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CA2: Professional Education: Essential Lesson 2: Ten Fundamental Educational Philosophies
CA2: Professional Education: Essential Lesson 2: Ten Fundamental Educational Philosophies
Manila, Philippines
School of Education
CA2: Professional Education
2021-2022, First Semester
With the teacher as the sole authority taking the center stage, traditional education
provides less emphasis and concern on learners who must get more learning
outcomes from their mandated lessons which must mold or shape students’ moral
development and competence for their future contribution in the workplace.
Moreover, it protects, preserves, and develops traditional indigenous skills and
cultures. By expectation, traditional education empowers indigenous peoples to
participate more fully in their communities. Through this empowerment, the
indigenous peoples are hoped to attain freedom and social justice in their
communities. Thus, traditional education aims to (1) to prepare the young into adult
life; (2) enable the young to understand fully the custom of the society and
traditions; (3) instill good norms and conduct in the community and the future
workplaces. In the classroom setting, these educational aims are primarily realized
by making students learn mostly through experiences, collaboration, and play.
However, while traditional schools cultivate interpersonal skills that lead to the
students’ gain of more confidence in public speaking, they demand students to
work and learn under pressure. In a traditional classroom, there is no flexibility in
study hours; thus, there is a narrow variety of interactions between and among
learners, and with the teacher. The learning environment, teaching and learning
processes are given structures and control by strict rules. Thus, a traditional teacher
is mainly tasked to moderate and regulate the flow of information and knowledge
by strictly following the standard of the mandated curriculum. Within and along the
processes of instructional delivery, standardized tests are administered at regular
intervals to test students' knowledge and comprehension.
Fundamentally, the traditional education highly focuses on the teacher and what
they teach, and not on the students and how they can learn, which prompted
progressive education to emerge with a more progressive and aggressive argument
to offer.
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Progressivism Progressivism is a philosophical movement as well as a political movement, which
advances a way of thinking that focuses on social progress. The idea of progress is
the belief that human society is improving over time. Within the specific spectrum
of education, progressivism is the overarching belief of an educational movement
which is a response to traditional methods of teaching. It gives more value to
experience than formal learning. It is based more on experiential learning that
concentrates on the development of a child's talents. Therefore, from the traditional
focus of teaching, a shift to the progressive focus of learning has eventually
emerged with the work of John Dewey as the primary proponent. Dewey believed
that students learn better by experiencing the idea or principles first-hand, and not
vicariously from teachers’ lectures and discussions or merely from teachers
requiring students to just indulge into reading to gain learning from books.
Dewey’s tenet that the school should improve the way of life of the citizens
through experiencing freedom and democracy in schools is the end goal of his
philosophy.
In a progressive school, the learner becomes the center of the teaching process of
facilitating all processes towards the nurturing of the students for their
development. All teaching processes especially the lesson planning process must be
based on the learners’ developmental needs and interests. These processes are
consonant to Dewey’s belief that education is life, growth, reconstruction of human
experiences, and a social process. This learning-by-doing philosophy engages
learners actively into the teaching-learning processes that is intended to usher them
all into individual and collective construction of learning through the cognitive
processes of inquiry, discovery, and then finally, experience. This learning by
experiential construction and training stress that students should test ideas and
principles by active and actual experimentation. According to Dewey, learning is
rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world. It is an
active, and not a passive learning process. The learner is a problem solver and
thinker who makes meaning through his or her individual experience in the
physical, social, and cultural contexts.
Thus, students are encouraged to ask "How?" and "Why?" rather than just
accepting facts for what they are. Students solve problems in the classroom, which
are life-like because they will encounter these problems in their everyday lives.
Students interact with one another and develop social qualities such as cooperation
and tolerance for different points of view. Henceforth, the classroom or the
school is considered a laboratory in which the learner takes active part in learning
by doing processes. Progressive education has strongholds in the advancements in
science and technology for economic development and social organization, which
are now vital to the improvement of the human condition especially in the
pandemic. A remarkable progressive classroom must provide students with the
opportunities that can make them (1) create the assigned ongoing science projects,
(2) integrate technology, (3) replace homework with engaging in-class activities,
(4) eliminate unnecessary rules and consequences, and (5) involve students in an
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authentic evaluation of their learning.
In the new normal brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic, progressive
education comes in the forms of distance education, online education, alternative
learning systems, open or borderless classrooms or schools without walls,
cooperative learning, blended learning, multiage approaches, whole language, the
social curriculum, experiential education, and a lot more. These numerous forms of
alternative schools have important philosophical roots in progressive education.
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more important than the world of Matter. (4) Real knowledge is perceived in mind.
(5) Idealism stresses on the Principle of Unity of Diversity.
