NATURALISM

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
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 Protagonist of Naturalism
 J J Rousseau – champion of naturalism
 Others – Aristotle, Comte, Bacon,
Darwin & Spencer & Mc Dougall,
Percy Nunn, Huxley, Lamarck,
Epicurus, Tagore

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 Spencer
belongs to the biological school
of naturalism, which aims at
achieving the present and future
happiness of the learner by the
cultivation of self restrain and
sense of values.
 McDougall
does not agree with Spencer.
He regards that instincts of man are
real guiding forces which forms the
basis of all his conduct.
he feels that education should aim at
the direction and sublimation of
instincts for achieving socially
desirable ends.
 Darwin
According to Darwin the aim of
education is to equip the individual
to struggle for existence and thus
ensure survival.
 Lamarck
Lamarck agrees with Darwin, and
adds that education should help the
learner contrary to the conventions
of the society and in accordance
with the universal spirit.
 Percy Nuun
Sir Percy Nuun regards the
development of individuality
as the supreme goal of education.
He opines that the proper goal of
human life is perfection of the
individual.
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”
—
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NATURALISM stems from the
following divisions of philosophy

METAPHYSICS

EPISTEMOLOGY NATURALIS
M
AXIOLOGY
 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
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 Forms of Naturalism
 Atomistic
Naturalism
 Scientific
Naturalism
 Physical Naturalism
 Biological Naturalism
 Mechanical
Naturalism
 Historical
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Physical Naturalists (Instinctivists):
 It is also known as material naturalism. emphasis
purely on physical nature.
 It believes only in the reality of material objects and
the laws of mass and motion.
 Man is only one of the objects of physical nature, a
creature of mass and motion.
 Children should learn from their sensory experiences
because the senses are the gateways of knowledge.
Let them learn by their own experiences.
Biological Naturalists
(Darwinians):
 Darwin (1809-1882) and Lamarck (1744-1829)
are the greatest exponents of ‘biological
naturalism’.
 It derives its data and first principles from the
biological rather than the physical sciences.
With a great faith in biological evolution, it
accepts man as the highest form of living
organism in the evolutionary process.
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
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Principles of Naturalism ( 2 / 2 )
 “Follow Nature” is the greatest slogan of
naturalism in education.
 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

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 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
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 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
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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
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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
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 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
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 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
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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
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Limitations of Naturalism 1/2
 Naturalism has its own limitations and
disadvantages. It altogether ignores the spiritual and
moral aspects of human nature. It totally neglects
the moral development of the child.
 Naturalism takes into account only the present
needs of the child and ignores his future needs
and the ultimate goals and purposes of man’s life.
 Naturalism leaves the child purely to the discipline
of natural consequences which, often, involves
grave risks.
Limitations of Naturalism 2/2
 Naturalism throws the teacher with superior
knowledge and experience into the background.
 Naturalism allows complete freedom to the child
from the very start of his life, even when he has no
yet learnt the right use of freedom.
 Naturalism attaches too much importance to the
animal nature of man — his instincts, impulses and
emotions, and completely ignores the spiritual and
cultural values of life.
 Naturalism gives too much emphasis on the heredity
of the child and neglects the
 influence of environment on “raw” nature.
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
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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
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Conclusion 1/2
 “Follow nature” is the watch-word of
naturalism. The innate nature of the child
should be developed in natural
environment and not in the artificial
atmosphere of the school.
 Instincts, impulses and emotions should
form the basis of all education of the child.
According to the naturalists, instincts
should be the main instrument of
education.
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Conclusion 2/2
 The freedom of the child is another important
feature of naturalistic education. The child should
grow freely according to his own nature and pace
without interference from the educator or the
parents. The naturalists strongly advocate
freedom for the child.
 Senses are the gateways of knowledge. Education
is very much effective when it comes through
sensory channels. As such, naturalists consider the
training of senses very important.

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 “Naturalism has secured
freedom for the child and has
further succeeded in freeing
the child from many a tyranny
of rigidity, interference and
strict discipline. “
THANK
YOU
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