Topic: Phenomenology and Existentialism in Education

Subject: Educ 200 (Philosophy of Education)

Student: BOSQUILLOS, ROWELL N.
Professor: LLENARESAS, ALAN O. MAEd

PHENOMENOLOGY AND EXISTENTIALISM IN EDUCATION

I. MEANING BY PROPONENT

 PHENOMENOLOGY

G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831)
 Phenomenology is an approach to philosophy that begins with an
exploration of phenomena (what presents itself to us in conscious
experience) as a means to finally grasp the absolute, logical,
ontological and metaphysical Spirit that is behind phenomena. This
has been called dialectical phenomenology.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)

 Phenomenology is "the reflective study of the essence of

consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of
view." Phenomenology takes the intuitive experience
of phenomena as its starting point and tries to extract from it the
essential features of experiences and the essence of what we
experience. When generalized to the essential features of any
possible experience, this has been called transcendental
phenomenology.
 Later refined the meaning into more of what we use today.
Phenomena can be studied only subjectively, not objectively thus
phenomenology is a close cousin of existentialism.
 Patton (1990)

 "…a phenomenological study…is one that focused on descriptions of

what people experience and how it is that they experience what they
experience. One can employ a general phenomenological perspective
to elucidate the importance of using methods that capture people's
experience of the world without conducting a phenomenological study
that focuses on the essence of shared experience.

 What is Phenomenology
 The science of phenomena as distinct from being (ontology). That
division of any science which describes and classifies its phenomena.
From the Greek phainomenon, “appearance.”
 A philosophical “practice or method” of observing, recording, and
interpreting “lived experience” through vivid and detailed description.
 the study of structures of experience, or consciousness.
 Is the study of structure of consciousness as experienced from the first
– person point of view.
 The central structure of an experience is its intentionally, its being
directed toward something or as an experience of or some object.
 It was another discipline, but it also related to another key of
disciplines in philosophy such as: Ontology, Epistemology, Logic and
Ethics
 In the recent philosophy of mind, the term ―phenomenology is often
restricted to the characterization of sensory qualities of seeing,
hearing.
 Phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experience
from the perception, thought, including linguistic activity.

 EXISTENTIALISM
 Sӧren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
 Danish philosopher born in Copenhagen
 The father of existentialism
 Human existence is always individual in character, never social.
 Man functions, grows, develops, makes choices, suffers, experiences
intense feelings, and faces God as an individual.
 “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

 French philosopher and principal spokesman for the existentialist

movement in post-war France.
 An atheistic existentialist.
 Arguably the best-known philosopher of the twentieth century
 “Existence precedes essence.”
 Essence is created by existence; human nature is a product of existence.
 Man, first exists without purpose or definition, finds himself in the world
and only then, as a reaction to experience, defines the meaning of life.
 According to him, since there is no God or designer to give man a
purpose, it is up to the individual to choose the life they think best.
 We are responsible for everything we do.
 “Man is condemned to be free.”
 “The destiny of man is placed within himself.”

Albert Camus (1913-1960)

 French-Algerian journalist, editor and editorialist, playwright and director,

novelist and author of short stories, political essayist and activist—and
arguably, although he came to deny it, a philosopher.
 Opposed systematic philosophy
 Dealt over such questions as the meaning of life in the face of death.
  “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there
isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is.

 What is Existentialism?
 It is subjective.
 Humans possess free will and stand in an absurd and meaningless world
or universe.
 Every individual is unique.
 Individuals must take responsibility for their own actions and shape their
own destinies.
 Emphasis on human responsibility and judgment in ethical matters.
 The individual is the sole judge of his or her own actions.
 Human freedom is understood precisely as the freedom to choose.
 “Existence precedes essence.”
 Human persons do not possess the essence; they make choices that
create their own nature.
 Choice is vital and inevitable to human existence; even the refusal to
choose is a choice.
 “At birth, man lacks human nature, Man creates himself; what he is, he
himself made. Man is only what he himself wills himself to be. Man is
nothing else but what he makes of himself…” (Sahakian and Sahakian, pp.
563565)
 The will enables man to make a conscious decision of what he will be.
 Choice or decision makes one responsible for the effects of his choice not
only to himself but also to others since his choice also affects other
people.

