from curriculum book

1. The
Pragmatic
Approach
Francis Dominic L. LucinBy:
Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITY
The National Center for Teacher Education
MINDANAO
The Multicultural Education Hub

2. Metaphysics
Ethics
Aesthetics
Epistemology
Sub-topics:

3. Three men - Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey – are
generally credited with the development and popularization of pragmatism, which
is considered a modern philosophy.
Dewey's work in education was the foundation of the Progressive Educati
on movements that transformed the character of American education over several
decades.
It simulated schools to broaden their curriculums, making them more re
levant to the needs and interest of students, and to apply scientific principles to
educational problems.
The Pragmatic Approach

4. The influence of Dewey and Progressive Education waned during World
War II and nearly disappeared in the 1950's as Americans schools, in response
to the Cold War and the Space War with the Soviet Union, began slanting their
curriculums toward traditional instruction in mathematics, science, foreign
languages, and other defense-oriented subjects.
Recently many Dewey’s ideas have appeared under the guise of citizens
hip education and educational relevance.
Some people criticize Dewey's heavy emphasis on science and the scien
tific method, claiming that his problem-solving is not applicable to all problems.
The Pragmatic Approach

5. 1. In terms of present understandings of our universe, it is
impossible for human beings to gain knowledge of ultimate
reality. There is no evidence that ultimate truths have, in fact,
been established. History is filled with examples of "ultimate
truths" that have been disapproved.
2. The universe is in a constant state of change and motion. All
things flow, and nothing remains the same. The universe is
expanding and apparently is in a state of continuous creation.

6. 3. The world of ideas we know it is incorporated in systems of
symbols, letters, words, and mathematical formula. As such,
these symbols have no reality in themselves but refer to items of
practice and ways of doing things.
4. The scientific method is most valid way of testing ideas.
5. The Social aspects of living are extremely important to the
individual. In isolation, man is an extremely puny creature.

7. Metaphysics is the area of philosophy that examines the
nature of reality. There are three common approaches to
metaphysics:
1. Reality as the physical world
This approaches says that physical objects are really out
there and are not figments of our imagination. Everyone believes
this to some extent; that is why we change our course when a tree
blocks our path and why we assume the tree is still there even
when it is out of sight.

8. 2. Reality as the nonphysical world
Many people are convinced that the impermanence of the
physical world indicates a reality beyond it. They maintain that God
or an idea like truth or goodness has an equal or greater reality
that do physical objects, which are eventually changed or
destroyed.
3. Reality as the perceptions of the individual
Supporters of this view maintain that one of us actually
knows what is out there in the world because we can perceived it
only through our mind, which may distort things.

9. Ethics is the branch of philosophy that examines
the values and their relation to human actions. Ethical
considerations permeate our daily decision-making and
have recently been getting a good deal of attention in the
schools under headings such as values clarification and
moral education.

10. Aesthetics is considered with the nature of
beauty and with judgments about it. Although
some regard aesthetics as a minor part of
philosophy, it is included in the present discussion
because it surfaces in many areas of school life.

11. This is the branch of philosophy dearest to the hearts of
educators because it examines the nature of knowledge
and learning.
Three basic epistemological questions have always
interested philosophers and today receive a great deal of
attention from teachers, psychologist, and curriculum
developers:

12. 1. How do people learn?
Especially among psychologist, this questions quickly
leads to the “heredity versus environment” conflict.
2. How is truth determined?
This issue is closely related to one’s metaphysical
position.
3. What is worth knowing?
In these days prepackaged, “teacher-proof”
curricular materials, teachers are increasingly being asked
to relinquish their right to answer this question to the
educational publishers.

13. Metaphysics. Pragmatism pays attention to
traditional philosophical problems. It assumes that reality
lies in our view of the physical world and that the only fixed
order within the universe is changed.
Ethics. Dewey rejected the concept of an eternal
order that humankind should know and live by in favor of
an ethic related to growth. Noting that people continue
changing and growing until they die, he maintained that the
purpose of life is good growth: that is growth that promotes
more growth.

14. The Nature of the Universe. Pragmatism is in a sense
a naturalistic philosophy. It accepts the world of sense
impressions and scientific study and rejects such
supernatural notions as Plato’s idea of an outside world of
true and perfect ideas as the ultimate reality.
The Nature of Truth. Pragmatism avers that pure,
perfect, and unalterable truth is not to be had by man in
this universe. Although disturbing as a concept, this idea
gives man freedom not found in other philosophical
systems.

