Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Chapter 3 - Philosophies of Schooling

CHAPTER 3–PHILOSOPHIES OF SCHOOLINGPAGE 81

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CHAPTER 3

PHILOSOPHIES OF SCHOOLING

Copyright 2005William KritsonisAll Rights Reserved / Forever

SCHOOLING (2002)PAGE 82


WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY?

Many individuals have a philosophy embedded in their subconscious minds. Although one does not realize altogether that certain beliefs follow a selected philosophic approach, individual actions parallel certain philosophies more than others. The following medium offers information concerning personal philosophic beliefs so that a basic understanding can be obtained and a per-sonal philosophy developed. Please answer the following statements on the an-swer sheet at the end of this section utilizing the scale:

StronglyDisagree Disagree Neutral Agree

StronglyAgree

|--------1------------------2------------------3-----------------4------------------5-------|

1. The subjects of a school are the most important feature of an education.2. Schools should promote a teacher-centered environment in order to en-

courage effective learning.3. Education is a prerequisite for a student to understand life’s intentions.4. What students are taught should be determined solely by student interest

and input.5. The deductive approach is the most effective method of teaching any sub-

ject to students.6. Universal truth is an individual perception.7. If it happens, it is real.8. Disregard the past and you are destined to repeat it.9. A school’s curriculum should be determined by the specific needs of each

community, where content is designed for the betterment of each student.10. Education should focus strongly on the development of reasoning skills of

students.11. Curricular content should center primarily on the scientific method for re-

solving dilemmas.12. Students should be free to explore their interests in whatever fashion they

desire.13. The climate in which one lives solely defines one’s behavior.14. All children can learn the same thing, but not at the same rate.15. Students should be placed in classrooms according to their individual

abilities.16. All reform movements in education are basically the same.17. The curriculum for students should contain a specific nucleus of informa-

tion that is indigenous for all literate people.18. Ethical behavior and morality should be incorporated into a student’s

learning process.


19. The curriculum of a school should not be decided by a small circle of school officials, but by all involved parties within the community.

20. What is real is perceived differently by individuals, therefore no two things can be the same.

21. Learning by specified programs of material in sequence is paramount to a child’s education.

22. Teachers need to give more individual assistance in the classroom.23. Students with a mental disability cannot learn the same subject matter as

regular students and should not be placed in a regular classroom environ-ment.

24. Money is not the total answer to increased student achievement.25. Learning to read proficiently is the solution to the educational dilemma.26. Each individual in society must attain a specified body of knowledge to

function properly.27. Student needs, experiences, and interests should be the determining factor

when designing a school’s curriculum.28. A school’s curriculum should contain more electives for students to

choose.29. A complete curricular analysis for effective teaching should include

scope, sequence, articulation, pacing, and, most importantly, reward or re-inforcement.

30. All teachers have an underlying concern for students and the learning process.

31. Effective education begins at the home.32. Traditional education of the 1950s should be reinstated in the school cur-

riculum.33. Teachers should not teach in areas where their proficiency is below aver-

age.34. More emphasis should be placed on “The Great Men” and “The Great

Books” of past civilizations.35. The curriculum should be entirely a hands-on, practical approach.36. Student achievement cannot take place in a traditional, lecture-oriented

format.37. The environment is a tangible place where material is a solid representa-

tion of what is.38. Students learn best in a one-on-one basis.39. Students, teachers, parents, and administrators should decide solely on the

curricular structure of a school.40. What works in one environment does not necessarily work in another.41. There should be a distinct division of subject matter, not the consolidated

collection presently advocated.


42. Art/music appreciation should stress past contributions rather than practi-cal applications.

43. The teacher’s sole function in the classroom should be to guide students through problem-solving situations.

44. A school environment should nurture students to find their roles in soci-ety.

45. Fool me once, shame on you–fool me twice, shame on me.46. Children are born with universal knowledge and it is the teacher’s job to

bring forth that knowledge.47. The universe is made from scientific laws and the scientific process is de-

signed to explain our existence.48. If it works, it is true.49. Enculturation is the primary function of education.50. A school’s curriculum should concentrate on long-range goals, not on im-

mediate concerns.51. A student should feel free to be inventive and communicate inner curiosi-

ties without the threat of reprimand.52. Individuals are first an introvert and second an extrovert.53. The scientific approach is the best approach to effectively understand ex-

plained and unexplained phenomenon.54. Reality is what one believes.55. Teachers should always adapt and should be flexible in the learning envi-

ronment.56. We learn best from experience.57. A strict, proven curricular format is necessary to ensure proper learning.58. Even though students learn at different rates, every student should be ex-

posed to the same learning material.59. School environments should be void of any autocracy by the teachers

and/or administration.60. Every child evolves at a different rate, both physically and mentally, and

should be free, without interference, to do so.61. Students learn best when given an incentive or reward.62. Students know what they need to know and should follow their beliefs.63. Teachers are in the best position to determine appropriate learning activi-

ties.64. Our past dictates our future.65. Students do not do enough outside assignments for effective exposure to

the subject matter.66. The Socratic method of questioning should be utilized more in the class-

room to cultivate critical thinking skills.67. Student-to-student interaction is the best learning method.


68. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” because there is no standardized scale for measuring beauty.

69. Moral and ethical values are not inborn traits, but learned processes.70. Perceptions are everything in learning.71. Student success is a product of his/her environment regardless of intellec-

tual capability.72. Field trips should be utilized more often to enhance the learning process.73. All teachers of a given subject should teach the same content in order to

establish continuity of learning.74. Students learn by themselves under direct supervision of the teacher.75. Students learn better when grouped together than when separated for indi-

vidual investigation.76. Having a child feel good about himself/herself is more important than

what he/she learns.77. Standardized tests are the best measures of student achievement.78. There is no universal standard to describe beauty except in what one per-

ceives.79. A structured curriculum is best for students to learn.80. I hear and I forget–I see and I remember–I do and I understand.


ANSWER SHEET

Place each numbered response for the corresponding questions in the appropri-ate space below.

Scale

StronglyDisagree Disagree Neutral Agree

StronglyAgree

|--------1------------------2------------------3-----------------4------------------5-------|

A B C D E F G H

1.____ 2.____ 3.____ 4.____ 5.____ 6.____ 7.____ 8.____

9.____ 10.____ 11.____ 12.____ 13.____ 14.____ 15.____ 16.____

17.____ 18.____ 19.____ 20.____ 21.____ 22.____ 23.____ 24.____

25.____ 26.____ 27.____ 28.____ 29.____ 30.____ 31.____ 32.____

33.____ 34.____ 35.____ 36.____ 37.____ 38.____ 39.____ 40.____

41.____ 42.____ 43.____ 44.____ 45.____ 46.____ 47.____ 48.____

49.____ 50.____ 51.____ 52.____ 53.____ 54.____ 55.____ 56.____

57.____ 58.____ 59.____ 60.____ 61.____ 62.____ 63.____ 64.____

65.____ 66.____ 67.____ 68.____ 69.____ 70.____ 71.____ 72.____

73.____ 74.____ 75.____ 76.____ 77.____ 78.____ 79.____ 80.____


SCORING

Step 1

Total points for each column and place in the appropriate blank below.

A____ B____ C____ D____ E____ F____ G____ H____

Step 2

Place the total of each column in the corresponding blanks below.

Major Philosophic Off-Shoots Major Philosophies

Column A = ____ Essentialist Column E = ____ Behaviorist

Column B = ____ Perennialist Column F = ____ Idealist

Column C = ____ Progressivist Column G = ____ Realist

Column D = ____ Existentialist Column H = ____ Pragmatist

Scores indicate your agreement or disagreement with a particular philosophical point of view. The highest score indicates a more prominent consensus and the lowest score indicates a more prominent conflict. The highest possible score for any philosophical category is 50 and the lowest possible score is 10.

Comparing the scores on the left to the scores on the right will offer an interest-ing perspective concerning original philosophic views to the philosophic off-shoots. The participant is directed to corresponding sections within the text for a review of philosophic convictions.


PHILOSOPHIES OF SCHOOLING

KEY POINTS

1. Philosophy is not a science; it is an attempt to understand the world.

2. Educational philosophy is the application of formal philosophy to the field of education.

3. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with ultimate reality; epistemology focuses on knowledge, and axiology deals with the study of values.

4. Idealism, the philosophy of Plato, focuses on the search for truth.

5. Realism, the philosophy of Aristotle, supports the notion that knowledge can be gained through the senses and from deductive reasoning.

6. Pragmatism is an American philosophy that is associated with human ex-perience; John Dewey was a prominent pragmatist.

7. Existentialism, an individualized philosophy, represents a radical departure from other schools of philosophy and focuses on the individual.

