IDEALISM AND EDUCATION

REALISM AND EDUCATION

Group 1 Members:
ABAS, Rodex John
ANTO, Mie Joy
BAYLON, Dessalyca
DAYLUSAN, Dunique Love
DE ALA, Cherrie Rose
DOMINGO, Merry Cris
EDER, Carel Mae
ENTRINA, Lyrine Lee
MIGUEL, Lovely Mae
OBJECTIVES

Upon the completion of this lesson, the students can:

• define IDEALISM and REALISM;

• explain each ISM;

• identify its significance and nature; and

• give appreciation to each ISM through their differences, similarities, and its importance in
education.

IDEALISM

DEFINITION:

 A philosophical approach that has its central tenet that ideas are the only true reality, the
only thing worth knowing.
 Etymologically, it may derived from the words ‘idea’ and ‘ideals’.
 Idealism has rooted in the Greek word, ‘Idein’ meaning ‘to see’; implying thereby that
thought (idea) has greater validity than the physical objects.
 In a search for truth, beauty, and justice that is enduring and everlasting, the focus is on
conscious reasoning in the mind.

PHILOSOPHERS ON IDEALISM

 Plato, the Father of Idealism, in his book “The Republic”, believed that there are two
worlds: Spiritual and Mental World- eternal, permanent, orderly, regular, and universal –
and World of Appearance – the world experienced through sight, touch, smell, taste, and
sound, that is changing, imperfect, and disorderly . these two are also known as DUALITY
OF MIND AND BODY.
 There are other philosophers on Idealism who gave importance to man’s “mind and soul”.
They stress the view, “Nothing exists except an idea in the mind of man, the mind of
God or a super or supranatural realm”.
 Some of them are:
o Augustine
o Descartes
o Kant & Hegel
o Tagore
o Gandhi

TWO BASIC FORMS OF IDEALISM

A. METAPHYSICAL IDEALISM
- It asserts the idea of reality and directly opposes to materialism.
B. EPISTOMOLOGICAL IDEALISM
- Holds that in the knowledge process the mind can grasp only the psychic or
that its objects are conditioned by their perceptibilityOpposed to realism,
outside and independently of the mind.

I. SIGNIFICANCE OF IDEALISM
 It is only this philosophy wherein a detailed exposition of aims has been emphasized
such as the inculcation of highest values namely, Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
 This will lead to the development of a moral character of the child.
 It aims at self – realization of all individuals by one’s own efforts.
 Idealism respects the individuality of the child and tries to stimulate his creative
energies.
  Idealism emphasizes the principle of self-discipline. This principle leads to the
development of the ‘Self’ of an individual.

II. NATURE OF IDEALISM

 It holds that reality lies in the mind.
 Reality is moral and spiritual rather than material.
 The material or physical world that we see is changeable and perishable. But the spirit or
essence or idea behind the object cannot be destroyed.

III. ROLES OF IDEALISM IN EDUCATION

A. IDEALISM AND AIMS OF EDUCATION
1. SELF REALIZATION OR EXHALTATION OF PERSONALITY
- “Man is the most beautiful creation of God”  
- Hence, the first aim of education, according to Idealism, is to develop the
‘Self’ of the individual higher and higher till self-realization is achieved.

2. TO ENSURE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

- The second aim of education is to develop the child mentally, morally and
above all spiritually.

3. TO CULTIVATE TRUTH, BEAUTY AND GOODNESS

- Idealists assert that to develop spiritual values in the individuals, pursuit of
highest ideals namely- Truth, Beauty and Goodness should be encouraged
more and more.

B. CONSERVATION, PROMOTION AND TRANSMISSION OF      CULTURAL HERITAGE

 Acquaint the child with cultural heritage so that he conserves, promotes and transmits it to
the rising generation.
 This is done through the process of self-estrangement.

C. PREPARATION FOR HOLY LIFE

 In the words of Froebel “the object of education is the realization of a faithful, pure,
inviolable and hence holy life”.

D. DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE AND RATIONALITY

 According to Adam, there is a purpose in all objects and natural phenomena. He has further
said that the world is planned and well-organized.

E. EDUCATION TO THE LEVEL OF CAPACITY

 “Nothing good enters into the human world except in and through the free activities of
individual men and women, and the educational practice must be shaped to accord with the
truth’’. – Sir Perry Nunn

F. IDEALISM AND CURRICULUM

A. PLATO

• According to him, the aim of life is to realize God which is possible only by pursuing high
ideals namely Truth, Beauty and Goodness. These high ideals can be attained by three
types of activities namely intellectual, aesthetic and moral.
B. HERBART

• According to Herbart the Idealistic aim of education is the promotion of moral values. Hence,
he gave prime importance to subjects like Literature, History, Art, Music, Poetry, together
with other Humanities and secondary place to scientific subjects.

C. NUNN

• According to him, it is the function of schools to promote and maintain morality and the
historical tradition to preserve and develop its achievements more and more. Hence, those
attainments which reflect the highest creations of human mind and those activities which
involve the noblest expressions of human ingenuity and creative intelligence.

• Nunn has divided these activities into two categories: (1) Physical, Social, Moral and
Religious and (2) Literary and Aesthetic.

D.  ROSS

• He holds the view that one can develop spiritually when he is developed physically and
these are both important for physical skill and health education.

• He wanted to teach physical exercise, intellectual exercise with the help of literature,
language, history, geography, science and mathematics along with ethics for moral
development.

• For spiritual development, he wanted aesthetics to be taught with fine arts and religion with
religion and metaphysics.

G.  IDEALISM AND TEACHER

• In the realm of Idealism, the role of teacher is very important and glorious. Idealistic
philosophy believes that this planned creation has two parts-(1) The teacher and (2) The
child as student. Both aims at one target only- The development of the individual child in a
spiritual way. The realization of this great aim is possible only through education and the
essential agent, the teacher.

• In reality an Idealist teacher is imbued fully with high degree of self-knowledge, self-
dynamism and essential qualities of spiritualism. By his own model of life, he tries to shape
the individuality of the child to a life of purity, virtue and great achievements. He creates a
wholesome conducive atmosphere by his own activities and planned experiences for the
child. He guides the child with such genuine love, affection and sympathy that he attains his
full mental and spiritual development. J. S. Ross aptly remarks- “The Naturalist may be
content with the brains, but the Idealist wants fine roses. So the educator by his efforts
assists the educand, who is developing according to the laws of his nature to attain levels
that would otherwise be denied to him.’’

H. IDEALISM AND TEACHING METHODS

 Socrates used Question-Answer method

 Plato emphasize Discourse Method

 Aristotle advocated Inductive-Deductive method

 In the works of Hegel, Logical Measuring is evident

 Descrates employed the device of   Simple to Complex

 Pestalozzi laid stress on education of the physical organs and allied activities
 Herbart advocated Instruction Method

 Frobel insisted upon Play – way Method.

 Not only this, other Idealists advocated many more methods namely – Discussion, Lecture,
Talk in groups.

 Butler has rightly remarked – “Idealists consider themselves as creators and determiners of
methods, not devotees of someone method”. 
 REALISM

DEFINITION OF REALISM

 Realists believe that reality exists independent of the human mind.

 The ultimate reality is the world of physical objects.
 The focus is on the body/objects.
 Truth is objective-what can be observed.
 Realism is a philosophy away from the world of ideas and is concerned with the study
of the world we live in.
 Realism believes that all knowledge is derived from experience.
 Realism believes that the real world is the world of nature.
 The term realism come from the Latin “realists” who is to be really, really real.
 Realism refers to the things exist whether or not the human mind perceives them.

