PHILOSOPHIES IN EDUCATION

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

-Socrates

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 What is philosophy?
 Greek words “philos”(love) and “sophia” (wisdom)
 A critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for
them
 A basic theory concerning a particular subject or sphere
of activity

Philosophy of Education:
 Lays down possible answers to questions about the need
to be educated, defines a teacher’s role, and what should
be taught & by what methods

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
PROGRESSIVISM
 established in America: mid 1920s -mid
1950s
 Purpose of education: prepare children in an
ever-changing society
 Education focus: whole child, not on the
content or the teacher
 Child-centered education
 Learning is active, not passive.
JOHN DEWEY
“The school should improve the way of life of our citizens through
experiencing freedom and democracy in schools. Shared decision
making, planning of teachers with students, student-selected topics are
all aspects. Books are tools, rather than authority.”
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
  Dewey’s PSYCHOLOGY

 Tap the child’s nature (curious, social,

expressive, and constructive)
 Growth is a product of the
transaction between child and the
environment (teacher is crucial).
 A free person could frame and
execute purposes of his or her own.

Emphasized experience, non-authoritarian

teaching approaches, active learning, the learning
environment, and connecting to life.
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
…activities grow progressively out of student
interests and past experiences, where new
experiences build upon the each other
 GROWTH (developmental)
Curriculum:
Bring each person to an
-experience-centered
-relevant
ever widening set of
-flexible
experiences in a positive
direction, changes that open
up more experiences.
 OPTIMISM Faith in the
EXPERIENCE linkpossibilities thinking and ofdoing,
democratic
thought and feeling, reason
society, andinimagination.
faith ordinary
COOPERATION cooperative people. use of
intelligence
Edited educate
and Compressedindividuals for a changing future.
by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
 What does Dewey mean by growth?
• Education: process of development, an
educated person has the power to go
on and get more education, to grow
• Not like a seed but like a tree
-Humans have great potential to grow in
many directions
-The environment for growth matters.

Traditional schools fail to recognize the

diversity of capacities, the need for the
initiate in growth must come from the
needs and powers of the pupil (not a blank
slate).
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
  Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise
through experiencing the world. It is active, not passive.

• learner =problem • Curriculum content is derived

from student interests and
solver and thinker who
questions.
makes meaning through -Scientific method
his or her individual -emphasis is on process-how
experience one comes to know
• Effective teachers
provide experiences so
that students can learn
by doing.
 “Existentialismus”: a
German word rooted
from two words ‘ex’ and
‘sistent’ which means
“stand out”

THE COURAGE TO BE…

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Started in the 19th century Europe
aim of education: character formation &
self-realization
Education focus: whole person, not only
the mind
Child-centered education
“Existence precedes essence.”
People must create themselves and create their
own meaning…through the choices people make
in their lives, in a state of constant becoming… an
individual can make a difference in a seemingly
absurd world.
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
John-Paul Sartre, 1943
Existentialism as a Philosophy
 first work that attempted to make
Existentialism into a coherent
philosophy in 1943
-written in response to the
absurdity of World War II
-argued: humans beings need a
rational basis for their lives so
they developed systematic
philosophies but this is impossible
to achieve. The human life is a
“futile” passion”.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Living an Authentic Life

 Authentic existence (essence) can only be

achieved by those who actively seek to discover
purposefulness for their existence
 This happens by making independent choices and
assuming responsibility for consequences
 It is not a natural flow; is easily stifled by
outside influences

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

As a philosophical movement,
emphasizes…

 Individual existence
 Personal freedom
 Authentic choice

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 • learner should feel valued as an individual and
encouraged to develop his or her personal style and
creativity

• Existentialist educators are generally against the

concept of teaching as showing, guiding, or directing

• Rather, the teacher should

‘prize’ the learner and
make the learner feel
worthwhile.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Addressing the “courage to be”

