Assignment #1

Name:

Roll #:

Course code: 8609

Submitted to:

Program: B.ED (1.5 YEARS)

Semester: Autumn 2021

Subject: Philosophy of Education

ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

Q.1 Explain the different branches of philosophy.

Branches of philosophy

While studying the philosophical thoughts of a philosopher, we study his thinking in different
branches of philosophy. These branches of philosophy are as follows:

(1) Epistemology
Philosophy is the search for knowledge. This search is critical. Hence, the first problem
which arises before a philosopher is about the nature of knowledge and its limitations.
Therefore, epistemology is the most fundamental branch of philosophy. It discusses
philosophically truth, falsehood, validity of knowledge, limits of knowledge and nature of
knowledge, knower and known etc.

(2) Metaphysics
This is the study of existence, reality or essence. Its main branches are as follows:

(i) Cosmogony
This is a study of creation. Is the world created, or is it eternal? How was world created? Why
was it created? Who created the world? What is the purpose in creation? All these are the
problems of cosmogony.

(ii) Cosmology
The main problems of cosmology are: Is the world one or it many, or is it both one and
many?

(iii) Ontology

Ontology is the study of ultimate reality. Is the reality one or is it many or is it both one and
many? If reality is many, what is the relation between these many elements? All these are
ontological questions.

(iv) Philosophy of self

This is mainly concerned with the philosophical analysis of self. What is self? What is its
relation with the body? Is it free of does it depend on the body? Is it one or many? All these
are problems of philosophy of self.

(v) Eschatology.
The discussion of the condition of soul after death, the nature of the other world, etc., form
the subject matter of this branch of philosophy.

(3) Axiology.
This branch of philosophy philosophically studies value. It has been divided into the
following three branches:

(i) Ethics. Ethics discusses the criteria of right and good.

(ii) Aesthetics. Aesthetics discusses the nature and criteria of beauty.

(iii) Logic studies truth. The subject matter of logic includes the methods of
judgment, types of proposition, hypothesis, definition, comparison, division,
classification and fundamental laws of thoughts, etc.

(4) Philosophy of Sciences. This branch of philosophy is concerned with the

philosophical examination of the postulates and conclusions of different sciences.

(5) Philosophies of Social Science. The philosophical problems in different social

sciences give birth to different branches of philosophy of which the main are as
follows:

(i) Philosophies of Education. This is concerned with the aim of education and the
basic philosophical problems arising in the field of education.
(ii) Social Philosophy. This branch of philosophy discusses the philosophical basis of
social processes and social institutions.
 (iii) Political Philosophy. This branch of philosophy is concerned with the forms of
government, forms of state and other basic problems arising in the political field.

(iv) Philosophy of History. The subject matter of this branch of philosophy is the
nature of historical process, its purpose and its relations with the cosmic process.

(v) Philosophy of Economics. This branch of philosophy studies the aim of man's
economic activities and the fundamental problems arising in the economic field.

Besides the above mentioned branches of philosophy based on sciences, there may be certain
comparatively lesser branches of philosophy such as philosophy of physics, philosophy of
commerce, philosophy of physical education, philosophy of marriage, philosophy of family
etc. These, however, are not sufficient to form independent branches of philosophy.

(6) Semantics. The most important branch of philosophy, according to the contemporary
school of Logical Positivism, is semantics which is concerned with the determination of the
meanings of different words used in different languages
(Shivendra,2006).
Q.2 Describe the curriculum designed on the basis of idealism.

Idealism and Curriculum

Explaining the idealist bases of curriculum as the imparting of spiritual and cultural heritage
to the child along with his self and personality development, Herman H. Horne writes, "It is
better to centre education in ideals for children and the race rather than in children
themselves. After all children are immature, dependent and plastic members of the race. They
are often irrational in their individuality." As Socrates said in effect to the sophists, "Not man
but reason is the measure of all things, not individuality but universality, not percepts, but
concepts.

Ideals are the norms for all human experience, including that of children. After all, it is still
true that obedience to just law is a virtue, that following physical laws leads to health, that
truth is something to be discovered, rather than made, that conformity is a large element even
in creativity, that repression is a necessary phase of expression. Under the influence of paid
centrism (what a hybrid), self-expression may easily become self-explosion."

Idealists insist on emphasis being placed on the study of humanities such as literature, art,
religion, morality, etc., along with the teaching of science. All the elements necessary for
attaining God are included in the curriculum suggested by idealistic followers of Plato, who
laid down that education must aim to realize the ideals of truth, beauty and goodness. Hence,
he has suggested the inclusion of all those subjects or disciplines which help in the realization
of these ideals.

