CHAPTER 10

THE NATURE AND

SCOPE OF
PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
Philosophy of Education
- is a system of rationally supported assumptions
and beliefs about education.

Philosophy

- Came from the Greek word “philo” meaning

LOVE and “sophia” meaning KNOWLEDGE.
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
FOUR AREAS OF PHILOSOPHY

-Metaphysics
-Epistemology
-Logic
-Axiology

Two Divisons of Axiology

1.Ethics
2.Aesthetics
 REALISM
-Believes in the world as it is
 Nature of Realism
O Advocates that values are dependent
upon the attitudes of the sentiment beings
experiencing them.
O Believe that investigating and reasoning
are important in any effective adjustment
to the real world in the control of
experiences.
 Assumption
O The primary qualities of experience exist
in the physical world.
O Mind is like a mirror receiving images
from the physical world
O The mind of a child at birth is similar to a
blank of sheet of paper upon which the
world proceeds to write its impressions.
 Educational Aim
O Gives direction and form to individual’s basic
potentialities
O Determines the direction of the individual’s
inherited tendencies.
O 4 principal needs of an individual:
O 1.Aptitude needs
O 2.self-determination needs
O 3.self-realization needs
O 4.self-integration needs
 Teaching methods
Scientific methods:
Steps:
1. Defining problems
2. Observing factors related to problem
3. Hypothesizing
4. Testing the hypothesis
Character Development
OTraining in rules of conduct
 Role of School
O Further develop discipline
O Utilize pupil through instruction
O Change in the school would be
perceived as a natural evolution
toward perfection of order.
 Role of Teachers
Ohelp realize that they can enter
into the meaning of their
experiences
a. Characteristics of Effective Selection Techniques

OHelp develop initiative and

ability to control the
experiences.
 IDEALISM
• Believes in the importance of mind,
-

soul or spirit.
• Truth is to be found in consistency of
ideas
• Goodness is an ideal state, something
to strive for.
 Nature of Idealism
O One of the oldest schools of thoughts
with its origin traced back to Plato’s
ideas.
O Stresses the mental, moral and spiritual
nature of an individual and his universe.
O Advocates that education is both a basic
need and a basic right of man
 Assumption
O God is the absolute ideal and all positive values are
fully realized and enjoyed through him.
O Every individual is born good, and is capable to sense,
perceive, and think.
O The self has all the freedom for self-determination.
O One’s perception of the world is rooted in his existence.
O Values depend on how individual person pass and enjoy
them in their experiences.
O Social values are realized when an individual
recognizes that he is a part of the total society.
 Educational Aim
O To develop the individual spiritually, mentally
and morally.

Curriculum Emphasis
Subject Matter of the mind
1. Literature 5. Mathematics
2. History 6. Arts
3. Philosophy
4. Religion
 Teaching methods
1. Lecture – discussion Method
2. Excursion
3. Question Method
4. Project Method
Character Development
OImitating examples of heroes
 Role of School
O An agency of the society
O Thinking institution
 Role of Teachers
OChief source of inspiration
OCreator of educational
environment
Pragmatism/Experimentalism

•Pragmatism is primarily an American

philosophy. Basically, this concerns
with the method of reflective thinking.

•Experimentalism believes that things

are constantly changing. It is based
on the view that reality is what you
experience.
 Nature
O Encourages people to find
processes that work in order to
attain desired goals.
O The doctrine that practical
consequences are the criteria of
knowledge, meaning and value.
O Conservative
 Assumption
•The world is uncertain and incomplete. It
allows a room for improvement.
•Past is a potential instrumentality for dealing
with the future.
•Experience is not primarily an affair in
knowing but is incidental in the process of
acting ,doing and living.
•Sensation is not merely a gateway but the
avenue of active relation with the world.
 Educational Aim
•For social efficiency
•Train the students to actively
quest for information and
production of new ideas needed
to adjust to an ever-changing
society.
 Curricular Emphasis
•Creation of new social order.
•Integrated and based on the
problem of the society
•Subject are interdisciplinary
•Academic and vocational
disciplines
 Teaching Methods
O Experimental methods
O Other methods:
1. Creative and constructive projects
2. Fieldtrips
3. Laboratory work
4. Library work
O Activity-centered
O Pupil-centered
O Opportunity to practice democratic ideals
 Character Development
O Making group decisions in light of consequences.

