Summary of Philosophy of Education by Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

There are two important terms noted in defining the philosophy of education; education
and philosophy. Education defines as the primarily teaching and learning process of transferring
knowledge and skills to the young of human being for preparing into the better adult life. The
process certainly is not similar with other kinds of any creatures though it is influenced by the
length of time which started from young to adults. Naturally, human being have their own
systematic learning process conducted by the senses which divided into three terms as follows:
Input, production, and output. The whole materials used in any circumstance of teaching and
learning process is input. While production means the way of behaviour in achieving the goal of
teaching and learning process. Then, the learning outcomes which enable all functions of the
process in the real world considered as the output. Besides focusing on the educational process
itself, the needs of the young human being have to be considered in order to run the learning
process. Those needs cover the physical needs such as nutrition and rest, psychological needs
such as stimulus, comfort, capacity, and so on. All these needs are developmentally built which
keeping up the human being biology and psychology are always placed at the beginning of the
process. Meanwhile, the terms philosophy means the fundamental nature of knowledge in any
disciplines. Due to the two terms above, the philosophy of education is the theoretical framework
of the process of education which is the teaching and learning process includes all the elements
of any particular parts of educational system. Along with the change of era, the educational
philosophy certainly follows the development of education as well. From the traditional which
centered to the teachers and the static curriculum and knowledge into the progressive ones which
more dynamic for the curriculum and knowledge due to students are allowed to be involved in
developing the curriculum and knowledge. Those traditional are Essentialism proposed by Arthur
Bestor which concerns to back to the basic and standardization of any grade level means the
students learn the same materials as well and Perennialism proposed by Mortimer Alder which
the only source of information is teachers. The progressive ones are Progressivism proposed by
John Dewey which encourages the students by learning by doing in collaboration, Social
Reconstructivism proposed by George Counts which challenge the social inequalities means the
students as the change agents, and Existentialism proposed by A.S. Neill which believes that
individual follows interests.