8. Perennialism is an educational philosophy developed from realism, while the educational philosophy of essentialism is the basis for the back-to-the-basics movement in education.

9. Progressivism is associated with problem-solving techniques, while recon-structionism focuses on social reform.

10. Basic philosophy and educational philosophy are directly related to what occurs in school classrooms.

11. Philosophy directly impacts on curriculum and teaching practices.

12. Some philosophies encourage a highly structured curriculum with close student monitoring, while others focus on limited structure and wide free-doms for students.


CHAPTER 3–PHILOSOPHIES OF SCHOOLING

A. OVERVIEW

This chapter provides basic information regarding philosophy and educational philosophy. It begins by discussing the basic philosophies, such as idealism and realism, and then moves into a discussion of specific educational philosophies.

B. KEY TERMS–DEFINITIONS

ANALYTICAL - allows the use of language to analyze words; currently the dominating activity of American and British philosophers; given to studying a problem by breaking it down into its various parts.

ANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY - philosophy based on analytical activity.

AXIOLOGY - area of philosophy that focuses on values.

BEHAVIORAL ENGINEERING - a philosophy of education that focuses on controlling the learner’s environment.

BEHAVIORISM - educational philosophy and practice that emphasized rein-forcing appropriate behavior or learning: includes the concepts of stimulus and response.

ECLECTIC - selecting what appears to be the best doctrines, methods, styles, or philosophies.

EPISTEMOLOGY - deals with knowledge; therefore, directly related to the in-structional methods employed by teachers.

ESSENTIALISM - area of philosophy that believes a common core of knowl-edge and ideals should be the focus of the curriculum.

EXISTENTIALISM - philosophy that emphasizes individuals and individual decision-making.

IDEALISM - a philosophy that emphasizes global ideas related to moral teach-ings.

METAPHYSICS - the branch of philosophy that deals with ultimate reality.

ONTOLOGY - the study of what is real; the primary focus of metaphysics dealing with what is real about material objects, the universe, persons, being, mind, existence, and so forth. Hard core reality.

PERENNIALISM - educational philosophy that believes in the existence of unchanging universal truths.

PRAGMATISM - philosophy that focuses on practical application of knowledge.


PRESCRIPTIVE - attempts to establish standards for assessing values, judg-ing conduct and appraising art: ordered with the force of authority.

PROGRESSIVISM - educational philosophy emphasizing experience.

RECONSTRUCTIONISM - educational philosophy calling for schools to get involved and support social reform.

SPECULATIVE - considerate of possibilities and probabilities; philosophy is a search for orderliness applied to all knowledge; it applies systematic thinking to everything that exists.

SYNOPTIC - providing a general summary of data collected at many points to present an overview.

SYNTHESIS - assembling various parts into a whole; reasoning from self-evi-dent propositions, laws or principles to arrive by a series of deductions at what one seeks to establish; enables educators to see the relationship of ideas to practice.

C. SOME PRECEDING THOUGHTS

1. What is Philosophy?

Philosophy is the human being’s attempt to think most speculatively, re-flectively, and systematically about the universe and the relationship to that universe.

Philosophy presents no proof; there are no theorems; there are no ques-tions that can be answered with yes or no.

2. Why should educational philosophy be studied by prospective teachers?

Studying educational philosophy can help teachers and other educators fo-cus on questions that are speculative, prescriptive, and analytical; it can help enlarge thoughts so better personal choices can be made; it helps in self-evaluation of beliefs and self-knowledge.

3. What is the purpose of educational philosophy?

The major role of philosophy in education is to help develop the educator’s thinking capacity.

4. What are the three branches of philosophy?

Metaphysics–deals with ultimate reality.

Epistemology–deals with the nature of knowledge.

Axiology–the study of values.


5. What are the major schools of philosophy?

Idealism–certain universal absolute concepts.

Realism–work is governed by various laws, known or unknown.

Pragmatism–primarily an American philosophy; scientific analysis, learn-ing through experience.

Existentialism–believe students should control much of what goes on.

6. What are the major schools of educational philosophy?

Perennialism–a developed form of realism; the universal aim of education is truth.

Essentialism–the three R’s should be the core of the curriculum.

Progressivism–do not believe there is a need to search for eternal truths: emphasizes innovative education.

Reconstructionism–calls for schools to get involved with and support so-cial reform.

Behaviorism–manipulating people through the use of punishment and re-ward.

Behavioral Engineering–control the learner’s environment to condition re-sponses.

7. Which schools of general philosophy gave rise to schools of educa-tional philosophy?

Idealism–Reconstructionism.

Realism–Perennialism.

Pragmatism–Progressivism, Essentialism.

Existentialism–Pseudo or Authentic.

8. What is the role of teachers?

Just about anyone can read a teacher’s guide and present information in a sensible order. Understanding why it is presented in a particular way, if it should be presented in a particular way, or if it should be presented at all requires a different kind of knowledge.

9. How does educational philosophy influence teachers’ actions?

Philosophy impacts education through both teaching methods and curricu-lum. While some teachers use a hodgepodge approach to teaching, most consistently adhere to a certain philosophical approach, even though they may not realize it. Their methods and curriculum usually can be associated with a specific school of philosophy.


10. What is your philosophy of life?

Philosophic Questions Branches of Philosophy

Are human beings basically good or is the essential nature of the human being evil?

What is the nature of reality?(Metaphysics–ontology)

What causes certain events in the universe to happen?

What is the nature of reality?(Metaphysics–cosmology)

What is your relationship to the uni-verse?

What is the nature of reality?(Metaphysics–cosmology)

What is your relationship to a higher being (God)?


To what extent is your life basically free?


How is reality determined? What is the nature of reality?(Metaphysics–ontology)

What is your basic purpose in life? What is the nature of reality?(Metaphysics–ontology)

How is knowledge determined? What is the nature of knowledge?(Epistemology)

What is truth? What is the nature of knowledge?(Epistemology)

What are the limits of knowledge? What is the nature of knowledge?(Epistemology)

What is the relationship between cognition and knowledge?

What is the nature of knowledge?(Epistemology)

Are certain moral or ethical values universal?

What is the nature of values?(Axiology–ethics)

How is beauty determined? What is the nature of values?(Axiology–aesthetics)

What constitutes aesthetic value? What is the nature of values?(Axiology–aesthetics)

Who determines what is right, just, or good?

What is the nature of values?(Axiology–ethics)


11. What are two essential needs individuals need to fulfill?

1. To love and be loved.

2. To feel worthwhile to self and others.

12. What are the elements of Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues?

1. Temperance – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. Silence – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid tri-fling conversation.

3. Order – Let all your things have their place; let each part of your busi-ness have its time.

4. Resolution – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail-ing what you resolve.

5. Frugality – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. Industry – Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. Justice – Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. Moderation – Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. Cleanliness – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

11. Tranquility – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or un-avoidable.

12. Chastity – Rarely use “very” but for health or offspring, never to dull-ness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputa-tion.

13. Humility – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Franklin attempted to take each of the above weekly and could repeat the cycle four times yearly. By the end of thirteen weeks he was im-plementing all thirteen.


D. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. What is your philosophy of education?

2. Relate your philosophy of education to a formal, general philosophy, and an educational philosophy.

3. How does your philosophy of education impact your behavior in the class-room?


E. REVIEW ITEMS

True-False1. Educational philosophy is rooted in general philosophy.

2. The three main branches of philosophy are Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Axiology.

3. Plato is considered the father of Idealism.

4. The bases of Pragmatism lie in the progressive movement in the United States.

5. Progressivism is based on the search for eternal truths.

Multiple Choice1. The form of philosophy that establishes standards for assessing values,

judging content, and appraising art is _______.

a. analytic b. speculative c. prescriptive d. synthetic

2. The branch of philosophy that focuses on knowledge is _______.

a. Metaphysics b. Epistemology c. Axiologyd. Pragmatism

3. The most American philosophy is _______.

a. Idealism b. Realism c. Pragmatism d. Existentialism

4. Perennialism, like _______, holds that subject matter should be the center of education.

a. Existentialism b. Realism c. Essentialismd. all of the above

5. The emphasis in synoptic philosophy is in _______.

a. seeing relationships b. discerning a gestaltc. removing inconsistencies d. all of the above

F. PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION – A Penetrating AnalysisSource: Kritsonis, W.A., & DeMoulin, D. (1996). Philosophies of education. Ashland, OH: BookMasters,

Inc. Adapted with special permission.

1. Foreword on Philosophies of Education.

Education operates under the scrutiny of every leader and every citizen. All societies support education in some way, although not with the same intensity. Schools are the reflections of a nation. Education affects each


nation’s society and determines the status of the masses, as well as the sta-tus of the individuals.