 Make students responsible for completing their

work on time- use contracts

 Have students decide classroom rules with the

understanding they will be responsible for
following them

 Let students choose personal ways to express

themselves

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

ESSENTIALISM
-reaction to progressivist approaches prevalent in the 1920s and 30s
-originated from both realism and idealism
-core of the curriculum: basic subjects
-schools provide sound instruction=prepare students to live life &
comply with society’s accepted standards & need for order

William C. Bagley, 1934

•Education and Emergent Man
-criticized active learning
-believed it “damaged the
intellect and moral standards
of students”
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
Essentialists Beliefs

 students should be
taught to be a model
citizen
 teachers should teach
traditional moral
values and virtues
 mastery learning
 Gradual mastery of
skills

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Purpose of Schooling
 Prepare students to be
productive, contributing
members of society.
 For essentialist, the aim of
education is to teach the young
the essentials they need to live
well in the modern world.
 Essentialists teach the basic
subjects.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Teacher’s Role
 The teacher teaches discipline and
hard work.
 The teacher is an expert of content knowledge.
 Teaches essential knowledge.
 Maintains task-oriented focus.
 The teacher is accountable for student learning.
 Teach the basic subjects
 Essentialists believe that these subjects should be
taught thoroughly.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Role of the Student
 Students should be passive and be ready to learn
what the teacher presents to them.
 Students should listen and learn.
 The student is to sit still and take in what the
teacher is teaching.
BEHAVIORISM
 primarily concerned with observable and
measurable aspects of human behavior
 In defining behavior, behaviorist learning
theories emphasize changes in behavior that
result from stimulus-response
associations made by
the learner.
 Behaviorists assert that the only behaviors
worthy of study are those that can be directly
observed
-actions are the legitimate object of study
 all behavior is learned habits, and attempts to
account for how these habits are formed
 all behaviors can also be unlearned, and
replaced by new behaviors that is, when a
behavior becomes unacceptable, it can be
replaced by an acceptable one.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Classical Conditioning Theory
Ivan Pavlov

1. Food = salivation
2. Food + Stimulus = salivation (conditioned stimulus)
3. Bell alone produces salivation (conditioned response)
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
 Classical Conditioning Theory:
Principles
1. Stimulus Generalization: process by which the
conditioned response transfers to the other stimuli
that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus
* Generalization: explains the transfer of a response
to a situation other than that in which the original
learning occured
2. Discrimination: the process by which we learn not
to respond to similar stimuli in an identical manner
3. Extinction: the process by which conditioned
responses are lost

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Operant Conditioning Theory
B.F. Skinner

The mouse pushes the lever and receives a food

reward. Therefore, he will push the lever repeatedly in
order to get the treat.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
COGNITIVISM (Constructivism)
 ‘cognosco’: a Latin verb equivalent to “I know, perceive” which
means ‘to conceptualize’ or ‘to recognize’
 The learner is capable of actively constructing his own
understandings of reality through interaction with objects,
events and people in the environment, & reflecting on these
interactions
 Further explained by Gestalt Psychology
-for learning to occur, an event, object or experience must
conflict with what the learner already knows
 Constructivists/ Cognitivists:
1. Jerome Bruner
2. Lev Vygostky
3. Jean Piaget

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Cognitive Learning Theory: Jerome Bruner
-emphasis on discovery and hands-on learning
-three stages in the intellectual development
Enactive: a person learns about the world through
actions on objects

Iconic: learning occurs through using models and pictures

Symbolic: describes the capacity to think in abstract

terms
A combination of concrete, pictorial then symbolic activities
will lead to more effective learning.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Theory of Social Constructivism: Lev Vygostky

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Perennialism -first developed by Thomas Aquinas in his
work De Magistro

