Philosophy of Education (EDU601)

Assignment No.1 (Spring 2020)

ID: BC200203740

Question # 1

Write a briefly on Idealism; also explain the following terminologies in the context of Idealism.

 Role of Teacher
 Teaching Method
 Curriculum

Solution:

Idealism:

 “Idealism philosophy takes varied forms but the hypothesize underlying all this is that spirit or
strength of mind is the important world stuff, that the rule truth is a material character”. Central
tenet of the idealism is that ideas are the only true reality. Plato, father of idealism, believed that
there are two worlds. The first is the spiritual world and second is the world of appearance.
Spiritual world is everlasting, arranged, regular, and universal. The world of appearance is
experienced through sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound. This distribution is referred to as the
duality of mind and body.

Following are the fundamental principles of idealism:

 Spirit and mind constitute reality.

 Man being spiritual is supreme creation.
 God is the source of all knowledge.
 Values are absolute and unchanging.
 Man is not the creator of values.

Following are the educational aims of idealism:

 Develop the mind

 Search for true ideas
 Character development
 Self realization
Role of Teacher in Idealism:

The role of a teacher in idealism can be understood by looking at Socrates as a prototype teacher.

 Idealists have given considerable attention to the persons involved in search of truth.
 Teacher is in a unique, important and creator of method.
 Teacher must be philosophically leaning and must help out students in choosing
important stuff.
 A torch bearer who leads a man lying in the dark, out of the darkness, into the bright light
of the outside world.
 Spiritual guide of the students.
 Role model for students
 Possessor of high self-worth
 Deeply committed to their profession.
 High sense of responsibility
 Should lead a true moral life
 Deeply knowledge
 Professional training

Teaching methods according to Idealist:

 Reading (Holy books , Astronomy)

 Oral (Lecture , Discussion and Dialogue)
 Traditional method
 Intuition and revelation
 Physical education

Curriculum:

 Curriculum developed according to Ideal and eternal values.

 Humanistic subjects
 Religion studies
 Spiritual studies
 Literature
 History
Question No.2

Write a short note on three major branches of philosophy and how these branches play role in the
process of curriculum development, explain with concrete examples.

Solution:

Philosophy:

Philosophy is a combination of two Greek words ‘Philo’ meaning love and ‘Sophia’ meaning
wisdom. So, love for wisdom is the meaning of philosophy. It is the rational, abstract, and
methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence
and experience.

Educational Philosophy:

The philosophical study of education and its problems … its central subject matter is education,
and its methods are those of philosophy.

Branches of Philosophy: There are three main branches of philosophy.

1. Metaphysics:

Metaphysics is the study of ultimate nature of reality. For instance, God exists or not? What
is truth? What is permanent? Metaphysics is one of the key concepts of understanding
philosophies. It is concerned with reality and existence.

2. Epistemology:

Epistemology raises questions about the nature of knowledge. For instance, what should be
taught? Why it should be taught? Who should teach? Logic is the key dimension of
epistemology.

3. Axiology:

Axiology explores the nature of values. Values in terms of society, politics, ethics and
aesthetics

Role of philosophy in curriculum development:

Curriculum in its entirety has a philosophical, historical, psychological and social foundation.
The field of curriculum has its set of principles and theories. For example, the term curriculum
itself is a concept describing very complex ideas. In learning, there are principles such as
educational philosophy, curriculum goals and learning objectives which are applied in
developing school programs, colleges, training centers and universities. This field has its own
body of knowledge and skills e.g. in the selection of content making it rely on the principles
knowledge and skills from psychology, philosophy and sociology. Curriculum planning involves
the decision about the philosophy of education. Having decided on the philosophical beliefs then
curriculum goals and objectives are derived from there. These are later translated into the
classroom as desired learning outcomes. Philosophy probably has more influence on curriculum
access and development in that it provides educationists, teachers and curriculum makers with
framework for planning implementation and evaluating curriculum in school. It also helps in
answering what schools are for what subjects are important, how students should learn and what
materials and methods should be used. Philosophy provides the starting point and heuristic
dynamism in decision making about education in its totality.

Philosophical Foundation is very important in curriculum development. When John Dewey

proposed that “education is a way of life”, his philosophy is realized when put into practice.
Now, particularly in the Philippines, Dewey’s philosophy served as anchor to the country’s
educational system.

Curriculum makers and teachers must have the knowledge of philosophy that is necessary for
planning, implementing and evaluation a curriculum. The philosophy is necessary to define the
purpose of school and the subjects to be taught. A person’s philosophy reflects his social
background, common beliefs and education.

The driving purpose of education is determined with the help of philosophical foundation of
curriculum. Philosophy shows the way of thinking from which those goals are created. For broad
issues and tasks a framework is provided by philosophy to curriculum specialists. In order to
plan curriculum the foundations of curriculum play a major role.