In early times, education was a means for survival; children were taught the necessary skills for living. Philosophers were sources of knowledge and wisdom. Although they did not provide specific answers, philosophers offered avenues for serious inquiry into ideas and traditions in rationaliz-ing human actions. They suggested that solving problems could be achieved through critical and reflective thought, and the pursuit of wis-dom.

Educational philosophy is a way of examining ideas, proposals, and rec-ommendations for learning and how best to use them in the educational setting. Philosophy of education, therefore, is the application of ideas or idea systems to educational problems. The study of philosophy helps edu-cators understand the best avenues for success, realizing that no clear-cut answers to philosophical problems are provided. It does not guarantee bet-ter thinkers or educators; however, it does provide assistance in thinking more clearly. The roles of philosophy include:

a. to examine critically the intellectual tools of any given era;

b. to suggest alternative methods of thinking;

c. to develop sensitivity to the logic and language we use in constructing solutions to problems in education and society.

The purpose of this section is to serve the reader as a basic guide for better understanding philosophy.

2. Philosophical Thoughts of Encouragement.

When you get into a tight place and it seems you can’t go on . . . hold on for that’s just the place and the time when the tide will turn.

Harriet Beecher Stowe

The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide. Unknown

If there is no wind, row. Unknown

He only never fails who never attempts. Unknown

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fall. Confucius

3. Introduction to Philosophies of Education.

People express opinions and maintain certain beliefs concerning what is right and what is good. These opinions have remained in a state of debate and occasionally in a state of confusion concerning interpretation.

Individual philosophers have left supportive, yet contradictory marks throughout the slow and tedious climb of philosophical expression. Many


of these past thoughts and practices are operating in present-day educa-tional settings. We, as humans, are still searching for the ideal, workable system that will satisfy the present and will be flexible for the future.

The popular view of philosophy is perplexing. One side views philosophy in pure veneration and awe, while other sides view it with enjoyment or even suspicion. Also, the popular view has been obscured in many of the things philosophers themselves have expressed about philosophy.

The word “philosophy” comes from two Greek words meaning “love of wisdom.” Philosophy is a theoretical or logical analysis of the principles underlying conduct, thought, knowledge, and the nature of the universe. Philosophy is the belief system that a person develops concerning exis-tence, reality in the world, truth, knowledge, honesty, logic, ethics, thought processes, and aesthetics. In other words, a philosophy of life or education guides a person’s fundamental belief system that serves to help one answer life’s most perplexing questions.

What, then, is a good definition of philosophy? The answer to this question has been a heated debate for many centuries. Philosophy, like art, religion, or law, is difficult to define. Therefore, it is probably best to offer sample questions that philosophy tries to answer.

What constitutes the making of a good life? What constitutes universal law? Where do justice, morals, or beauty come into the picture? Where does truth fit into the scheme of things? And is there a reason for our exis-tence in the universe of knowledge?

These questions are by no means a finite list, but they do propose some of the perpetual inquiries pertaining to philosophy. One does not need to ex-plore philosophy in order to question certain viewpoints concerning nature, existence, or truth. These are questions that occur anytime, anyplace and often without advanced warning. This can lead many individuals to dis-cover similar viewpoints about basic ideas and/ or standards. Our primary pass-time, then, is to question the rights and privileges of others. This is what gives philosophy its fancy and interest, and it is also the basic reason why philosophy often provides the avenue for frequent upheaval in every-day happenings.

It is the nature of man, therefore, to pass the blame of life’s happenings to some outside force controlled by an unknown entity. However, some philosophers believe that happenings on this earth are products of previous conditions. Individuals like to think of things in a concrete manner, but as we know from science, matter is composed of concealed fields of force that do not exhibit familiar traits or function in ways that are accepted as


common occurrences. Does this phenomenon make our everyday experi-ence less meaningful?

Philosophy can be thought of as an ordered attempt to explain and arrange certain beliefs and to incorporate them into everyday functions. Every facet of knowledge has some sort of philosophical beginning, and asking philosophical questions is not limited to philosophers. Why should they have all the fun and excitement of trying to explain the functions of life?

There is no boundary for philosophical examinations, but philosophy is generally divided into the main groups of Ethics, Aesthetics, Logic, Episte-mology, Metaphysics, and Axiology.


a. Ethics – the study of what is morally good and right and the reasoning to explain our moral conduct. It is usually associated with the social and political aspects of life. Ethics and education are integrated in nu-merous ways. For example, ethical inquiries need to be examined to de-termine the intention of education; principals should behave ethically toward teachers and students; teachers and students should behave ethi-cally toward one another and to the principal; the educational environ-ment should be designed ethically to promote morally good and right behaviors, and so forth.

b. Aesthetics – deals with the question, “What is beauty?” It also pertains to the foundation on which judgment is based. Some individuals are able to articulate the encounters they are having as worthwhile because they provide moments of imaginatively enriched perceptions. Others are either unwilling or are incapable of interpreting the reasons for their enjoyment or displeasure; many times they are unsure of their feelings. They may find some immediate fulfillment but are incapable of articu-lating what they have experienced or of expressing those feelings into words.

c. Logic – relates to the development of a distinct set of practices and boundaries that allow the practitioners to express curiosities with a sense of exactness (thinking effectively). From these expressions, infer-ences can be created from given assumptions. Ambiguity is more or less illuminated from thought to allow a more powerful representative language to come through. The fire of logic is seen as a purifier of thought, fading into the depths of knowledge, and trying to uncover the meaning of certain claims about the universe and our existence (What do we believe? What should we do? What should we say? and so on).

d. Epistemology – concerns itself with what constitutes knowledge and how we arrive at it. It promotes the concept of each assisting others in attaining knowledge. Because each individual manifests certain knowl-edge capabilities, it is within our nature to uncover the best avenue to share that knowledge. This fundamental concept has an important bear-ing on how we think and act. Although such a simplistic view of knowledge is virtually impossible today, we have made significant at-tempts to investigate and understand knowledge. The broad definition of knowledge allows each individual the basis for judgment and critical reflection.


e. Metaphysics – the study of the most generic qualities of events. It is an attempt to provide theory or groups of rational principles that account for everything that exists. It is the study of the Being as a whole. The quarrel against the metaphysical belief is that it is sometimes consid-ered the most inclusive of all studies–describing the supreme character of things.

f. Axiology – the study of what is of value. It is an attempt to examine the rules of proper conduct. Societies reward or punish behavior as it devi-ates from or conforms to perceptions of what is of most value.

Whatever one may think of philosophy, it has maintained durability, if only in interest. Whether in an attack or a defense mode, it is likely to reveal basic views about the character of the universe and the basic re-sponsibilities regarding proper conduct for the essence of life.

In trying to make sense of the many different philosophical positions, one could spend an extreme amount of time in reflection. It does seem imperative, however, to become familiar with some of the philosophi-cal ideas that have impacted our past and that have set in motion the path of the future.

4. Activities for Philosophies of Education.

a. Activity 1

Write a basic definition of philosophy. In small groups, compare defi-nitions and try to reach a compromise on one basic definition.

b. Activity 2

Write a brief definition for the following areas.

Aesthetics

Logic

Epistemology

Metaphysics

Axiology

Share these definitions with others to see how they compare.


Out of your weakness shall come your strength. The Bible

The force of the waves is in their persistence. Gila Guri

Many strokes, though with a little axe, hews down and fells the hardest timbered oak. Shakespeare


Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Henry Ford

The greater the obstacle, the more the glory in overcoming it. Confucius

Home is not a place, it is a moment in time. Draw your strength from that moment in time. Annette Marchand

6. The Philosophies of Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism.

The world has been saturated with philosophical doctrines created mostly by individuals seeking to explain man’s role or existence. However, of the many philosophical approaches, only a select few cannot be traced. Hence, the majority of the Western philosophical views can be associated with four primary philosophies: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existen-tialism. These four views constitute the basis for explanation and discus-sion of other less prominent branches within this text.

a. The Influence of Socrates

No study of philosophy would be complete without mentioning Socrates. It was he who provided inspiration and guidance to others from his teachings.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher and teacher, and a controversial fig-ure in present-day interpretation of Greek thought. He was born in Athens about 469 BC, the son of a stone-mason and, for a time, prac-ticed the trade himself.

Material goods were unimportant for Socrates and he had little respect for social status. He left no writings of his own and probably never made any. All that is known about Socrates is taken from his finest stu-dents, Plato and Aristotle.

