3. INTRODUCTION
Philosophy is a set of ideas about the nature of reality and about the
meaning of life. Both ancient and modern philosophies influence
.education today.
The three main branches of philosophy are (a) metaphysics, which deals
with the study of reality; (b) epistemology, which is concerned with
the nature of knowledge; and (c) axiology, which seeks to determine shat
is of value.
Idealists are 'concerned with goals against which people can judge their
own progress and the progress of civilization.
Platonian idealists believe that education is the key to creating and
perpetuating a society in which talent rises to the top.
4. Cont…
Realists seek to discover truth in the world around them via methods of
direct observation and scientific inquiry. Aristotle believed that
excellence would flourish as one sought the middle ground between life's
extremes.
Realists believe that the role of education is to teach students about the
world in which they live.
Humanists reform people's perceptions of themselves in relation
to teaching and learning. They also express their belief in the inherent
goodness of child.
Humanists believe that education should prepare people to
take responsibility for their own lives.
5. IDEALISM
Idealists believe that ideas are the only true reality.
Horne Writes:
"Idealism is the conclusion that the universe is an expression intelligence
and will. that the enduring substance of the world is of the nature of mind,
that the material is explained by the mental".
It takes many and varied forms but the underlying principle is that
the mental or spiritual is more than the material; the physical is not so
important as the world of experiences, mind or ideas.
6. Key Concepts
Metaphysics
To the idealists, only the mental or the spiritual is ultimately real. For
them the universe is an expression of a highly generalized intelligence
and will a universal mind. The individual's spiritual essence or soul,
is durable and permanent.
Axiology
To the idealist, values reflect the good inherent in the universe. They are
absolute, eternal, and universal.
Ethical conduct grows out of the permanent aspects of cultural
heritage. Since the ethical core is contained within and transmitted
by this heritage, philosophy, theology, history, literature, and art are
rich value sources.
7. Fundamental Principles of Idealism
Idea is Real
The idealists believe that material or physical universe is not
complete expression of reality. To him, the physical world is the
manifestation of some great spirit behind it.
Man is Supreme Creation
According to idealism, man being spiritual, is supreme creation of
God.
They believe that man has spirit or mind and through this spirit or
mind he controls the environment.
8. Cont…
God is the Source of all Knowledge
The idealists say that although man is a supreme creation of God and he can
create values, yet he cannot find knowledge of ultimate reality from anyone
elsewhere except God.
Values are Absolute
Idealism believes in three spiritual values. They are tne Truth, the Beauty and
the Goodness.
The truth is an intellectual value, the beauty an aesthetic value and the
goodness a moral value.
Together they constitute the 'Good'. For Plato, these three values are identical
to each other.
9. Idealism and Aims of Education
Self-Realisation
Idealists assume that the foremost aim of education is to exalt his
personality. This exaltion of human personality means self-realisation.
Preservation of Culture
Idealists give much importance to the spiritual and cultural possessions
of the individual.
Development of a Moral Sense
According to idealism, is to develop the child's moral sense, so that he
can distinguish between the right and the wrong.
10. Cont…
Development of Creative Powers
According to idealism, education should enable the individual to develop
creative powers and modify the existing environment for a better and fuller
Iiving.
Development of Complete Man
The Idealists believe that physical development leads to intellectual
development, which leads to the pursuit of moral values.
Universal Education
The idealists believe that every man is equally the noblest work of God.
Hence, self-realisation should not be confined to the favoured few, but should
be universal in nature. They, therefore, advocate universal education.
11. Idealism and Process of Education
Idealism and Teacher
The teacher occupies an important place in the idealistic philosophy. He
is a mature individual with an idealistic outlook and takes the child from
darkness to light.
Froebel has beautifully explained his position. According to his view,
the school is like a garden, the teacher is like a gardener and the child is
like a tender plant.
The idealists also expect the teacher to have an ideal character, because
he is the friend, philosopher and guide of the child.
He should be morally high, intellectually developed and culturally
advanced.
