The document discusses several major educational philosophies: naturalism, idealism, realism, pragmatism, existentialism, perennialism, essentialism, progressivism, and reconstructionism. It provides brief descriptions of each philosophy, including key thinkers associated with each approach and their beliefs about the nature of learning, the role of the teacher, curriculum, and goals of education.

1. Juish D. Dela Victoria

2. MAJOR
PHILOSOPHIES
EDUCATIONAL
PHILOSOPHIES

3. IDEALISM
REALISM
PRAGMATISM
EXISTENSIALISM
MAJOR
PHILOSOPHIES
NATURALISM

4. PERENNIALISM
ESSENTIALISM
PROGRESSIVISM
RECONSTRUCTIONISM
EDUCATIONAL
PHILOSOPHIES

5. Major Philosophies/
Classical Philosophies

6. NATURALISM
Nature: Considered the oldest, the philosophy that believes
that nature is the Aggregate of Physical Objects.
Naturalist: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximander, Leucippus,
Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, Thomas Hobbes ( 1588-
1678 ), and Herbert Spencer ( 1820-1903 )
Critical Naturalism: Induction and Scientific Method
Deduction- minor place
Induction- major emphasis
Principles that govern naturalistic values :
Nature is the kind of order which possesses values. These
values are desirable.
To realize the most value out of life, harmonize one’s life
with nature.

7. IDEALISM
Nature: Idealism is the philosophy that believes
that ultimate reality is spiritual or mental. It
believes in a unified reality with God as the perfect
or the absolute or universal mind.
Idealist: Plato , Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant,
Berkely and Hegel.
Idealist Philosophy of Education
The school exists due to spiritual necessity.
The school is a value realizing institution.

8. IDEALISM
School of thought governing idealism holds that
knowledge is independent of sense of perception
or experience
Stresses the virtues that are intangible and
spiritual
Emphasizes the development of values in the
student
Values based on long-held principles and
standards of morality.

9. IDEALISM
knows some truths by reasoning logically about
the relationship between values
True ideas exist innately on our soul
Claims that a person’s knowledge is based on his
mental state from the infinite spirit.
In education, individual’s freedom should be
emphasized and guaranteed.
Subject matter – centered curriculum
Teachers should teach by example

10. The Nature of a Pupil
The pupil is a self, a spiritual being, a personality
whose foundation is God.
He is neither good nor bad; his becoming good or
bad depends on his environment, his education
and free will.
Objectives of Education
For the individual: self-realization (attainment of
superior life)
For society: Brotherhood (souls and essence of
democracy)

11. The Educative Process
School is ideal-centered
The teacher is the key to the Educative process.
( The teacher is model, specialist of children,
excellent technician, respectable, personal, friend,
motivator, co-worker with God. Etc.)
Imitation, interest, effort and discipline
Self-activity
Curriculum (Universe Division, Civilization,
Division Culture Division, Culture Division and
Personality Division)
Methods: Socratic Method (questioning ;
discussion, lecture and project

12. REALISM
 Realism is a philosophy that believes that objects
exist independent of the mind.
Realist: Aristotle (doctrine of particulars) ,
St. Thomas Aquinas , John Amos Comenius, the
neorealist and the critical realists

13. Realist Philosophy of Education
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.
Redden and Ryan: State is only of the social
institutions concerned with education. The church is
another so the State has no control or education.

14. REALISM
 theory that things exist objectively: the theory
that things such as universals, moral facts, and
theoretical scientific entities exist independently of
people's thoughts and perceptions
theory of objectively existing world: the theory
that there is an objectively existing world, not
dependent on our minds, and that people are able to
understand aspects of that world through perception
theory that statements have truth values: the
theory that every declarative statement is either true
or false, regardless of whether this can be verified

15. REALISM
It is contrary to the idealism of
philosophers such as George Berkeley or
Immanuel Kant.
things perceived by the senses are believed
to be exactly what they appear to be
sometimes referred to as critical realism
the term realism referred to a position that
regarded Platonic Forms, or universals, as
real

16. REALISM
“A realist is an idealist who knows
nothing of himself”
(Novalis 1772 – 1801) German poet and novelist,
The Disciples at Sais

17. Pragmatism
Pragmatism is the Philosophy which believes that
the essence of an idea comes from the
consequence of its test or practice; if it works, the
idea is true or good, if it doesn’t the idea is false or
bad. It is called experimentalism (pierce),
practicalism (James) and instrumentalism
(Dewey).
Pragmatists: Heracliturs, Protagoras and Gorgias
(Sophists), Francis Bacon, Auguste Comte, Charles
Pierce, William James and John Dewey

18. PRAGMATISM
John Dewey
emphasized practical
ideas in both his
philosophical and
educational theories,
always striving to
show how abstract
concepts could work
in everyday life.