After Socrates became interested in philosophy, he began discussing it with anyone who would listen. He did not teach in an ordinary sense because he did not collect fees, give any formal instruction, hold any classes, or give any lectures. He simply asked questions and would dominate an argument at any time. His method of inquiry (Socratic questioning) allows the individual to seek answers otherwise not con-sidered. His influence is still a major factor in thought and in teaching.

People often asked his advice on matters of practical conduct and edu-cational problems. Socrates believed that he himself was an inquirer who knew nothing and had nothing to teach, but regarded every ques-tion as an open question and all ideas open to challenge. Although he was ready to converse with anyone, above all he welcomed the com-pany of the inquisitive youth. Socrates discussed only human concerns,


which included what makes humans good as individuals or as citizens. His discussions were much like cross-examinations.

Socrates asked questions to make people think about things they had taken for granted. He was the first to raise the problem of definition and always sought essence and demonstrative proofs. Socrates had a strong belief that virtue was knowledge. To Socrates, perfection was in the knowledge of good and evil. Pleasure was mistaken for good when it was not really good, according to Socrates and his friends. In this field of conduct, education was not teaching, it was opening the soul and clearing its vision from the distorting mists of prejudice and from the conceit of knowledge that is really no more than second-hand opin-ion. He was merely undermining the morality of obedience to authority and of conformity to custom. Socrates felt that ignorance left man no better than a slave.

Socrates concentrated on physical descriptions of the universe and moved forward to ethical and logical inquiries. He believed that a per-son should make the best of himself and then move on. Learning was not perceived as remembering answers but as searching for them. Self-control was very important to Socrates, as well as the study of language and rhetoric. Rhetoric and language were the keys to private and politi-cal success.

Socrates had many young friends. Because of his controversial meth-ods, Socrates was accused by his government of corrupting the minds of adolescents and also of introducing new gods to Athens. Socrates was condemned to die by drinking Hemlock; however, he could have avoided death if he chose to go into exile. He refused to do so and was said to have died in 399 BC. Socrates died believing that true self was not the body but the soul. In any case, his independence will always be admired.

b. The Basic Philosophy of Idealism

Idealism was the dominant philosophy of the thinkers of western civi-lizations during the latter half of the 19th century. Idealists believe that external reality must be understood through the medium of the human mind. When humans come into relationship with whatever exists, the human mind functions to grasp the nature of reality. The three key words of idealism are growth, imitation, and maturity. By imitating a model of behavior, we mature and grow toward an ideal that contains the perfection of virtues.


Idealism applies to any theory that views the world as being made up of mind, spirit, or reason. True knowledge to the idealist is a coherent, systematic interpretation of events. Values come as a result of an indi-vidual’s perception of attainment and enjoyment in his/her experiences. The idealist feels that to learn is to distinguish among values because some values are a matter of personal preference while others are abso-lute regardless of time, place, and circumstance.

The main goal of idealism is for the “finite person” to develop into an “infinite person.” One accomplishes this feat through the process of ed-ucation. The philosophy of an idealist education, therefore, is to culti-vate the personality. Education is seen as perfecting humanity in the image of an ideal. The aim is infinite, the process is endless and educa-tion is a means to an end.

There are many common grounds on which most idealists agree. Ideal-ists feel ultimate reality is of the same substance as ideals. Behind the astonishing world is an infinite Spirit or ideal that is both substructure and creator of the cosmos. Hence, Idealists believe that they are spirits, but that they are also finite.

Concerning knowledge, idealists believe that man can achieve truth by examining personal ideas and testing personal consistency. Value and meaning are obtained by relating parts as wholes.

Idealism is a mental approach to philosophy. One does not directly know circumstances around him/her. These formalities are conceived in relation to personal experience.

c. Major Contributors to Idealism

1. Formal Idealism

Plato. Plato is considered to be the first and foremost Idealist. Pla-tonic Idealism rests on the distinction between appearance and re-ality. Out of his analysis of this distinction grew his theory of ideas.

Plato has been often called the Prince of Philosophy due to certain fundamental questions that he explored. These questions are still being examined today. He lived from 427 BC to 346 BC, but many of the biographically important events in his life remain hidden or must be inferred from his writings. His lifetime corresponded with the Golden Age of Athenian democracy; a time of plagues, winless confrontations, and revolutions.

Plato came from a family of high distinction. However, the political environment exuded a counterrevolutionary tone where democracy


was synonymous with corruption and the class system. It was at this time that Plato concluded that mankind would find no cessation from evil until either the real philosophers gain political control or else the politicians become, by some miracle, real philosophers.

One of the great influences on the life of Plato was the life and teachings of Socrates. However, Plato altered the Socratic faith as much as it altered him, modifying this Socratic ideal of philosophy into a new Platonic system.

Plato believed that these formal structures, grasped by the mind alone, were more knowable and more real than the changeable ma-terial objects that are grasped through the senses. He emphasized that men should concern themselves with the search for truth be-cause truth is, in essence, perfect and eternal. He considered mathe-matics as an eternal truth because it represents one area that people can agree. It also represents a balance that approaches the ideal in the world of chaos.

Plato believed that critical discussion (dialectic) helps one move to-ward the Good (considered to be the source of all true knowledge) by advancing from mere opinion to true knowledge. Dialectic pro-vides the impetus to examine both sides of an issue. Through dia-logue, Plato felt that individuals would come closer to agreement, therefore closer to the truth.

The Platonic aim of developing the power of reason is evident in our educational system. Plato believed that proper education super-sedes law. There would be no need to dictate laws to humans of good breeding, for they will find out for themselves what regula-tions would be needed. Good breeding develops through a sound educational system that produces reasonable humans. Once such a system is established, each repetition can lead to better humans until the ideal representation is reached for whom no laws are needed.

Plato believed that intelligence was determined genetically and that each person was born with a soul. This soul, either of gold, silver, or bronze determined his or her capacity to rise through the educa-tion system. He advocated strong censorship by the government to protect this ideal educational system from corruptive innovations. Education ideas in his Republic were never adopted and, at one point, some were labeled reactionary.

The rulers in Plato’s Republic were to be the steadiest, bravest, most handsome and most gifted for the task of governing. This elite


“Philosopher King” group would be sifted from the masses at dif-ferent levels of the educational program. This system incorporated a ruling group of gold, an administrative group of silver and the free laboring class of bronze–following his concept of predetermined in-telligence. Since one’s composition would be determined by birth rites, only the elite would be educated to the task of ruling. Their education would continue throughout their lifetimes to fit them best for their specialty. Others would not be given the opportunity for such an advanced education.

This scenario is extremely out of line with modern principles of democracy. Most Americans believe that all individuals should be educated for the task of governing, since America is of a “rule by the people” conviction. Plato would think it impossible for all indi-viduals to be capable of ruling and making choices. He might have speculated that instead of one class of elite rulers, Americans have been led to believe that the majority of people help establish the continuity of the country when, in reality, only a hand full of indi-viduals actually control the power. Plato advocated that when the people falsely believe that they can think for themselves, they be-come even more susceptible to propaganda and advertising.

Plato would argue that, since we believe that special talent and spe-cial training are required for mastery of the arts and crafts, we should also see the need for such mastery in our leaders. This line of reasoning seems convincing, and it is one area that is impossible to disprove. Nevertheless, one can point to the greatness and longevity of American democracy as a practical example of the benefit of education of the masses.

The writings of Plato are historically divided into three periods. The dialogues occupy the first period. These writings exemplify the Socratic method in that the definitions of general notions are given. A dialogue may take the question, “What is beauty” and explore many facets of it, answering in tones of philosophical grandeur.

The middle-period writings are filled with lively dramatizations and argumentation. During this phase, Plato began to espouse a positive, philosophical doctrine. The Republic, perhaps Plato’s most well-known work, is found here.

The third period concerns itself with sophisticated issues. The writ-ings consider grammatical and semantic matters. Questions of truth and falsehood abound.


As history unfolds itself, it is clear the middle period of Plato’s life contained the most dramatic philosophies. He developed the view of an ideal society or state and devoted substantial space to the ends and means of education. Some historians think that the Republic is a blueprint for a totalitarian state, but educators have hailed it as the foundation for advanced education.

Plato managed to separate the world of things, as they are, from the world of ideas where things are perfect. He believed the ultimate end of all education is insight into the harmonious order of the whole world. In other words, the main role of education is to de-velop the ability to bring to consciousness the knowledge hidden within the soul. True knowledge, therefore, is not perceived by the senses, but is discovered by reason. Plato sees the sensory world as continually changing and not as eternal.

Consequently, Plato established within his curriculum subjects that he thought would accomplish his desired aim. He held that geome-try, arithmetic, astronomy, music, and solid geometry were the sub-jects that held the power of turning the soul’s eye from the material world to objects of pure thought. These areas were the only true sci-ences to him. The natural sciences were not justified because the sensory world could not hold exact and eternal truths.

