Lesson 2 TOPIC 2: Philosophies of Education.

• Discuss on the philosophies

• Philosophies of education and theories of education.
• Idealism
• Realism
• Pragmatism
• Existentialism
• Essentialism
• Progressivism

Why This Lesson

In this lesson, we will be discussing on the philosophies and theories of education that shaped our ideas about
the purpose and meaning of education and schooling.
flection Activity
Philosophies of Education

A philosophy of education is a statement or set of statements that identifies and clarifies the beliefs, values, and
understandings of an individual or group with respect to education; in defining and directing the purposes,
objectives, and focus of a school.

The word philosophy is derived from the Greek, which means “love of wisdom but it is a wisdom that results from
a pursuit of knowledge, of the most important parts of reality.” Philosophy is a challenge to seek truth and is a
comprehensive study, holistic and logical thinking of human beings towards religion, literature, science, and
education.

Philosophy is able to differentiate between empirical sciences and the study of religion. Discussion on
philosophy does not provide answers through empirical studies, observations or experiments. Philosophy can be
divided into five main components; to answer the following questions:

Metaphysics Study of the fundamental nature of reality What’s out there?

Epistemology Study of the nature, origin, and limits of human How do I know about it?
knowledge
Ethics Study of what is right and wrong in human What should I do?
behaviour
Politics Study of government, addressing questions about What actions are permissible?
the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents
and institutions
Aesthetics Study of beauty and taste What can life be like?

Metaphysics
Metaphysics is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality. Metaphysics studies the nature of being and
the world. It discusses whether the world is real or an illusion. Metaphysics was the “science” that studied “being
as such”, “the first causes of things” or “things that do not change.” Without explanation and interpretation of
the world around us, we would not understand reality. We would not be able to protect ourselves or maintain
our life. Metaphysics tries to answer the following questions:
1) Is there anything that must be true of absolutely everything that exists?
2) Is everything that exists an actual entity?
3) Is time real, or an illusion?

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Epistemology
Epistemology is the study of what is right and wrong in human behaviour. Epistemology provides an answer to
the question, “How do we know?”. A fundamental question concerning Epistemology is, what is knowledge? It
also asks questions like; can knowledge ever be absolute? Is there a limit for humans to know certain things? If
we are living in a world of simulation, how can we know it? These are some of the essential questions :
1) What is the object of study we seek to create knowledge about
2) How do we create knowledge
3) Who accepts knowledge as ‘true’ and how?

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Axiology
Axiology explores the nature of value and its metaphysical aspects. It is derived from the word Greek, which
means value or worth. Axiology involved ethics and aesthetics, which are related to theory, values, and meta-
values. Axiology is the attempt to discover a theory of value, which is an answer to this question:

1) What makes one situation better than another?

2) What makes a life go well for the person who lives it?

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Logic
Logic is derived from the Greek word, logos which refers to the science of how to evaluate arguments and
reasoning. Critical thinking is a process of evaluation that uses logic to separate truth from falsehood, and
reasonable from unreasonable beliefs. Logic is a way of thinking clearly and basing your reasoning on
objective facts that you use in practicing philosophy. Aristotle used logic to underpin his philosophy in
developing the method of deductive reasoning and then applied those two concepts to science,
metaphysics, ethics, and politics.

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Idealism

Idealism is the school of educational thought promoted by Plato in 400 B.C. Plato thought that humans could
be improved from within, by correcting their thoughts and discovering knowledge already there since birth.
Idealism focuses on reasoning and how a person can bring knowledge up from inside of himself. In this view,
the world exists solely in the minds of people and that ultimate truth relies on a consistency of ideas . The more
perfect our ideas become, therefore, the better we can serve the world. In Emmanuel Kant's idealism, the
world exists, but our minds are separate from it.

Idealists’ concept of education is related to the highest moral conduct and deepest spiritual insight. It is
believed that through education a man realises the truth, beauty, and goodness, the value of our life. The

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role of education is to help us explore the ultimate universal value so that the truth of the universe will
become our truth and give power to our life.

The idealists believed that human potential has no bounds, hence his education remains incomplete. In the
field of education, idealists talk more about objectives and aims, that is the practice of education. Man’s
nature is spiritual and divine, it can be recognised through education. It provides the projection of good of
the society.