PHILOSOPHERS ON REALISM

 Aristotle believed that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be understood, which
does not change.
o Aristotle, a student of Plato who broke with his mentor's idealist philosophy, is called
the father of both Realism and the scientific method.
o In this metaphysical view, the aim is to understand objective reality through "the
diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data."
o Aristotle believed that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be
understood, which does not change. For example, a rose exists whether or not a
person is aware of it. A rose can exist in the mind without being physically present,
but ultimately, the rose shares properties with all other roses and flowers (its form),
although one rose may be red and another peach colored. Aristotle also was the first
to teach logic as a formal discipline in order to be able to reason about physical
events and aspects. The exercise of rational thought is viewed as the ultimate
purpose for humankind. The Realist curriculum emphasizes the subject matter of the
physical world, particularly science and mathematics. The teacher organizes and
presents content systematically within a discipline, demonstrating use of criteria in
making decisions. Teaching methods focus on mastery of facts and basic skills
through demonstration and recitation. Students must also demonstrate the ability to
think critically and scientifically, using observation and experimentation. Curriculum
should be scientifically approached, standardized, and distinct-discipline based.
Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct.
 Realists believe in the truth of life and aim of life are in the development of systematic life.
Knowledge is real and can be assimilated by the human beings. Realists distinguish
between “appearance” and “reality”.

 John Locke, St. Aquinas, Milton, Rebalai , Lord Montaigne, and Bacon are some of the
many realists philosophers

I. SIGNIFICANCE OF REALISM
 Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward
appearances.
 As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different
civilizations.
 II. NATURE OF REALISM
 The realist believes the physical world and the universe is operated by natural laws.
 According to realism, the realist tries to discover truth with the help of scientific methods.
 There is no antagonism between realism and religion.
 Realist believe that a thing has an aesthetic value to the extent it harmonizes with beauty of
nature.

III. REALISM AND EDUCATION

A. Realism and objectives of education
1. To equip the learners with knowledge and skill needed to understand and master their
physical environment.

2. To enable the learner to adjust themselves to the realities of the physical world and to
adjust with adult approved behavior.

The GOAL OF EDUCATION IS TO HELP INDIVIDUALS UNDERSTAND & APPLY THE

PRINCIPLES OF SCIENCE TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS IN THE WORLD

B. Realism and educational practice

 The realist is concerned with the systematic organization of teaching and learning.
 Scientific evaluation is the most important contribution made by realism.
 Realism lays stress on the use of standardized tests.

C. Realism and the role of a teacher

 Realism does not attach much importance to the role of a teacher.
 The realist does not also give importance to the opinion of the teacher.

D. Realism and curriculum

 The realist gives importance and priority to subjects like physical sciences and mathematics.
 SUMMARY

Summary of these lessons are presented by identifying the unique features of each ISM and
recognizing how both relate with each other in terms of education
 CONCLUSION

From the discussion we’d stated, it can be concluded that idealism is an important philosophy
which has played an important role in the field of education. It provides a complete guideline for the
students, teachers, learning activities and many more. In current age, idealism has given weak
emphasis in education since it put more emphasis on the realistic approaches or realism. However,
it still has its great impacts in our education system,

For the realist, the world is as it is, and the job of schools would be to teach students about the
world. Goodness, for the realist, would be found in the laws of nature and the order of the physical
world. Truth would be the simple correspondence of observation. Realist believes that school
should promote human rationality through observation and experimentation, they believe in a world
of Things or Beings (metaphysics) and in truth as an Observable Fact. Furthermore, ethics is the
law of nature or Natural Law and aesthetics is the reflection of Nature.
 REFERENCES

Breed, F. (1942). Education and the Realistic Outlook Philosophies of Education; national society
for the study of education, forty-first yearbook, Part 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Broundy,S. (1961). Building a Philosophy of Education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Butler, J., Donald, Four Philosophies and Their… Education and Religion. New York:  Harper &
Row.

Herbart, J.F., The Science of Education. Boston: D.C.Heath & Company, 1902.

Locke, John. Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902. The basic
statement of Locke’s epistemological position.

Singh,Y.K.,(2007). Philosophy Foundation Of Education: Ansari road: S.B.Nangia.

Shahid, S.M.,(2002). History and Philosophy of Education: Islamabad: Yousaf Mustaq.

Weber, Christian O., Basic Philosophies of Education. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
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