Philosophy of education

The Philosophy of Education

What is Philosophy of Education

Philos + Sophos = love of wisdom

All teachers have a personal philosophy that colors the way they teach.

Your educational philosophy consists of what you believe in about education – the set of principles that guides your professional action.

What is Philosophy of Education

Your beliefs and your own philosophy of education will influence all your activities in the classroom from how you teach, what you teach, how you manage your classroom, how you relate to students, parents, and colleagues, and how you conduct your professional life.

Beliefs About Teaching and Learning

What will be your primary role as a teacher?

Will it be to transmit knowledge to students and then guide their practice as they develop skills in using that knowledge? Or will it be to develop self-directed learners by building on students’ interests, prior experiences and current understandings?

Beliefs About Students

Every teacher formulates an image in his or her mind about what students are like – their dispositions, skills, motivation levels and experiences.Negative views of students may promote teacher-student relationships based on fear and coercion rather than on trust and helpfulness.It is important that teachers convey positive attitudes toward their students and a belief that they can learn.

Beliefs About What Is Worth Knowing

Teachers have different ideas what should be taught.

The Purpose of Education

What do you think is the purpose of education?

To give knowledge

To transmit culture

To help people adapt to society

To give religious education

To provide practical/hands-on experience/training

To provide learner/human-centered education

What are the branches of philosophy?

Metaphysics – what is real to you

Epistemology – how do we know

Axiology – values Ethics – morality, behavior Aesthetics – beauty, comfort

Metaphysics

Concerned with the questions about the nature of reality.

The very heart of educational philosophy.

What is reality? What is the world made of? What does it mean to exist?

The school curriculum is based on what we know about reality.

Epistemology

Concerned with the nature of knowledge.

What knowledge is true? How does knowing take place? How do we decide between opposing views of knowledge? What knowledge is most worth?

As a teacher, you need to determine what is true about the content you will teach, then you must decide on the most appropriate means of teaching this content to students.

Epistemology (ways of knowing about the world)

Knowing based on authority

Knowing based on divine revelation

Knowing based on empiricism (experience)

Knowing based on reason and logical analysis

Knowing based on intuition

Axiology

Concerned with values.

What values should teachers encourage students to adopt? What values does a truly educated person hold?

Highlights the fact that the teacher has an interest not only in the quantity of knowledge that students acquire but also the quality of life that becomes possible because of that knowledge.

Educational Philosophies

Schools of Thought

Perennialism

The most conservative, traditional, or inflexible of all philosophiesReflects Plato’s belief that TRUTH and values are absolute, timeless and universalDevelop the students’ rational and moral powers; reasoning skillsReality is a world of reasonTeaches concepts and focuses on knowledge and the meaning of knowledgeAll human beings possess the same essential nature

Perennialism

Man and his existence are virtually permanent therefore the teaching style should not changeEmphasize the importance of transferring knowledge, information, and skills from the older generation to the younger oneThe teacher is not concerned of student’s interest (teacher-centered)Students acquire knowledge of unchanging principles or great ideasLess emphasis on vocational and technical education

Perennialism

Stress on general educationThe student is a passive recipientRobert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer AdlerTeacher’s role: instill respect for authority, deliver clear lectures; interprets and tells; coaching in critical thinking skills; apply creative techniques and other tried and true methods which are believed to be most conducive to disciplining the student’s minds

Perennialism: Application to teaching

Education should be the same for everyoneA single curriculum should exist for all studentsCurriculum should include study of original sourcesSince man is basically the same, there is no need to sway material to the lowest studentChildren must be challenged and educators must expect REASON from themEducation is a tool that prepares one for lifeGreat emphasis is placed upon the great classics – literature, history, philosophy, science

Perennialism: Application to teaching

A high school English teacher would require students to read Melville’s Moby Dick or any of Shakespeare’s plays rather than a novel on the current best-seller list.

Science students would learn about the three laws of motion or three laws of thermodynamics rather than build a model of space shuttle.

