Republic of the Philippines
President Ramon Magsaysay State University
(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Subject: History of Education
Professor: Dr. Novrina A. Orge Ed.D. Topic: Scientific Tendency of Education
Reporter: Alvin M. Mandapat
Herbert Spencer
 (1820-1903) was known as one of the leading
Social Darwinists of the 19th century
 was an English philosopher and prolific writer
Coined the phrase
"survival of the fittest"
 Spencer was an agnostic who believed that the
only way to gain knowledge was through a scientific
approach.
 “Synthetic Philosophy”
The Educational Theory of Herbert Spencer
1. Theory of Value:
 development of independent thought;
 importance of presenting the "natural
history of society"
 survival of the fittest;
 learning as an individual effort;
1.Theory of Value:
 education should be directed to selfpreservation,
care of offspring, preparing adults to enjoy nature,
literature, fine arts, prepare to
be good citizens;
 knowledge of science worth more than any
other knowledge;
 train the memory, cultivate judgment, impart an
admirable moral and religious discipline;
 advocacy of instruction in public and private
Hygiene
2. Theory of Knowledge:
 knowledge as the scientific study of education,
psychology, sociology, and ethics from an
evolutionary point of view;
 two fundamental beliefs - importance of
science, sanctity of political and economic laissez-faire;
 philosophy is knowledge of highest generality;
 man can only know from experiences; all thought
founded on relations – humans think in terms of
differences and likenesses
3. Theory of Human Nature:
 notion of intelligence capacity;
 "If they are sufficiently complete to live, they do
live, and it is well they should live. If they are not
sufficiently complete to live, they die, and it is best they
should die."
 a stage of evolution
 learning as an individual effort;
 learning as synthesis of all thought;
 learning should be collaborative;
 good training of the senses to observe accurately;
 "rational explanation of phenomena"
 science as the most important subject matter;
 curriculum to be a synthesis of thought based on
science (especially evolution), and including
philosophies of education, biology, psychology,
sociology, ethics, and politics
 individual to teach self, aided by teachers, books,
observation, laboratory work
6.Theory of Society:
 progress of all kinds should be maximized by
societies and governments that allow free
competition to reign in all spheres of activity;
 unregulated free enterprise; survival of the fittest
 All young people should be taught; education open
to competent children or adults without fee;
 survival of the fittest of Consensus:
 No beliefs are wholly false; they are true to the
point to which they all agree; eliminate the
discordant elements and observe what remains
after; this is truth and should take precedence
Important Matters:
 Knowledge that is best for use in life is also best
for the development of power
  Emphasis on physical education
 Importance of science in the curriculum
Opposition to public schools
 He did not believe in the public school system. His
major criticism of the school system was that it did
not prepare children to live in society.
 Instead, Spencer believed in the private school
system which competed for the brightest student.
Because of his belief in competition conflict and
struggle Spencer felt that the most exemplary
schools would eventually acquire the best teachers
and students.
Principles of Teaching and Learning
 He believed that people in an industrialized society
needed a utilitarian education in order to learn
useful scientific skills and subjects.
 Learning should be a sensory experience where a
student interacts within his/her environment ; a
slow, gradual, and inductive process.
 Children should be encouraged to explore and
discover which would allow them to acquire
knowledge naturally.
 A student should only engage in those activities
that would allow him/her to survive in society.
Education and Schooling
 Spencer became one of the major proponents of
modern curriculum theory.
 In his work “What Knowledge is of Most Worth ? ”
Spencer stated that this question needed to be
answered before any curriculum was chosen or
any instruction commenced.
 To achieve this advancement Spencer believed
that there were five activities necessary in
curriculum.
 Once again the main goal was to teach subjects
that would contribute to successful living.
Spencer’s ideas concerning curriculum were widely
accepted in the United States.
Education and Schooling
 Spencer never loved old traditions.
 He wants to lead the child to a very high ideal by
developing his interests.
 Spencer criticizes the curriculum of his day
because it lack practical utility.
 In the educational system of his times adequate
attention was not paid to the future preparation of
children.
Spencer identified five types of activities in the
curriculum;
1. Self-preservation
2. Indirect Self-preservation
3. Rearing of Offspring
4. Citizenship
5. Leisure of Life
1. Self-preservation
(feelings which warn people or animals to protect
themselves from difficulties or dangers)
-For picking up the art of self-preservation, Spencer
recommends the study of the sciences of physiology,
hygiene, physics and chemistry.
-Spencer believes that a knowledge of these subjects will
help one to preserve his health by furthering the various
spontaneous activities.
2. Indirect Self-preservation
-Activities pertaining to indirect self-preservation are those
which help one to make a successful living.
-We require the help of mathematics in various activities
pertaining to our daily life.
-Geology mathematics, chemistry, physics and astrology
help us in many such vital activities.
-Spencer recommends the teaching of these sciences
because they prepare us for life.
3. Rearing of Offspring
(To help someone to grow up.)
-Spencer wants to give the knowledge of rearing of
offspring to children in the school because it is difficult for
them to rear their children properly.
-Therefore, parents should be prepared for bringing up
children.
4. Citizenship
Spencer desires that the child should be a worthy citizen.
He thinks that history cannot be used properly without the
knowledge of science.
He has shown how history books should be written and
how the various happenings should
be described.
5. Leisure of Life
-Spencer has a very liberal (general) outlook of life.
-For this he wants to teach painting, music, sculpture,
literature and poetry to the child.
-But for the study of these arts, Spencer thinks that the
child must study the science first, because the various
sciences are at the root of all these fine arts.
-He wants to make everything dependent on sciences.
Spencer proceeded to lecture the assembly on the falsity of the
"gospel of work", pressing the need not only for relaxation but
also the prudent redirection of energies away from incessant
production and the determined pursuit of wealth. "There needs
to be a revised ideal of life," he said. "… Life is not for learning,
nor is life for working, but learning and working are for life" (p.
104).
To explain how such gross misunderstandings were possible --
and they occurred in a number of areas of Spencer's life and
thought -- and to ascertain what ideas Spencer actually
advanced, when and roughly why, is the ambitious aim of this
marvelous book. Francis undertakes to show how Spencer
evolved from an idealistic progressive who hoped to provide a
scientific foundation for religion, morality, and the
understanding of human behaviour into a progressively
disillusioned one, an evolution of which Spencer himself was
painfully aware.

I had known, of course, that Huxley was 'Darwin's bulldog',

acting as public defender of the theory of natural selection
because the great man had no stomach for it, and that it is to
Huxley we owe the term 'Agnosticism'. What I didn't know was
that Huxley was at one time greatly influenced by Spencer, the
prophet of "the Unknown", and remained his lifelong friend,
taking care to curb his famously aggressive demeanour around
Spencer even as their views on evolution, philosophy and
religion gradually diverged. While Huxley's "gibe that Spencer's
idea of tragedy was a deduction killed by a fact" is often
recounted, Francis argues that the following passage, in a letter
from Huxley to Spencer, is "more characteristic of the
relationship between the two men":