Moran, Mae Kristine Goopio EL 303-Advanced Philosophy in Education

Reaction Paper Number 15 December 30, 2020

MARIA MONTESSORI

Maria Montessori was taught by her mother to be compassionate and contribute to the poor.
She attended the boy’s technical school to study math and engineering. Later on she wanted to become
a doctor and was endorsed by Pope Leo XIII to study in University of Rome in 1890 to study medicine
and become the first woman doctor in Italy. Maria took an interest in pediatrics and psychiatry and
specialized in them as a doctor. In 1900, Maria became the director of the Orthophrenic School for
developmentally disabled children and began her research on early childhood development and
education.

Strengths

Montessori clearly has a love for children’s development. Through her observations and
experiences with all kinds of children she was able to understand them properly. That children can
concentrate without easily being distracted therefore children has this ability to focus and this is also
what I have observed to my kids. When they are totally into what they are doing it is so difficult to
distract them. Secondly, Montessori also discovered that children loved order in the environment,
especially when they are taking care of their favorites children wanted to put them in a proper place.
Third, children were not keen with normal toys but were happier with working and they don’t need
rewards and punishments. This is what I have observed with my kids too, they are happier while taking
care of the plants and watering them. And it is only the adults that introduced to them rewards and
punishments idea. Lastly, given all the things needed for children’s development, they are capable of
teaching themselves and instinctively knew what to work with to support their natural development.
They have this desire to be independent and were responsible and had a sense of community.

Weaknesses

Well, even if it seems perfect but there is no perfect except God. While we taught that
independence is good but it is not good for in a long run. In reality we are not really independent. We
need of follow a lot of rules and laws and that we need our children to adapt them as well. The
teachings of Montessori is really good but it is not for all as well. It is just common for the well-off and
high-end private schools because of the materials that needed in the classroom while public schools
having 20-30 children cannot afford to buy all of those materials and having only one teacher teaching
them. As what I have observed in the Montessori school in University of San Carlos there were three
teachers present in one classroom having 15 children.

In conclusion, since education is our gateway to success it is just right to give more budget to
primary education. Build more schools and classrooms and hire more teachers and build special schools
for special kids so that discrimination can be controlled and minimized and special needs will be given
focus as well. Individual learning is very important in primary education since it is the foundation of
learning it should be given much importance.
Moran, Mae Kristine Goopio EL 303-Advanced Philosophy in Education

Reaction Paper Number 16 December 30, 2020

JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEOAU

Rousseoau is the author and writer of Emile. He is known as a revolutionary philosopher in

education and forerunner of Romanticism. He believed that people are born good but are corrupted by
society. His ideas concerning education and the role society plays in a child’s development/education
was published in Emile which cause some sparks to help light the French Revolution and eventually
brought about his own exile from Paris.

Strengths

He believes that people are basically born good and the society made the person bad. And by
living in the city it corrupted our minds and made us bad. He wanted children to be shielded from
societal pressures and influences so that the natural tendencies of each child could emerge and grow
without any unwarranted corruption. His philosophy revealed a striking combination of idealistic and
realistic elements which constantly seemed to open the possibility of better world.

Weaknesses

His philosophy is not gender neutral. He believed that females were to be educate to be
governed by their husbands. They were too weak and passive.

To conclude, even though we thought that it was sexist but during that time it was not thought
so too. But he died insane in a hospital so maybe during that time he was considered as too idealistic but
maybe if he died during modernization maybe the findings would be different. But who knows?
Moran, Mae Kristine Goopio EL 303-Advanced Philosophy in Education

Reaction Paper Number 17 December 30, 2020

JOHN DEWEY

He was born in Vermont USA, an American philosopher and educator who was a co-founder of
the philosophical movement known as pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, an innovative
theorist of democracy and a leader of the progressive movement in education in the USA. He develop a
philosophy of education that would meet the needs of a changing democratic society.

Strengths:

He believed that all things are subject to change and there is no static being and there is no
changeless in nature. For him with an appropriate knowledge of the conditions necessary for human
growth, an individual may develop in any of a variety of ways. The object of education is thus to
promote the fruition of an active human history.

Weakness:

According to my research Dewey’s method failed to achieve critical independence from

political/economic order it sought to interpret.

In conclusion, Dewey’s child-centered philosophy is not so appreciated and a little bit

controversial since he wanted to eliminate the rote teaching and learning and adapt instructions to
student’s interest. This is the problem since how can a child learn about the industrialism and economic
inequality and political inequality and the likes if we only focus in the interest of the child. For sure the
children will not study those mentioned problems in the society since they don’t have enough
experienced yet.
Moran, Mae Kristine Goopio EL 303-Advanced Philosophy in Education

Reaction Paper Number 18 December 30, 2020

JOHN STUART MILL

He was an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was a proponent of
utilitarianism, an ethical theory. He was a member of Liberal Party and to call for women’s suffrage in
1832. But when he had begun to put into practice the radical and utilitarian creed as a youthful
propagandist, he quickly found that his education had not prepared him for life. Mill suffered aged
twenty, a “mental crisis”.

Strengths:

He believed that happiness was the only thing humans do and should desire for its own sake.
Since happiness is the only intrinsic good. He also developed a more refined form of utilitarianism that
would harmonize better with ordinary morality and highlight the importance in the ethical life of
intellectual pleasures, self-development, high ideals of character, and conventional moral rules.

Weakness:

This philosophy that seeks to predict the consequences of an action and use it to judge a person
is wrong. This is the primary weakness of utilitarianism. We cannot just judge someone basing from the
future happenings. It should be base from what had happened and at present.

In conclusion, in order to give a fair judgment we should focus not only on ethics but on the
present and valid proof as well.
Moran, Mae Kristine Goopio EL 303-Advanced Philosophy in Education

Reaction Paper Number 19 December 30, 2020

DAVID HUMES

Hume was an Empiricist, meaning he believed “causes and effects are discoverable not by
reason, but by experience”. He entered Edinburgh University when he was 12 years old and left at 15.
He spent his time studying and writing A Treatise of Human Nature.

Strengths:

He believes that everything which exist, must be individual and universal does not exist. That
man is born with ready-made powers waiting to be exercised and trained. For him the most important
thing for education is to exercise or practice such faculties until they become refined and perfected.

According to him the purpose of education is not to make students perfect in one area but to
open their minds so that they can handle different issues.

Weakness:

He doesn’t believe in superstitions and miracles. And maybe he doesn’t believe in God as well.

A lot of philosophers are atheists thus Humes is not alone on this. What these philosophers did
was to keep on searching for the betterment of all especially for the humanity. I cannot really judge
them as good or bad basing from their beliefs. I believe that most of them are good people since what
they wanted only is for our own good and development. As for Humes he may be very intelligent and
has this capacity to change and influence a lot of powerful people but if we don’t believe on the higher
Being then for me everything is unworthy.