19. PRAGMATISM
He emphasized “hands-on”
learning, and opposed
authoritarian methods in
teaching.
 His ideas prompted a
drastic change in United
States education beginning
in the 20th century.
He published Democracy
and Education in 1916.

20. PRAGMATISM
Greek word pragma, meaning “a thing done, a
fact that is practiced.”
Idea lies in its practical consequences
Modern perspective is credited to John Dewey,
Charles Pierce, and William James
Stresses that education has been in vain if it does
not perform the social functions assigned to it
School must maintain intimate relations with
society

21. PRAGMATISM
Pragmatist concerned the total development of
the child either through experience, self activity,
or learning by doing.
Learner must be made the center of all educative
processes
Dewey’s tenet – the education is life, education is
growth, education is a social process, and
education is the construction of human
experience.

22. Pragmatist Philosophy of
Education
Education as a Social Institution
Schools exists to supply the volume of leaming each
generations needs.
Heritage of the past may function fruitfully in the present.
Language is the means by which the heritage is
communicated.
The Pupil
Distinct and concrete center of experience.
Unique inviduals that interact actively with forces in the
environment .

23. EXISTENSIALISM
Søren Kierkegaard
In Kierkegaard’s
deliberately unsystematic
works, he explained that
each individual should
attempt an intense
examination of his or her
own existence.

24. EXISTENSIALISM
Existentialism as a distinct philosophical and literary
movement belongs to the 19th and 20th centuries, but
elements of existentialism can be found in the
thought (and life) of Socrates, in the Bible, and in the
work of many premodern philosophers and writers.

25. Emphasizes the freedom of human beings to
make choices in a world where there are no
absolute values outside the individual
Education to the existentialists should enable a
person to make choices for his/her life.
The teacher has the right to teach his/her
students how to think but not what to think.
EXISTENSIALISM

26. PERENNIALISM
Perennialists believe that one should teach the things
that one deems to be of everlasting pertinence to all
people everywhere.
one should teach first about humans, not machines
or techniques
A particular strategy with modern perennialists is to
teach scientific reasoning, not facts.
Socratic method, which, if carried out as true
dialogue, is a balance between students, including the
teacher promoting the discussion.

27. ESSENTIALISM
philosophical doctrine of essences: the doctrine
that things have an essence or ideal nature that is
independent of and prior to their
Philosophical theory that ascribes ultimate reality to
the essence embodied in a thing and which is
perceptible to the senses.
Believe that schools should inculcate in the minds
and hearts of students the values that are considered
important by society.

28. PROGRESSIVISM
Claims that the child’s growth and development
as an individual depend on his/her experiences
and self – activity.
The learner must learn what he lives and must
accept and respond to his experiences based on
the degree of his understanding of a particular
situation.
Adheres to the idea that thinking and reasoning
should be emphasized

29. Good and successful teaching utilizes the principle of
self – activity and stimulates thinking and reasoning
Also recognizes the principle of individual differences
(that no to individuals are exactly alike)
Activities and experiences to be provided by the
school should meet the needs of and be in accordance
with the abilities of every child.
PROGRESSIVISM

30. Reconstructionism
Reconstructionism is a philosophical movement that
conceptualizes education as an institution for social
engineering.
It asserts that educators must develop curricula and
pedagogical techniques specifically to reconstruct
society and educational practices from their current
state.

31. Reconstructionism
Brief general description of beliefs – Plato being the
first philosopher that we studied and his Idealist
Philosophy was a reconstructionist.
Any philosopher who looks at changing the world,
developing humanity, and the human soul through
socialism is a reconstructionist.

32. Reconstructionism - Educational aims
The educational aims of reconstructionism is that
people act as change agents.
 They do not think that schools should be separate
from society, and educators should be more involved
in the social cause.
Three ideas reconstructionist believe are world
community, brotherhood, and democracy should be
implemented in school and society.

33. Reconstructionism –
Educational methods
Reconstructionist believe that students are shaped to
fit the preexisting models of living.
 Reconstructionist want to see people actively
participating in the educational methods than being
passive.
Students should participate in service learning to gain
first hand knowledge and experience community life.

34. Reconstructionism – Curriculum
The curriculum should encourage students to use
and apply what they learn.
Discussion groups, field experiences and content.
Reconstructionist want teachers to be
internationally oriented and humanitarian in their
outlook.

35. Reconstructionism –
Role of the Teacher
Reconstructionist want teachers to be social activist.
They believe the improvement in society results from
continuous thoughtful change and the best change
agent is the educational process.
Teachers need to focus on critical issues and allow
students to have an active say in education.

36. Vis – a – vis
Determine yours goals in life and try to achieve these to
make life socially, intellectually, economically
and spiritually satisfying.Be not afraid
of going slowly, be afraid
of standing still.

37. Thank you…