• aim of education is to ensure that students acquire

understandings about the great ideas of Western
civilization
•The focus is to teach ideas that are everlasting, to
seek enduring truths which are constant, not changing,
as the natural and human worlds at their most
essential level, do not change. Teaching these
unchanging principles is critical. Humans are rational
beings, and their minds need to be developed. Thus,
cultivation of the intellect is the highest priority in a
worthwhile education.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 The demanding curriculum focuses on
attaining cultural literacy, stressing students'
growth in enduring disciplines. The loftiest
accomplishments of humankind are
emphasized– the great works of literature and
art, the laws or principles of science.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Reconstructionism
Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes
the addressing of social questions and a quest to create a
better society and worldwide democracy.
Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that
highlights social reform as the aim of education.
Theodore Brameld (1904-1987) was the founder of social
reconstructionism, in reaction against the realities of World
War II. George Counts (1889-1974) recognized that
education was the means of preparing people for
creating this new social order.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 For social reconstructionists and critical theorists,
curriculum focuses on student experience and taking
social action on real problems, such as violence,
hunger, international terrorism, inflation, and
inequality. Strategies for dealing with controversial issues
(particularly in social studies and literature), inquiry,
dialogue, and multiple
perspectives are the focus. Community-based learning
and bringing the
world into the classroom
are also strategies.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 George Counts:
Building a New Social Order
 Education: not based on eternal truths but is
relative to a particular society living at a given time
& space
 By allying themselves with groups that want to
change society, schools should cope with social
change that arises from technology.
 cultural lag between material progress & social
institutions & ethical values

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 George Counts:
Building a New Social Order
 Teachers: lead society rather than follow it; agents
of change
-called on to make important choices in the
controversial areas of economics, politics & morality
because if they failed to do so, others would make
the decisions for them
 Schools: provide an education that afford equal
learning opportunities to all students

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 George Counts:
Building a New Social Order
Schools & Teachers as Agents of Change:
-schools: instruments for social improvement rather than as
agencies for preserving the status quo
-teachers: make decisions on controversial issues; not to
make decision is to actually making a decision
-problem-solving should be the dominant method for
instruction

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 George Counts:
Building a New Social Order
Lag Between Material Progress & Ethical Values:
-material progress is very evident but moral and ethical
development seem to have lagged behind
-we have become very powerful and yet powerless
-We have conquered a number of diseases & even
postponed death for many, we have conquered aging,
the planets, the seas but we have not conquered
ourselves

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

Theodore Brameld:
Social Reconstructionism
 Emphasizes the reformation of society
 schools should critically examine present culture and resolve
inconsistencies, controversies & conflicts to build a new
society not just change society
 Education is designed to awaken students’ consciousness
about social problems and to engage them actively in
problem solving
 Social reconstructionists are firmly committed to equality or
equity in both society & educ’n.

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Paulo Freire: Critical Pedagogy
 Believed that systems must be changed to overcome
oppression and improve human conditions
 Education and Literacy: the vehicle for social change
 Humans must learn to resist oppression & not become
its victims, nor oppress others
 How? Dialogue and critical consciousness, the
development of awareness to overcome domination &
oppression

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Paulo Freire: Critical Pedagogy
 Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry
in which the child must invent and reinvent the world
 Teachers must not see themselves as the sole
possessors of knowledge & their students as empty
receptacles
 Democratic relationship between the teacher and
students is necessary for the conscientization process
to take place

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang

 Paulo Freire: Critical Pedagogy
Dialogue:
-love & respect allows us to engage to people in dialogue
& to discover ourselves in the process & learn from one
another
-not something that can be imposed
-characterized by respect of the parties involved toward
one another
-allows the development of tolerant sensibility
-means the presence of equality, mutual recognition,
affirmation of people, a sense of solidarity with people, &
remaining open to questions
Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang
 Critique Paper: MS Word
 Choose ONE of the following movies to watch.
-Taare Zameen Par
-Stand and Deliver
-Teacher’s Diary
-Coach Carter
-Zootopia
 What do you think is the educational philosophy shown
in the movie?
 Give proofs from the movie you have watched and
explain why you say so.
 Send your assignments via Google Classroom

Edited and Compressed by: Ellen Mae M. Tabbang