12. Cont…
Idealism and Pupil
The student has certain attitude, aptitude and tendencies. He is hardworking,
obedient, and dutiful. He struggles for traditional knowledge.
He likes to involve himself in ideals rather than practical work. He discusses with the
teacher but remains obedient. He' thinks that the teacher is the only person who gives
him the true knowledge, so he tries to get benefits from the teacher.
Idealism and Curriculum
Plato believes that the highest ideal of life is the attainment of the highest
good or God, and for this he has suggested that the curriculum should aim at
the inculcation of the three spiritual values, i.e. Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Physical Activities, Intellectual activities, and Moral Activity
13. Idealism and Method of Teaching
Many idealists emphasize the use of ideal centred method of teaching.
The classroom is a place where the mature mind of the teacher
and immature minds of pupils meet.
There is a bond of common purpose between the two. The mature person
has the function of making the purpose clear.
The two most important idealist contributors in the methodology of
teaching are Pestalozzi and Froebel.
Pestalozzi emphasised ethico-religious education of the child. He held
that man couldn't live by bread alone. Every child needs religious
development.
14. Cont…
Froebel is also motivated by idealistic philosophy in his Kindergarten
system.
He regards the school as a garden and the teacher as a gardener whose
function is to tend carefully the little human plants in his charge and
to help them to grow to beauty and perfection.
Lecture methods
The discussion method of learning, which is popularly known as the
Socratic method.
15. Idealism and Discipline
Most of the idealists say that the children should have freedom but in
their activities they should seek guidance from teachers and some other
knowledgeable persons.
The idealists believe that the complete development of the child is
only possible under perfect discipline.
With due allowance for freedom, the idealists believe in strict
discipline.
It is through hard and rigorous life that they will learn higher values of life
like sympathy, co-operation, and devotion to duty.
16. REALISM
Aristotle is the pioneer of the philosophy. He was against the ideas
of Plato, who was interested in abstraction and generalities; Aristotle
was interested in particular facts of life.
John Cocke, an English philosopher, gave new impetus to realism.
He said, "the mind is a 'tabula rasa' (clean slate) and reality is outside
the mind".
17. Key concepts
Metaphysics and Epistemology
For the realist, a material world exists. that is independent of and
external w the mind of the knower.
The basis for understanding reality is found in a world of objects and. in
the perceptions of these objects.
The realist believes that a curriculum consisting of organized,
separate subject matters is the most effective and efficient way of
learning about the reality of the objective order.
Axiology
Based on the realist's conception of knowledge, certain
identified prescriptions govern intelligent behaviour.
18. Basic Philosophical Principles of
Realism
Realism and Nature of Reality
According to realists, the world around is a reality. It is a world of
objects and not ideas. Realism is a philosophy away from the world
of ideas and is concerned with the study of the world we live in.
Laws of Nature and Realism
The realist believes that the physical universe is operated by natural
laws.
Realism and Science
The realist tries to discover truth with the help of scientific methods. Such
a discovery of truth helps to control the environment.
19. Cont…
Realism and Religion
There is no absolute antagonism between realism and religion,
though many realists hold the view that religion is merely man made and
there is no God.
Realism and Value
Most of the realists share the belief that a thing has an aesthetic value to the
extent it harmonizes with the beauty of nature.
Many realists think that behaviour is what is socially and rationally
acceptable.
20. Realism and Aims of Education
Realism and Aims of Education
Equipping students with knowledge and skill needed to understand and
master their physical environment.
Enabling students to adjust themselves to the realities of the physical
world and to adjust with adult approved behaviour.
Realism and Process of Education
In realism the teacher is a guide. He should only guide the students,
because the realists give much freedom to students. The realists suggest that
teacher must be a scholar.
Realists place considerable importance on the role of the teacher in the
educational process. The teacher should be a person who presents material in
a systematic and organised way.
21. Realism and the Curriculum
Although realists have different views about what subjects should comprise
the curriculum, they are in agreement that studies be practical and useful.