Significant

Most significant among man's activities are the intellectual, the aesthetic and the moral. The
teaching of language, literature, history, geography, mathematics and science will encourage
intellectual activity while the aesthetic impulse can be reinforced through art and poetry.
Moral activities can be taught and instilled in the educed through the teaching of religion,
ethics, etc.
This curriculum is determined on the basis of the goals to be realized through education and
by the criterion that it must reflect the experience, culture and glory of the human race. Man's
experiences relate not only to his physical or natural environment but also to his social
experiences, knowledge of which can be obtained through a study of the natural and the
social sciences.

James Ross, the educationist, has classified human activity in two groups physical actions
and spiritual activity. Physical activity includes the entire range of actions relating to bodily
welfare and to motor skills. The teaching of these must also be a part of education and they
can be taught through physiology, exercise, medicine, hygiene, etc.

Spiritual activity comprehends all intellectual, ethical, aesthetic and religious activity, all of
which can be taught through history, geography, science, mathematics, language, ethics, art
and religion. Herbart, the idealist philosopher of education, grants these subjects the main
place in the curriculum because these subjects can contribute more than any other to the
spiritual progress of man. But this is the shortcoming of the idealistic philosophy because it
does not attach any significance to the teaching of science.

Herbart points out that the part that literature and history can play in the spiritual
development of man, cannot be played by science. For that reason, scientific subjects such as
the natural sciences, mathematics and even history and geography are granted a secondary
role.

T.P. Nunn, another educationist, has glanced at the idealistic conception of the educational
curriculum, and has remarked, "The school is to consolidate the nation's spiritual strength, to
maintain its historic continuity, to secure its achievements, and to guarantee its future".4 In
order to achieve all these goals, education in the school should consider two kinds of
activities.

In the first group fall such activities which create conditions by which the individual and
social life is ensured and maintained, and this can be done through physical health, customs,
social organisations, ethical conduct, etiquette, religion, etc. Education must provide
opportunities, therefore, for physical training,ethics, religion, etc.
The second group of activities is the one which is more important outside the sphere of the
school. In this group lie those activities which maintain the cultural life of the community
because they are creative. In order to evolve skills for such activities, educationists advocate
teaching of literature, art, music, various kinds of handicrafts and manual skills, sciences,
mathematics, history, etc.

Hence the curriculum must be so designed that it can help to acquaint the individual with his
social and cultural heritage and also to enable him to make some positive contribution to this
heritage.

Nunn writes, "In the school curriculum all these activities should be represented. For these
are the grand expression of the human spirit, and theirs are the forms in which the creative
energies of every generation must be disciplined if the movement of civilization is to be
worthily maintained."
Q.3 which philosophy is behind the child cantered classroom/ Justify with examples.

Basic assumption
Student-centered philosophies are another essential philosophy that educators should
be aware of. By focusing on the needs of students, teachers are able to assist and teach
students within the classroom ensuring a higher level of student success. In this article three
types of student-centered philosophies will be discussed which are

1. progressivism,

2. social reconstructionism,

3. existentialism.

Student-centered philosophies focus more on training individual students. These philosophies

place more emphasis on the individuality of students and helping them to realize their
potential. A student-centered classroom may be less rigid or structured, less concerned about
past teaching practices and drilling academics, and more focused on training students for
success in an ever-changing world. Students and teachers typically decide together what
should be learned, as well as how this can best be achieved.

1. progressivism

Progressivism is based on the positive changes and problem-solving approach that

individuals with various educational credentials can provide their students. Progressives
educators are outcome focused and don’t simply impart learned facts. Teachers are less
concerned with passing on the existing culture and strive to allow students to develop an
individual approach to tasks provided to them.

2. John Jacques Rousseau

John Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and John Dewey (1859–1952) are the guiding minds of
progressivism. Rousseau maintained that people are basically good and that society is
responsible for corrupting them. He supported education in nature, away from the city and the
influences of civilization, where the child’s interests (as opposed to a written set of
guidelines) would guide the curriculum.

John Dewey proposed that people learn best by social interaction and problem solvin. Dewey
developed the scientific method of problem solving and experimentalism. As a result of the
varied opinions emerging from the movement, progressivism was not developed into a
formalized, documented educational philosophy. Progressivists did, however, agree that they
wanted to move away from certain characteristics of traditional schools. In particular, they
were keen to remove themselves from the textbook-based curriculum and the idea of teachers
as disseminators of information, in favor of viewing teachers as facilitators of thinking.

