Transcript Educational Philosophy

Educational
Philosophy
Presented by:
Prof. Danielle Zimecki
What is philosophy?
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Literally means love of wisdom
An activity
Noting what philosophers do
 Examining, synthesizing, analyzing, speculating,
prescribing, and evaluating
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A set of attitudes
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Self aware, comprehensiveness, flexibility, penetration
Body of content
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Reality, truth, value
Metaphysics
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Deals with the nature of reality
What is real?
Example: Floor
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Solid, flat, smooth, color, wood or concrete, supports weight
Physicist
Chemist
Categories:
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Cosmological
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Theological
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Religious theory that has to do with concepts of and about God
Anthropological
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Origin, nature, and development of the universe in an orderly system
Study of human beings
Ontology
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What it means for anything to be
Epistemology
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Studies nature, sources, and validity of knowledge
What is true? How do we know?
Dependability of knowledge
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Can reality be known?
Is truth relative or absolute?
Is knowledge subjective or objective?
Sources of knowledge – senses, revelation, authority, intuition, variety
of resources
Propriety of various methods of researching
warrantable truth
Axiology
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What is of value?
Rational individual and social life is dependent on values
What society conceives of being good or preferable
Ethics
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Moral values and conduct
Are ethical standards and moral values absolute or relative?
Do universal moral values exist?
Does the end ever justify the means?
Can morality be separated from religion?
Who or what forms the basis of ethical authority?
Aesthetics
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Principles governing the creation and appreciation of beauty and art
Should art be imitative and reprehensive, or should it be the product of private creative
imagination?
Should the subject matter of artistic forms deal with the good in life only, or should it also include
the ugly and grotesque?
What is good art?
Should art have a social function or message?
Can there be art for art’s sake, or must it have a practical significance?
Idealism
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Idealism asserts that, since the world is constantly
changing, ideas are the only reliable form of reality.
Idealists
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William E. Hocking, Plato
Idealism and education
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The learner
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Process of becoming more like the absolute self
Strives for perfection
The teacher
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Serve as a living example of what students can become
Realism
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Realism suggests that the features of the universe exist
whether or not humans are there to perceive them.
Realists – Aristotle, Francis Bacon, John Locke
Realism and Education
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The Learner
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Functioning organism that can through sensory and experience, perceive
the natural order of the world and thereby come into contact with reality
Not free in their choices
The Teacher
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To give accurate information to the student
Teacher’s biases and personality muted
Neo-scholastism/ Thomism
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Intellectual movement that developed in the
1300’s
Faith by reason
Combination of realism and idealism
Thomists – Thomas Aquinas, The teacher
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Mental disciplinarians that can develop reason, will power, and
memory
The student
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Rational being that is capable of acquiring Truth and knowledge
Pragmatism
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Pragmatism rejects the idea of absolute, unchanging
truth, instead asserting that truth is “what works.”
Pragmatists – Charles S. Pierce, William James, John
Dewey
Pragmatism and education
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The students
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Students have experiences
Learn from their environment and react to their environment and
consequences
The teachers
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Seen as fellow learners
Guides
Existentialism
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Existentialism suggests that humanity isn’t part of an orderly
universe; instead, individuals create their own realities.
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Refusal to belong to any school of thought
Dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy
Existentialists – Walter Kaufmann, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich
Nietzsche, John Paul Sartre, Albert Camus
Existentialism and Education
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The teacher
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Willing to help students explore possible answers
Concerned with the individual learner
The learner
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I am a choosing agent.
I am a free agent.
I am a responsible agent.
Perennialism
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Perennialism suggests that nature, including human
nature, is constant.
Return to classics – mind, reason,
Perennialists - Mortimer J. Adler, Robert M. Hutchins,
St. John’s College
Beliefs
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People are rational animals
Knowledge is universally consistent
The subject matter, not the child, should stand at the center of the
educational endeavor.
The great works are relevant today.
The educational experience is preparation for life, rather than reallife situations
Essentialism
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Essentialism emphasizes a critical core of knowledge and skills that all students should
learn.
Combination of realism and idealism
Revamping of the school
Essentialists – Mortimer Smith, Arthur Bestor
Beliefs
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The school’s first task is to teach basic knowledge.
Learning is hard work and requires discipline.
The teacher is the locus of classroom authority.
Report from government in 1983 – “A Nation at Risk”
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Minimum standard for graduation
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Four years English
Three years Math
Three years Science
Three years Social Studies
1 and ½ years Computer Science
2 years of Foreign Language for College Bound Students
Progressivism
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Progressivism focuses on real-world problem solving and
individual development.
Progressivists– John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
Beliefs
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The process of education finds its genesis and purpose in the child.
Pupils are active rather than passive.
The teacher’s role is of advisor, guide, fellow traveler, rather than that of
authoritarian and classroom director.
The school is a microcosm of the larger society.
Classroom activity should focus on problem solving rather than on artificial
methods of teaching subject matter.
The social atmosphere of the school should be cooperative and democratic.
Postmodernism
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Postmodernism contends that many of the
institutions in our society, including schools, are
used by those in power to marginalize those who
lack power.
Rejection of the modern view of things
Postmodernists – Hume, Kant
Education
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Very undeveloped
Developing Your Philosophy
of Education
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Philosophy can guide practice and help you
explain and defend your educational goals.
The process of developing a philosophy begins
with examining your own beliefs about teaching,
learning, and students.
An analysis of educational philosophies can
assist teachers in forming their own personal,
and probably eclectic, personal philosophy.
Philosophies of Education
in Urban Environments
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Because of the challenges involved in urban
teaching, developing a coherent philosophy of
education is even more important.
Beliefs, both positive and negative, about urban
learners can have profound influences on urban
teachers and the way they teach.