This document outlines the philosophy of education according to Dr. Duncan Henry Sisya. It discusses key topics in philosophy of education including teachers' challenges in balancing students' emotional and intellectual development, the importance of both humanistic and technical knowledge, and the role of education in developing students' skills to contribute to society and alleviate poverty. It provides definitions of philosophy and discusses its goal of pursuing truth and wisdom through critical examination of beliefs, values, and knowledge.

1. BOTSWANA INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & AMP
TECHOLOGY:
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
PRESENTED BY: DR. DUNCAN HENRY SISYA,
POVERTY ALLEVIATION,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
P.O. BOX 25632, SEGEREA,
DAR-ES-SALAAM, TANZANIA.
E-MAIL:duncanhensisya@yahoo.co.uk; dr.duncanhensisya@gmail.com;
hensisya@gmail.com
WEBSITE: http://www.LinkedIn.com

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
• DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY
• TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES
• HUMANISTIC KNOWLEDGE
• TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
• THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN
ACTUALIZING MAN’S SKILLS
• POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAM
• BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES OF
INFORMATION

3. PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION:
DEFINITION: Philosophy is the love of wisdom. This is the most
historical definition which has carried over to the contemporary days.
The definition is a literal translation of two Greek concepts “Philia”
and “Sophia” which mean “love” and “wisdom” respectively.
Looking at this definition from a different angle, it simply means
search for wisdom. Some philosophers interpret it as pursuit of truth.
The pursuit is focused on people’s opinions or thoughts. It may also
focus on the assumptions you or other people make about the world,
people themselves and values they cherish. You will discover that in
philosophy, the basis for wisdom is the search for truth.
Also philosophy focuses on reality as opposed to superficiality. At the
same time, it concerns itself with that which ought to be or the real
ideal. This is contrast with that which is widely believed in without
consistent reasoning about it.
In the final analysis, philosophy is a subject which exposes you to:
• The Science and art of systematic thinking. It engages you in
philosophical activity. Philosophical activity is, in part, asking
philosophical questions; actual pursuit of truth and wisdom.
• Re-examining the basic foundations of your outlook or the
attempt to acquire another nature or life which is examined,
coherent, consistent and rationalized.
• Re-examining your thoughts, beliefs and values which you have
guarded jealousy up to now without subjecting them to the
sieve of reason.
As you will realize, philosophy is a subject that will give you
genuine principles which will help you to:
• Unearth or rediscover the truth in what you think you as an
individual and about others know. This includes the
scientific discoveries which are made all the time.
• Rediscover the truth behind traditional values and
convictions you have held and cherished over the years.

4. • Refocus and re-examine your personal views about
particular and general experiences.
So, philosophy will expose all your conceptions of the universe,
all human and your personal affairs to intensive critical
examination. It will prove to you whether or not your
conception has been based on sufficient or adequate foundation.
It will train you to reasonably, earnestly and seriously peruse
truth for wisdom. It will lead you into realizing that everyone
holds a set of beliefs and principles which guide one’s life and
actions. But you will notice that is not true, that every
individual does, by conscious study and reflection, systematize
those beliefs and principles into a consistent whole. It should
guide you into correct thinking. This means: defining,
rationalizing and systematizing issues. It will guide you into
straight and not crooked thinking.
The activity of learning can be divided into three broad fields
namely:
• The Natural Sciences: These include Physics, Chemistry
and Biology.
• The Social Sciences: These include Sociology and
Psychology.
• The Arts: These include fiction and drama.
It is possible that some of the subjects in the three categories
may overlap but the common characteristics in all these
subjects which differentiate them from philosophy, is that
they can be demarcated into definable particular roles. For
example, Biology has got its role different from that of
Physics and Psychology. We shall notice that one basic
characteristic which distinguishes Philosophy from all these
other disciplines is that while all these disciplines play
particular roles, the role of Philosophy is general. Because of
this unique characteristic, Philosophy becomes a general
subject playing a universal role. It is this generality which
makes Philosophy comprehensive and fundamental.
Philosophy as a discipline is divided into four main branches
and viz:

5. • Epistemology: This is a branch charged with the
responsibility to examine the edifice of knowledge
and truth.
• Metaphysics: The task of Metaphysics is to examine
reality as manifested in the universe.
• Axiology: This branch is divided into ethics and
aesthetics. Its responsibility is to examine values as
manifested in both phenomena and noumena.
• Logic: This is a branch which deals with reasoning
and the examination of arguments in the Sciences and
the Humanities.
According to Philosophy of Education in today’s
world, will be focused on the teachers’ challenges, humanistic
knowledge, technical knowledge, and the role of education in
actualizing man’s skills.
• TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES:
As regards the nature of man, as a teacher, will face
challenges at three levels. You will find problems
with the emotional nature of man. The elements
within emotion are mainly innate. That is to say, they
are inborn. These elements work on the principle of
enhancing pleasure and avoiding pain at any cost.
Maximization of pleasure works in close
collaboration with the human inner energy of desire,
feeling, wish, need and want. In its attempt to avoid
pain both physical and psychology, this inner energy
is always in constant conflict with the expectations
of society or other individuals.
As a teacher, you are faced with a formidable
problem of harmonizing this inner world of
subjective experience with the world of objective
reality. As you know the inner energy of desires can
be generated as a result of inner excitation of the
psychic of the individual or external stimulation by

6. influences outside the control of the individual. So,
the onus is on you as a teacher to ensure that the
inner self of the individual is allowed to grow and
develop without being destroyed by selfish
expectations of society by the wanton selfish needs
of the individual.
After the emotional level, you will yourself face to
face with the level of reality. The problem arises
here because the subjective real component works
hand in hand with the objective real component. For
instance, the feeling of thirst emerges from the inner
subjective self. But the satisfaction of thirst which is
a drink is found in the external objective world. So
conflicts are likely to emerge regarding the means by
which this drink is obtained. If the means is wrong,
the individual may be offended or society may be
offended while emotion aims at taming the excesses
of subjective emotion. As a teacher, your challenge
is to ensure that the student develops into a balanced
being, or an individual capable of controlling his
emotions without allowing the demands of society to
destroy his inner subjective natural self.
The third challenge which you will grapple within
your classroom is harmonizing the real objective
world of the student and the real world of society.
The ideal world comprises of instruments such as
laws, rules, regulations, norms and generalized
experiences based on specific cultures, customs and
traditions. The standards are put in place in order to
ensure proper functioning of your society. As a
teacher, one of your important challenges is to train
your students to think in a manner which is original.
Sometimes original thought and reason conflicts

7. with traditional standards. Yet as you know, it is
original thought and reason which leads to creativity.
Creativity leads to revolution and it is revolution
which sometimes revamps culture and leads to better
society.
As a teacher, your challenge is to ensure that you
develop individual original creative thought in your
students and at the same time helping them to respect
authority based on societal standards.
• HUMANISTIC KNOWLEDGE:
Before man act successfully in any profession, he
must first of all acquire knowledge which will enable
him behave and function as a human being in any
society. This knowledge will be acquired from
humanities. So, technical knowledge which
orientates an individual towards a certain specialized
profession must either be preceded by knowledge
from humanities or you must teach your students the
two components concurrently. It is the humanities
which will help your student to tame his emotional
nature. If this aspect is neglected in favour of
technical knowledge, your students, however skilled,
they will be in their professions. They will always be
in conflict with their fellow workers. So, you should
use knowledge first of all to shape your students to
behave like human beings at their places of work.
Unlike animals, man uses his powers of reason
which must be consciously trained to help him
coexist with fellow man. However technical
knowledge is equally important. It is this knowledge
which provides man with the skills of survival. It is
to this type that we now turn our attention.

8. • TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE:
After training the powers of thought, you need to
match this knowledge with the gaining of limbs. It is
true that some professions require only intellectual
skills but in the fast moving world; it is necessary to
train both the powers of the intellect and the powers
of the limbs. When you look at man closely, you
discover that he was designed to work. His hands are
designed to grasp things, his spine is designed to lift
and sustain heavy loads. Man is a problem solver.
When confronted with problems, he uses his mind to
think of a solution. Then he identifies the proper
limb to do the action. Success in this endeavor calls
for creativity. For instance, the problem of satisfying
hunger, led man into inventing tools for cultivation,
and cooking food. In this exercise, the brain and the
limbs are involved.
You should emphasize it to your student that is the
actionable nature of man which has helped to
transform the universe into what it is now. The
wonders of Science and technology, the break-
through in the world of medicine, the sophistication
in communication and telecommunication, in
transport, agriculture, warfare and computer
technology; all these break-through are a
consequence of man’s creative mind working in
conjunction with his limbs. At this juncture, we need
to ask ourselves the role of education in this mental
and limb sophistication.

9. • THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN
ACTUALIZING MAN’S SKILLS:
Man’s environment is physical, biological, and social. These
different aspects of the environment though different, do
work hand in hand. Man needs to cultivate, through
education, the intellectual and the technical skills in order to
cope with the complexities of the environment. It is
education which frees man from his emotions. It is still
education which exposes man to the objective reality as it
exists from inner reality and it is still education which brings
man to grip with ideals of his society. Man, because of his
actionable nature feels of his society. This is because by
nature, man is made to value work. Without work, man
cannot survive. His body depreciates into diseases and
finally it decays. So, as a teacher you are professionally
obliged to teach your students the value of work. As it is
said, “idleness is the mother of evil”. Due to idleness,
research shows that many youths have indulged in drug
abuse and alcohol; they have become addicts of drugs
and alcohol; they have turned to be sex workers
(prostitutes), murderers, thieves, armed-robbers and
thugs. Also, the Bible in II Thessalonians 3: 10-12, says,
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this
command: If anyone will work, let him not eat. For we
hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere
busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we
command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their
work in quietness and to earn their own living”. So, it is
work which enables man to acquire material and social
possessions. It is work which answers man’s problems of
needs and desires. Without work, man cannot acquire the
basics of life such as food, shelter and clothing. Without
work, man cannot change the environment to suit him. He
cannot invent tools to help him solve his problems. When
man fails to work, he turns into an anti-social being or a
nuisance to society. As a teacher, it is your principle role to
mood your students into actionable beings as nature

10. intended them to be. Without education, man may find it
difficult to value work.
• POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAM:
Since not all have gone to school to obtain education and
due to the epidemic disease of HIV/AIDS, there are groups
of people who are less privileged and they need basic needs.
These less privileged groups of people are orphans,
vulnerable children, street children and widows who are
sixty (60) years) and above according to the Bible. It states
that young widows are encouraged to get married but real
widows are those who are sixty (60) years old (Read I
Timothy 5: 3-16.)
• BIBLIOGRAPHY [REFERENCES/SOURCES OF
INFORMATION]
1. Stroll, A. Popkin R.H. (1976), Introduction to
Philosophy USA Rinehart & Winston, Inc.
2. Wallace, W.A. (1977), The Elements of Philosophy
[Chapter 1]. New York: Society of Saint Paul.
3. Schofield, H. (1972), The Philosophy of Education
[Chapter 1]. London: George Allen & Unwin.
4. Ewing, A.C. (1989), The Fundamental Questions of
Philosophy [Chapter 1]. New York: Rout Ledge.
5. O’ Hear, A. (1988), What Philosophy Is [Chapter 1-
3]. London: Cox & Wyman.
6. Hincliff, P. (1981). The Human Potential. London:
Longman.
7. Donceel, J. (1967), Philosophical Anthropology. New
York: S & W.
8. Breger, L. (1974), From Instinct to Identity. New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
9. Midgeley, M. (1981), Heart and Mind. London:
Methane.