Locke, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, approved of such studies
as reading, writing, drawing, geography, astronomy, arithmetic, history,
ethics, and law, with supplementary studies in dancing, fencing, and riding.
Subjects of the curriculum would include courses in physics, chemistry,
mathematics, life sciences and their application, social sciences in
an integrated way and self-sciences such as literature, biography.
philosophy, psychology and art.
22. Realism and Method of Teaching
Lecture method and other formal ways of teaching.
Realists encourage the use of discussion, play and symposia. They
believe in the Socratic method of learning as well.
Realism and the Pupil
According to realists the student is capable of doing a lot of things.
They suppose the pupil is an organism with a highly developed brain.
He has the ability to draw meanings from his experiences, conceive
purposes and 'work to realise them.
23. EXISTENTIALISM
Existentialism is the youngest philosophy. It is very difficult to find its roots in
any of the ancient philosophies. It may be described as a modem
twentieth century philosophy. However, it has not yet received a wide
general recognition in the educational field. Its chief exponents are:
I. Soren Kiergeard, the Danish philosopher ( 1813-1815 A.D).
2. Jean Paul Sartre, a French writer of the twentieth century.
3. Karl Jaspers , German philosopher
4. Paul T'llich, and
5. Reinhold Niebuhr, the two leading Protestant theologians.
24. Key Concepts
As people live, they are thrust into a number of choice-making
situations. Some choices are minute and trivial. Other choices, however, deal
with the purpose of life.
Human freedom is total, say the existentialists, who also hold that one's
responsibility for choice is total.
Each person knows his or her design death and ultimate disappearance
and that his or her presence in the world is only temporary.
Existentialism carries feelings of both desperation and hope.
25. Main Assumptions of Existentialism
Mans' Existence
For the existentialist, the starting point for all existence is the recognition of
the individual existence. For the existentialist then, man makes himself
through choices among many alternatives in the environment. ·
Self Knowledge
The existentialist considers 'self-know thyself as the basic premise of this
philosophy.
26. Cont…
Freedom and Responsibility
The existentialist considers that each man has the responsibility of or
creating his own values and. in doing so. he is choosing
freedom and responsibility.
Man is not Complete
For the existentialists, man is not complete; he is in the process of
"becoming'. Man has to meet the challenge. He marches on the
process of becoming a complete man to reach his completeness.
No Acceptance of Ready-made Concepts
Existentialism believes that man cannot accept the readymade concepts
of existence forced upon him. He is a free agent, capable of shaping his
own life and choosing his own destiny.
27. Existentialism and Education
Existentialism has very little to offer as a philosophy of education. There seems to
be only one major book. which deals with the philosophy of existentialism
as applied to education, and that is George Kneller's 'Existentialism and
Education".
Educational Implications of Existentialism
According to existentialism. the primary aim of education is the making of human
person as one, who lives and makes decisions about what he will do and be.
The school should provide an environment where the individuals find security.
encouragement and acceptance by teachers.
All school subjects and activities should present situations for the
development of human beings.
The teacher should facilitate development or originality and creativity by
providing necessary material and equipment.
The teacher is very active and welcomes challenges to his ideas from the
students.
Democratic ideas must pervade the school environment in which the students grow.
28. Limitations in Existentialism
The educational methods in existentialism appear to be impractical
and inapplicable in an industrial society.
It requires a good deal of time and effort on the part of teacher to
develop individual relationship with the students for having a closer
understanding of their personalities.
Terminology used in existentialism is not very clear. Concepts like,
Being, Meaning, Person, Existence, are ambiguous.
29. PRAGMATISM
The term 'Pragmatism' derives its origin from a Greek word meaning
to do, to make, to accomplish. Hence, the use of the words like 'action'
or 'practice' or 'activity'.
John Dewey (1859-1952) became its leading and most influential exponent.
He practiced it in his laboratory school set up in Chicago in 1896.
His purpose was to train pupils in co-operation and mutually useful living.
Pragmatism stands between idealism and materialism and a sort of
compromise.
