Philippine Normal University

Linking Standards and Quality Practice (LiSQuP)

School Year 2021-2022
Term 1

Subject: ED701 Contemporary Philosophy of Education

Professor: Dr. Dennis Apolega

Members:

Jimelyn T. Lansaderas (MA-EdLM / SDO-Bukidnon)

Marjoline V. Gevila (MA-EdLM / SDO-San Carlos City)

Daryl Rose A. Dumogho (MA-EdLM / SDO-Agusan del Norte)

Christopher Colisao (MA-Science Education / SDO-Tapat)

Jomaj Dela Cruz (MAEd-CIN / SDO-Zamboanga City)

Aaron Paul J. Blay (MAEd-CIN / SDO-Quezon City)

Final Output and Course Synthesis: Collaborative Critical Essay

Question:

How might the topics you have chosen help you in your profession? Discuss what the

topics you have chosen are and then illustrate how they might help in your profession.

Topics:

• Questioning the Nobility of Teaching

• Enduring Frameworks in Philosophy -- Idealism and Realism

• Implications of Philosophy to Science and Education

• Philosophy for Children

 The Nobility of Teaching as Philosophy: A Collaborative Critical Essay

They said that teaching is noblest profession among all. What made this profession a

noble one? A big question that requires a simple reply. Teachers do not only teach and convey

knowledge but inspire and motivate schoolchildren for life and explore the beauty that life can

offer. While the thought of the majority that teaching is superior among many, but let’s face the

fact that there are so numerous vague and grey areas in the teaching profession that needs to be

corrected, developed and evaluate. Thus, learning is a continuous process transcend in the

teaching practices.

Teaching as a profession requires a great passion, courage, moral strength and content

knowledge, because it is not sound easy to deal with the real world so far as financial side is

concerned. Nonetheless as regards the side of honor and dignity, teaching is considered a noble

and respected profession. Most people had always high respect for this profession.

But the question is, why educating mankind is necessary in the society? What does

education trying to go about in the lives of the people? For this, the main goal of education is the

advancement of knowledge, the imposition of good moral values and ethics as well as molding a

better person that will become a good citizen of the community. What I have discovered is there

is no easy answer to the purpose of education. It depends on your philosophical beliefs and self-

goal. One may say that the purpose of education is acquire skills, one may say, for the purpose of

getting a well-job and many more.

 The role of philosophy in the educative process lies on the behavior of the society and it

creates impact on the teaching practice and teaching quality. While I don’t disregard the best

practices of the traditional teaching, we must accept the fact that the needs of the society demand

us to do teaching advancement and be more competitive. Curriculum changes because of time,

needs and demands of the world, as well as new trends in education.

Remember, education is much more than educating our learners to be future nation-

builders, the purpose of education is to help each individual reach their human potentials.

Philosophy of education can also be understood not as an academic discipline but as an

educational theory that unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theory, and the purpose of

education. Curriculum and instruction should never be a fixed unit. It needs to be dynamic to be

beneficial. It requires to be designed for the different elements to come together to provide

comprehensible learning experiences that contribute towards the pupils’ personal and academic

learning and development.

I thought that idealism focuses on high aspirations and that it only puts emphasis on

perfection. However, I understood that it is not about perfection, rather it is concerned with the

dominance of the mind and self and sees man and the universe as spirits or minds. Learners are

seen as individuals with inner potential. Education should assist students in realizing their full

potentials. The program must include information and experiences that contribute to the

student’s development. The teacher’s role is to provide valuable knowledge while also assisting

in the formation of moral and aesthetic ideals in the learner. As already said, idealism places a

greater emphasis on a child’s spiritual growth.

 On the other hand, realism sees the child as a living, growing being who is ready to face

the realities of life. The goal of education is to prepare a child for the challenges that they will

encounter in the future. The learner’s background should be taken into account when choosing

subjects. Teaching approaches that are objective are advocated by realism. Observation,

experimentation, and activity must be prioritized. Discipline is established by regulating the

environment according to realism.

In addition, philosophy has its implications in science and education. We all know that

the world is filled with numerous differing ideas. Some are based on studies and researches while

others are on beliefs, opinions, and hearsays. With the advent of technology and the influence of

social media ideas are spread rapidly. And with the technically advanced means of presenting

them identifying which amongst them are truthful and not becomes even more difficult for adult

and young alike. No wonder we become easy victims of scams and fake news.

Topic 5 on the implications of philosophy to science and education speaks of great

relevance to the different societal issues we are currently facing. This topic reminds us of the

implication of philosophy to science and education and how great is our role in educating our

learners. Knowing that philosophy is tantamount to critical thinking, teaching this to learners

even to young children (as discussed in topic 9) is of paramount importance. A well-informed

thinking, reflective and analytic mind is one that cannot be dictated and is difficult to deceive.

Thus, we have to ensure that scientific literacy is emphasized and history is considered and

carefully studied at present. We must be able to produce learners who are not only scientifically

literate but are also critical thinkers who are able to make sound decisions and intelligent stands

in the different societal issues. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Education must enable one to
sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts

from the fiction. The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to

think critically.”

In our field of endeavor on the other hand, which is the teaching profession, we are liable,

accountable, and responsible to our learners. It is crucial to understand the children in their field

of interests. Though my present position is not a teacher, because I am a school principal, the

more am I accountable and liable to my clientele who are the learners for our objective is to give

quality education resulting into higher learning outcomes. The Education for All (EFA) 2015

Plan emphasizes the need to provide basic education for all. So, how could this be achieved?

Teachers need to be guided by the school head in order to achieve the goal and objective of

DepEd.

We have to know the philosophy for the children. This is a pedagogic approach that

centers on teaching learning skills and the ability to question. This kind of approach is a student-

led inquiry-based approach to learning. Teachers if do not have enough knowledge about

philosophy for the children may find it hard to achieve the mission and vision for they are

dealing with children who have individual differences. It is very important to know our children

well.

Children learn best in a nurturing, child-initiated play-based environment that fosters self-

confidence, trust, creativity, autonomy, and acceptance of individual differences. The staff must

establish a positive learning environment nurturing child’s growth and development. This topic
has given me the idea to capacitate, reskill, and upskill the teachers on how to bring the children

into a learning environment that would ensure them with trust, confidence, and acceptance.

I come into realization that children need to be nurtured in order to become productive

and that everyone is given the opportunity to education. We need to involve the children in order

to develop their critical thinking. In this manner, the goal and objective of DepEd which is

producing learners who have higher learning outcomes will be achieved.

The philosophy for children plays then a big role in achieving high performance in

academics. This topic gives impact to my management of teachers in school for this serves as an

opener to me that children must be nurtured to gain trust and self-confidence to be accepted

locally and globally and become productive citizens of the country.

By learning philosophy of education, a teacher would be able to see and analyze from the

standpoint of their learners. Philosophy explains us that ideology that in teaching our learners,

we should never give up in imparting knowledge specifically with those below average or

struglling students.

There are so many philsophy of education but only few of it are being utilized. It is to

note that often heard and see that schools are of the same in many aspects and only few differs.

My consideration in my statement is that we almost have the same learning process in public

school and the few differs among private schools. This means the day-to-day classroom

experience and activities are similar and honestly, each school may have one or two innovations
or programs that determine their point of difference.

In conclusion, as classroom teacher, we all make sure that our lessons are not just

informative in content but also the learning and development needs of our students. We

consider the time each learners have to complete the lesson’s activities and provides other

resources, references and materials available, and sometimes we also consider whether or not

the lesson should move on to the next topic or need to be reteach.

Generally, we constantly emerge students queries or interests in the discussion of

the day through their own experiences, ideas and thoughts because it relates to specific

information we are trying to impart. We make sure also to relate the objectives to the standard

that they need to acquire and so the need to do our planning. This can be observe in the lesson

planning like we always state that the students are expected to achieve, perform and evaluate

the objective of the day.

Lastly, it is really significant to recognize and integrate students’ social, cultural and

linguistic differences while developing standardized lessons and activities. For sure, all of us

knows the developmental progression and readiness of certain grade level and age group of our

learners.