EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Execute teaching-learning approaches that manifest in-depth knowledge about

philosophies
of education
2. Conceptualize curriculum reinforcement inputs guided by the applicable philosophies of
education
3. Practice in the teaching-learning environment the appropriate educational philosophies for
improving efficiency

Pragmatism ( or Experientialism ). John Dewey ( 1859-1952 )

father of experiential education movement believed that learning was
active and schooling unnecessary long and restrictive. Children came to
school to do things and live in a community which gave them real guided
experience which fostered their capacity to contribute to society. His
ideas spawned the development of experiential education programs and
experiments. According to Dewey ( www.wilderdom.com 13 Oct 2018),
education is life itself.
Pragmatism is based on the principle that the usefulness, workability, and practicality of
ideas, policies and proposals are the criteria of their merit. It stresses the priority of action over
doctrine of experience over fixed principles, and it holds that ideas borrow their meanings form
their consequences and their truths form their verification. Thus, ideas are essentially
instruments and plans of action. Achieving results, getting things done is said to be pragmatic.
The word pragmatism is derived from the Greek pragma ( action or affair ). Learning by doing.
It stresses the role of experience in the genesis of knowledge( www.britannica.com 13 Oct
2018).
Reflection allows the learner to explore his experiences in order to arrive at new
understanding or insights.
Constructivism. Jean Piaget ( 1896-1980 ) – is the founder of
constructivism ( en.wikipedia.org 13 Oct 2018 ). Constructivism is
basically a theory based on observation and scientific study about how
people learn. People construct their own understanding and knowledge
of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those
experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it
with previous ideas and experience. We are active creators of our own
knowledge ( www.thirteen.org 13 Oct 2018). It usually means
encouraging students to use active techniques ( experiments, real world
problem solving). Constructivist teachers encourage students to
constantly assess how the activity is helping them to gain understanding. Here the students
learn how to learn. In constructivism, students become engaged by applying their existing
knowledge and real world experience, learning to hypothesize,testing their theories, and
ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings.
Idealism. Immanuel Kant ( 1724-1804 ) – whose comprehensive
and systematic work in epistemology ( theory of knowledge ), ethics and
aesthetics greatly influenced all subsequent philosophy, especially the
various schools of Kantianism and idealism. He argues that space, time
and causations are mere sensibilities, things in themselves exist, but their
nature is unknowable ( www.notablebiographies.com 13 Oct 2018 ).
The term metaphysics literally means beyond the physical. At the
metaphysical level, there are four broad philosophical schools of thought
that apply to education today ( idealism, realism, pragmatism, and
existentialism ).
Education Aims of Idealism( www.slideshare.net 13 Oct 2018 ):
1. develop the mind
2. search for the ideas
3. character development
4. self- realization
5. preservation and transmission of culture
6. preparation for whole life

Education according to Plato( 427-347 BCE, a student of Socrates,

teacher of Aristotle ), is a means to achieve social justice, both individual
justice and social justice. Individual justice can be obtained when each
individual develops his ability to the fullest. Justice means excellence.
Knowledge is required to be just. Virtue can be obtained through three
stages of development of knowledge:
1. knowledge of one’s own job
2. self- knowledge
3. knowledge of the idea of the good.

Social justice can be achieved when all social classes in a society, workers, warriors, and rulers
are in harmonious relationship. All people can easily exist in harmony when society gives them
equal education opportunity from an early age to compete fairly with each other
( epublications.marquette.edu 22 Oct 2018 ).