Portrait of a Perennialist teacher

Mrs. Bernstein has been teaching English at the high school since mid-1980s. Among students and teachers as well, she has a reputation for demanding a lot. As one student put it, “You don’t waste time in Mrs. Bernstein’s classes.”

During the early 1990s, she had a difficult time dealing with students who aggressively insisted on being taught subjects that they called relevant. As a graduate of a top-notch university in the East,


where she received a classical, liberal education, Mrs. Bernstein refused to lessen the emphasis in her classes on great works of literature that she felt students needed to know, such as Beowulf and the works of Chaucer, Dickens and Shakespeare.

As far as her approach to classroom management is concerned, one student sums it up this way: “She doesn’t let you get by with a thing; she never slacks off on the pressure. She lets you know that she’s there to teach and you’re there to learn.”


Mrs. Bernstein believes that hard work and effort is necessary if one is to get a good education. As a result she gives students very few opportunities to misbehave, and she appears to be immune to the grumblings of students who do complain openly about the workload.

She becomes very animated when she talks about the value of the classics to students who are preparing to live as adults in the 21st century.

Essentialism

Learners need to acquire basic knowledge, skills and values necessary to understand the real world outside.Instill students with the “essentials” of academic knowledge, enacting back-to-basics approach.The essence of education is knowledge and skills needed in preparation for adult life.Pass on the cultural and historical heritage to each new generation of learners, beginning with the “basics”.

Essentialism

Emphasis on academic content for students to learn the fundamental r’s – reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, right conductAccumulated wisdom of our civilization as taught in the traditional academic disciplines is passed on from teacher to student. Math, Natural Science, History, EnglishStudents build on what others learned (not trial/error)Essentialists accept the idea that core curriculum may change

Essentialism

Subject-centeredMastery of subject matterCover as much academic content as possibleNon-academic subjects (PE, vocational) excludedWilliam C. BagleyTeachers role: to transmit traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizens; deliver clear lectures; stress on memorization and discipline

Portrait of an Essentialist teacher

Mr. Samuels is known around the school as a hardworking, dedicated teacher. His commitment to children is especially evident when he talks about preparing “his” children for life in high school and beyond. “A lot of teachers nowadays have given up on kids,” he says with a touch of sadness to his voice. “They don’t demand much of them. If we don’t push kids now to get the knowledge and skills they’re going to need later in life, we’ve failed them. My main purpose here is to see that my kids get the basics they’re going to need.”


Mr. Samuels has made it known that he does not approve of the methods used by some of the younger, more humanistic-oriented teachers in the school. At a recent faculty meeting, for example, he was openly critical of some teachers’ tendency to “let students do their own thing” and spend time “expressing their feelings.” He called for all teachers to focus their energies on getting students to master subject-matter content, “the things kids will need to know,” rather than on helping students adjust to the interpersonal aspects of school life. He also reminded everyone that “kids come to school to learn.” All students would learn, he pointed out, if “teachers based their methods on good, sound approaches that have always worked—not on the so-called innovative approaches that are based on fads and frills.”


Mr. Samuels’s students have accepted his no-nonsense approach to teaching. With few exceptions, his classes are orderly and businesslike. Each class period follows a standard routine. Students enter the room quietly and take their seats with a minimum of the foolishness and horseplay that mark the start of many other classes in the school. As the first order of business, the previous day’s homework is returned and reviewed. Following this, Mr. Samuels presents the day’s lesson, usually a 15- to 20-minute explanation of how to solve a particular kind of math problem. His minilectures are lively, and his wide-ranging tone of voice and animated, spontaneous delivery convey his excitement about the material and his belief that students can learn. During large-group instruction, Mr. Samuels also makes ample use of a whiteboard, software such as Geometer’s Sketchpad, and manipulatives such as a large abacus and colored blocks of different sizes and shapes.

