PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

1. PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION Teachers,Schools,andSociety A Brief Introduction to Education David Miller Sadker Karen R. Zittleman Chapter 6

2. Philosophy of Education • Philosophy - is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. • Philosophy of Education (elements) – • Epistemology: What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? How did we acquire that knowledge? Only through Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling? Prove it! = Empiricism • or through reasoning, logic and philosophy that we maybe cannot sense? = Rationalism

3. Philosophy of Education • Axiology: influence of values, beliefs and ethics on learning. What do we value? • Now Add: Metaphysics: • What is real? Is reality only composed of matter that we can sense? =Materialism – Aristotle “common sense and the natural sciences” • But you cannot see God, so is he/she real? Maybe the physical world is only an illusion! =Spiritualism or Idealism

4. Philosophy of Education • Or is the reality of the world comprised of both materialism and idealism? -Dualism from Descartes (“I think therefore I am”) called Cartesian Dualism • Dialectical Materialism – Marx scaffolds Hegel with Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis - is part of the basis for Communism including the theory of Economic Determinism/Class Struggle

5. Five Major Philosophies of Education • First review your interpretations of your own philosophy of education from page 186 • PAUSE Teacher-Centered Philosophies • Essentialism – Bagley, Hirsch • Perennialism – Hutchins, Adler

6. ESSENTIALISM • EMPHASIS ON RIGOROUS ACADEMICS • PROMOTION BASED ON MASTERY OF MATERIAL • CURRICULUM DETERMINED BY ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS • Back to Basics! Common, “core” curriculum for all, “A Nation at Risk,” teacher is intellectual and moral role model. We must educate the “whole child.”

7. PERENNIALISM • FOCUS ON CLASSICAL IDEAS, DEVELOP THE MIND, SOCRATIC METHOD OF QUESTIONING/CHALLENGING • DEVELOP REASON AND MORAL QUALITIES • EMPHASIS ON HUMANITIES AND THE GREAT BOOKS OF ARISTOTLE, DARWIN, DICKENS, MARX, PLATO, THE BIBLE, CHAUCER, MELVILLE, PLATO • LITTLE FLEXIBILITY IN TEACHER DEVELOPED CURRICULUM • FOCUS ON CONCEPTS RATHER THAN FACTS • EMPHASIS ON LEARNING FOR LEARNING’S SAKE (brain = muscle)

8. Five Major Philosophies of Education Student-Centered Philosophies • Progressivism – Dewey • Social Reconstructivism - Counts (student of Dewey), Paulo Reglus Neves Freire • Existentialism – A.S. Neil

9. PROGRESSIVISM • EDUCATION BASED ON NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF STUDENTS • STUDENTS LEARN BY DOING AS WELL AS FROM TEXTBOOKS • TEACHING THROUGH FIELD TRIPS AND GAMES • EMPHASIS ON NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES • EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING • GROUPING BY INTEREST AND ABILITIES

10. SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONISM • PHYSICAL WORLD AS THE BASIS OF REALITY • LEARN FROM MEANINGFUL SOCIAL EXPERIENCES • LEARN BY RECONSTRUCTING SOCIETY TO MEET EVOLVING NEEDS AT TIMES IN *CONFLICT WITH THE STATUS QUO, ANTI SOCIAL DARWINISM (class struggle), ADVOCATES OF THE POOR, EQUALITY OF EDUCATION FOR RICH AND POOR IS A GOAL • BECOME INTELLIGENT PROBLEM SOLVERS, ENJOY LEARNING, LIVE COMFORTABLY IN AND RESHAPE THE WORLD

11. EXISTENTIALISM • Definition: The conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts. • All must be considered for the overall health of the individual. • Soren Kierkegaard – father of Existentialism • Viktor Frankl – logo therapy (existential vacuum leads to personal collapse) man must have meaning in life to survive and thrive

12. EXISTENTIALISM • EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUALITY • STUDENTS DETERMINE WHAT IS TRUE, RIGHT, BEAUTIFUL • HELPING STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THEMSELVES • TEACHERS EXPOSE STUDENTS TO VARIOUS PATHS: STUDENTS CHOOSE WHICH TO FOLLOW • HUMANITIES EMPHASIZED MATH AND SCIENCE DEEMPHASIZED • RARELY FOUND IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, NO GRADING SYSTEM • A.S. Neil’s Summerhill

13. Psychology’s Additional Influences on American Education • Constructivism – knowledge must be constructed by each person, you cannot effectively transfer knowledge. Piaget and theory of cognitive development through interaction. Genetic epistemology. Four stages of development. Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning. • Behavioralism – free will is an illusion. Humans are shaped entirely by their environment. B.F. Skinner and behavior modification, moving students from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation through rewarding proper behavior. (Rats and pellets). Alter the environment to promote learning.

14. CONSTRUCTIVISM • CENTERED ON THE LEARNER’S GROWTH • CONSTANT NEED TO MAKE SENSE OF NEW INFORMATION • “SCAFFOLDING” LINKS NEW INFORMATION TO OLD • STUDENT AND TEACHER CONSTANTLY CHALLENGE EXISTING ASSUMPTIONS

15. Benjamin Bloom • Refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy Handout

16. BEHAVIORISM • VIEWS FREE WILL AS AN ILLUSION • REALITY BASED ONLY ON SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION • POSITIVE REWARDS ENCOURAGE DESIRED BEHAVIOR • CURRICULUM IS BASED ON INCREMENTAL LEARNING • CURRICULUM IS CONTROLLED BY SCHOOL PERSONNEL

17. Other Influences on American Education • Ethnocentrism – Western influences are predominant in America. Other cultures? (Extreme is xenophobia) • Informal Education – formal teaching and informal teaching, showing “how to” • Verbal (non-reading) traditions – stories, survival, values, “the way”

18. Forming your own Philosophy of Education as a Teacher • What do you believe is/are the purpose(s) of American Education? • What content/skills should be taught at your school? • Should students or teachers direct learning? • How should schools teach this content and skills? • How should learning be measured? • Should everyone have access to education? • Can everyone actually learn? • What can you do to create the proper learning environment in your classroom – in your school to maximize learning?

19. EndEDUC 110Dr. Jackson