15. The Nature of Man. Pragmatism looks at man and
his behavior and attempts to answer this question: Could
man have evolve into his present stage from the natural
universe as we know it? To this question, the pragmatist
answers yes. He points to the facts that support Darwin's
theory of evolution. The proposition that man is continuous
with the world is a basic tenet of pragmatism and is a part
of nature, not separated from it and continuous with
nature.

16. The Nature of Society. Social living looms large in the
basic contracts of pragmatism. Since, to the pragmatist, all
actions must be viewed in the context of social
consequences, man’s social order is of basic importance in
pragmatic thought.

17. The basis tenets of pragmatism have profound
implications for educational administration as well as
curriculum planning. These implications are presented
below:
1. Pragmatism places new emphasis on the potentialities of
man in shaping his own destiny. At the same time and
because of this new emphasis, it places on man’s shoulders
responsibility for what he makes of himself and the world in
which he lives.

18. 2. Pragmatism provides a philosophic base for the true
democratic administration.
3. How the administrator perceives rules, regulations
restrictions and laws may be of paramount importance in
determining operational procedures or even courses of
action.
4. Pragmatic philosophy urges the school administrator to
test his beliefs and values just as other hypotheses might be
tested.

19. 5. Finally, pragmatism forms a philosophical base for
participation in a leadership of the school administrator in a
formulation of public policy relating to education.
Pragmatism argues that if the public is given the
opportunity to see the basic issues, the best alternative will
be chosen. This proposition is central to democracy.
Democracy cannot survive if this foundational assumption is
invalid or inoperative.

20. Historical Movements
in Education
Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE NORMAL UNIVERSITY
The National Center for Teacher Education
MINDANAO
The Multicultural Education Hub

21. Primitive Education
Oriental Education
Greek Education
Roman Education
Renaissance Education
Sub-topics:
Medieval Education
Realism in Education
Naturalism
And Etc.

22. Despite of limitations of eclecticism as applied to
educational philosophy, and despite the difficulty of
formulating an eclectic philosophy due to the rigorous
criteria called for – as discussed earlier – it would be
interesting to consider the views of two Filipino scholars
regarding the historical movements in education, the last to
Isidro and Malolos (1979), there have been 14 historical
movements in education, with each movement
corresponding to a historical epoch having certain dominant
characteristics of its own.

23. These fourteen historical movements and their
corresponding characteristics are as follows:
Primitive Education
is chiefly governed by the animistic beliefs of
preliterate peoples.
Oriental Education
Oriental education is typified by education in ancient
China where tradition and preservation of the past were the
controlling factors.

24. Greek Education
The most important characteristic of education
among the ancient Greeks was the emphasis it gave to the
development of individuality.
Roman Education
The chief characteristics of Roman education was its
practical organization to realize the goals of Roman society

25. Medieval Education
The chief characteristics of education in medieval
Europe were its emphases on moral and religious teaching
and on the preservation of the learning of the past.
Renaissance Education
The more important characteristics of education
during the European Renaissance period were the emphasis
placed on the languages and literatures of the ancient
Greeks and Romans and the importance given to secondary
education.

26. Influence of the Protestant Reformation on Education
The Protestant Reformation exerted two strong
influences on education as follows: (a) the establishment of
a school system partly supported by the state and (b) the
educational efforts of religious organizations.
Realism in Education
Educational realism is a type of education which
emphasizes nature and contemporary society instead of
religion and the learning of the ancients.

27. The Disciplinary Conception of Education
The disciplinary concept of education was characterized by
(a) the emphasis it placed on the process of learning rather than on
what was learned and (b) its adherence to a few selected faculties
like memory and reason and its idea that special training of these
faculties generated general powers.
Naturalism in Education
Naturalism in education was part of the intellectual
movement of the eighteenth century which reacted against the
formalism and absolutism of preceding period. It emphasized the
natural tendencies and interests of children and the importance of
contacts with nature

28. Psychological Movement in Education
The psychological movement in education
attempted to translate into concrete educational
procedures the philosophical ideas of the naturalistic
school of thought.
Scientific Movement in Education
The scientific movement in education was marked
by (a) a recognition of the importance of content in
subject matter, mostly science, and (b) emphasis on the
inductive method.

29. Sociological and Eclectic Movements in Education
The sociological movement in education considers
education a mean to train citizen and advance society’s
progress. The Eclectic movement in education holds that
modern education results from the combination of the
major educational movements and tendencies of the
recent past.

30. THE END