Progressivism

Believe that individuality, progress and change are fundamental to one’s educationTeachers teach so they may live life fully NOW not to prepare them for adult lifeCurriculum is centered on the needs, experiences, interests and abilities of students not on academic disciplinesTextbooks, memorization, & other traditional techniques are replaced with actual experiences and problem-solvingEmphasis on life-long learning and social skillsStudents are active learnersStudent-centered

Progressivism

Skills are taught to cope with changeProblem-solving methods; scientific methodNatural and Social sciencesLearning by doing; book learning is no substitute for actual experienceProgressive teachers begin with where students are and through daily give-and-take of the classroom, lead students to see that the subject to be learned can enhance their livesJohn Dewey

Progressivism

Teacher role: facilitate student learning, provide students with experiences that replicate everyday life as much as possible, cooperative learning activities, hands-on activities

Portrait of a Progressive Teacher

Mr. Barkan teaches social studies at a middle school in a well-to-do part of the city. Boyishly handsome and in his mid-thirties, Mr. Barkan usually works in casual attire—khaki pants, soft-soled shoes, and a sports shirt. He seems to get along well with students. Mr. Barkan likes to give students as much freedom of choice in the classroom as possible. Accordingly, his room is divided into interest and activity centers, and much of the time students are free to choose where they want to spend their time.


One corner at the back of the room has a library collection of paperback and hardcover books, an easy chair, and an area rug; the other back corner of the room is set up as a project area and has a worktable on which are several globes, maps, large sheets of newsprint, and assorted drawing materials. At the front of the room in one corner is a small media center with a computer and flat screen monitor, laser printer, and DVD/VCR.Mr. Barkan makes it a point to establish warm, supportive relationships with his students. He is proud of the fact that he is a friend to his students.


“I really like the kids I teach,” he says in a soft, gentle voice. “They’re basically good kids, and they really want to learn if we teachers, I mean, can just keep their curiosity alive and not try to force them to learn. It’s up to us as teachers to capitalize on their interests.”The visitor to Mr. Barkan’s class today can sense his obvious regard for students. He is genuinely concerned about the growth and nurturance of each one. As his students spend most of their time working in small groups at the various activity centers in the room, Mr. Barkan divides his time among the groups. He moves from group to group and seems to immerse himself as an equal participant in each group’s task. One group, for example, has been working on making a papier-mâché globe. Several students are explaining animatedly to him how they plan to transfer the flat map of the world they have drawn to the smooth sphere they have fashioned out of the papier-mâché.


Mr. Barkan listens carefully to what his students have to say and then congratulates the group on how cleverly they have engineered the project. When he speaks to his students, he does so in a matter-of-fact, conversational tone, as though speaking to other adults. As much as possible he likes to bring textbook knowledge to life by providing his students with appropriate experiences—field trips, small-group projects, simulation activities, role-playing, Internet explorations, and so on. Mr. Barkan believes that his primary function as a teacher is to prepare his students for an unknown future. Learning to solve problems at an early age is the best preparation for this future, he feels.

Existentialism

Focuses on the experiences of an individualRejects the existence of any source of objective, authoritative truth about metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics“Existence precedes essence. . . .”Individuals are responsible for determining for themselves what is "true" or "false," "right" or "wrong," "beautiful" or "ugly.”There exists no universal form of human nature; each of us has the free will to develop as we see fit.

Existentialism

Education of the whole person, not just the mind.Helping the students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Subject matter takes second placeLearning is self-paced; self-directedEmphasis on HUMANITIESYes to vocational educationExistentialists judge the curriculum according to whether it contributes to the individual’s quest for meaning

Existentialism

Encourages individual creativity and imaginationOffers the individual a way of thinking about my life, what has meaning for me, what is true for me.Teachers employ values clarification strategy – teachers remain non-judgmental and take care not to impose their values on their students since values are personal.Jean-Paul SartreTeacher’s role: help students define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they take in life and by creating an environment in which they freely choose their own preferred way

