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Naturalism (Sept 19, 2020)
Naturalism (Sept 19, 2020)
Introduction
Nature is everything, there is nothing
beyond i t
Nature is also termed as materialism
Man should investigate the t r u t h of
nature by scientific methods with all
his capacities and resourcefulness
I t doesn't believe in sentimentalism,
spiritualism, and supernaturalism
1
Protagonist of Naturalism
J J Rousseau – champion of naturalism
Others – Aristotle, Comte, Bacon,
Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, Epicurus,
Tagore
2
Definition of
Naturalism
“N a turalism is
meta physics which
considers nature as the
whole of reality. I t
excludes what is
supernatural or the other
world”
—
3
Meaning of
It Naturalism
emphasis on the nature in
every fieldof education
I t is a philosophy which considers
nature as everything and denies
the existence of spirit
I t does not believe in existence
of God
I t gave importance t o the mat t e r
and the physical world
4
Forms of Naturalism
Atomistic
Naturalism
Scientific
Naturalism
Physical Naturalism
Biological Naturalism
Mechanical
Naturalism
Historical
5
Principles of Naturalism (1/ 2 )
Stress on physical environment
Universe is a huge machine. Man
is also a part of this
machine
Reality can be truly analyzed
by natural science
The present is the real life, man
should t r y t o make this life happy
and comfortable
6
Principles of Naturalism ( 2 / 2 )
Unchanging loss of nature explains
all the events and
occurrences of the world
Education in accordance wit h
the nature of the child
Man is the highest creature or
animal according t o his nature.So
the essence of his life is animal
instinct and not spiritually
7
Characteristics of
Naturalism
Back t o nature
Negative education
I t is against bookish knowledge and verbalism
Naturalism gives central posi t ion t o t he child in
the educational process
Education prepares the child for his f u ture adult
life
Freedom of the child
I t gives emphasis on the t raining of senses as
senses are the gateway of knowledge
Material education
Scientific education
8
Aims of
Naturalism
A t t a inment of present and
future happiness
Struggle for existence
Protection of human machine
Adaptation t o environment
Improvement of racial gains
Autonomous development
Education according t o nature
9
Nat uralism and Curriculum (1/ 2 )
Naturalist do not advocate a fixed curriculum
Curriculum must be child-centered
I t gives place for skills and other
useful educational activities
I t considers literacy subjects as useless and
gives no place in the
curriculum
Curriculum should contain games, sports, physical
culture, biology, physics, nature study, language,
history, geography, and other allied subjects
I t lay stress on physical education and health
training and home science also
10
Naturalism and Curriculum( 2 / 2 )
Herbert Spencer classifies all human
activities into five and assigns a place t o
each of them in the curriculum. The
five activities in the order of priority
are
Activities of self preservation
Activities of a vocation
Activities of a worthy citizenship
Activities of a worthy home
membership
Activities of the leisure time
These five activities consti t u t e his 11
Naturalism and Met hod of Teaching ( 1/ 2 )
Naturalism is a result against the
old, traditio nal, bookish system of
educatio n
Direct experience with nature, t hings, and
men is the keynote of instruction
according t o naturalists
They follow different methods of teaching
according t o the interests, capacities, and
aptitude of the child
Learning by doing
Direct method
Heuristic method
12
Naturalism and
Met hod of Teaching
Observation (and
2 / 2excursion
)
Play way method
Learning through senses
Self government, self effort, and co-
education
Learning through participations
Other methods: Apart from the above
methods, naturalists adopt Dalton plan,
kindergarten, excursion method,
Montessori method, experimentation
and t e x t book method so as t o
bring about a natural development in
the child 13
Naturalism and Teacher
Teacher should behave
sympathetically and affectionately
forwards the children
Nature – supreme teacher
Teacher the observer
Understand about child
Teacher the stage setter
Teacher the gardener
14
Naturalism and
Discipline
Naturalist give full freedom t o the child
t o perform and learn whatever
he likes
Nopunishment
Full freedom
Free society
Naturalists assume t h a t the child has no
knowledge of good and bad, but he
suffers pain when he makes a mistake,
and pleasure when he does
something right. Thus he gets reward or 15
Naturalism and
The
School
school environment should be completely
free, flexible and without any
rigidity
I t should be helpful for t he free and
natural development of the child
I t should be situated in t he lap of nature, far
away from cities
There should not be any fixed t ime table and
ready dozes of knowledge
There should be no provision for punishment
School develops the feeling of self learning and
self-discipline
I t does not want t o burden the child with
examination 16
Merits of Naturalism
1. I t gives the child a very important place in the
educationalprocess. I t trea ts a child as child and
not as an adult. The child is good and pure
at the terms of birth
2. I t considers nature as the best teacher in whose
company t he child learns bet t er. Societ y
is f ull of evils
3. I t considers individual interests, aptitu de,
inclination, needs and capacities while
structuring the curriculum
4. I t prepares and encourages t he child t o
engage in experimentation, discoveries
and inventions
17
5. I t m otivates the child t o acquire more knowledge
Demerits of
Naturalism
1. Nature centered s tudy makes th e child become
unsocial with no feeling of social service
2. Naturalism ignores the spiritual world and considers
the
material world only
3. Naturalism lays stress on solutions for only the present
needs and problems of an individual and neglects
his future needs and problems. It has failed
to prepare the child for the future life
4. Naturalism advocates unres tricted freedom for th e child
to develop himself naturally. This is
undesirable andharmful t o the child
5. I t minimizes the role of the teacher in the educative
process. A teacher is an observer, a sympathetic guide
and helper in structuring experiences for the child
18
Conclusio
The n
contribution of naturalism in
significant in the progressive
modern educational thought and
practice. All the modern method
of teaching technique owe
their origin t o this school of
philosophy
19
Relevance of naturalism in 2 1st
century ( 1 / 2 )
Shifting of subject-centred curriculum t o an
experience centred curriculum.
Modern life need various experiences t o be given t o
the child through co-curricular activities so t h a t he
would be educated and trained t o face life squarely
and solve all its problems successfully
The child used t o be punished severely and kept
under the control of teacher. This strict
discipline wasdiscardedbecause of the influence
of naturalism. As a result, now the child
enjoys full freedom t o learn and do whatever he
likes. Thus freedom for the child is the chief
contribution of naturalism t o modern education
20
Relevance of naturalism in 2 1st
century ( 2 / 2 )
Naturalists have given birth t o new movements.
New ty pes of educational insti t u tions have come
up inrecent years
Institutions like the summer school, Kindergarten
schools, Montessori schools have come into
existence as a resul t of t he influence of naturalism
in education
The naturalist wants t o protect the educand
from evils for this purpose, they favour
residential schools so t h a t the environment of
the educands who reside inhostels attached
t o the school can be maintained on a
healthy level
21
THANK
YOU
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