Being the oldest philosophy, idealism has influenced other subsequent
philosophies. Idealism emphasizes the principle of self-discipline, which leads to
the development of the 'Self' of an individual. Idealistic philosophy
in education emphasizes 'the exaltation of personality', which is the result of self-
realization, and is achieved by spiritual knowledge and self-discipline. The main
focus of idealism is on conscious reasoning in the mind. Plato believed that learners
should concern themselves in searching for the truth. As a Greek philosopher, he
believed that man did not create knowledge but discovered it.
Idealism assigns a very important place to the teacher who is respected as a guide,
and philosopher who shares ideas, and allows learners to think away from books or
from teacher's words, which are taken as a universal truth. An idealist
teacher encourages his/her pupils to think and ask more questions in an
environment that is conducive for learning. Young learners nowadays are very
inquisitive and curious; and with the help of an idealist teacher, he/she can make
the pupils discover new learning through asking questions. In idealist educational
philosophy, which expresses a teacher centered approach, the teacher is required to
reveal the embedded knowledge in students' subconscious and be a good role
model both as morally and culturally. The learners’ subjects are organized in a
hierarchical order, and the Socratic Method is adopted as discussion and
questioning technique. Other methods of teaching employed by an idealist teacher
are: (1) lecture and discussion method, (2) questioning method, (3) self-study
method, (4) imitation method, and (5) meditation and concentration method.
Idealists may be the most effective problem solvers because they are able to
imagine an outcome that is better than anything otherwise conceived of. However,
idealism is commonly seen to have remained an abstract & vague doctrine. It is
only concerned with the ultimate end of life as the consequence of serious thinking
and mental activities resulting into the achievement of immortal values: Truth and
Beauty.
Because idealism teaches the learner to look at what a situation can be and what it
looks like, and it advances the belief that reality is a mental construct; then, in the
end the learner becomes a dreamer. In today’s pandemic, a person who always
dreams without practical achievements will likely find difficulty in his/her daily
subsistence. The lack of practicality looms large as the weakness of idealism as an
educational philosophy, which is the strength of the philosophy of realism because
it teaches the learner to look into what a situation is, in reality; and it drives the
learner to look into the actual view of a situation.
In philosophy, realism, which is usually seen as an opposite of idealism, holds the
viewpoint, which accords to things which are known or perceived an existence or
nature, which is independent of whether anyone is thinking about or perceiving
Realism them. Philosophers who profess realism often claim that truth consists in a
correspondence between cognitive representations and reality. When simply put, it
is a way of portraying or thinking about reality through an accurate, detailed,
unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life, which is the truthful
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treatment of the common, average, everyday life. Realism rejects imaginative
idealization in favor of a close observation of outward appearances.
Realism focuses on the immediate, the here and now, the specific actions and their
verifiable consequences. Thus, a realist sees the world “as it is,” and the realist has
the natural inclination to view all sides of an issue from an objective stance. A
realist is not swayed by unconscious bias or idealistic aims that easily move most
people; rather, the realist sees the truth and prefers it to be unvarnished. However,
consistent realism excludes four things, which appear to be essential ingredients of
all effective thinking: a finite goal (unrealistic), an emotional appeal (subjective),
a right of moral judgement (sometimes flawed), and a ground for action
(inappropriate). These are some reasons why realists tend to believe that whatever
we believe now is only an approximation of reality, but that the accuracy and
fullness of understanding can be improved. In realism, people are pictured with
genuine jobs and problems. For example, a work of a realist writer or teacher might
chronicle the life of an average farmer. Rather than using fun metaphors or imagery
to represent real situations, a realistic writer or teacher would show the
undramatized life and dialect of the area.
When applied to education, educational realism is the belief that we should study
logic, critical thinking, and the scientific method to teach students to perceive and
understand reality. Educational realists believe that the job of schools is to teach
students about the world around them. To realize this belief, education should aim
to teach the learner truth rather than beauty, for the learner to understand the
present practical life; and thus, prepare the practical man to the present real world.
Moreover, education must provide the learner a complete knowledge and
understanding of human society human nature, motives, and institutions by
explaining how each learner is related to the world of man, and to the world of
nature.
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unpractical ideas are to be rejected. Pragmatism means thinking of or dealing with
problems in a practical way, rather than by using theory or abstract principles.
There are four characteristics of pragmatism: the rejection of skepticism; the
willingness to embrace fallibilism; the rejection of sharp dichotomies such as those
between fact and value, thought and experience, mind and body, analytic and
synthetic, etc; and 'the primacy of practice'. Pragmatism focuses on the practical
outcomes of what we think and do. Thus, a core focus of Pragmatism is on practice.
Essentialism Essentialism holds the view that some properties of objects are essential to them.
The “essence” of a thing is conceived as the totality of its essential properties.
Likewise, it views that certain categories (e.g., women, racial groups, dinosaurs,
original Picasso artwork) have an underlying reality or true nature that one cannot
observe directly. Moreover, essentialists think that familiar categories—dogs and
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cats, space and time, emotions and thoughts—have an underlying essence that
makes them what they are. Likewise, they advanced that people and things have
natural and essential common characteristics, which are inherent, innate and
unchanging. However, they claimed that theories of essentialism differ with respect
to their conception of what it means to say that a property is essential to an object.
Consequently, this difference in their belief is a key barrier to the exactness of
scientific understanding of things. William C. Bagley, America's most influential
philosopher of teacher education, has become known as the Father of
“Essentialism.
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recommend that students learn from reading and analyzing the works by history's
finest thinkers and writers. Studying these finest works can develop learners’ power
of thought, make them internalize truths that are universal and constant, and ensure
that students acquire understanding about the great ideas of Western civilization.
Existentialism
Existentialism is a philosophical theory positing that people are free agents who
have control over their choices and actions; and thus, society should not restrict an
individual's life or actions because these restrictions inhibit free-will and the
development of that person's potential. More specially, it is a philosophy that
emphasizes individual existence, freedom and choice. It holds that, as there is no
God or any other transcendent force, the only way to counter this nothingness is by
embracing existence. From Jean-Paul Sartre’s “existence precedes essence”, it is
only by existing and acting a certain way that a person can give meaning to his life.
According to him, there is no fixed design for how a human being should be and no
God to give him a purpose. Moreover, existentialists advance that NOTHING is
predetermined. There is NO fate or destiny. Humans make themselves what they
are. Humans choose to believe what they do about themselves. Existential themes
are individuality, consciousness, freedom, choice, and responsibility.
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roles of teachers are to: (1) help students define their own essence by exposing
them to various paths they take in life, (2) create an environment in which they
freely choose their own preferred way. These existential methods must lead to
learners’ development of self-reliance and self-directedness. Therefore,
schools exist to assist children in knowing themselves and their place in society.
The task of teacher is to awaken in students self-awareness and help them to be
'original' and 'authentic'.Existentialism states that a person’s life has no inherent
meaning or purpose; rather, it is the purpose that a person creates for his life that
gives him a sense of meaning. Thus, once a person accepts this as reality; then, he
can live his life freely, doing what he enjoys, so far as society allows him.
Humanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of
human beings, individually and collectively. Generally, however, humanism refers
to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress.
Moreover, humanism is a belief that human needs and values are more important
than religious beliefs, or the needs and desires of humans. Likewise, it believes that
the person creates his own set of ethics, which is based on reason and common
humanity, recognizing that moral values are properly founded on human nature and
experience alone. Thus, humanism is a set of ethics or ideas about how people
should live and act. People who hold this set of ethics are called humanists. In
modern times, humanism is close to secularism. It refers to a non-theistic approach
to life, looking to science instead of religious dogma in order to understand the
world.
Humanism was developed as an educational philosophy by Rousseau and
Pestalozzi, who emphasized nature and the basic goodness of humans,
understanding through the senses, and education as a gradual and unhurried process
in which the development of human character follows the unfolding of nature. The
ultimate purpose of humanistic approach in education is the learning process of
humanizing humans for the achievement of self-actualization, self-understanding,
and self-realization. The five basic principles of humanistic education can be
summarized as follows:
Students' learning should be self-directed.
Schools should produce students who want and know how to learn.
The only form of meaningful evaluation is self-evaluation.
Feelings, as well as knowledge, are important in the learning process.
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values, and the creative, active nature of human beings. The approach is optimistic,
and focuses on the noble human capacity to overcome hardship, pain, and despair.
The Humanistic curriculum is based on the belief that education molds the person
who will soon render services for the well-being of the nation. Here, the individual
learner is not regarded as a passive or at least easily managed recipient of input.
S/he is the choosing or self-selecting organism. Learners are taught to value and
respect their coworkers for who they are, despite the presence of individual
differences. This leads to stronger workplace relationships and a more inclusive
work environment.
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From the lecture, educational philosophies can be classified in some ways.
Those with relatively fixed and absolute beliefs that tend to preserve the past like
Idealism, Realism, Perennialism, and Essentialism can be classified as traditionally
teacher-centered as well as homogeneously or individually oriented educational
philosophies.
Summary Those with changeable and subjective beliefs that try to reconstruct the present,
and shape the future, or change the society like Existentialism, Humanism,
Pragmatism, and Social Reconstructionism are progressively learner-centered as
well as heterogeneously or socially oriented educational philosophies.
REMINDERS:
(1) Encode your ONE-Paged Journal in a legal size of 8.5 x 14 using Calibri 11;
single spacing within a paragraph, but double spacing between paragraphs.
(2) Submit it today before 12 midnight on November 27, 2021 to this Gmail:
lacuataferdie@gmail.com.
Reminders (3) Go over all the specific facts and concepts in Lesson 2 in preparation for
Formative Test 2 with 50 items to be given at 8AM via G-Form on November 27,
2021.
(4) Remember that Formative Test 2 will be taken within ONE and ONE-HALF
hours only; and thus, must be submitted immediately, thereafter. Otherwise, it will
NOT be accepted anymore for checking beyond 8:30am.
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