Relation between Phenomenology and Existentialism

 Together, existentialism and phenomenology move the focus away from

facts about the world towards facts about the individual self. For
phenomenology, that means changing the way we view metaphysics and
 epistemological claims. For existentialism, it generates a normative ethic on
how to live a worthwhile life.
 Phenomenology counts that our perceptions and internal experience are
what matters. Existentialism mirrors this idea in its description of human
nature. Psychologists, sociologists and philosophers alike have searched
for so-called “truths” of human nature. Existentialism holds that there are no
(or at least few) universal truths about human nature — the individual is
what is important, and the individual is free to make his or her life in any
way imaginable.
 Phenomenology is a research technique that involves the careful
description of aspects of human life as they are lived;  Existentialism,
deriving its insights from phenomenology, is the philosophical attitude that
views human life from the inside rather than pretending to understand it
from an outside, "objective" point-of-view.

II. AIM OF EDUCATION

PHENOMENOLOGY

 To expose,uncover, or reveal “universal” elements of human existence that

structure our practical, “ particular” empirical situation.
 Counts that our perceptions and internal experience are what matters.
 Identifying and describe the subjective experience of respondents. It is a
matter of studying everyday experience from the point of views of the subject,
and it show critical evaluation of form of social life.
 To trace out precisely the lived experience of people and generate theories or
models of phenomena being studied.

EXISTENTIALISM
  To help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique
individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings,
and actions.
 To educate the whole person, not just the mind, since feeling is not divorced
from reason in decision making.
 To help the learner become fully his authentic self.

III. CURRICULUM

PHENOMENOLOGY

 Learners focus away from facts about the world towards facts about the
individual self.
 Seeks to be scientific, it does not attempt to study consciousness from the
perspective of clinical psychology or neurology.
 Studies the structure of various types of experience ranging from
perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to
bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including linguistic
activity.
 Phenomenology might play a role in ethics by offering analyses of the
structure of will, valuing, happiness, and care for others (in empathy and
sympathy). Historically, though, ethics has been on the horizon of
phenomenology.
 Role of the Teacher
 To help the students define the structure of various types of experience.
 Develop student’s consciousness from different phenomena.
  To assist and guide the learner in the process of becoming intelligent,
sensitive, choosing, and acting individual who knows the obligation and
responsibility of freedom from their consciousness.
 Role of Learners
 To describe the aspects of human life as they are lived.
 To connect their experience from the perception, thought, including
linguistic activity and different subjects.
 To be productive individual

EXISTENTIALISM

 Learning is self-paced, self-directed.

 Students are given a wide variety of options from which to choose.
 Students are afforded great latitude in their choice of subject matter.
 The humanities are given emphasis to provide students with various
experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and self-expression
 Composed of fine arts, drama, creative expression, literature, and
philosophy.
 Vocational education is seen more as a means of teaching students about
themselves and their potentials than that of earning a livelihood.
 Role of Teachers
 To help students define their own essence by exposing them to various
paths they take in life.
 To create an environment in which they freely choose their own preferred
way.
 To relates with each student openly and honestly.
 To assist and guide the learner in the process of becoming intelligent,
sensitive, choosing, and acting individual who knows the obligation and
responsibility of freedom.
 To help the individual identify and know himself better.
 To be a questioner
  Poser of alternatives
 Identifier of choices who challenges the learner to become fully existent.
 Role of Learners
 To freely choose what subject/s they want to study as long as they are
interested in it.
 To define their own essence or meaning of life.

IV. METHOD OF TEACHING

PHENOMENOLOGY

 Describe a type of experience just as we find it in our own (past) experience.

 Interpret a type of experience by relating it to relevant features of context.
 analyze the form of a type of experience. In the end, all the classical
phenomenologists practiced analysis of experience, factoring out notable
features for further elaboration.
 Try to describe phenomena without reducing those phenomena to
supposedly objective non-phenomena.  Instead of appealing to objectivity for
validation, we appeal instead to inter-subjective agreement.
 a phenomenological approach suggests suspending our theories,
expectations, categories, and measurements and going to the source: Open
ourselves to the students' communications of meaning and we will at
least approach an understanding of their understanding.
 focus on individual experience of the world focus on interpretation of events,
not the events themselves.

