The Educational Philosophies of the World’s Greatest Philosophers

PestalozziFroebelHerbartSpencer Dewey

Reported by: CJ Fajilan

John Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

- a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer

- founded several educational institutions both in German- and French-speaking regions of Switzerland

- His motto was "Learning by head, hand and heart“

John Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

• Education is a social process of organized growth and development

• Education should be in accordance with laws of natural growth and development of the child

• Lessons were to be learned through direct experience with objects and places through observation, inquiry and reasoning.

• Emphasis or method and technique of imparting knowledge and information

• Reality is objective and is composed of matter and form; it is fixed, based on natural law.

• Knowing consists of sensation and abstraction• Values are absolute and eternal based on

nature’s laws• Subject matter curriculum should be

humanistic

John Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852)

• a German pedagogue• a student of Pestalozzi who laid

the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities

• He created the concept of the “kindergarten”

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852)

• “Father of Kindergarten”• Creative expression should be encouraged• Education should be accompanied with

spirit of informality and joy

• Self-activity as a means of development• Individual differences should be respected • Knowing is the rethinking of latent ideas

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852)

• Values are eternal • Play, spontaneous activity should be

utilized to promote self-realization• A subject matter curriculum emphasizing

the great and enduring ideas of culture• Social development

Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852)

John Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

• a German philosopher, psychologist, and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline

John Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

• Learning should lead to character formation

• Aim of education should be ethical and moral

• The leader gets meaning from previous experiences to which it is related

• The curriculum should include a wide range of subjects

• Unity could be achieved through reflection and could be greatly aided by a correlation of subject matter

John Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

Five Formal Steps in Teaching1. Preparation – recall of old ideas in the

learner’s experience to which the new curriculum can be related.

2. Presentation – a story, demonstration, experiment or a reading assignment that include facts or new materials or ideas of the new material

3. Comparison – connections and associations between the old and the new

John Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

4. Generalization – general principle that are formed from the lesson

5. Application – putting the new idea to work

John Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

• Knowledge acquired that is best for use in life is also the best for the development of power

• Emphasis on physical activity• Science oriented curriculum

• Societies are bound to change• Opposed to free public education ; those who

really want an education should work hard to acquire the means to attain it

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

John Dewey (1859-1952)

• was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform.

• Theories focused around practices of practicality; pragmatism

John Dewey (1859-1952)

1. Education is life, not preparation for life

2. Education is growth3. Education is a social process 4. Education is a continuous

reconstruction of experiences

He wanted the children to get something out of their education. Through experiments the children

got to interact and see new learning hands on.

• Education is learning by doing• The center of education is the child’s own

social activities• The school is primarily a social institution

John Dewey (1859-1952)

Implications of Dewey’s Theory1. The child is made the center oft the

educative process.2. The aims of education are formulated in

terms of child growth and development rather than mastery of subject.

3. The theory of self-activity is the basis of all learning.

4. The school curriculum is organized in terms of activities and projects.

5. School activities are correlated or integrated with real life outside the school.

6. Informal control is exercised in the classroom.

7. Socialized teaching-and-learning or group process or shared activity is utilized.

8. Thinking and reasoning, rather than memorization, are emphasized in the educative process.

Implications of Dewey’s Theory

9. Evaluation is made an integral part of the educative process.

10. Guidance and counseling are essential parts in education.

11. The school is used as an agency to develop democracy.

Implications of Dewey’s Theory

Aims of Deweyan Philosophy of Education

• Character Development•Well-adjusted Personality• Growth

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_Pestalozzi• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Fr%C3%B6bel• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Herbart• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Spencer• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey

Internet

Book• Tulio, D. 2008. Historical, Philosophical and Legal

Foundations of Education 2 • Bauzon, P. 2009. Fundamental Philosophies of

Education