Philosophical Development

of Education – General
Background
Group 2 Presentation
ED701 – Contemporary Philosophy of Education
ICEBREAKER! 
4 Major Areas of Philosophy:
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Axiology
4. Logic

And their relationship with Education

Overview –
Philosophical Development, or ‘Roots’
of Education
Philosophy and Education

 Philosophy deals with the most basic issues faced by human beings, even
by educators.
 What is truth, and how do we teach it?
 What is right and wrong, and how can we teach ethical moral values?
 How can schools and their curriculum exemplify what is true and valuable?
 How do teaching and learning reflect one’s beliefs about truth and value?
4 Branches of Philosophy

1. Metaphysics – the theory of reality (What is reality?)Teachers must teach the

realities of life, especially the essential and the relevant realities.
2. Epistemology – the theory of knowledge (What is truth?) Teachers must teach
the truth, its criterion and grounds and the ability to learn to know.
3. Axiology – the theory of value (What is valuable?) Teachers must teach the
good, to value the good and moral life and to actually live the good life. It is
learning to be, to do and to live together.
4. Logic – correct thinking and right reasoning (What is correct thinking?)
Teachers must develop the mental faculty of students, to reason out critically,
creatively and strategically.
4 Branches of Philosophy

 These serve as the foundation of education and the teaching-

learning process.
 Philosophy guides the educative processes as it determines the
aims, mission, vision, goals and objectives of education.
 It determines the approaches, methodologies, strategies of
teaching, the content of the curriculum, the role of teachers
and all the decisions and actions in the educative process.
METAPHYSICS

 Derived from the Greek words

meta (beyond/upon/after) + physika (physics)
Literally, it means ‘those things after the physics.’
 It is concerned with the fundamentals or the nature of
reality and existence.
METAPHYSICS

 It covers sub-branches as:

 Cosmology – origin and development of the cosmos
 Nature of man, problem of freedom, determinism and free will
 Conceptions about God – theism, atheism, monotheism, polytheism
 Teleology – meaning and purpose of life
 Absolutism and relativism – constancy in reality
 Monism, dualism, pluralism – quality of reality
 Ontology – study of being/existence
METAPHYSICS and EDUCATION

 Metaphysics is central to any concept of education because it is important

for the educational program of the school to be based upon fact and
reality rather than fancy illusion, error or imagination.
 Varying metaphysical beliefs lead to differing educational approaches and
even separate systems of education.
 Metaphysics relates to teaching in terms of:
 Educational goals
 The selection of appropriate content and educational goals
 Attitudes towards the general nature of the learners
EPISTEMOLOGY

 Derived from the Greek words

episteme(knowledge/understanding)
+ logos (study)
Literally, it is the study of the nature, source and validity
of knowledge.
 It is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge
and the grounds for its validity.
EPISTEMOLOGY

 Positions in relation to knowledge

 Agnosticism – the impossibility of knowledge
 Skepticism – the doubting/questioning attitude towards knowledge
(scientific attitude)
 Affirmation of knowledge or the possibility of knowledge
 Types of knowledge in relation to observation
 A priori – “before” or “prior to”; knowledge not requiring observation
 A posteriori – “after” or “posterior to”; knowledge based on
observation
 Experimental – knowledge resulting from tested observation
EPISTEMOLOGY

 Types of knowledge according to means/instruments

 Empirical – sense perception/scientific knowledge
 Rational – reason and belief/rationalism
 Intuitive – sudden insight/intuitionism
 Authoritative – expertise/authoritarianism
 Revealed – revelation, what God disclosed to
man/revelationism/religious knowledge
EPISTEMOLOGY

 Criterion of truth
 Naïve realism – Truth is what is seen/experienced.
 Feelings – Truth is what one feels.
 Customs/traditions – Truth is based on customs and traditions.
 Time – an excellent if not final test of truth (truth is revealed through time)
 Intuition – Truth comes from one knows not where; a source of truth.
 Revelation – Truth comes from God.
 Instinct – What is instinctive must be true.
 Majority, plurality, consensus gentium – The number of people who believes in the
truth determines its truthfulness.
 Authority – certain authorities may be a criterion of truth
EPISTEMOLOGY

Criterion of truth
 Correspondence – When an idea agrees with its
object, it is a proof of its truth.
 Pragmatism – If an idea works, it is true.
 Consistency – Truth is the absence of contradiction.
 Coherence – Reason is the ultimate criterion of
truth.
EPISTEMOLOGY and EDUCATION

 Epistemology and education both are primarily the act

of knowing.
 Epistemology drives the educational process.
 It aids in distinguishing true/adequate knowledge from
false/inadequate knowledge.
 It influences methods of teaching and learning.
AXIOLOGY

 Derived from the Greek words

axios (value/worth)
+ logos (reason/theory/science/study)
Literally, it is the study of the value, the worth of
something.
 It sets the values desirable to live by at any given time
or place.
AXIOLOGY – 2 AREAS

1. Ethics – moral values/right conduct

 It attempts to establish rational grounds for good conduct.
 It seeks to provide right values as the foundation for right actions.
2. Aesthetics – the value of beauty and art
 It is the study of the nature and value of works of art and the aesthetic
experience
 It is the realm of value that searches for the principles governing the
creation and the appreciation of beauty and art
AXIOLOGY – 2 AREAS

 It (aesthetics) is tied to the cognitive world of

intellectual understanding, but also soars beyond the
cognitive into the affective realm because of it focus on
feeling and emotion.
AXIOLOGY and EDUCATION

 Education plays an important role for including the value and transmitting
from one generation to another through its curriculum.
 4 Components:
 1. Axiology, by projecting a system of values, proposes educational aims under the
form of axiological objectives and ideals.
 2. Axiology comprises both general human or universal and specific values for a
determined community.
 3. The performance of values requires knowledge and experience (cognitive and
emotional).
 4. Education has among its fundamental functions that of cultivating the creative
power of the individual and the human community.
LOGIC

 It is the science an art of correct thinking and right reasoning.

 It is the study of univocal terms and precise ideas that constitute propositional
judgment in order to determine the validity and soundness of syllogisms and
arguments.
 Types of logic:
 Inductive – It is reasoning from particular/specific to general/universal.
 Deductive – It is reasoning from the general/universal to the particulars/specifics.
 Dialectic – It is reasoning in which the conflict or contrast of ideas is used as a means
of detecting the truth.
 Experimental or problem solving – It is the testing of hypothesis and makes use both
induction and deduction.
LOGIC and EDUCATION

 Logic is a tool of knowing and understanding and thus a tool of

Philosophy, Science and Education.
 The wisdom that philosophy discovers through correct
reasoning is taught and transmitted through logical educative
processes.
 The collective wisdom of the human race is verified by science
which employs logical processes and methodologies and made
applicable and relevant through technology.
REFERENCES