest for better society. - Education enlivens the students awareness of different societal problems.

 Curriculum Emphasis - Stresses learning that enable the individual to live in a global milieu. - Controversial national and international issues. - Emphasis on social sciences and social research methods; examination of social, economic and political problems. - Focused on present and future trends.

Role of School
Primary agent of social change Venue for airing opinions/ideas Critical examination of cultural heritage Center of controversy/problem solving

Existentialism

Thinkers
Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

Jean-Paul Sartre

Existentialism
- strong rejection of the traditional, essentialist approach to education
- Vocational education is needed more as means of teaching students about themselves

 Assumptions - Man has no fixed nature and he shapes his being as he lives. - Man exists of his own choice. - Reality is what you experience. - School exists to discover and expand society we live in. Students study social experiments and solve problems. - Existence precedes essence.

 Role of Teachers - Good provider of experiences. - Effective questioner. - Mental disciplinarian. - Creates an atmosphere for active interaction. - Discuss the different situations based on each individual experiences. - To help students define their own essence by exposing them to various path they may take in life.

 Models/Strategies - Inquiry Approach - Question-Answer Method

 Educational Aim - To train an individual for significant and meaningful existence.

 Curriculum Emphasis - Subject-centered. - Arts for aesthetic expression - Humanities for ethical values. - Philosophy

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism http://saicebrian.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/ philosophical-foundation-of-education/

JANETH G. CONCEPCION

JOY R. TOLOSA