2. Religious Idealism

Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine, a Roman Catholic, believed that we should release ourselves from the world of Man and enter into the world of God. He proposed the use of meditation and faith as the means to the end. This classification can be tied to Eastern phi-losophy since the Judeo-Christian faith is characterized by ultimate reality in God with the soul as the bridge to this ultimate reality.

The Roman Catholic church was influenced by the philosophy of Idealism. The concern of the church was that mankind inherited the sin of Adam and was continuously engaged in a struggle to regain purity. Augustine emphasized that the world of God is the Good to which Plato referred. He believed that the world of Man is the mate-rial world of darkness, sin, ignorance and suffering and man should try to enter the world of God through meditation and faith. This, he concluded, is because knowledge was created by God and can only be found trying to find God.


3. Subjective Idealism

George Berkeley. George Berkeley (1685-1753) is thought to have introduced subjective Idealism to the world. Berkeley, an Episcopal minister, related that matter did not exist except through the mind. All knowledge that a human has of an object is his/her sensations of it. He argued that ideas exist only in human consciousness.

Berkeley believed that all existence was dependent on some mind to comprehend it and that nothing would exist unless it was perceived by God; there was no existence without this perception. The ideas and spirit had been profaned by science that created atheists. His purpose was to prove that God is the true cause of all things.

4. Absolute Idealism

George Wilhelm Friedreich Hegel. George Wilhelm Friedreich Hegel (1770-1831) promoted this branch of philosophy. Hegel was a German-born philosopher and one of the most influential thinkers of recent times. Hegel considered evil necessary to stimulate change in order to bring about God. Thus, the human mind grows and the world improves. In a contended state, there is insufficient contradic-tion to stimulate improvement.

Hegel believed that humankind was made for achievement, not for happiness to achieve. For this belief, humans should be willing to risk revolution. Convinced that “the times make the man,” Hegel was confident that a leader would arise to synthesize the forces and to bring harmony out of chaos.

Hegel affirmed that logic, nature, and spirit were necessary to his belief and that thought was a continuum and not a series of unions. He suggested that nature is the difference between value and fact and he did not view logic and nature as separate. He believed that spirit was the final absolute and the final end toward which anyone can move (search for the Absolute Spirit).

5. Modern Idealism

Josiah Royce. Modern Idealism can be traced to Josiah Royce (1855-1916) and Herman Harrell Horne (1874-1946). Royce was a spokesman for Hegelian Idealism and maintained that the external meaning of a thing depends entirely on its internal meaning–an em-bodiment of purpose. This internal essence is all mental. Royce be-lieved that ideas were purposes or plans of action that have been put into action and that one of the most important things for humans to develop is a sense of loyalty to moral principles and causes. He re-


garded a human’s purpose as teacher of how individuals can be-come active ingredients in the purposes of life.

Herman Harrell Horne. Herman Horne demonstrated a wide inter-est in questions of religion and education, and this interest was re-flected in the more than 20 publications bearing his name. He be-lieved that not only knowledge but also reality was idealistic rather than actual. Further, reality, if found only in reason, permits humans to reconcile contradictions into a more harmonious relationship throughout the universe.

Modern Idealism can be described as systematization and subjec-tivism. The belief is that matter cannot exist except as a form of mind.

6. Other Contributors

René Descartes. René Descartes (1596-1650) challenged the Catholic Doctrines. He searched for undoubtable ideas because of his methodical doubt of all things, including his existence. Descartes brought forth the idiom, “I think, therefore I am.” He em-phasized that any idea depended on other ideas because they re-ferred to another idea; the only idea that did not refer was the Per-fect Being (God), the source of all things. Descartes believed in two principles: Cogito, or the undoubtability of human thought; and De-ity, or the foundation of all objects of thought.

Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believed the ratio-nalist thinks analytically while the empiricist thinks synthetically. He considered the mind is conscious of the experience of the thing-in-itself and that each experience of a thing is one additional piece of knowledge about the total thing. All we know, he contended, is the content of experience.

Kant found it impossible to make universal and necessary judg-ments about human experience purely on rational and scientific grounds. He believed that man’s most difficult problem is educa-tion. He affirmed that each person should treat others as an end and never as a means. He viewed education as important because hu-mans were the only beings that needed it. The disciple was a pri-mary ingredient and the education of children was necessary to im-prove the future. Kant firmly established the need to teach a child to think according to principles and the importance for children to per-form their duties toward oneself and others.


7. Implications for Education

The educational philosophy of Idealism focuses on three concerns: (a) who should be responsible for education, (b) who should be taught, and (c) what should be the curriculum. The aim of education to the idealist is to assist in the development of the mind and self of the pupil, and to assist in attaining the good life of the Spirit. The schools are to emphasize intellectual activities, moral judgment, aesthetic judgment, self-realization, individual freedom, individual responsibility and self- control.

The curriculum must be based on the idea of the spiritual nature of humans and must draw on both sources of truth and right opinion for its subject matter. Truth is preserved in a literary intellectual in-heritance. This inheritance is characterized by performance and sta-bility. The prime purpose is to teach students to think—to teach skills that develop conceptual ability.

Education must preserve the subject matter content that is essential for the development of the individual mind. The chief characteris-tics are constant subjects, required subjects, individual differences, normative, cultural enrichment, and logical organization. Greater emphasis is placed on aesthetics. The actual content of the subject is less important than the teacher or purpose for which it is taught. Ev-ery human experience cannot be included in a school’s curriculum. This leaves educators to employ a process of selection and the school’s curriculum should contain the most rewarding, the most formative experiences. When students leave the school, they should be cultivated human beings ready to transcend the realm of nature to engage in the world of thought, ready to assume their obligations as good citizens and ready to see the beauty and hold in awe the mysteries of the universe. More than anything else, they will be per-sons ruled by thought.

To a great extent, the teacher is central in the idealist pattern of edu-cation. The teacher is more the key to the educative process than any other element comprising it. The teacher is in the singular posi-tion of determining what the student’s opportunities for learning and growing shall be.

Teachers must lead their students toward a fuller understanding of their own capacities, help them see more clearly what they may be-come as persons, and give them the confidence for realizing the vi-sions they have of themselves.


In schooling’s first years, idealists maintain, teachers come close to creating an educational environment for their students, but as learn-ing proceeds and as students become better equipped to meet learn-ing on their own terms, teachers should prudently withdraw. They should know when students need them and when they are better left alone.

The idealist teacher must possess:

a. a personification for the child;

b. knowledge of pupils;

c. excellent technical skills;

d. dexterity that commands the respect of the pupil;

e. friendship of the individual student;

f. the ability to awaken a desire to learn in each pupil;

g. a spiritual relationship with God in perfecting mankind;

h. the ability to communicate with his/her pupils;

i. the appreciation of the subjects he or she teaches.

Idealist teachers are tolerant not only of the mistakes their students will inevitably make, but of opinions differing from their own. Teachers should guide and stimulate the students to search for per-sonal solutions to the problems life poses. And at the same time, these teachers should be alert to the requirements of logic and the demands of truth and should never be ready to sell either at a dis-count.

The student is the foremost concern. Idealists say that education ac-tually takes place within the self of the pupil, that is to say that what students do in reaction to what is done to them constitutes the core of education. Consequently, for the idealist, all education is self-ed-ucation. The development of mind is from within out, not from without in. The teacher may lead the pupil to the fonts of learning, but the teacher cannot make the pupil drink its juices. Teaching is not so much the cause of learning as it is the occasion or condition of learning. The cause of learning is the pupil and the pupil’s effort. The ultimate responsibility for winning in education rests with the will of the pupil. The educational process is, therefore, not so much the stimulus shaping the individual as the individual responding to the stimulus. Growth can come only through self-activity and self-direction.


Self-activity leading to self-development, according to idealists, is not an abstract process having little relation to bodily or temporal factors. To develop the self certainly includes development of the body and fully embraces physical education. But, development of the body is limited to developing and strengthening what is given the individual at birth. Education cannot add to the nerve cells of the brain, but it can fully develop capacities for which potential is given to the individual.

Educational philosophers must have some understanding of the hu-man capacity before they can say anything about the purpose of ed-ucation or the kind of learning most suitable for the formation of human beings. Plato, although uncertain of the good to be reaped, spoke of the sensibleness in educating both boys and girls. Depend-ing on their talent, persons of either sex could go all the way to the top of the intellectual ladder by capitalizing on the chances they had for forming their minds.