Great people were instructed by some of the most distinguished teachers of their era to
have quickness of mind and exemplars of modesty.
Idealism is a group of metaphysical philosophies that assert that reality as humans can
know if, it is fundamentally mentally constructed , or otherwise immaterial. It manifests as a
skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind independent thing. It believes that the
ultimate nature of reality is ideal, or based upon ideas, values or essences. The external, or real
world can not be separated from consciousness, perception, mind, intellect and reason in the
sense of science. Idealism is when you envision or see things in an ideal or perfect manner.
 Realism tends toward a more pragmatic and actual view of a situation. Reality exists
independent of the human mind. Truth is objective that can be observed. Aristotle, the Father
of Realism emphasized that the aims of realism include: understand objective reality through the
diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data. The exercise of rational thought is viewed
as the ultimate purpose of humankind. The realist curriculum emphasizes the subject matter of
the physical world, particularly science and mathematics. The teacher organizes and presents
contents systematically within a discipline, demonstrating use of criteria in making decisions.
Teaching methods focus on mastery of facts and basic skills through demonstration and
recitation. Students must also demonstrate the ability to think critically and scientifically using
observation and experimentation. Curriculum should be scientifically approached, standardized,
and distinct- discipline based. Character is developed through training in the rules of
conduct( https:// oregonstate.edu 22 Oct 2018 )
Humanism is a person-centered education philosophy. Learning is student-centered and
personalized, and the educator’s role is that of a facilitator. Affective and cognitive needs are
key, and the goal is to develop self- actualized people in a cooperative, supportive environment
( https://www.google.com.ph 23 Oct 2018).
There are 5 principles of Humanistic Education ( facultyweb.cortland.edu 23 Oct 2018):
1. Students should choose what they want to learn. Students will be motivated to learn a subject
if it something they need and want.
2. The goal of education should be to foster student’s desire to learn and teach them how to
learn.
Students should be self-motivated in their studies and they have the desire to learn on their
own.
3. Grades are irrelevant and that only self – evaluation is meaningful. Grading encourages
students to work for a grade and not for personal satisfaction.
4. Both feelings and knowledge are important in the learning process. Humanistic teachers do
not
separate the cognitive and affective domains.
5. Schools need to provide students with a nonthreatening environments so that they will feel
secure to learn.

Essentialism is an educational philosophy whose adherents believe that children should

learn the traditional basic subjects thoroughly. The aim of essentialism is to instill students with
the “essentials” of academic knowledge, enacting a back-to-basic approach. Essentialism
ensures that the accumulated wisdom of our civilization as taught in the traditional academic
disciplines is passed on from teacher to student. Such disciplines might include reading, writing,
literature, foreign languages, history, mathematics, science, art and music. This traditional
approach is meant to train the mind, promote reasoning, and ensure a common culture ( https://
en.wikipedia.org 24 Oct 2018 ).
The teacher is the center of the classroom, so he should be rigid and disciplinarian.
Establishing order in the classroom is crucial for student learning. Effective teaching can not
take place in a loud and disorganized environment. The teacher shall take the leadership
position and set the tone of the classroom. These needs require an education to be
academically well qualified with an appreciation for learning and development.
 Perennialism imposes that schools should teach ideas that are everlasting. Such ideas
have lasted through many generations that are the major focus of perennialist curriculum (
www.google.com.ph 24 Oct 2018 ). One should teach the things that are of everlasting
pertinence to all people everywhere. Student acquisition of knowledge that is timeless and
enduring across civilizations and cultures. Learning conceptual and factual information believed
to be persistently important over the course of human history( https:// study.com 25 Oct 2018)
Progressivism advocates that education should focus on the whole child, rather than on
the content or the teacher. It stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation.
Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world (
https://www.google.com.ph 25 Oct 2018 ) It was started by John Dewey that says that students
learn through their own experiences. Progressivism revolves around the students’ needs,
including teaching students to be good citizens as well as good learners, focusing on the whole
child( https://study.com/academy 25 Oct 2018 ).
Individually, progress and change are fundamental to education. People learn best ffrom what
they consider most relevant to their lives.
Behaviorism focuses on conditioning student behavior with various types of behavior
reinforcements and consequences called operant conditioning ( https://education.seattlepi.com
25 Oct 2018). Behavior is shaped deliberately by forces in the environment and that type of
person and actions desired can be the product of design. By carefully shaping desirable
behavior, morality and information is learned. Learners will acquire and remember responses
that lead to satisfying aftereffects. Repetition of a meaningful connection results in learning. If
the student is ready for the connection, learning is enhanced, if not learning is inhibited.
Motivation to learn is the satisfying aftereffect or reinforcement ( https://oregonstate.edu 25 Oct
2018). Influential behaviorists include Pavlov, Skinner and Watson. Behaviorism uses reward
and punishment. When a teacher rewards a student who performed a desirable behavior, the
learners will learn to perform the desirable behavior on their own.
Existentialism emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. Humans define their
own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe.