PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 2014

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

It is often said that a great need of the present times is that people should have a philosophy of life.
Philosophy ought not be simply prerogative of a few professionals. It is needed as a guide for the ordinary
man in his everyday life.
If we are to educate sensibly, we must above all things do it with sense of direction and proportion.
In order to have this is to have philosophy. Philosophy is a love of wisdom. The philosopher is the lover of
wisdom and it is wisdom that we need.

OBJECTIVES

1. Identify philosophies during the various educational periods;

2. Describe the implications of traditional and contemporary philosophies of education to educational aim,
curriculum, teaching-learning process and to teachers’ characteristics;
3. Apply philosophical thoughts in particular teaching situations.

TOPIC OUTLINE

A. Nature and Scope of Philosophy of Education

B. Outstanding Exponent of the Different Philosophies

A. NATURE AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Philosophy of education is a system of rationally supported assumptions and beliefs about

education. It uses traditional philosophical concepts and methods to show how children’s experiences, if
organized in accordance with certain assumptions, will result in the achievement of what may be
considered the good life.

The assumption can be made and related to four basic questions:

1. What is there to know?

This involves the nature of reality and asks about the universe.
2. How do we know?
This concerns the processes and characteristics of knowledge – how men acquire knowledge and distinguish
truth from falsehood and error. This is studied in logic and epistemology.
3. Who or what is most worth of?
This raises issues about man’s preferences, and his reasons for choosing one thing rather than another. This
study of values or axiology is intrinsic to question in ethics, aesthetic, and religion.
4. What is the nature of man and culture?
This concerns the characteristics of human behavior and its setting, and they are studied in psychology,
sociology, anthropology, and the like.

B. OUTSTANDING EXPONENT OF THE DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES

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B.1 REALISM

Realism believes in the world as it is. It is based on the view that reality is what we observe. It is
believe that truth is what we sense and observe and that goodness is found in the order of the laws of
nature. As a result, schools exist to reveal the order of the world and universe. Students are taught factual
information.

The Nature of Realism

 Advocates that values are dependent upon the attitudes of the sentiment beings experiencing them.
 Believe that investigating and reasoning are important in any effective adjustment to the real world in the
control of experiences.

Assumption

 The primary qualities of experience exist in the physical world.

 Mind is like a mirror receiving images from the physical world.
 The mind of a child at birth is similar to blank sheet of paper upon which the world proceeds to write its
impression.
 Nature is a primary self-evident reality, a starting point in philosophizing.
 Consciousness is not a substance, it is an awareness of experience and experience is a medium in which
objects and organism are related.

Educational Aim (Why Teach)

 Gives direction and form to individual’s basic potentialities.

 Determines the direction of the individual’s inherited tendencies.
 Provide an education that could produce a good individual and a good society by meeting four principal
needs of an individual.
 Aptitude needs
 Self-determination needs
 Self-realization needs
 Self-integration needs

Curricular Emphasis (What to Teach)

Combination of subject matter and problem-centered concepts or real problems towards

acquisition of desirable habits:

1. Study habits
2. Research skills
3. Library skills

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4. Evaluation
5. Observation
6. Experimentation
7. Analytical and critical thinking
8. Application of principles
9. Effective use of words
10. Habit of enjoyment

Subject Areas: 1. Natural Science 4. Poetry

2. Social Science 5. Literature
3. Arts 6. Biography

Teaching Methods (How to Teach)

Scientific Method: 1. Defining problems

2. Observing factors related to problem
3. Hypothesizing
4. Testing the hypothesis

Character Development: Training in rules of conduct

Role of Teachers

 Help students realize irresistible necessity of earth’s physical forces.

 Help develop initiative and ability to control their experiences.
 Help realize that they can enter into the meaning of their experiences.
 The students would be taught factual information for mastery.

Role of School

 Further develop discipline

 Utilize pupil activity through instruction
 Speak with authority
 Regard pupil as more superior than objects
 Change in the school would be perceived as a natural evolution toward perfection of order.

B.2 IDEALISM
Idealism is a system of thought that emphasizes the importance of mind, soul or spirit. Truth is to be
found in consistency of ideas. Goodness is an ideal state, something to be strived for.
Idealism believes in refined wisdom. It is based on the view that reality is a world within a person’s
mind. It believes that truth is in the consistency of ideas and that goodness is an ideal state to strive to
attain.
As a result, schools exist to sharpen the mind and the intellectual processes. Students are taught the
wisdom of past heroes.

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PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 2014

The Nature of Idealism

 One of the oldest schools of thoughts with its origin traced back to Plato’s ideas.
 Stresses the mental, moral and spiritual nature of an individual and his universe.
 Advocates that education is both a basic need and a basic right of man.
Assumption
 God is the absolute ideal and all positive values are fully realized and enjoyed through Him.
 Every individual is born good, and is capable to sense, perceive, and think.
 The self is the ultimate reality of individual experiences.
 The individual self has all the freedom for self-determination.
 One’s perception of the world is rooted in his existence.
 Values depend on how individual persons pass and enjoy them in their experiences.
 Social values are realized when an individual recognizes that he is a part of the total society.

Educational Aim
 To develop the individual spirituality, mentally and morally.
Teaching Methods
 Lecture-Discussion method
 Excursion
 Question method
 Project method

Character Development: Imitating examples of heroes

Role of Teachers
 Chief source of inspiration
 Creator of educational environment

Role of School
 An agency of the society
 Thinking institution
B.3 PRAGMATISM/EXPERIMENTALISM
Pragmatism is primarily an American philosophy, although its roots go back to Greek thinking.
Pragmatist is primarily conceived with the knowledge process, the relationship of ideas to action. Basically,
this concerns with the method of reflective thinking.
Experimentalism believes that things are constantly changing. It is based on the view that reality is
what you experience. It believes that truth is what works right now and that goodness comes from group
decisions.
As a result, schools exist to discover and expand the society we live in. Students study social
experiences and solve problems.

The Nature of Pragmatism/Experimentalism

 Encourage people to find processes that work in order to attain desired goals.
 The doctrine that practical consequences are the criteria of knowledge, meaning and value.

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Assumption
 The world is uncertain and incomplete. It allows a room for improvement.
 Past is a potential instrumentality for dealing with the future.
 Experience is not primarily an affair in knowing but is incidental in the process of acting, doing and living.
 Sensation is not merely a gateway but the avenue of active relation with the world.

Educational Aim

 For social efficiency

 Train the students to continuously and actively quest for information and production of new ideas needed to
adjust to an ever-changing society.
Curricular Emphasis

 Creation of new social order

 Integrated and based on the problem of the society
 Subjects are interdisciplinary
 Academic and vocational disciplines
1. Mathematics
2. Science
3. History
4. Reading
5. Music
6. Arts or metal works

Teaching Methods

 Experimental Method
Steps:
1. Statement of the problem
2. Hypothesizing
3. Investigating or data gathering
4. Testing hypothesis
5. Forming conclusions
 Other methods:
1. Creative and constructive projects
2. Field trips
3. Laboratory works
4. Library work
 Activity-centered
 Student-centered
 Opportunity to practice democratic ideals
Character Development: Making group decisions in light of consequences

Role of Teachers
 Keeps order in the class

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 Facilitates group work

 Encourages and offers suggestions, questions and help in planning
 Curriculum planner

Role of School
 A miniature society
 Gives the child balance and genuine experience in preparation for life democratic living.
 Place where ideas are tested, implemented and restructured.

B.4 PERENNIALISM (teacher-centered)

Perennialism is the most conservative, traditional, or flexible philosophy. The distinguishing
characteristic of humans is the ability to reason. Education should focus on developing rationality.
Education is preparation for life, and the students should be taught the world’s permanencies through
structured studies.
It is largely a product of Aristotle’s rationalism and its subsequent treatment by Thomas Aquinas. It
assumes that man’s basic or essential characteristic is his ability to reason. Only through reason can man
understand existence and how he required to live.
Perennialists believe that one should teach the things that they believe are of everlasting
importance to all people everywhere.
The Nature of Perennialism

 Views truth as constant and universal

 Education is good if it enables the student to acquire knowledge of unchanging principles.
 Great ideas have the potential to solve problem in any area.

Assumption

 Education should promote continuing search for truth since truth is universal and timeless.
 Education should cultivate human’s rational mind.
 Education should stimulate humans to think critically and thoughtfully.

Educational Aim
 To develop power of thought, internalize truths that are universal and constant.

Curricular Emphasis

 Great ideas or universal principles

 Focused on arts and sciences and areas such as History, Language, Mathematics, Science, Logic, Literature
and Humanities

Teaching Methods
 Subject centered
 Methods of disciplining the mind through reading and discussion

Character Development: Develop intellect of all learners and prepare them for life.

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Role of Teachers
 A known master of discipline

Role of School
 Produce intellectually elite individuals to become intellectual.
B.5 PROGRESSIVISM
It assumes that the world changes, which in the universe that is not particularly conceived with him,
man, can rely only upon his ability to think straight. In education, this means that the child must be taught
to be independent, self-reliant thinker, learn to discipline himself, be responsible for the consequences of
his behavior.
Progressivism emphasizes the concept of progress which asserts that human beings are capable of
improving and perfecting their environment.

The Nature of Progressivism

 Exactly opposite of perennialism

 Stresses the child’s needs and therefore child-centered.

Assumption

 The curriculum should be derived from the needs and interests of the students.
 Effective methods of teaching must consider interests and needs of the students.
 Effective teachers provide experiences that will make students active than passive.
 Effective education is one that provides the learners with a future better than the past.
Educational Aim

 To provide the pupil the necessary skills to be able to interact with his ever changing environment.
Curricular Emphasis

 Activity and experienced centered on life functions.

Teaching Methods

 Cooperative learning strategies

 Reflective strategies
 Problem Solving strategies

Character Development: Improvement and reform in the human condition

Role of Teachers

 Act as a resource person

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 Guide or facilitate
 Teaches students how to learn and become active problem solvers.
Role of School

 Develop and personal and social values

Set up a classroom environment along the lines of democracy

B.5 ESSENTIALISM
Essentialism is often called traditionalism or conservatism. It assumes that the values of men are
embedded in the universe, waiting to be discovered and understood. In education, there are some things
the child must learn which tend the curriculum relatively static. There is a core of essential and traditional
subjects; certainly literary classic, language, religion, mathematics, science and history, and other materials.

The Nature of Essentialism

 Emphasis is on race experience or the social heritage.
Assumption
 The study of knowledge and skills for the individual are imperative for him to become a productive member
of the society.
Educational Aim
 Education provides sound training of the fundamental skills.
 Education develops individuals to perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously.
Curricular Emphasis
 Emphasis on the essential skills (3R’s) and essential subjects such as English, Math, and Foreign Language.
 Hard sciences and vocation course
Teaching Methods
 Deductive method
 Drill method
 Recitation
 Giving assignments or homework
 Testing and evaluating
 Systematic analysis and synthesis
Character Development: Values of discipline, hard work, and respect for authority.
Role of Teachers
 Provide stimulating activities for learning
 Prepare well-organized lesson to prove he is an authority of instruction
Role of School
 Ensure master of essential skills
 Prepare students for real life situations
 Teach students to communicate clearly and logically

B.6 EXISTENTIALISM

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Man has no fixed nature and he shapes his being as he lives. The existentialist sees the world as
personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth and reality are individually defined. Reality is a world of things,
truth subjectivity chosen, and goodness, a matter of freedom.
The Nature of Existentialism
 Focuses on the experiences of the individuals.
 Offers individuals a way of thinking about the meaning of life.
Assumption
 Existence precedes essence
Educational Aim
 To train individual for significant and meaningful existence.
Curricular Emphasis
 Subject-centered
 Literature
 History
 Arts for Aesthetic expression
 Humanities for ethical values
Teaching Methods
 Inquiry approach
 Question-Answer method
Character Development: Individual responsibility for decisions and preferences.
Role of Teachers
 Good provider of experience
 Effective questioner
 Mental disciplinarian
Role of School
 Create an atmosphere for active interaction
 Plan better solutions to their everyday problems
 Discuss the different situations based by an individual
B.7 RECONSTRUCTIONISM
The belief that man to a significant degree plan and control his society, that in a democratic society
this should be done in the public interest, and that the school have a significant part to play in the process.
The philosophy of reconstructionism contains two major premises:
1. Society is in need of constant reconstruction or change.
2. Such social change involves a reconstruction of education and the use of education in reconstructing
society.
The Nature of Reconstructionism
 Social change
 Schools should have initiative in reconstructing the present social order.
 Believes that educational philosophies are based on one’s culture.

Assumption
 We live in a period of great crisis, as is most evident in the fact that humans now have the capability of
destroying civilization overnight.

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 Mankind has the intellectual technological and moral potential to create a world civilization of abundance,
health and human capacity.

Educational Aim
 Education enlivens the students’ awareness of different societal problems.
 Education based on the quest for a better society.

Curricular Emphasis
 Stresses learning that enables the individual to live in a global milieu
 Controversial national and international issues.
 Emphasis on social sciences and social research methods; examination of social economics and political
problems; focus on present and future trends.

Teaching Methods
 Community-based projects
 Problem-oriented method
Character Development: Provide vision for better world
Role of Teachers
 Lead the young in designing programs for social, educational, practical and economic change.
Role of School
 Primary agent of social change
 Critical examination of cultural heritage
 Center of controversy where students discuss controversial issues, political and educational.

B.8 BEHAVIORISM
 Why teach – behaviorist schools are concerned with the modification and shaping of students’ behavior by
providing for a favorable environment, since they believe that they are a product of their environment. They
are after students who exhibit desirable behavior in society.
 What to teach - Because behaviorists look at “people and other animals... as complex combination of matter
that act only in response to internally or externally generated physical stimuli”, behaviorist teachers teach
students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment.
 How to teach – Behaviorist teachers “ought to arrange environmental condition so that students can make
the responses to stimuli. Physical variables like light, temperature, arrangement of furniture, size and
quantity of visual aids have to be controlled to get the desired response from the learners. ...Teachers ought
to make the stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the learners’ attention. They ought to provide
appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken or eliminate negative ones.” (Trespeces,
1995)

IMPORTANCE OF PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

Philosophies of education are important because they perform certain functions that make the
educational system effective and efficient. Among their important functions are the following:

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1. It provides guidelines in the formulation of educational policies and programs and in the construction of
curricula.
For example, DECS Order no. 91, series of 1998 – changes in the Technology and Home Economics
(THE) program of the New Secondary Education Curriculum (NSEC). It contributes to students holistic
development (addressing their perceived cognitive needs in the THE through improvement update. The
rationale: One of the thrusts of the DECS is quality secondary education through continuing improvement
and updating of the curricular offerings. To make the THE program more relevant and responsive to the
needs of the secondary school students, changes and improvements are being studied. (PROGRESSIVISM)
2. It provides direction toward which all educational efforts should be exerted.
For example, DECS Order no. 54, series 1995 – War on Waste. The rationale: To contribute to the
national efforts for conservation of all resources, both natural and physical. It helps human beings improve
and perfect their environment by applying methods in solving environmental concern. A brigade was
organized in all identified elementary and high schools. Each school submitted a program of activities to
implement the WOW crusade. (SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONISM)
3. It provides theories and hypothesis in education that may be tested for their effectiveness and efficiency.
For example, DECS order no. 1, series 1993 – Increasing the number of elementary school days and
time allotment in the New Elementary Education Curriculum (NESC). The rationale: To make classroom
instruction more effective. To ensure the improvement of pupil achievement in particular areas. It provides
the essential skills needed to cultivate basic literacy (through the increase number of school days and time
allotment) (ESSENTIALISM)
4. It provides norms or standards for evaluation purposes.
For example, DECS Order no. 65 series 1998 – Revised guidelines on the selection of honor students.
The rationale: To give due and proper recognition to graduating students who have shown exemplary
performance in their high school work. (EXISTENTIALISM)

SOURCES OF PHILIPPINE PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

1. The great philosophies of education that have stood the test of time such idealism naturalism, pragmatism,
humanism, essentialism, progressivism and the like.
2. Great educational thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle etc.
3. The philosophies of great Filipino such as Rizal, Mabini, Palma etc.
4. The Philippine Constitution especially Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
5. Some important laws such as Presidential Decree 6-A or Educational Act of 1972 and Batas Pambansa
otherwise known as the Educational Act of 1982.
6. The prevailing social, economic, political and cultural patterns of great magnitude that have a great impact
upon society.

REFERENCES:

 Bauzon, Prisciliano T. (2006): Handbook in Legal Bases of Education, National Bookstore, Mandaluyong City
 Bilbao, Purita P. (2006): The Teaching Profession, Lorimar Publishing Co.Inc., Manila
 Patron, Josefina S. (2006): Laws on Education, Neo Asia Publishing, Inc. Quezon City
 Salandanan, Gloria G. (2005): Teaching and the Teacher, Lorimar Publishing Co., Inc., Metro Manila
 Salandanan, Gloria G. (2007): Elements of Good Teaching, Lorimar Publishing Co., Inc., Metro Manila
 Doris D. Tulio, Copyright 2008, Foundation of Education 2, 2nd Edition, National Book Store.

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RUBEN L. ABUCAYON, Ph.D.
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 2014

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