Portrait of an Existentialist teacher

After he started teaching English eight years ago at a suburban high school, Fred Winston began to have doubts about the value of what he was teaching students. Although he could see a limited, practical use for the knowledge and skills he was teaching, he felt he was doing little to help his students answer the most pressing questions of their lives. Also, Fred had to admit to himself that he had grown somewhat bored with following the narrow, unimaginative Board of Education curriculum guides.During the next eight years, Fred gradually developed a style of teaching that placed emphasis on students finding out who they are. He continued to teach the knowledge covered on the achievement test mandated by his state, but he made it clear that what students learned from him, they should use to answer questions that were important to them.

Portrait of an Existentialist teacher

Now, for example, he often gives writing assignments that encourage students to look within in order to develop greater self-knowledge. He often uses assigned literature as a springboard for values clarification discussions. And whenever possible, he gives his students the freedom to pursue individual reading and writing projects. His only requirement is that students be meaningfully involved in whatever they do.Fred’s approach to teaching is perhaps summed up by the bumper sticker on the sports car he drives: “Question authority.” Unlike many of his fellow teachers, he wants his students to react critically and skeptically to what he teaches them. He also presses them to think thoughtfully and courageously about the meaning of life, beauty, love, and death. He judges his effectiveness by the extent to which students are able and willing to become more aware of the choices that are open to them.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities.

Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior.

Modification and shaping of students’ behavior by providing for a favorable environment.

Behaviorism

Teachers teach to students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment

Teachers provide incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken or eliminate negative ones

B.F. Skinner

Idealism

Asserts that because the physical world is always changing, ideas are the only reliable form of reality

The focus is on conscious reasoning in the mind.

The aim of education is to discover and develop each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.

The curricular emphasis is subject matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, and religion.

Idealism

Lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue (a method of teaching that uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge).

Truth is perfect and eternal, but not found in the world of matter, only through the mind

The only constant for Plato was mathematics, unchangeable and eternal

Idealism

Plato: The first is the spiritual or mental world, which is eternal, permanent, orderly, regular, and universal. There is also the world of appearance, the world experienced through sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound, that is changing, imperfect, and disorderly.

Idealism

Plato believed education helped move individuals collectively toward achieving the good.The State should be involved in education, moving brighter students toward abstract ideas and the less able toward collecting data…a gender free tracking systemThose who were brighter should rule, others should assume roles to maintain the stateThe philosopher-king would lead the State to the ultimate good

Idealism

Evil comes through ignorance, education will lead to the obliteration of evil

More modern idealists: St. Augustine, Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel

Goal of Education: interested in the search for truth through ideas…with truth comes responsibility to enlighten others, “education is transformation: Ideas can change lives.”

Idealism

Role of the Teacher: to analyze and discuss ideas with students so that students can move to new levels of awareness so that they can ultimately be transformed, abstractions dealt with through the dialectic, but should aim to connect analysis with actionRole of the teacher is to bring out what is already in student’s mind: reminiscence

Methods of Instruction

Lecture from time to time, but primary method of teaching is the dialectic…discuss, analyze, synthesize, and apply what they have read to contemporary society

Curriculum…importance of the study of the classics…many support a back to the basics approach to education

Realism

Aristotle was the leading proponent of realism, started the Lyceum, the first philosopher to develop a systematic theory of logicReality exists independent of the human mindThe ultimate reality is the world of physical objectsThe aim is to understand objective reality through "the diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data."

