Philosophical Foundation of Education: Realism (PowerPoint Presentation)
- Focus and Idea of Realism
- Need for Education
- The Learner
- Objectives of Education
- The Educative Process
2. o Focus and Idea of the Realism
o Need for Education
o The Learner
o Objectives of Education
o The Educative Process
3. Focus and Idea of the Realism
• There is a true reality, and things exist whether
the human perceives it or not
• Ultimate reality is the world of physical objects.
• Knowledge is derived from sense experience.
• Realists argue for the use of the senses and
scientific investigation in order to discover
truth.
• Focus: body/objects
4. Need of Education
Education as a Social Institution
• Comenius: Education is a formation: the school
is the true forging place of man.
• John Wild: Education is both a basic need and a
basic right of man.
• Harry Broudy: Education is dependent on
government for support particularly formal
education.
5. The Learner
• Learner is a functioning organism, which
through sensory experience, can perceive the
natural order of the world.
• Broudy describes the learners by elaborating
four principles which comprise the essence of
the human self:
o Appetitive Principle
o Principle of Self-determination
o Principle of Self-realization
o Principle of Self-integration
6. Objectives of Education
• Prepare the child for happy and successful life
• Prepare the child for real life
• Provide sensory training to have thorough
knowledge of the external world
• Develop an attitude of experimentation
• Develop a rational attitude and ability to
understand empirical facts
• Inculcate scientific attitude and temperament to
think logically
• Develop vocational efficiency
7. Educative Process
• Gain knowledge through observation and
experience
• Use audio visual aids in education
• Use of Socratic method
• Use inductive method of teaching
• Learn through field trip
• Discourage rote memorization
• Stress on scientific and problem-solving method
Reality exists independent of the human mind.
Realism, in philosophy, views that an object or thing really exists and has certain attributes, independently of what people think about it.
Unlike the Idealist, in the mind comes the idea. But the realist, reality is what actually exist, meaning the physical objects.
Truth is objective - what can be observed.
Aristotle believed that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be understood, which does not change.
Knowledge is derived from sense experience.
Realists argue for the use of the senses and scientific investigation in order to discover truth.
Focus: “what actually is” If Idealism focuses on the mind, Realism focuses on the body/objects. This refers to what everything we see, hear, feel, and touch are real, therefore the focus of learning.
Comenius: Education is a formation: the school is the true forging place of man.
Comenius believed that education should not only improve the main but should be focused on the development of the whole man which means physical, mental, and social development. The teaching should be inductive and based on examples.
Besides, Comenius' philosophy involves allowing all children to receive an education. Children should get to know themselves and the world through learning. He also emphasized moral and religious education. Comenius believed in encouraging children to form ideas via pictures rather than words.
John Wild: Education is both a basic need and a basic right of man.
Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights.
Harry Broudy: Education is dependent on government for support particularly formal education.
He thought education would be a link to unify the diverse society and urged the society to put more trust and a commitment to the schools and a good education.
Learner is a functioning organism, which through sensory experience, can perceive the natural order of the world.
Learners, as viewed by many realists, are not free but are subject to natural laws and they should be left to explore the world though their senses.
Dr. Harry Samuel Broudy describes the learners by elaborating four principles which comprise the essence of the human self:
Appetitive Principle - has to be with the physiological base of personality. Our appetite discloses need of our tissues to maintain and reproduce themselves.
Principle of Self-determination – refers to the resistance which the self meets in the people, objects, and events.
Principle of Self-realization – refers to peeling away fabricated layers of one’s own personality to understand the true-self and hence the true nature of reality.
Principle of Self-integration – means keep self-determination ad self-realization from going off in all directions.
Prepare the child for happy and successful life
The most important objective of realism is to prepare learners for a happy and successful life. The American educationist, Franklin Bobit has given following activities for achieving happiness in life: social activities, leisure activities, activities related to language, activities concerned with hygiene, and others.
Prepare the child for real life
Realism recommends preparing learners for real and practical life of material world which can be gained through senses.
Provide sensory training to have thorough knowledge of the external world
Realism believes that fullest development of personality can be possible through proper training of senses. The learners will not have a proper knowledge about the material world unless their senses are trained and improved properly.
Develop an attitude of experimentation
Realism recommends giving mphasize on the learning of science subjects which can be learned effectively through experimental method. This method prepares the learners to face the challenges and to solve these by taking systematic procedures.
Develop a rational attitude and ability to understand empirical facts
Inculcate scientific attitude and temperament to think logically
Develop vocational efficiency
Education tends to be craft-centric. Realism is in favor of developing vocational efficiencies so that learners can prepare themselves for fulfilling livelihood demands.
Broudy suggested a combination of a subject-matter and problem approaches.
Gaining knowledge through observation and experience
Observation method calls for education from direct experiences so that all senses are involved in the learning process. It increases the strength of mind, knowledge and experiences of learners.
Use audio visual aids in education
Visual aids help teachers establish, explain, connect, and associate ideas and concepts to make the process of learning more interesting, enjoyable, and effective. Examples: actual objects, models, pictures, maps, charts, and many others.
Use of Socratic method
The Socratic Method is a dialogue between teacher and students, instigated by the continual probing questions of the teacher, in a concerted effort to explore the underlying beliefs that shape the student's views and opinions.
Use inductive method of teaching
Inductive method of teaching enables the learners to generalize the truth from a particular fact. It encourages the construction of knowledge from specific to general. At first, the object is shown to the learners and then its description is demonstrated. It encourages learners to observe and experiment by means of their senses.
Learn through field trip.
Realism is in favor of learning by direct experiences. Realism prefers hands-on experience for the purpose of learning. It gives importance on field trips which facilitate learners to correlate classroom learning with reality.
Discourage rote memorization
Rote memorization requires the use of repetition to keep information in the brain. Realism discourages rote learning and bookish knowledge. Learning must be done using senses.
Stress on scientific and problem-solving method