Role of Teachers
• Keeps order in the class
• Facilitates group work
• Encourages and offers suggestions , questions
and help in planning.
• Curriculum planner
 Role of School
•A miniature society
•Gives child balance and genuine
experience in preparation for democratic
living.
•Place where are tested, implemented
and restructured.
 PERENNIALISM
• Most conservative, traditional or flexible philosophy.

• Education should focus on developing rationality.

• It is largely a product of Aristotle’s rationalism and its

subsequent treatment by Thomas Aquinas.

 NATURE
• Views truth as constant and universal.

• Education is good if it enables the student to acquire

knowledge of unchanging principles.

• Great ideas have the potential to solve problem in

any area.
 ASSUMPTION
• Education should promote continuing search for

truth.
• Education should cultivate human’s rational mind.

• Education should stimulate humans to think

critically and thoughtfully.

 EDUCATIONAL AIM
• To develop power of thought, internalize truths

that are universal and constant.

CURRICULAR EMPHASIS
• Great ideas or universal principles.

• Focused on arts and sciences and areas such as

History, Language, Mathematics, Science, Logic,

Literature and Humanities.
TEACHING METHODS
• Subject-centered

• Methods of disciplining the mind through

reading and discussion

 CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENT

• Develop the intellect of all learners

and prepare them for life.
 ROLE OF TEACHERS
• A known master of discipline

ROLE OF SCHOOL

• Produce intellectually elite individuals to become

intellectual.
PROGRESSIVISM
 Emphasizes the concept of progress
which asserts that human being are
capable of improving and perfecting their
environment
 NATURE
 Exactly opposite of
Perennialism
 Stresses the child`s needs and
therefore child- centered.
 ASSUMPTION
 The curriculum should be derived from the needs and
interests of the student.
 Effective methods of teaching must consider interests
and needs of the student
 Effective teacher provide experiences that will make
the student active than passive.
 Effective education is one that provides the learners
with a future better than the past.
EDUCATIONAL AIM
 To provide the pupil the necessary skills to be
able to interact with his ever changing
environment.

CURRICULAR EMPHASIS
 Activity and experienced centered
on life functions.
TEACHING METHOD
 Cooperative Learning Strategies
 Reflective Strategies
 Problem Solving Strategies

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
 Improvement and reform in the human
condition
ROLE OF TEACHERS
O Act as resource person
O Guide or facilitate
O Teaches student how to learn and
become active problem solvers

ROLE OF SCHOOL
• Develop personal and social values
• Set up a classroom environment along the
lines of democracy
 EXISTENTIALISM
• Existentialist sees the world as a
personal subjectivity, where
goodness, truth and reality are
individually defined.
• believes that things are constantly
changing.It is based on the view
that reality is what you experience.
NATURE

-Focuses on the experiences of the individuals

-Offers individuals a way of thinking about the
meaning of life.

ASSUMPTION

-Existence precedes essence

 CURRICULAR EMPHASIS

-Subject centered
-Literature
-History
-Arts for Aesthetic expression
-Humanities for ethical values
TEACHING METHODS

-Inquiry Approach
-Question Answer Method

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

-Individual responsibility for

decisions and preferences
ROLE OF TEACHERS
-Good provider of experience
-Effective questioner
-Mental disciplinarian
ROLE OF SCHOOL
-Create an atmosphere for active interaction
-Plan better solutions to their everyday problems
-Discuss the different situations based by an
individual
 RECONSTRUCTIONALISM
•The belief that m a significant degree plan
and control his society ,that in a democratic
society this should be done in the public
interest, and that the school have a
significant part to play in the process.
 Nature
O Social change
O Schools should have initiative in
reconstructing the present social
order.
O Believes that educational
philosophies are based on one’s
culture.
 Assumption
O We live in a period of great crisis, as is
most evident in the fact that humans now
have the capability of destroying
civilization overnight.
O Mankind has the intellectual technological
and moral potential to create a world
civilization of abundance, health and
human capacity.
 Educational Aim
O Education enlivens the student
awareness of different societal
problems.
O Education based on the quest for a
better society.
 Curricular Emphasis
O Stresses learning that enables the individual
to live in a global milieu
O Controversial national and international
issues.
O Emphasis on social sciences and social
research methods; examination of social
economics and political problems; focus on
present and future trends.
 Teaching Methods
O Community-based projects
O Problem-oriented method

Character Development
O Provide vision for better world
 Role of Teachers
O Lead the young in designing programs for social,
educational, practical and economic change.

Role of School
O Primary agent of social change
O Critical examination of cultural heritage
O Center of controversy where students discuss
controversial issues, political and educational.