1.

Major Philosophies in Education

2. Target Learning

Definition & Importance of Philosophy

 Idealism
 Realism
 Naturalism
 Essentialism
 Existentialism
 Conclusion/Summary
 References
3. Philosophy - two Greek words philos, which means “love,” and sophy, which means “wisdom.”

general beliefs, concepts, and attitudes possessed by an individual or a group

4. Branches of Philosophy

5. Branches of Philosophy
6. IDEALISM - system of thought that emphasizes the importance of mind,
soul or spirit.
 Idealism believes in refined wisdom.
 As a result, schools exist to sharpen the mind and intellectual processes. Students
are taught the wisdom of past heroes.
7. NATURE - One of the oldest schools of thoughts with its origin traced back to Plato’s ideas.

 Stresses the mental, moral and spiritual nature of an individual and his universe.
 Advocates that education is both a basic right of man.
8. ASSUMPTION - God is the absolute ideal and all positive values are fully realized and enjoyed
through Him.

 Every individual is born good, and is capable to sense, perceive, and think.
 The self is the ultimate reality of individual experiences
 The individual self has all the freedom for self- determination
 One’s perception of the world is rooted in his existence
 Values depend on how individual persons pass and enjoy them in their experiences
 Social values are realized when an individual recognizes that he is a part of the total
society.

9. EDUCATIONAL AIM CURRICULAR EMPHASIS To develop the individual  Literature spiritually,

mentally and  History morally.  Philosophy  Religion  Mathematics  Arts In Education

10. TEACHING METHODS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

 Lecture-Discussion

 Imitating examples of Method heroes

 Excursion
  Question Method

 Project Method
11. ROLE OF TEACHERS ROLE OF SCHOOL

1. Chief source of inspiration

2. An agency of the society
3. Thinking institution
4. Creator of educational environment

12. Realism
 education should be based on essential and practical knowledge that exists
independent of the knower
 education is the process of developing rational powers to their fullest so that the
good life can be achieved

13. Aims of Education:

Realists put great emphasis on the practical side of education & that includes education for
moral and character development. John Locke, Johann Herbart, & Herbert Spencer held that
the chief aim of education should be moral education.

14. Methods of Education:

 understanding of facts and ways of ordering and classifying knowledge.

 teach fundamental facts about the universe, and a good school program will present
material in interesting and enjoyable ways
 emphasis on critical reason aided by observation and experimentation.

15. CURRICULUM

Realists agree that studies should be practical and useful:

John Locke - approved of practical studies such as reading, writing, drawing,

geography, astronomy, arithmetic, history, ethics, and law – with supplementary
studies in dancing, fencing, and riding.

John Amos Comenius – first to introduce an extensive use of pictures in the

educational process. The proper kind of education should be based on a curriculum
to perfect one’s natural powers by training the senses.

16. CURRICULUM

Johann Pestalozzi – sense impression; promoted skills as spinning and

gardeningFroebel – “object studies” – focused on gifts, songs and games.

Herbart – system of “correlation and concentration”, whereby each subject would

bear on and Integrated with other related subjects.

Maria Montessori – use of objects, provides all sorts of experiences with blocks,
cylinders, and Geometric patterns.

17. ROLE OF THE TEACHER

 The teacher should present material in a systematic and organized way and should promote
the idea that one can used clearly defined criteria in making judgments about art,
economics, politics, and science.

Realists’ educators would like teachers to take a critical look at what they are doing. It is
hoped that when they see the negative effects that trends in contemporary education may
be having, they will return to more basic subject matter.

18. Naturalism
 Is a doctrine denying anything in reality that has supernatural significance?
 Truth can be discovered only through nature

19. Synthesis of Naturalism:

 There is only one reality, and that reality is nature.- Leucippus, Democritus, Epicurus,
Lucretius and Spencer
 Reality is composed of bodies moving in space.- Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius and
Hobbes
 Force or energy is the ultimate reality.- Spencer

20.

 Keeping close to the dominant and peaceful ways of nature is the most acceptable
way of adhering to the demands of day-to-day life.- Leucippus, Democritus, Epicurus
and Rousseau
 Cosmic reason is the governing principle of all things.- Epictetus

21. Educational Aims of Naturalism

To develop the individual in accordance with

 laws of nature
 human development

Curricular Emphasis

Physical Education
Natural Sciences

22. Contents Studied:

History was taught as biography
Astronomy and geography were learned through observation
Counting and weighing things, measuring distances, drawing and singing
Women were taught only singing, dancing, and embroidery and home chores to please their
men
23. Implications to Education

Education is, first of all, for the benefit of the child, not for the sake of any conception,
however hallowed, of the function of the teacher, or the curriculum, or the school.-
Rousseau

Education should be a practical preparation for life.- Rousseau

24.

