“Set your minds on

things that are above. ”

Social Dimensions
PILLARS OF LEARNING
• The Four Pillars of Education all started with the report entitled “Learning the Treasure Within” of the International
Commission of Education for the Twenty-first Century, chaired by Jacques Delors in 1996. It was published by
UNESCO,
• The report itself provides new insights into education for the 21 st century. It stresses that each individual must be
equipped to seize learning opportunities throughout life: broaden one’s knowledge, skills and attitudes, and adapt to
a changing complex and interdependent world.
LEARNING TO KNOW LEARNING TO DO
• Implies learning how to learn by developing one’s • Represents the skillful, creative and discerning
concentration, memory skills and ability to think; application of knowledge.
acquiring the instrument of understanding. • One must learn how to think creatively, critically and
• To learn to know, students need to develop learn-tolearn holistically, and how to deeply understand the
skills. Such skills are learning to read with information that is presented.
comprehension, listening, observing, asking question, • To perform a job or work, the learning to do must be
data gathering, note taking and accessing, processing, fulfilled. This entails the acquisition of competence
selecting and using information that enable people to deal with a variety of situations,
• The role of the teacher is as a facilitator, catalyst, and to work in teams.
monitor and evaluator of learning
LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER LEARNING TO BE
• Vital in building a genuine and lasting culture of peace in • Dominant theme of Edgar Faure is report “Learning To
the world. Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow,”
• Can be achieved by developing an understanding of published by UNESCO
others and their history, traditions and spiritual values, • It refers to the role of education in developing all the
and appreciation of interdependence dimensions of the complete person: to achieve the
• A wide range of skills is necessary for this pillar of physical, intellectual, emotional and ethical integration
education: self-control, handling emotions, of the individual into a complete man. Pertains to the
communication, interpretation of behaviors, critical overall development of the human person as
thinking, relationship building and cooperation, individual and as a member of the society.
negotiation, mediation and refusal, problem solving and
decision making.
• Teachers should help the students realize the value of
being able to live together, in their gradually enlarging
world: home, school, community, city, town, province,
country and the world as a global village.

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

REALISM
Advocates: Aristotle, St. Thomas
and Jonathan Herbart
IDEALISM
Advocates: Socrates, Plato
NATURALISM
Advocates: JJ Rousseau, John
Lock, Montaigne
• Concerns with the actualities of life, what is real
• Ultimate reality is the world of physical objects. Hence, reality is independent
of the human mind.
1. Objective existence of the world and beings in it 2.
Knowledge of these objects as they are in themselves 
Education:
1. The most effective way to find about reality is to study it through
organized, separate and systematically arranged matter – emphasis is on
subject matter concerning Science and Mathematics.
2. Methods used in teaching include recitation, experimentation and
demonstration
3. Character development is through training in the rules of conduct
 Ideas are the only true reality, the ultimate truths for matter is nothing but
just a mere representation of ideas.
• Emphasis is given on knowledge obtained by speculation and reasoning for its
central tenet is that ideas are the only thing worth knowing for
• Focus is on conscious reasoning of the mind in order to attain truth. This
includes the activities pertinent to the human mind such as introspection and
intuition and the use of logic  Education:
1. It aims to discover the full potentials in child and cultivates it in order to
prepare him for a better position in the society and for him to serve the
society better.
2. Emphasis is given on subjects – Philosophy, Literature, Religion and
History that will develop and enhance the mind of a child
3. Methods used in learning include lecture, discussion and the Socratic
dialogue.
4. Character development is through emulation of examples and heroes.
• Rooted from Ancient Philosophers such as Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes
• Denies everything that has supernatural significance – dogmas/revelations –
for all can be accounted by scientific laws
• Preserves the natural goodness of man  Truth can only be found through
nature  Education:
1. Naturalism stands for democratic and universal way – everyone must be
educated in the same manner
2. Education is in accordance to human development and growth
3. Emphasis is given more on the physical development – informal exercise –
and hygiene of the person rather of the 3R’s
4. Aims to unfold the child’s potential not to prepare him for a definite
vocation or social position – but to prepare him to adapt to the changing
times and needs. Consequently, one’s conduct is governed by impulse,
instincts and experience.
5. It puts the child at the center of educational process and prepares him to
experience life as it is.
 • Rooted in the economic and political changes during the Renaissance period
• Three main lines of growth
1. Intellectual (includes Education)
2. Aesthetics
3. Scientific  Education:
1. Education is a process and should not be taken abruptly. The unfolding of
human character proceeds with the unfolding of nature
2. The learner should be in control of his destiny
3. Concern is more on methods which include theme writing rather than of
oral discussions, drills and exercises, playing
HUMANISM
4. Asserts the importance of playing in the curriculum
Advocate: Da Feltre, Erasmus, 5. Emphasizes motivations and the use of praise and rewards
Pestalozzi 6. Curriculum includes subjects concerning literary appreciation, physical
education, social training in manners and development
DIVISIONS
Individualistic Humanism Social Humanism
1. Making the most out of one’s life 1. Aims for social rather than
2. Living life to the fullest individual happiness
3. Stresses on individual freedom, 2. Includes social reforms and
culture and development improvement of
social
relationships
• What is experienced and observed is true. Hence, what is useful is true: U=T
PRAGMATISM
• Synonymous to functionality and practicality
• Focuses more on “praxis”
Advocate: Charles Sanders Peirce,
• Thought must produce actions (realizations) rather than to continue lying
John Dewey
inside
 Education:
1. Involves student to work in groups
2. Methods of teaching include experimentation, project making and problem
solving
3. Stresses on the application of what have learned rather than the transfer
of the organized body of knowledge
• Rooted from the dehumanization of man by technology and reaction to the
traditional Philosophy of Kant and Hegel
• Defining feature is “existence precede essence” – man conceives and makes of
EXISTENTIALISM himself
• Known as the Philosophy of Subjectivity: proclaims man’s freedom in the
Advocate: Soren Kierkegaard, accomplishment of his destiny
Jean Paul Sartre • Conceives philosophy as something that is felt by individual for it is concrete in
itself or based on what is concrete
• Stresses on knowledge about realities of human life and the choice that each
person has to make