3. Progressivist classroom exploration and experience

The progressivist classroom is about exploration and experience. Teachers act as facilitators
in a classroom where students explore physical, mental, moral, and social growth. Common
sights in a progressivist classroom might include: small groups debating, custom-made
activities, and learning stations. Teachers typically walk freely among the groups, guiding
them using suggestions and thought-provoking questions.

4. Reconstructionism

Social reconstructionism is an educational philosophy that views schools as tools to solve

social problems. Social reconstructionists reason that, because all leaders are the product of
schools, schools should provide a curriculum that fosters their development.
Reconstructionists not only aim to educate a generation of problem solvers, but also try to
identify and correct many noteworthy social problems that face our nation, with diverse
targets including racism, pollution, homelessness, poverty, and violence. Rather than a
philosophy of education, reconstructionism may be referred to as more of a remedy for
society that seeks to build a more objective social order.

Outraged at the inequity in educational opportunities between the rich and the poor, George
Counts wrote Dare the School Build a New Social Order? in 1932. He called on teachers to
educate students to prepare them for the social changes that would accompany heightened
participation in science, technology, and other fields of learning, without compromising their
cultural education. This text was important in the development of social reconstructionist
schools in the United States. For social reconstructionists, the class becomes an area where
societal improvement is an active and measurable goal.

The reconstructionist classroom contains a teacher who involves the students in discussions
of moral dilemmas to understand the implications of one’s actions. Students individually
select their objectives and social priorities and then, with guidance from the teacher, create a
plan of action to make the change happen.

Example

For example, a class may read an article on texting while driving and watch a documentary
on the need for awareness in school systems. In addition, a police officer or a loved one of
someone who has been affected by texting while driving may speak to the class and describe
dangerous and/or fatal events that have resulted from choosing to text while driving. If the
article, the movie, and the speaker inspire them, the students may take on a long-term
awareness project.

One group may choose to analyze the regional news coverage on texting while driving, while
another may choose to conduct a survey, analyzing student viewpoints on the subject. Either
or both groups may schedule meetings with political leaders and create programs or
legislation. Alternatively, they might create a web page and present it to the media. All the
while, the teacher advises on research techniques, writing skills, and public communication
methods, building core skills that will be applicable across a broad range of topics.

An excellent example of social reconstructionism is the 2007 movie Freedom Writers. In the
movie the teacher was determined to get the students interested by requiring them to write.
Students were allowed to write about anything they wanted and were free to express
themselves in their journals however they pleased. The journal writing not only taught basic
writing skills; in some individual instances, it helped to bring students out of a life of crime.

Existentialism promotes attentive personal consideration about personal character, beliefs,

and choices. The primary question existentialists ask is whether they want to define who they
are themselves, or whether they want society to define them. Although freedom and
individuality are highly valued American principles, existentialists argue that there is an
underlying message of conformity. Rather than the belief that the mind needs to understand
the universe, existentialists assume that the mind creates its universe. Their beliefs
incorporate the inevitability of death, as the afterlife cannot be experienced personally with
the current senses, focusing on the fact that the experience we have of the world is temporary
and should be appreciated as such.

5. Existentialist

Education from an existentialist perspective places the primary emphasis on students’

directing their own learning. Students search for their own meaning and direction in life as
well as define what is true and what is false, what is pleasant and satisfying, what is
unpleasant and dissatisfying, and what is right or wrong. The goal of an existentialist
education is to train students to develop their own unique understanding of life.

An existentialist classroom typically involves the teachers and school laying out what they
feel is important and allowing the students to choose what they study. All students work on
different, self-selected assignments at their own pace. Teachers act as facilitators, directing
students in finding the most appropriate methods of study or materials, and are often seen as
an additional resource, alongside books, computers, television, newspapers, and other
materials that are readily available to students.

By focusing on student-centered philosophies school systems and educators will be able to

make necessary changes to create effective and life transforming environments for students.
Q.4 Compare the aims of education proposed by naturalism and pragmatism

Aims of Education

Concerning the aims of education, naturalists adopt a biological and evolutionist attitude.
Even among the different forms of naturalism one finds a variation in the objectives assigned
to education. Mechanical naturalism suggests that education should aim at the efficiency and
perfection of the human machine. But this concept does not represent completely the
naturalist school. Biological evolution uses education to ensure the proper adjustment or
adaptation of the child to his environment.