There is no specific method of idealist teaching. They advocated many methods as they considered
themselves as creators of methods and not a slave of any particular method. The role of a teacher is
supreme and important. They help in moral and spiritual development of the students. Teachers are the
centre of the education process. According to idealism, school is the place for regular and effective
education. School is an ideal of pleasing and joyful activities for children. Therefore, students come into
contact with ideal teachers in schools and get an education of high ideals.

Socratic Method is one of the effective methods for students to think. Socrates believes that asking logical
questions encourages his students to think and use them for their ideal life. Asking questions could stimulate
their minds and make students interested in the topic given. Plato, on the other hand, introduced the Dialectic,
also known as the Discourse method, a communication between two or more people with different points of
view in a single subject aiming to get the truth through reasoning and this process is commonly known as
debating.

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Realism

Realism is the school of educational thought promoted by Plato's student, Aristotle. Realism holds that the
only reality is the material world, and that study of the outer world is the only reliable way to find truth; the
world is an objective phenomenon that our minds must adhere. We achieve greater and greater knowledge
through proper study of the world. In Realism, a person is an empty vessel for knowledge, which can only
come from outside of the self, through observation. This philosophy was the progeni tor of the scientific
method, a system of inquiry relying on objective facts.

The philosophy of realism gives importance to the physical aspects of the universe. It depends upon the
physical or natural sciences in their explanation of their explanations of the universe and the explanation of
the universe propounded by realists is also factual.

The aim of the philosophy of realism is to prepare children to live a complete and real life. It helps in
developing insights among children so that they are capable of self-thinking and taking decisions. The
development of scientific attitudes is significant in children about the incidents happening in the world.

Proponent of realism believes that scientific methods like practical experience, inductive-deductive,
experimental, demonstration, and self-experience are for insight methods in education. The use of sense
organs can be used as part of methods of teaching.

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Pragmatism

Pragmatism brought significant changes to American civilisation in the late 19th Century until the present day.
Pragmatism is based on change, process, and relativity. This branch of philosophy was mainly influenced by the
Theory of Evolution (Charles Darwin) and the Theory of Relativism (Albert Einstein). It focuses on the study of
epistemology and axiology, with a little influence on metaphysics. Learning occurs as the person engages in
problem-solving, which is transferable to a wide variety of subjects and situations.

To pragmatists, teaching should focus on critical thinking. Teaching focuses on exploratory than explanatory.
The ideal teaching is concerned not so much with teaching the learner what to think as with teaching the
learner to critically think. A pragmatic teacher, therefore, would not be the sort of teacher who does rote
learning (learning things by heart). Instead, the teacher would ask students to go off and experience things. The
student can go off and experiment with materials to learn how they work. The pragmatists prefer content and
activities that are relevant to the students’ interests, needs, and problems. According to John Dewey, it is a
social process, growth, and education is not preparation for life, but education is life itself. Education is based
on the idea that humans learn best through real-life experience or observation.

Sample activity:
Adam is a new teacher, and he's stressed out. He wants to make his lessons as good as possible and to reach
as many students as possible, but he's not sure how to do that. Add on top of that the fact that he's
supposed to teach all sorts of information that seems completely useless in the real world, and she is worried
that her students will leave her class having not gotten anything out of it.

Joanne understands that education should be practical. But what, exactly, does that mean? And how will it
look in her classroom?

Existentialism

Existentialism believes that humans do not have any preordained purpose. Therefore, each person is able to
choose how he or she wishes to measure his or her life, and what our life’s purpose shall be. Existentialists
believe that the philosophies of the past have asked people to think deeply about thought and abstractions
that had little or no relationship to existence. Among the well-known existentialist philosophers are Soren
Kierkegaard, Martin Heiegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.

According to Sartre, he believes that “existence precedes essence”, which means that the “essence” or
“nature” of a thing is more fundamental and eternal than its mere “existence”. Hence, if we want to
understand a thing, what we must do is learn about its “essence”.

According to existentialists, a good education emphasizes individuality. Each individual is unique and
education must cater to individual differences. Therefore, the objective of education is to enable every
individual to develop his or her unique qualities, harness his potentialities, and cultivate individualities.

Freedom is one of the essential requirements for an individual to be a complete man. The good life, according
to existentialists, is authentic life which is possible when a person starts realising his individuality and makes his or
her own independent choices. The humanities are emphasised to provide students with vicarious experiences
that will help unleash their own creativity and self-expression.