The basic principle of idealism is to recognize the superiority of mind over matter, so it must be in a person’s mind that education is commissioned to cultivate. When idealists speak of education being a cultivating agent, there is no intention to restrict this cultivating function solely to schools. The whole society is a teacher and this social teaching may be far superior to any other teaching that indi-viduals will ever have and self-realization is the central aim.

Social inheritance contains a kind of information incomparable to all subjects taught in school. Education is a social enterprise and its principle purpose is to immerse all persons in society into the main-stream of the cultural and intellectual inheritance. A great deal of teaching from the idealist view is informal and no school can ever take its place.

Idealism promotes a system of learning that stresses questioning and discussion, lecture, and individual and group projects. The pupil is a spiritual being that possesses a uniqueness. This unique-ness involves the belief that the pupil is in the process of becoming. Therefore, a child is neither good nor evil at birth and the potential for good or evil depends upon the environment.

Idealists cannot guarantee that human beings will always act for their own good or for the good of their society despite an internal motivation to do so. But the idealist’s philosophy permeates the foundation on which genuinely human life must always stand.


7. Basic Philosophy of Realism.

Whether something is “real,” whether it exists and in what sense it exists scarcely constitutes a problem for people most of the time. When some-thing is either unclear or in dispute, the reality of a given thing or event is the central issue.

Realism has been pictured as a critical philosophy in which truth is deter-mined scientifically. It respects both the scientific product and the scien-tific method. Like idealism, it is based on absolute truths; and like pragma-tism, it is an experience-based philosophy that requires experimentation. However, behind all disputes about what should or should not be done are certain assumptions of “what is.” Realism proclaims that objects of per-ception are objects and contain real existence outside the mind. This idea was developed in opposition to all forms of idealism.

The idea of inter-penetration between the world and the consciousness, body, and mind is one whose full implications are still being explored. The equation between the two spheres of body and mind, if infinitely subtle, may be inexpressible and seems not to exist. Perhaps there is a degree of perception that what is real and what is imagined are one in the same.

Most persons divide the world into two kinds of reality. One is taken to be a world of objective fact in which the world is asserted to exist indepen-dent of any knower. A fact simply is, and is, in no way, affected by being known.

Quite apart from the world of fact existing independently of humans is an-other world in which reality is internal. This world usually encompasses artistic values, performance in music, taste, and other phenomena that are personal or subjective in nature. This world is seen as having no relation-ship with the world of facts and belonging exclusively to one’s private judgment. In this world, what is good is good for me.

The position that Realism has historically opposed is the belief that reality is internal. The core of the realistic position is that reality is something that exists external to mind, thought, observation, or belief. Realists usually maintain that ultimate reality is a thing whose structure or function is inde-pendent of any knower. Realists assert that a thing exists first and that knowledge of reality is simply a mental picture of the object.

The central core of realism is referred to as the Theory of Independence. This theory is a simple and unqualified assertion that ultimate reality is in-dependent of any knower. Frederick Breed, a 20th-century realist, promoted a concept for the realist that becoming known is an event that happens to things assumed to exist prior to and independently of the act of knowing.


Present-day realism is a complex, highly refined position that is usually grounded in some theoretical description of a method of physical and natu-ral sciences. Realists prefer to adhere closely to what might be called a hard-line stance with scientific theory. It is based on the assumption that however difficult it is to pierce through inaccurate observations, precon-ceived ideas, and variable perceptions, reality can be known in its own terms. What is said about reality and what reality is may or may not be the same thing. When reality corresponds precisely to a “what is” concept, we are speaking of truth.

Truth is a perfect copy of what exists. This theory of truth is referred to as The Correspondence Theory and is the test for true, reliable, and accu-rate knowledge. Therefore, reality is not invented; it is discovered through observation by logical means following logical scientific procedures. In some cases, observations need not be careful or lengthy, for it does not take much observation to determine that a bucket of water is larger than a drop of water. However, in other cases, reality is discovered by careful, systematic, and controlled observation. This process involves performing certain operations in a precise manner.

8. Major Contributors to Realism.

a. Classical Tradition

Aristotle. Aristotle was born in 384 BC and died in 322 BC, the son of a physician. He was sent to study at Plato’s academy about 367 BC and remained there until Plato’s death. Aristotle followed Plato’s traditions, but as his life experiences dictated, he developed his own style and phi-losophy.

Aristotle’s writings, as Plato’s, are divided into three periods. In many of his writings, he followed Plato’s model, but his own style was in-deed at work. Popular writings are contained in the first division.

The second division contains memoranda and collections of material with just enough research to introduce the third category where scien-tific and philosophical treatises emerge. Aristotle applied natural his-tory to animals and metaphysics and came to the conclusion that the body is an instrument of the soul. For this, he is often referred to as the first biologist. Scientists and philosophers have long referred to his works for information and inspiration.

Even though Aristotle was a student of Plato, it is evident from the study of these two philosophers that many of their ideas and theories are different. Plato viewed philosophy from the perspective of the artist while Aristotle’s view was from that of a scientist. Plato’s philosophy


is embedded in an art form itself—that of dialogue, while Aristotle treated philosophic problems in a cold, analytical prose style. Plato was intent on the ideal; whereas, Aristotle was grounded in the reality.

Aristotle contributed a great deal to the development of philosophy in ancient Greece. As a student of Plato, he spent some 20 years studying and teaching. Aristotle established a school called the Lyceum.

Aristotle believed that a proper study of matter could lead to better and more distinct ideas (forms). Forms, such as the idea of God or of a tree, can exist without matter, but there can be no matter without form. Each piece of matter has both a universal and a particular property. Particular properties of one acorn differentiate it from other acorns; that is, size, shape, color, weight, and so forth. These forms are the non-material as-pects of each particular object that relate to all other particular objects of that class.

Aristotle believed that one could understand form by studying particu-lar material things. He argued that the form of things, the universal properties of objects, remain constant and never change; whereas, par-ticular components do change. He contended that form was within par-ticular matter and was even the motivating force of that matter.

Aristotle also believed that each object has a tiny soul that directed it in the right way. The deeper one goes into the matter, the more one is led to philosophy. His two extremes (too much and too little) constituted his belief that one should strive for the Golden Mean (the proper per-spective or a path between the extremes). When the Golden Mean is reached, balance, the central component to his view, is assured and this, in his mind, produces good citizens.

Aristotle believed that organic development was the tool of understand-ing and that reality existed in individual things that were in the process of change. He regarded the natural world and the pursuit of human in-terests in this world as the only subjects worthy of human concern. He wrote nothing directly on education, but references to education appear throughout his works. He felt that education was designed to preserve the stability of the state, to create good citizenship, and to prevent revo-lutions. Children, like young animals, needed training in good habits, with experiences selected for them to help them find happiness in a se-cure state. Aristotle did not consider himself a reformer, but a scientist.

Aristotle proclaimed four causes: Material, the matter from which something is made; Formal, the design that shapes the material object; Efficient Cause, the agent that produces the object; and Final Cause, the direction toward which the object is tending. He believed that ulti-


mate reality was the power or source to which matter points beyond it-self. God, the Creator, he believed, was a logical explanation for the or-der of the universe.

His logical method of inquiry was deductive reasoning because truth was derived from generations of research. He believed, however, that one major problem with deductive reasoning was that if the major premise was false, the conclusion would also be false.

Aristotle asserted the chief good was happiness that depended upon a virtuous and well-ordered soul. This can happen only as one develops virtuous habits shaped through education. Education, he believed, de-veloped individual reasoning capacity so one can make correct choices. This means the path of moderation, of acceptance, and of following such a principle became the core of educational proposals.

b. Religious Realism

Saint Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) became a leading authority on Aristotle. He realized that teaching truth to minds made for truth was of such intrinsic excellence that, as far as he could see, no human could teach, but only God himself. He argued that God was pure reason and that God created matter out of nothing and He gave purpose to the universe. Aquinas felt that all truths were eternally in God and that truth was passed to humans by divine revelation.

He believed that all creatures were under God’s governance of the world but that some creatures have a share in this divine governance because they can understand the end and use specific means to attain the understood end. Aquinas also believed the soul is a creation; it is immortal and from God.

Aquinas integrated Aristotle’s philosophy with the teachings of the church and worked out a relationship between reason and faith. For this he was referred to as the Angelic Doctor. He questioned whether one human can teach another or whether this role belongs to God alone. He viewed that only God should be called “Teacher” because one human mind could not directly communicate with another mind unless through usage of symbols. Regarding teaching, he thought that only God could touch the inside–the soul. Others could only point the learner to knowl-edge.

