An Exercise to Determine Your Educational Philosophy

Find out to which philosophy you adhere. To what extent does each statement apply to
you? Rate yourself 4 if you agree with the statement always, 3 if you agree but not
always, 2 if you agree sometimes, and 2 if you agree sometimes, and 1 if you don’t
agree at all.

STATEMENT 1 2 3 4

1. There is no substitute for concrete experience __ __ __ __ in learning.

2. The focus of education should be the ideas that __ __ __ __ relevant as today
as when they were first conceived.
3. Teachers must not force their students learn the __ __ __ __ matter if it does not
interest them.
4. Schools must develop students’ capacity to reason __ __ __ __ by stressing on
the humanities.
5. In the classroom, students must be encouraged to __ __ __ __ interact with one
another to develop social virtues
such as cooperation and respect.
6. Students should read and analyze the Great Books, __ __ __ __ the creative
works of history’s finest thinkers and
writers.
7. Help students expand their knowledge by helping them __ __ __ __ apply their
previous experiences in solving new problems.
8. Our course of study should be general, not specialized; __ __ __ __ liberal, not
vocational; humanistic, not technical.
9. There is no universal, inborn human nature, We are born __ __ __ __ and exist
and then we ourselves freely determine our
essence.
10. Human beings are shaped by their environment. __ __ __ __

11. Schools should stress on the on the teaching of __ __ __ __ basic skills.

12. Change of environment can change a person __ __ __ __ 13. Curriculum
should emphasize on the traditional __ __ __ __ disciplines such as math, natural
science, history
grammar, literature.
14. Teacher cannot impose meanings; students make __ __ __ __ Meaning of
what they are taught.
STATEMENT 1 2 3 4
15. Schools should help individuals accept themselves __ __ __ __ accept
themselves as unique individuals and accept
responsibility for their feelings, thoughts and actions.
16. Learners produce knowledge based on the experiences. __ __ __ __ 17. For
the learner to acquire the basic skills, s/he must __ __ __ __ go through the rigor
and discipline of serious study.
18. The teacher and the school head must prescribe what __ __ __ __ is most
important for the students learn.
19. The truth shines in an atmosphere of genuine dialogue. __ __ __ __ 20. A
learner must be allowed to learn at his/her own pace. __ __ __ __

After you have gotten an idea on the philosophy/ies you learn, let us know more about
each of them. The following notes were lifted from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education.