Aristotle’s Systematic Theory of Logic

Begin with empirical research, speculate or use dialectic reasoning, and culminate in a syllogism

A syllogism is a system of logic that consists of three parts: (1) a major premise, (2) a minor premise, and (3) a conclusion

For a syllogism to work, all the parts must be correct

Realists

Neo-Thomism…Aquinas affected a synthesis of pagan ideas and Christian beliefs…reason is the means of ascertaining or understanding truth, God could be understood through reasoning based on the material world…no conflict between science and religionThe world of faith with the world of reason, contemporary Catholic schools

Modern Realism

From the Renaissance, Francis Bacon developed induction, the scientific method…based on Aristotle, developed a method starting with observations, culminating in generalization, tested in specific instances for the purpose of verification

John Locke and tabula rasa, things known from experience… ordered sense data and then reflected on them

Goal of Education for Realists

Notions of the good life, truth, beauty could be answered through the study of ideas, using the dialectical method…for contemporary realists, the goal of education is to help individuals understand and apply the principles of science to help solve the problems plaguing the modern worldTeachers should be steeped in the basic academic disciplines

Pragmatism

An American philosophy from the 19th century…Peirce, James, Dewey

Pragmatism encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends…action oriented, experientially grounded

John Dewey’s Philosophy

Education starts with the needs and interests of the child, allows the child to participate in planning her course of study, employ project method or group learning, depend heavily or experiential learning

Children are active, organic beings…needing both freedom and responsibility

Ideas are not separate from social conditions, philosophy has a responsibility to society

Dewey’s Role for the Teacher

Not the authoritarian but the facilitator…encourages, offers suggestions, questions and helps plan and implement courses of study…has command of several disciplines

Inquiry method, problem solving, integrated curriculum

Empiricism

Knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experiencesEmphasizes the role of experience and evidenceJohn Locke, David Hume, George BerkeleyEmpiricist thought stresses the need to eliminate assumptions about notions of how the world is supposed to work. The only truths are those that demonstrate how the world actually does work. One of the controversial aspects of empiricism is that it often conflicts with traditional views of religion.

Empiricism

Knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experiences

Emphasizes the role of experience and evidence

John Locke, David Hume, George Berkeley

Empiricist thought stresses the need to eliminate assumptions about notions of how the world is supposed to work. The only truths are those that demonstrate how the world actually does work.

Empiricism

For example John Locke held that some knowledge (e.g. knowledge of God's existence) could be arrived at through intuition and reasoning alone. Similarly Robert Boyle, a prominent advocate of the experimental method, held that we have innate ideas

Rationalism

Pure Reason (i.e. Reason independent of Experience) can yield informative knowledge, knowledge of (some aspects of) the world rather than just of the relations between our concepts. "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive.“Rational knowledge is labeled a priori, to indicate that it is prior to and independent of experience. The rationalist’s confidence in reason and proof tends, therefore, to detract from his respect for other ways of knowing.

Social Reconstructionism

Holds that schools should take the lead in changing or reconstructing the current social order.

Schools should not only transmit knowledge about the existing social order; they should seek to reconstruct it as well.

Social reconstructionism has clear ties to progressive educational philosophy

Social Reconstructionism

A social reconstructionist curriculum is arranged to highlight the need for various social reforms and, whenever possible, allow students to have firsthand experiences in reform activities.Schools should provide students with methods for dealing with the significant crises that confront the world: war, economic depression, international terrorism, hunger, natural disasters, inflation, and ever-accelerating technological advances. Theodore Brameld, George Counts

Utilitarianism/Hedonism

School of thought that argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic goodStrives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain)Ethical hedonism is the idea that all people have the right to do everything in their power to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure possible to them. Aristippus of Cyrene (student of Socrates), Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill

Epicureanism

Epicurus believed that what he called "pleasure" is the greatest good, but the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires.

Epicureanism emphasizes the neutrality of the gods, that they do not interfere with human lives.

The emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than on physical pleasures.

Postmodernism (Critical Theory)

An educational philosophy contending that many of the institutions in our society, including schools, are used by those in power to marginalize those who lack power

Criticized for using schools for political purposes

Constructivism

Students construct understanding of reality through interaction with objects, people or events in the environmental and reflecting on interactions

Learning occurs by conflicting with what is already known; previous experiences determine what is learned

Teachers act as facilitators

Students interact with experts

Philosophy of education

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