Aquinas believed that each of us is born with an immortal soul with the seeking of perfection of human beings and the reunion of the soul to the soul of God as major educational goals. He thought the soul pos-sessed an inner knowledge; therefore, a proper education recognized


both the spiritual and material natures of an individual. Since he felt the spiritual side was higher and more important, he favored education of the soul. Aquinas also felt the family and the church were the primary agencies of education. The mother is the child’s first teacher and she should set the moral tone. The church should be the source for under-standing God’s law. The state should formulate and enforce laws con-cerning education.

Philip H. Phenix. Philip H. Phenix (1915- ) Professor Emeritus of Phi-losophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, elaborated a philosophical theory of curriculum for general education. During 1981, Professor William Kritsonis served as a Visiting Scholar at Teachers College and studied under Dr. Phenix. Phenix, a classical realist, emphasized that knowledge in the disciplines has logical pat-terns, structures, and forms. Understanding these typical patterns is es-sential for guidance of teaching and learning. Professor Phenix identi-fied six fundamental patterns of meaning: symbolics, empirics, esthet-ics, synnoetics, ethics, and synoptics. Phenix believes that learning these patterns is the clue to effective teaching and learning. He also stressed the importance of understanding representative ideas, methods of inquiry, and the importance of appealing to the imagination.

c. Modern Realism

Francis Bacon. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) brought about the study of realism stemming from a revolt against the spiritualistic idealism of Hegel. Bacon, also referred to as the “father of the scientific method,” recommended the method of scientific inquiry be adapted to determine truth. He believed that knowledge was power and acquiring this know-ledge could allow one to deal effectively with problems. He thought that science could not be burdened with preconceived notions from de-ductive generalizations. From this, he formulated the inductive method for problem solving. The premise for inductive reasoning was to begin with observable instances and then reason to general statements. He surmised that one who begins with absolute truths is less likely to change them.

Bacon urged that individuals examine all previously accepted knowl-edge and rid the mind of various idols or presumed falsities. Induction would allow each individual to arrive at generalizations on the basis of systematic observations of particulars.


d. Other Contributors

John Locke. John Locke (1632-1704), another contributor to modern realism, held the view that the desire for happiness and the desire to know (curiosity) were widespread throughout mankind. Locke stipu-lated the human mind could encompass as much as was necessary for happiness; it is capable of knowing a very great deal. He traced the ori-gin of ideas to thought where all knowledge is acquired from sources independent of the mind. He believed that all ideas are developed from experience by sensation and reflection. He concluded that what is known is what is experienced.

Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was one of the first in-dividuals to propose a scheme for selecting the subject matter best suited to the needs of the pupils. He promoted that knowledge, con-tributing to self-preservation, was of the utmost usefulness and should appear first among the things taught to children.

e. Implications for Education

Given the character of American education, it is important for teachers to understand what kind of assumptions lie behind education and edu-cational goals. Therefore, the aim of realistic educational practices is to present material to students so they may become acquainted with the subject matter as a pre-established block of material. Successful learn-ing consists of understanding that material. The teacher with a philoso-phy of realism is science-oriented and is likely to be impersonal and objective rather than rigid and mechanical. Problems are set for the learner to work on individually rather than cooperatively. The learner is not expected to develop a conscience that differentiates right from wrong; instead, the student is guided by the unyielding laws of nature that will apply to social as well as to physical situations.

Teaching techniques consist of any approach that most effectively ac-quaints students with what they are to know. However, lectures and textbooks should consist of systematic and well-organized descriptions of subject matter. Field trips are acceptable modes of instruction if they deal with concrete demonstrations and are considered superior to ab-stract study.

Discipline is a reasonable balance between control and freedom. Be-cause the laws of nature are considered inflexible, a lack of discipline would be expected to result in disorientation in adult life.

Evaluation should be as objective as possible and should represent an accurate measure of achievement. Achievement is therefore determined


by comparing evidences of what has been learned with what should have been learned. Students who have learned the most material with the fewest errors receive the highest grades.

Realism is a critical philosophy limited to precise scholars. In imple-mentation, it exists principally in research studies in higher education but it has had an indirect influence on the public school system. Perma-nent elements of human experience are valued but there is a continuous reexamination of evidence using the scientific method. There is insis-tence on examinations that are pertinent, authentic, and comprehensive. Realism is used for the view that objects exist externally to us and in-dependently of our senses. Realism is primarily an attitude toward knowledge. Against skepticism, realism affirms the existence of knowl-edge and holds the object of knowledge has a reality independent of the knowing mind.

In general, the claim that perceiving is thus genuine and amounts to knowledge is said to be the best hypothesis to explain the order and na-ture of our sense experiences. The claim of the realist is simply that once ordinary errors and illusions are ruled out by comparing the evi-dence of different senses or of different persons, the simplest explana-tion of the situation is there are external objects causing the sense data or contents. The process then is to correspond to them in primary quan-tities.

In one common-sense theory of realism, one kicks a stone to prove that matter exists. One can come to know the world by observation and comparison.

9. The Basic Philosophy of Pragmatism.

Pragmatism comes from the Greek word for action, also the root for the words practical and practice. Many ancient philosophers used part of the pragmatist’s philosophy but its modern and full origin and development can be traced to Charles Peirce. Peirce believed that pragmatic beliefs are really rules for action and that to develop a thought’s meaning need only to determine the conduct to be produced.

Pragmatism, therefore, represents the empirical attitude in philosophy. Ev-erywhere pragmatism is said to unstiffen all our theories, limber them up and set them at work. Pragmatists believe that ideas (which themselves are but parts of our experience) become true in order to get into satisfactory re-lations with other parts of our experience.

In practice, pragmatism was introduced into philosophy as a method of as-certaining the purpose of hard words and abstract conceptions and inter-


pretation of intellectual concepts that hinge on reasoning. Pragmatism may also be explained as a returning to things past. The history of this philoso-phy is primarily a gathering of truths discarded at some point in the past.

a. Free Will and Determinism

Most people who believe in free will do so after the rationalistic fash-ion. It is a principle by which dignity is enigmatically augmented. For this reason, pragmatists believe that individual men originate nothing but merely transmit to the future the whole push of the past cosmos of which they are so small an expression.

Pragmatists have long disagreed over the free will/determinism contro-versy. William James, a famous pragmatist, promoted the concept of free will and a reality of that freedom. He maintained that a human’s role was not merely to measure so completely but to create and recreate based on experiences from the past. James believed the universe is not an absolute; it is open, and it is full of novelty; it contains chaos, disor-der, and evil. Life as it comes has an air of being. Humans do not merely reflect on a finished product; they register the truth they help to create.

Later in life, James’ view of free will mellowed and, with this changing view, the complexion of pragmatists also changed. Free will is now held by contemporary pragmatists as a staid belief. However, pragma-tists are nevertheless capable of the kind of interaction with the world that changes the direction of events and determines future direction without effecting any essential change in their beliefs.

b. Major Contributors to Pragmatism

William James. Most scholars have given Charles S. Peirce the dis-tinction of illuminating pragmatic ideals although he was heavily influ-enced by the writings of William James. Peirce had a background in math, chemistry, and theoretical sciences, and wrote as a logician.

For Peirce, the pragmatism was primarily a method for analysis and ex-planation of the meaning of intellectual concepts. He once character-ized pragmatism’s maxim as the “definition of definitions.” It was in-tended as a procedure for promoting linguistic and conceptual clarity and successful communication when one was seeking the resolution of intellectual problems. Peirce’s pragmatism then may be thought of as a theory of meaning rather than a theory of truth. It is to be understood as a regulative idea, one that functions solely to order, integrate, and pro-mote inquiry.


William James, a psychologist, was probably the man most responsible for influencing the writings of Peirce. Though James never took public credit for the establishment of pragmatism, he did write that pragma-tism was the only philosophy with no humbug in it.

From his summer home in New Hampshire, William James wrote that he was unfit to be a philosopher because at the bottom he hated philos-ophy. This seemed ironic coming from a man classified as making a great impact in philosophy.

William James was born in 1842, the son of Henry and Mary Walsh James. William was faced with much sickness throughout his youth and early adulthood. He developed a nervous instability (neurasthenia) that was a deep-rooted depression. This condition delayed his choice of careers until his mid-20s. Another reason for his career being delayed was that he had a great interest in painting; however, his father did not want a painting career for his son. Therefore, in 1864, James entered Harvard Medical School.

In 1875, James taught his first class in psychology and this began an important transition in his life. Once this began, it was not long before James quit the medical profession and his teaching in the medical area. He became totally devoted to his writing and lecturing on psychology and philosophy.

Much in the 20th century history of psychology in America has been colored and shaped by the wisdom of William James. Few are the fail-ures and frustrations of this same psychology that he did not anticipate.