McDougall points out that education aims at the transformation, synthesis and sublimation of
instincts. Darwinists argue that education must train the individual to struggle successfully
for his own survival. Lamarck and his followers agree with the concept of biological
evolution, because for them also the aim of education is to adapt to the environment.

On the other hand, Herbert Spencer believed education to be a preparation and a training for
the complete life. Bernard Shaw believed that education must aim not only at the individual's
development but also at making the individual capable of stimulating and sustaining social
development, for this will add to the social heritage of the succeeding generations.

T.P. Nunn prefers to use education as a means of making the individual capable of
developing his own individuality and of contributing to society. Naturalists of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries believe that education should achieve a synthesis and adjustment
between individual and society and also between man and nature.

Rousseau believed that education should develop the child according to his natural ability.
And it isaccepted today that education should conform to the child's abilities. To quote
Rousseau's words, "Now of the three factors in education, nature is wholly beyond our
control things are only partly in our power the education of men is the only one controlled by
us, and even here our power is largely illusory, for who can hope to direct every word and
deed of all with whom the child has to do.
What is the goal?
As we have just shown it is the goal of nature since all three modes of education must work
together, the two that we can control must follow the lead of that which is beyond our
control"1 The naturalist approach to the aims of education is rather narrow in that it fails to
include the spiritual aspect of man's nature.

Its inclusion would almost naturally remove the distance between idealism and naturalism
and this is what is being attempted now. sbelieve man to have developed or evolved, from the
animal stage, and since they also believe that there is no gap or discontinuity in the transition
from the animal to the human, they want education to develop the instincts and emotions.

On the subject of curriculum, naturalists have expressed theories which differ from each other
to some extent. Comenius wanted the educand to study every subject, without making any
selection. Locke refuted this notion by demonstrating that every individual cannot be made to
study the same subject, because of certain natural handicaps.

Hence, much emphasis was laid upon modifying the curriculum to suit the needs of the
individual. Herbert Spencer arranged the curriculum with science as its nucleus and tried to
synthesise the other subjects to science. The arts were given a secondary place in his
programme because he believed that one must first create the basic elements before refining
or making them sophisticated. In fact, he wanted to synthesise all subjects to the study of
science, arriving at a conception of liberal education arranged around science.
T.H. Huxley,
Another naturalist, attached greater importance to the cultural aspects of life than to the study
of science. Thus, his conception of a liberal education differed materially from that of
Spencer. In contrast, modern naturalists do not stress the importance of any one subject
against that of any other, although more importance is attached to the sciences. Yet, the arts
are not neglected, but given an important place in the curriculum so that it may acquire a
definitely.

Pragmatic

The various characteristics of the pragmatic concept of education clearly indicate the aims of
education as conceived of by pragmatists. Pragmatic thinking is opposed to all kinds of
dogmatism, blind faith, narrow mindedness, etc. It objects to imposing some particular ideal
on the child against his wish. Besides, it is not prepared to accept an ideal as correct or good
merely because it has been so accepted in the past and because some famous educationists
have propounded it. Pragmatism favours frequent experimentation in the field of education in
order to determine more modern ideals which accord with present-day social life. In the
words of Brubacher, "The progressive education has no fixed aims or values in advance.

Educational aims

Educational aims, no matter how well authenticated by the past, are not to be projected
indefinitely into the future. In a world rendered precarious and contingent by a compound of
the novel and the customary, educational aims must be held subject to revision as one
advances into the future. If education has any general aim in the light of which their
successive revisions can take place, it is only that of pupil's growth. But growth itself has no
end beyond further growth.

In other words, education is its own end." It is apparent, thus, that pragmatists accept growth
or development as the aim of education. The pragmatist refuses to lay down any aim or ideal
which can be permanently valid, its validity unchallenged by changes in time and space. All
the aims of education must be concerned with the present and the future, and must be subject
to modification.

As John Dewey puts it, "Education, as such has no aims; education is an abstract idea. Only
persons have aims. And the aims of persons are indefinitely varied, differing with different
children, changing as children and their teachers grow. Stated aims, such as we are about to
make, will do more harm than good unless they are taken only as suggestions as to how to
look ahead for consequences, to observe conditions and to choose means in the liberating and
directing of children's energies.
Despite this, he points out, that the educational aim must possess the following three elements
in order to be a good or proper aim:

a. Such aims are based on the educand's actions and needs.

b. They elicit the educand's co-operation.
c. They are specific and temporary, not permanent and general.
Q.5 Comment on the statement: ‘Intuition is a source of subjective knowledge’

Intuition

Intuitive Knowledge is the ability to utilize and acquire knowledge without the use of reason;
that science is now facilitating and helping explain. It is the faculty of knowing without the
use of rational processes. It is the most personal way of knowing. It is immediate cognition or
sharp insight. It occurs beneath the threshold of consciousness.

