Eslabon, Elvie Venus M.

ED 701 GENCOURSEGS 5-7

e-Portfolio Entry #2 T1 SY 2021-2022

Reflection Paper on the implications of

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in Philippine Education

Plato The Allegory of the Cave is a tale told on Book VII of Plato’s The
Republic. The Republic is known as Plato’s masterpiece which studies the concept
of justice, and concepts such as “the true, the good, and the beautiful” and its
implication on society and politics.

The Allegory of the Cave is told on Book VII of The Republic. Plato’s
followers, Socrates and Glaucon were having a dialogue. Socrates here is the
narrator and he tells a story about human beings who lived all their lives in an
underground den and these human beings are chained so they cannot move and
can only see what's in front of them. We can assume that these human beings are
also prisoners, given their dire situation. If these human beings or prisoners turn
around, their eyes will be burned. There is a wall between these prisoners and
cannot see each other nor themselves. All the prisoners can see are the shadow
puppets playing on the wall right before them. These prisoners have been chained in
that position all their lives. There are other human being inside the cave, carrying
objects, but all the prisoners can see is the shadows. Some of the others speak, but
there are echoes or perhaps the sound is muffled in the cave which makes it difficult
for the prisoners to understand what was being said or heard. The prisoner will have
a hard time accepting the new solid objects in the cave since he only saw shadows
his whole life. The prisoner will then step out into the sunlight, be painfully amazed
by the brightness, and stunned by the beauty of the moon and the stars. When the
freed prisoner gets accustomed to the light, he will pity the people in the cave and
want to stay above and apart from them, but still think of those left behind. The newly
freed prisoners will choose to remain in the light, but, for Socrates, they must not.
Because for him, the true “enlightenment” is to educate and help those left in the
shadows, those who saw the light must go back into the darkness, join the prisoners
chained to the wall, and share that knowledge with them so that they will also be
“freed” or enlightened.

What did we learn from this allegory? How can we then say what are
the implications of this allegory to Philippine Education? Personally, I think the
Allegory of the Cave is a highly symbolic story. According to Plato, there are four
stages of development in the cave. Here I will give my interpretation for each stage
on the implication of this parable to the Philippine Education. The first one is the
imprisonment in the cave. This symbolizes the flawed and obsolete system of
Philippine Education. I can vouch for this opinion since I am teaching in the public
school system and I have witnessed some outdated and sloppy practices both in the
teaching and the administration. The second one is the release from the chains. This
one represents the younger generation or at least those who are “breaking the
chains” of the old tradition and flawed system. The third is the ascension out of the
cave. The ascension symbolizes the slow and difficult progress from breaking the
chains. This process will be an uncomfortable to some, especially if they are used to
the traditional and/or toxic culture that they were used to. And finally, “going back to
the cave” means helping and guiding to help the illiterate, misinformed and
miseducated.

The allegory showed the faulty being of the prisoners living in the cave.
The prisoners are trapped within this world, in their "own reality", or at least that’s
what they knew their entire lives. This is what Plato compares to "shadows" or the
representations of truth. If we were to accept these shadows as reality, we remain
"unenlightened" of real world. As teachers, I can say that we are among the
enlightened ones - those who have seen the light and the wonders above the cave.
We must not remain in the light or in our case, be contented with degree that we
have earned or even the position that we have acquired. It is therefore our duty to go
back down and share what we have learned so those who were left behind will also
be enlightened. This is not an easy task since this task is about changing the "reality"
of the others but I know that it will definitely be worth it.

Reference:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Plato's Republic, by Plato.
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/150/pg150.html