Week 2- Chapter 1- Philosophical Thoughts on Education

Educ 8: The Teacher and the Community, School & Organizational Leadership
2nd Semester 2020 – 2021

Name: JUAN MIGUEL S. ALPAÑO

Year and Section: BSE 3B – Science

Chapter 1 – Philosophical Thoughts on Education

Introduction
Isolated Facts and the Banking Method

Depicted in the question and answer proceeding in class are a common

classroom scenario. Most lessons are devoted to teacher

Asking low-level questions and students answering with what they memorized
the night before. Teacher deposited these facts a day before

And withdraws them the next day. A perfect example of the banking system of
education that Paulo Freire is very much against as it
Does not make the learner reflect and connect what he/she was taught to real
life.
We have nothing against the facts. But isolated facts make no sense but
become meaningful when seen in relation to other facts.
 These facts when combined with other (with further questioning from the
teacher) help the learner see meaning and connection to his/her

Life. Example: The pupil learned that food is broken down into small
pieces, which is digested by the stomach and is absorbed by the

Intestine. To connect the facts, teacher should ask more questions like:
What if the food is not chewed in the mouth, what happens to food

In the stomach and to the stomach itself? What happens to the food in the
small intestine? Will the small intestines be able to absorb food,

Etc.?...

Summaries of thoughts of education philosophers on what should be taught and

how learners should be taught.

John Locke (1632-1704): The Empiricist Educator.

● Education is not acquisition of knowledge contained in the classics. It is learners
interacting with concrete experience.The learner is an active not a passive agent of
his/her own learning.
● From the social dimension, education is seeing citizens participate actively and
intelligently in establishing their government and in choosing who will govern them from
among themselves. They are of the thinking that no one person is destined to be ruler
forever. This is in keeping with the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill.

Spencer- the Utilitarianist

● To survive in a complex society, Spencer favors specialized education over that
of general education.
● “The expert who concentrate on a limited field is useful, but if he loses sight of the
interdependence of things he becomes a man
● who knows more and more about less and less. We must be warned of the early
peril and more about less and less. We must be
 Warned of the early peril of over- specialism. Of course we do not prefer the other
extreme, The superficial person who every day
Knows less and less about more and more

John Dewey- experience

● Dewey does not disregard the accumulated wisdom of the past.These past ideas,
discoveries and inventions, our cultural heritage, will be used as the material for dealing
with problems and so will be tested, if they are of help, they become part of a
reconstructed experience. If they are not totally accurate, they will still be part of a
reconstructed experience. This means that the ideal learner for dewey is not just one
who can learn by doing, e.g., conduct an experiment but one who can connect
accumulated wisdom of the past to the present.
● Schools are for the people and by the people. Schools are a democratic
institution where everyone regardless of age, ethnicity, social status is welcome and is
encouraged to participate in the democratic process of decision- making. Learners and
stakeholders practice and experience democracy in schools.

George Counts- Building a new social order

● Schools and teachers should be agents of change. Schools are considered
instruments for social improvement rather than as agencies for preserving the status
quo. Whatever change we work for should always be change for the better not just
change for the sake of change.
● Problem-solving, like Dewey, should be the dominant method for instruction.
● “There is a cultural lag between material progress and social institutions and
ethical values.” Material progress of humankind is very evident but moral and ethical
development seem to have lagged behind.
● Is very evident but moral and ethical development seem to have lagged behind.

Theodore Brameld- the social Reconstructionist

● Social reconstructionist critically examine present culture and resolve
inconsistencies, controversies and conflicts to build a new society not just change
society.
● Technological era is an era of interdependence and so education must be
international in scope for global citizenship.

Paulo Freire- Critical pedagogy vs. Banking method

● Employ critical pedagogy and dialogue in contrast to the banking system of
education.
● Learners are not empty receptacles to be filled.

Pre-competency checklists
1. Which is NOT TRUE of social reconstructionists?

A. Use of problem-solving
B. Study of the Great Books
C. School as an agent of change
D. Introduce a new society

2. Which teaching practice goes with the “banking system” of education which
was contrary to Paulo Freire’s educational thought?

A. Rote memorization
B. Project-based learning
C. Problem-based learning
D. Community of inquiry

3. For which teaching will social reconstructionist be?

A. Stress on isolationism
B. Inequality and inequity as normal for an international society
C. Building of an interdependent world that is international in scope
D. Narrow concept of nationalism
 4. Why is Spencer’s educational thought described as utilitarian?

A. He emphasized vocational and professional education based on

scientific and practical.
B. He stressed on general educational goals associated with humanistic
and classical education.
C. He stressed a balance of specialized and general education in the
curriculum.
D. He eliminated “the vocational and professional education component of
the curriculum.

5. For which educational practice was John Dewey?

A. Problem-Solving
B. Banking method
C. Emphasis on the Humanities
D. Teaching of the classics

Learning Resources
● Lecture Discussion Introduction, Summaries of Philosophical thoughts in
education) The Teacher and the Community, School Culture and Organizational
Leadership. By Nelia G. Prieto, LPT, PhD et.al.,
● Lecture Discussion ( An introduction to the Foundations of Education, 3 rd.Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Co.

Explore
 Recitation through online discussion
● Learning is not a competition: No more 1 st , 2nd or last in class for primary and
secondary students( Amelia Teng, Education Correspondent Facebook TwitterEmail)
● Summaries of thoughts of education philosophers.
Analysis

● Schools are for the People and by the People

● Schools and Teachers as Agents of Change

Discussion Board
Discuss the relevance of Philosophical thoughts of the different philosophers with
regards to education.

Post-Competency Checklist

1. Explain in a sentence why each education philosopher was associated with

these given words:

a. John Locke-the empiricist

b. Spencer- the utilitarianist
c. John Dewey- experience
d. George Counts- Building a new social order
e. Theodore Brameld- the social Reconstructionist
f. Paulo Freire- Critical pedagogy vs. Banking method

2. Make a table summary of the philosophies of education.