Basics of intuition
Intuitive knowledge is based on intuition, faith, beliefs etc. Human feelings plays greater
role in intuitive knowledge compared to reliance on facts. Intuitive knowledge involves
direct and immediate recognition of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas. It yields
perfect certainty, but is only rarely available to us. Intuition as a mode of knowledge
develops on the basis of immediate apprehension.

Bertrand Russel (1912) claimed that all our knowledge of truth depends upon our intuitive
knowledge. According to Ezewu, intuitive way of knowing is that which involves an
immediate insight or eruption into consciousness of an idea produced by a long process of
unconscious work. This simply means that intuition is a way of knowing something that one
cannot really explain because it transcends ordinary sense experience or reason.

1. Intuition may occur as a sudden arrival of solution to one’s problem or puzzle, having
worked for some hours or days without arriving at such solution. It may also come in
the form of quick guess of solution to a problem presented by another person.
Intuitive knowledge cannot be verified by the senses or the intellect. The true
knowledge that comes from beyond the intellect and that is the intuitive knowledge.

2. Everybody has got this ability and we have experienced in our life this gut feeling,
knowledge from somewhere, which you cannot really make out what it is. How many
of you have ever experienced? See everybody. Somewhere you feel this is the right
thing to do and something happens in your tummy. And that knowledge comes up at
that time but then we don’t honor it. Many times we stick onto the intellect or sensory
perceptions.
3. Sometimes your intellect says this is wrong what I am doing, but you don’t listen to
the intellect you keep doing the wrong things. How many of you have this
experience? What you do? You stick on to the sensory and ignore the intellectual
knowledge. And then what happens? You sometimes go beyond your intellect. Your
intellect is saying something but your inner gut feeling is saying something else. And
you’re feeling says no, there is something different, something more. And we ignore
that and we stick onto the intellect. That’s how many times your judgments have
found to be a failure.

4. How many of you feel your judgments have been wrong? But sometimes, beyond
your judgments you have seen and you have taken a step and have been happy about
it. In spite of your intellect saying ‘no’, something says ‘yes’. Something else triggers
and that is what happens when there is faith and that’s when the faith comes up you
know. Chudn off (1985) said that according to Descartes‘ ‘we can best learn how
mental intuition is to be employed by comparing it with ordinary vision,’’ and
throughout his writings he characterizes intuition by drawing analogies between it and
perception.

5. The intuitive knowledge is beyond intellect. The intellect plays on it and develops it
further. Intuitive knowledge is a belief that amounts to knowledge because it is based
on an intuition. Intuitive knowledge being highlighted not because of what it comes
from but because of what it leads to-namely, cognition of particular things which can
give us an especially powerful hold on the truth that all things are in God.

6. Intuitive knowledge is supposed to be greater, finer, higher, than the mere exercise of
reason; but we are not clearly told why. It is said that there are certain truths of which
definitions cannot be given; that cannot be demonstrated by syllogistic reasoning; that
must be grasped intuitively.

7. The practicing politician censures the abstract theorist who lacks a lively intuition of
how things actually are. The educational theorist stresses, first and foremost, the need
to assist development by educating the faculty of intuition.
8. The critics holds himself honor bound to set aside, when confronted by a work of art,
all theories and abstractions and to judge it by intuiting it directly. The practical man,
finally, professes to live more by intuitions than by reasoning. But to this ample
recognition that intuitive knowledge receives in ordinary life there does not
correspond an equally adequate recognition in the field of theory and philosophy.

9. Of intellectual knowledge there is an ancient science-Logic-the existence of which

everybody admits without bothering to debate the matter; but a science of intuitive
knowledge is barely and timidly admitted by only a few. Logical knowledge has taken
the lion’s share, and even when it does not actually kill and devour its companion
outright, it concedes to it only the humble and lowly position of handmaiden or
doorkeeper.-For what on earth could intuitive knowledge be without the light of the
intellect? It would be a servant without a master and if the master needs the servant,
the former is even more necessary to the latter, if he