Idea or mind is the primary thing in idealism: Matter is at the center of the
universe so far as materialism is concerned. they are, in fact, the two
"antithetical trends" in philosophy.
30. Key Concepts
Metaphysics and Epistemology
pragmatism or experimentalism construed epistemology as a
process in which reality is constantly changing.
Environmental interaction and change
The epistemological or knowing situation involves a person, an
organism, and an environment. The person interacts with the
environment in order to live, grow, and develop.
This interaction may alter or change the environment and it may also
alter or change the person.
31. Cont…
Dealing with Change
If reality is continually changing, then a curriculum based on permanent
realities.
Axiology and Logic
Pragmatic conceptions of axiology are highly situational. Values are relative
to time, place, and circumstances. It is necessary to test and re-examine
value assumptions in the same way that scientific claims are subjected to
verification.
Scientific Method
The logic used in experimentalist· education is inductive and based on the
scientific method. Tentative assertions are based on empirical experience
and must be tested. Experimentalist logic is suspicious of prior truths and
deductions based on them.
32. Pragmatism and the Education Process
Education is something more. It is "a constant reorganizing or
reconstructing of experience".
Problems solving is at the core of all education: The educative
process thus becomes empirical. experimental, in a word pragmatic.
Aims and Pragmatism
Aims arise out of the. ongoing experience and should lie wholly within
the child's experience.
Education for Dewey is a process of individual growth and development.
But 'growth itself says Brubacher "has no end beyond further growth".
In other words, he goes on to say, "education is its own end". Education
means more education.
33. Curriculum
A close relationship exists between aims and curriculum. In
Latin. curriculum means a "Run Way" course, which one runs to reach a
goal in a race.
This figure of speech, when applied to education, will mean a course
of study which the educator and the pupil will have to cover to achieve the
ends (or goal) of education.
Curriculum is to be in terms of the learner's nature and does not lie outside
his or her experience. Curriculum, therefore, consists of activities.
34. Method and Pragmatism
The teacher is there to help the pupils to do rather than to know and
contemplate; his appeal is always to the intrinsic motives of pupils' activity.
Traditional methods of chalk and talk are hateful to the Pragmatist.
The method used is that of Trial and Error, of experimentation. It is also
called the 'Problem Solving' or the Project Method.
Discipline
To utilize the interest of the pupil is the basis of discipline here. The teacher
(if need be) and pupils attack problem jointly. Teacher's role is that of a
guide and director.
The discipline proceeds from the life of the school as a whole.
35. Fundamental Principles of Pragmatism
Truth is that which works in a practical situation.
Action is real, ideas are tools.
Man is an active being.
There are no absolute values of life.
It places its faith in man's ability to solve his problems through the logic of
the scientific methods.
It rejects all authoritarianism whether in government, religion or education.
Knowledge is always tentative and functional
36. Conclusion
Pragmatic Principles of Education
Stress on social and physical environment.
Continuous reconstruction of experience as the aim of education.
Child as the center of activity.
Life situations as the basis of education.
Stress on the freedom for the child.
Experience and experiments as the basis of learning.
Positive education
37. Contribution of Pragmatism to
Education
Pragmatism provides definite aims of education. The student is
prepared to live in society and learn skills and attitudes which are required
for him to live as a useful member of society.
Utility in the educative process is the first criterion. The school is
expected to provide learning and experiences that are useful.
Pragmatism makes child the center of the educative process.
Discussion. questioning, inquiring. touching and handling situations
are provided.
Education is not bound to tradition. Pragmatic philosophers advise us to
test everything through our own experience.
Pragmatism encourages a democratic way of learning through purposeful
and cooperative projects and activities.
38. Weakness and Limitations of
Pragmatism in Education
The pragmatic philosophy of education. by and large. ignores the
place of spirit or essence.
Problems selected by the students may be unreal. having no relation
with real life situations.
Pragmatism does not provide for regular and systematic instruction.
Pragmatism leaves many curricular gaps and deficiencies in the
learning process.