EXISTENTIALISM

 Focus is on the individual.

  In teaching history, existentialists focus on the actions of historical
individuals, who provide possible models for the students’ own behavior,
rather than emphasizing historical events.
 In arts, existentialism encourages individual creativity and imagination more
than copying and imitating established models. Creativity is an expression of
oneself.
 In teaching values, teachers employ values clarification strategy to help
students know themselves and their place in society. Here, teachers remain
non-judgmental and take care not to impose their values on their students
since values are personal.
 Through values clarification strategy, the learners will be able to practice
sound moral reasoning skills, choose the appropriate response for a value
conflict and commit themselves to personal, moral, and societal values.
 Values education is a matter of choice that goes throughout existence.
 There should be private and open spaces in the classroom to facilitate
dialogues, small group discussions, and individualization to lessen the
tension, formality, and constraint experienced by the learners.
 Criticism to any individual work is less important.

V. Conclusion

Phenomenology and existentialism are philosophic tradition offering unique

conceptions of reality and “the self”. Both philosophies proffer individualistic
perspectives of reality, inquiry, and interpretation that, when interpreted and understood,
enable educators, curriculum writers, and policy makers to make sense of the world
from individual point of view. Existentialists believe in autonomous consciousness-
because meaning originates from me, I become responsible for the reality of the world.
Phenomenologist on the other hand are more interested in how and why reality
perceived.

The relationship between phenomenology and existentialism is a close one.

Phenomenology is sometimes compared to idealism, the metaphysical claim that all that
truly exist are minds. Phenomenology does not make this claim. Instead,
phenomenology merely focuses on the epistemological claim that all we know is our
subjective reality, coupled with the normative claim that we ought to avoid the
meaningless attempt to seek out some objective reality. The importance is placed on
the subjective. Same as existentialism it is subjective, individuals must take
responsibility for their own actions and shape their own destinies. In phenomenology
this improves our understanding of ourselves and our world by means of careful
description of experience.  On the surface, this seems like little more than naturalistic
observation and introspection. Thus, phenomenology develops a complex account of
temporal awareness (within the stream of consciousness), spatial awareness (notably in
perception), attention (distinguishing focal and marginal or “horizonal” awareness),
awareness of one’s own experience (self-consciousness, in one sense), self-awareness
(awareness-of-oneself), the self in different roles (as thinking, acting, etc.), embodied
action (including kinesthetic awareness of one’s movement), purpose or intention in
action (more or less explicit), awareness of other persons (in empathy, intersubjectivity,
collectivity), linguistic activity (involving meaning, communication, understanding
others), social interaction (including collective action), and everyday activity in our
surrounding life-world (in a particular culture). In existentialism it will enables man to
make a conscious decision of what he will be. The choice or decision makes one
responsible for the effects of his choice not only to himself but also to others since his
choice also affects other people. Existentialism deals with concreteness of experience,
personal concern, commitment and uniqueness of the individual.

In education the role of phenomenology and existentialism merely related by move

the focus away from facts about the world towards facts about the individual self.
Phenomenology aims to help students to counts that perceptions and internal
experience are what matters. Existentialism aims to help students understand and
appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their
thoughts, feelings, and actions. The role of the teacher in phenomenology is to assist
and guide the learner in the process of becoming intelligent, sensitive, choosing, and
acting individual who knows the obligation and responsibility of freedom from their
consciousness. In existentialism teacher help students define their own essence by
exposing them to various paths they take in life. Also create an environment in which
they freely choose their own preferred way.

In summary phenomenology is a research technique that involves the careful

description of aspects of human life as they are lived;  Existentialism, deriving its
insights from phenomenology, is the philosophical attitude that views human life from
the inside rather than pretending to understand it from an outside, "objective" point-of-
view. Phenomenological existentialism, as a philosophy or a psychology, is not a tightly
defined system by any means.  And yet its adherents are relatively easily identified by
their emphasis on the importance of individuals and their freedom to participate in their
own creation.  It is a psychology that emphasizes our creative processes far more than
our adherence to laws, be they human, natural, or divine.