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Watch this video: https://youtu.be/4s8l-CT33_g

Essentialism

Essentialism was introduced in the 1930s, to protest against the downfall of the standards of the schools.
Essentialist often bases their critiques of American education on the standards from other counties like Japan
and Germany. They also believe that the American education system in an attempt to create standards that
are equal had to dumb down the curriculum. In addition, the basis of American culture was not being taught.

Essentialism is the educational philosophy of teaching basic skills. This philosophy advocates training the mind.
Essentialist educators focus on transmitting a series of progressively difficult topics and promoting students to the
next level or grade. Subjects are focused on the historical context of the material world and culture and move
sequentially to give a solid understanding of the present day. This philosophy stresses core knowledge in
reading, writing, math, science, history, foreign language, and technology. The tools include lecturing,
memorization, repetition, practice, and assessment

Essentialists believe that we must know the essentials of life; survival, how to be productive, and how to live
as proper civilians. As we get older there should be more advanced subjects added to the curriculum being
taught. It is also thought that only the basic subjects need to be taught. There should not be impractical
subjects added to the curriculum. Morals and character should be important factors to the curriculum as well.

Teachers must guide students by using strict, external discipline with fair and consistent consequences. Self -
discipline, according to essentialist philosophy, will eventually develop from this outwardly imposed discipline.
Essentialism in the classroom means that teachers and administrators have the duty to promote student self -
discipline through strict daily guidance.

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Progressivism

The progressive education definition emphasizes student-centred, interdisciplinary learning experiences that
incorporate active learning which values problem-solving and critical thinking skills and social responsibility as
part of a democracy. John Dewey and his progressivism philosophy of education touted that school reflected
society outside of the building.

The progressivism philosophy of education began when John Locke published Some Thoughts on Education in
1693. Locke believed that adults take into consideration a child's temperament and individual differences.
Locke believed that children were naturally curious and learned best through play and a variety of
experiences.
In the 1700s, Jean-Jacques Rousseau further promoted progressivist beliefs as a child-centered education.
Rousseau's philosophy was that education should be based on the child's natural talents, their level of
development, and the child's own discovery by learning through doing. Education was meant for the
development of the whole child, not only intellectual growth but physical and emotional as well. This style of
education was in opposition to the education being delivered in schools at the time.
American schools in the 1700s focused on the virtues the society felt were important, family, religion, and
community. Education was still mostly a family responsibility with affluent families hiring personal teachers for
their children. Brick-and-mortar schools became more popular in the 18th century but only for families who had
the means to pay the required tuition.

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John Dewey published The School and Society in 1899. Dewey stated that the model of education at the time,
students in rows memorising and reciting facts, was not in the best interest of the student or society as a whole.
Dewey believed that students should be active learners focusing on their interests and problem-solving through
projects and cooperative learning.

The progressive philosophy on education during the Enlightenment period was a stark contrast to the traditional
learning philosophy and beliefs about child development that resulted in a harsh learning environment for
children in this time period. Education was confined to teacher-led classes that focused on the study of virtues
instead of subjects such as math and science.

The aims of education as formulated by the Pragmatists are the following:

1. To create new values: The Pragmatists do not believe in the theory of any fixed aim of education. In
their opinion, the aim of education is to create new values and the act of a teacher is to help himself
develop new values.
2. To enable students to gather experience through activity: For the creation of new values, activity and
experience are essential. Education should therefore provide physical, intellectual, moral, and aesthetic
activities as the media for the creation of new values.
3. To help the students to adjust to him and society: The other important aim of education according to
pragmatism is to help the students to make adjustments to themselves and society.
4. To help the students to reconstruct his experience: Every individual has to solve different types of
complex problems in his life. So, another important aim of education, according to Pragmatism is to
enable the students to form such an outlook on life as can help to tackle successfully the different
problems of their life in the future.
5. To make all-round development of the students: All round development of the individual is also an
important aim of education. The individual develops physically, mentally, socially, and aesthetically.

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References:
1. Ornstein, A. C., D. U., Gutek, G.L. & Vocke, D. E. (2017). Foundations of Education. (13e) USA: Cengage
Learning.
2. Noddings, Nel. (2016). Philosophy of Education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
3. McNergney, R., & McNergney, J. (2013). Foundations of Education: The Challenge of Professional
Practice. (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson

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