ESSENTIALISM
Advocate: William Bagley, James
Koerner, H.G Rickover, Paul
Copperman
PROGRESSIVISM
Advocate: John Dewey
CONSTRUCTIVISM
RECONSTRUCTIVISM
Advocate: Theodore Brameld,
George Counts, Paulo Freire
• Rooted in idealism and realism and arose in response to progressive education
• Defining feature is “essence precedes existence”
• Refers to the traditional or back to the basic approach in education
• Concerns with the fundamental of education skill and knowledge without
which a person can’t either be efficient individually or socially  Education:
1. Schooling is practical for this will prepare students to become competent
and valuable members of the society
2. Focuses on the “basics” – reading, writing, speaking and the ability to
compute
3. Subjects that are given emphasis include geography, grammar, reading,
history, mathematics, art and hygiene
4. Stresses the values of hard work, perseverance, discipline, and respect to
authorities to students
5. Students should be taught to think logically and systematically – grasping
not just the parts but the whole
6. Methods of teaching centers on giving regular assignments, drills,
recitation, frequent testing and evaluations
• Contrasted the traditional view of essentialism and perennialism
• Emphasizes change and growth
• Stresses that man is a social animal who learns well through active interplay
with others
• Learning is based from the questions of one’s experience of the world. Hence,
it is the learner himself who thinks, solves and gives meaning through his
individual experiences  Education:
1. Focuses on the child as a whole rather than of the content or the teacher
2. Curriculum content comes from the questions and interests of the
students
3. Emphasis is given on the validation of ideas by the students through
active experimentation
4. Methods of teaching include discussions, interaction (teacher with
students) and group dynamics
5. Opposes the extreme reliance on bookish method of instruction, learning
through memorization, the use of fear and punishment and the four
walled philosophy of education
• A philosophy of learning which asserts that reality does not exist outside of
human conceptions. It is the individual that construct reality by reflecting on
his own experience and gives meaning to it.
• Learning is the process of adjusting one’s mental modes to accommodate new
experience
• A philosophy that aims to awaken the consciousness of individual
about the social issues, concerns and problems that confront him.
This should involve him to look for solutions and engage in
addressing this social concerns and issues
• Primary goal is to achieve the elusive Social Change 
Education:
1. Schools should originate policies and progress that will bring social
reforms and orders
2. Teachers should be an instrument to encourage and lead students in the
program of social reforms
3. Curriculum emphasizes on social reforms as the aim of education. It
focuses on student experience and taking social actions on real problems
 4. Method of teachings include the problem oriented type (students are
encouraged to critically examine cultural heritage), group discussions,
inquiry, dialogues, interactions and community-based learning
5. The classroom will serve as a laboratory in experimenting school practices
bringing the world into the classroom
• The word itself means “eternal,” “ageless,” “everlasting”, “unchanged”
• Influenced by the philosophy of realism
• Truth is universal and does not depend on circumstances of place, time and
person
• To learn means to acquire understanding of great works of civilizations 
Education:
1. Some of the ideas in the past are still being taught because they are
PERENNIALISM
significant
2. Curriculum should contain cognitive subjects that cultivate rationality,
Advocate: Robert Hutchins,
morality, aesthetics and religious principles. This includes history,
Mortimer Adler
language, mathematics, logic, literature, humanities and science.
3. Curriculum must be based on recurrent themes of human life for it views
education as a recurring process based on eternal truths
4. The teacher must have the mastery of the subject matter and authority in
exercising it
5. Aims for the education of the rational person – to develop man’s power of
thought
• Rooted in the work of Russian experimental psychologist Ivan Pavlov and
American psychologist John Watson in the early 1900s
BEHAVIORISM
• Asserts that human beings are shaped entirely by their external environment
• The only reality is the physical world
Advocate: John Watson, BF
• Man by nature is neither good nor bad but a product of his environment.
Skinner
Hence, an autonomous acting man is but an illusion since it negates faculty of
freewill
• Rapid rise was in the 18th century
• Center of ideology is the concept of national sovereignty
• Aims for the preservation and glorification of the State
• Emphasis is on the development of loyalty, patriotism, national feeling
and responsible citizenship  Education:
NATIONALISM 1. The most important development was the creation of common language
2. Stresses on the teaching of the principles of democracy and duties of
Advocate: Jonathan Herbart, citizenship
Johan Heinrich Pestalozzi 3. Stimulates the development of the state which includes the control and
support of public school system
4. Curriculum includes the teaching of grammar, geography and history
5. Method of teaching gives emphasis on the content regarding on nature
studies, physical exercises and play activities.