Philosophy: An

Introduction

EDSA700: Unit 4
 What is philosophy?
• The term comes from the Greek word Philein which means to
love, strive after or search for, and from the word Sophia which
means wisdom (Ogwora, et.al. 2013:95)
• It is therefore the search for wisdom, and in so doing the
search for the reality
• It recognises three kinds of realities, namely God, Universe and
Man (Ogwora, et.al. 2013:95)
• It goes right back to Plato who asked questions like whether
goodness and virtue can be taught, what constitutes knowledge
and what constitutes teaching and learning (Higgs &
Smith,2017:vii)
 Philosophy and the Curriculum
• Ogwora et.al. (2013:95) outline the relationship between
philosophy and education, or rather the curriculum
• They regard particular philosophies as the foundation of
educational practices: so, philosophy is the theory and
education is the practical implementation of this theory
• The word Curriculum comes from the Latin word curro which
means to run, so it is associated with a race course
• So, depending on the beliefs of the particular philosophy, the
curriculum will be designed accordingly, and meter out its
structure in accordance with a particular philosophical view e.g.
outcomes based education
• The curriculum has a philosophical, historical, psychological and
social foundation
• From its philosophical orientation, curriculum goals and
learning objectives are formed so it prescribes what schools do
e.g. subjects, contents, methodologies, materials
• There is also a political link, and so over time, educational
philosophies are continually constructed and reconstructed e.g.
education during the Apartheid era vs in recent times in SA
• Heywood (2003:5) speaks to the ideologies of a political
regime, namely that it is:
oA political belief system
oAn action-oriented set of political ideas
oThe ideas of the ruling class
oThe world view of a particular social class or group
The psychological basis of the curriculum
• There are several psychological views that influence what we
focus on in the curriculum:
oBehaviourist psychology
Organised, sequenced, step-by-step process
oCognitive psychology
How new learning is processed and interpreted
Problem solving, thinking skills, reflective thinking, critical thinking,
constructivism
oHumanist psychology
Learners can develop their human potential and learners engage
with new learning
oSocial psychology
Learners do not learn in a vacuum but as part of societal norms
Philosophy and Educational Policy
• Educational policy refers to the collection of laws and rules that
govern the operation of education systems (Ogwara et.al., 2013:97)
• It dictates how the school system runs: this is based on the
philosophy that is followed and how it influences aims and goals of
the Education System
• Plato suggests that learners should be separated from parents so
that they can learn from their teachers who would promote talents
• Immanuel Kant claimed that children learn through doing
• Aristotle asserts that human nature, habit and reason are important
aspects and should be developed in education
 Philosophy, educational objectives and goals

• Educational objectives are targets to be achieved at the end of

a course of study
• They are the action statements related to the goals of an
educational view
• Underlying values and having critical awareness are also
important when setting these objectives: these are all framed by
the philosophy
• Goals are the broad aims of the philosophy used in educational
planning e.g. Montessori
Philosophy, vision and mission of education
• Vision is what is intended to be achieved
• Mission is the way to achieve it
• The ideals, values and beliefs are a powerful vision (Ogwara,
et.al., 2013:98)
• The mission statement gives the motivation for the school values
• The philosophy will guide the formulation of appropriate goals,
set the vision and then the mission will develop from there
Philosophy underpins all educational ideals
• Education and philosophy have a relationship
• Philosophy is the theory, education is the activation of that theory
• Philosophy is reflective, education is action
• Philosophy gives vision and direction, education will draw from
that
• Philosophy is the way of looking at life, nature and truth,
education is how to realise the ideals of life
• Philosophy guides and inspires education, education builds the
child in accordance with the particular philosophy
• Philosophy and the people determine what education will value
• Methodologies are framed by the philosophy
Philosophy as life theory
• Philosophy is what we base our lives on: each of us has his/her
own philosophy of life (life theory) and lives in accordance
with that
• Just like philosophy influences education, it also influences our
own lives: what do we believe is truth and wisdom, how do we
understand knowledge?
• We could be influenced by a variety of philosophies which we
will be studying in this unit
• Whatever our personal philosophy is as well as what the
Education System’s philosophy is will determine our classroom
philosophy and our own view about education as a whole
Consider your own personal life philosophy
• What gives your life meaning? What motivates you?
• Do you believe that your life has a purpose?
• What are your core beliefs about what the truth is?
• Do you believe that there is a Higher Power in your life?
• What are your values?
• How do your ideas measure up to what is considered as ideal in
modern society?

Do this activity for yourself as it will help you to consolidate your

own philosophical beliefs before you start looking at the variety
that we will be discussing.
References
• Heywood, A. 2003. Political ideologies. 1st edn. New York: Graw-
Hill.
• Higgs, P. and Smith, J. 2017. Philosophy of Education Today. 2nd
edn. Cape Town: Juta.
• Ogwora, E., Kuria, G., Nyamwaka, E. and Nyakan, B. 2013.
‘Philosophy as a Key Instrument in Establishing Curriculum,
Educational Policy, Objectives, Goals of Education, Vision and
Mission of Education’. Journal of Education and Practice. 4(11):
95-101.