All knowledge should be evaluated in terms of evolutionary naturalistic principles of

education which must conform to them.- Spencer

The method of instruction should be based upon the psychological principles governing the
development of the child.- Rousseau Education teaches the moral primacy of the will.- Epictetus

25. 

Education must provide first-hand contact with the child’s physical environment.- Rousseau.

The knowledge that the individual acquires through experience and verifies and uses to
solve his life problems, is utterly superior to that knowledge supplied by traditional sources.-
Spencer

26. ESSENTIALISM
It is a theory that asserts that education properly involves the learning of the basic skills,
arts, and sciences that have been useful in the past and are likely to remain useful in the
future

It focuses on INTELLECTUAL DISCIPLINES

27. It is the educational theory that sees the primary function of the school to be the
preservation and transmission of the basic elements of human culture

It opposes catering to childish whims or transitory fads that will cause schools to degenerate
into mindless and irrelevant institutions

28. CURRICULUM

Core skills like reading, writing and arithmetic

Teaching essential facts and concepts on Science, Literature, Health and PE
Hard Sciences, technical and vocational courses
Arts for aesthetic expression
Values of discipline, hard work, and perfect authority

29. It is not to take on nonessential functions such as “social adjustment”, career education,
consumer education, cooking classes and the like

It’s primary mission is ACADEMIC

It opposes using the school as experimental laboratories to test curricular or institutional

innovations

It has a well-defined CURRICULAR ORIENTATION

30. It asserts that the curriculum should provide students with a differentiated and organized
learning experience rather than with an undifferentiated experience that students must
organize themselves

The teacher is an academic authority figure

31. METHODS OF TEACHING

 Deductive Method
Recitation
Assignments
Analysis and synthesis
“Race and Social Heritage” over experiences

32. ROLE OF TEACHERS

Provide stimulating activities for learning

Prepare well-organized lessons to prove he is an authority of instruction
Authoritative and Disciplinarian

33. THE ROLE OF SCHOOL

cultural transmitter

provide a standard of intellectual training in the fundamental disciplines geared to the needs
of serious students and to the capacities of the upper two-thirds of the school population

diversify its offering to include certain areas of vocational training, physical education,
extracurricular activities

34. The most effective and efficient mode of providing a differentiated educational experience is
the subject- matter curriculum in which each subject or intellectual discipline is organized
separately from other subjects

35. EXISTENTIALISM
Man has no fixed nature and he shapes his being as he lives.
The philosophy that places emphasis on individual existence, freedom, and choice.
Sees the world as a personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth and reality are individually
defined.
Reality is a world of things, truth subjectivity chosen, and goodness comes from group
decisions.

36. Existentialism is about being saint without God; being your own hero, without all the
sanction and support of religion or society.

Existentialism, broadly defined, is a set of philosophical systems concerned with a free will,
choice, and personal responsibility.

There are no “universal” guidelines for most decisions.

37. Soren Kierkegaard-(1813-1855) – Father of Existentialism.

His philosophy can be seen in his doctrine that there are three stages of life experience: ◦
Aesthetic ◦ Ethical ◦ Religious

38. NATURE

Focuses on the experiences of the individuals.

Offers individuals a way of thinking about the meaning of life.
39. ASSUMPTION

 Existence precedes essence.

 in other words, you need existence to have essence.
 There is no predetermined “true” thing, it has to already exist in order to become
what it is.

40. EDUCATIONAL AIM

To train individual for significant and meaningful existence.

Synthesis and Implications to Education:

 The classroom is a free market of ideas and as such it must guarantee complete freedom of
thought for the individual.
 The student is encouraged to make independent decisions to guarantee authentic existence.

41. CURRICULAR EMPHASIS

 Subject-centered
 Literature
 History
 Arts for Aesthetic expression
 Humanities for ethical values

42. TEACHING METHODS

 Inquiry Approach
 Question-Answer Method
 Experimentation
 Self- expressive activities

43. ROLE OF TEACHERS

Good provider of experiences

Effective questioner
Mental disciplinarian
ROLE OF THE STUDENT - Determines own rule

44. Summary / Conclusion

Teacher has his/her perspective towards education

Determining his/her philosophy will greatly affect student’s learning.