The Principles of Psychology, one of James’ early works, was pub-lished in two volumes in 1890, a dozen years after James had under-taken the work. One of the interesting features of the book is that it deals with many fundamental philosophical problems. Its chapters cover issues concerning the nature of consciousness and reason, the de-bate between freedom and determinism, the relation of the mind and the body and “necessary truths.” In this book, James pushes psychol-ogy toward the goal of making it a natural science, but however fails to recognize that psychology and philosophy stand close together with re-spect to the problem they treat.

James and his Principles did not found American psychology in the sense of inventing a new method or uncovering a basic law. Rather, his works and ways saved academic psychology from sinking to the mere busy-work of the laboratory or rising so high toward metaphysics as to abandon its proper subject.


Throughout his life, James was an empiricist, a believer in experience as the basic source of knowledge. James’ version of empiricism, that he sometimes called radical empiricism, urged us to start with experiences that humans feel and live through rather than immediately fitting these experiences into theories and frameworks that we have developed in advance.

Although James thought of himself as an empiricist, he also wanted to combine empiricism and spiritualism. By uniting empiricism and spiri-tualism, James developed a pragmatic philosophy that he believed was just a new way of stating old ideas.

James believed that a pragmatist was willing to follow logic or the senses, and to learn from the most personal and humblest experiences. James stressed that pragmatism was a broad philosophical view that stressed pluralism, freedom, and change. This is not any radical shift of James’ interest in thinking; it is a natural and a logical extension of his earlier philosophical/psychological views.

James’ philosophy can be related to his reverence for, and his faith in, the individual. The pragmatism lectures, given first as the Lowell Lec-tures in Boston and then again at Columbia, surprised James by their reception. He became nearly a cult figure to his eager young audience at Columbia, as he had for some time been a father figure to leaders of thought on both sides of the Atlantic.

During the years 1900 to 1914, much criticism and change was brought about. It was a time where a widespread and remarkably good-natured effort of the greater part of society was undertaken to achieve some vague and unclear self-reformation. During this era of self-reformation, James printed his lectures of Pragmatism. This philosophy expanded the so-called progressive movement. It assured humans of options and gave mankind a formula to evaluate effectiveness of actions. For James and for Americans of generations before and after him, the relativism suggested by pragmatism meant that humans could get better.

Through all of his writings, one must realize the importance of William James to American psychology and philosophy. It may be said that he did not invent or discover some great principle, but permitted the world to achieve a goal more quickly or effectively. However, he provided the boundaries of thought and supplied the terms that an entire genera-tion would discuss and understand as a way of life.

James argued that the knower was an actor, and in certain ways, played a role in creating truth. James was not merely advancing empty theo-


ries; he was arguing from the depths of his own personal experiences and suffering. He made it clear that pragmatism was a theory of truth, as well as a theory of meaning.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. Oliver Wendell Holmes was considered one of the most important practitioners of pragmatism in law. Holmes de-fined not only legal concepts, but also law itself stemming from the need under pressure of which both prediction theory of law and prag-matism took form. Holmes’ philosophy is considered pragmatic be-cause he regarded the history and the theory of the law as instrumental in understanding and revising it as an evolving institution. Of all the in-dividuals who may be termed pragmatists, Holmes alone has recog-nized the use of force and power involved in pragmatism as only he ac-cepted an institutional position of power.

John Dewey. John Dewey also promoted the pragmatic point of view. His version differed somewhat from Peirce’s, and was similar in many respects to James’. Dewey often spoke of using intelligence as an in-strument (instrumentalism) to overcome certain physical and social sit-uations that called for a series of new responses.

John Dewey was one of the most influential of all American philoso-phers and educators. He was actively interested in the reform of educa-tion, both theoretically and practically. In his book, Experiences and Education (1939), Dewey addressed educational issues that are still of vital relevance and importance to educators today.

Dewey’s philosophy of education, often labeled as experimentalism or instrumentalism, emphasized many things including experiences, ex-perimentation, and freedom. Dewey believed the learner must interact with that which is learned if a productive educational experience was to be achieved. Though Dewey believed that all genuine education came through experience, he also pointed out that experience may be misedu-cation. He therefore suggested that teachers should carefully define ed-ucational objectives and desired outcomes using experience as a con-structive learning instrument.

The idea that every experience is seen as a moving force that will ulti-mately impact upon future experiences is the key factor in Dewey’s ed-ucational philosophy. Even an individual’s knowledge of the conse-quences is based on previous experience. Dewey believed that no expe-rience lives or dies to itself. Regardless of desire or intent, Dewey be-lieved that every experience lived on in further experiences. The teacher, as an agent through which knowledge is communicated, should draw upon these experiences in a framework or foundation for


learning. Used in this manner, Dewey believed that experience arouses curiosity, strengthens initiative, and sets up desires and purposes that strengthen the educational process.

Dewey believed that education was a continuous process. True learning situations have longitudinal dimensions. Dewey expressed there was no such thing as educational value in the abstract. Outside and apart from the individual are circumstances and situations that give rise to experi-ence; thus “experience does not occur in a vacuum.”

Dewey proposed that education should prepare students for the contin-uation of learning in adult life by suggesting that the most important at-titude that can be formed is the desire to go on learning. Dewey also proposed the recognition of students as individuals. The teacher must be aware of the needs, capabilities, and past and existing experiences of students. The teacher must also be aware of what goes on in their minds in order to formulate plans for stimulating new ways of learning and thus expand the experiences already present. This process could be self-perpetuating as new experiences result in possible insights whose explorations would result in other new experiences.

Dewey was responsible for many philosophical offshoots: Instrumen-talism, Progressivism, Experimentalism, and so forth, that will be dis-cussed in later sections. However, the essence of his philosophical be-liefs set patterns for classroom operations that are still being used and debated. Although it is widely accepted that Dewey’s promotion of ed-ucational values was based on pragmatic convictions, he was basically an adventurer in originating a certain flavor surrounding his belief and his followers.

Dewey believed that knowledge was a means of controlling the envi-ronment, hopefully to improve the quality of human life. He further stressed the importance of attaining cooperation between science and the demands of moral life.

Dewey often sought the causes that made communities change from generation to generation. He believed the difference was due to the ac-cumulated influences of individuals, of their examples, their initiatives, and their decisions.

Dewey is credited with elevating pragmatism to the status of philo-sophic respectability and providing the most tangible links in the edu-cational institutions of higher learning between pragmatism and the American social structure and between philosophy and society. Dewey


advocated laboratory instruction, formulating such terms as inquiry, re-flective thought, and scientific method.

One of Dewey’s most outstanding works, Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938), is such a commanding achievement that pragmatism is often identified with the position he expounded there as a naturalist logic for evaluating and reconstructing human experience.

c. Other Contributors

Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jean-Jacques Rousseau noted the importance of environment in shaping human experience and thought. He main-tained that civilization was harmful because it had led us away from nature. Rousseau thought that individuals were basically good, but were corrupted by civilization. He emphasized naturalism in education and believed education should be guided by the child’s interest.

Auguste Comte. Auguste Comte intensified efforts to apply science to society. He believed the possibilities of using science could be har-nessed to help solve social problems. His dream was to reform society by the application of science.

Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, believed that nature operated by means of a process development. He argued that a species evolves naturally through what he called a universal struggle for existence. Reality is open-ended in process. He stipulated that a per-son’s education was directly tied to biological and social development.

d. Implications for Education

Philosophies often vary in their total applications to education. One component of the pragmatic view is the treatment recommended for the pupil. This treatment can usually be seen to fit into the total philosophi-cal system of different philosophies. This part of philosophy is always recognized as very important. Not only are the pupils the leaders for the future, they also possess a great amount of energy and capability for the present.

Pragmatism has been given a primary place among social institutions, essentially because it may be that pragmatism, more than any other phi-losophy, requires an association of education with a social function.

Students are distinct and concrete centers for experience. They must be guided so they will experience the ever embracing flow of knowledge. The students are not isolated from the public flow of events. The con-creteness and distinctness do not separate them from the life process.


Individual selves and individual pupils, therefore, are unique in nature, always reaching out to engage in the flow of experience.

Pragmatists feel that elements of learning are not brought forth by ei-ther the teacher or the pupil. They perceive that learning revolves around students’ interests and experiences. Learning is the direction of finding possible solutions to problems that are presently experienced. Learning is following a planned path from a teacher. Pragmatists build and execute units of study patterned after and matching cycles of expe-rience. Creative and constructive projects are heavily employed in the pragmatic educative process.

Pragmatists view reality as a constantly changing force. Reality can be known only through experience. Therefore, there is no absolute or per-manent knowledge level because only what can be observed and/or ex-perienced is real.

Those who judge the merits of pragmatism should be clear as to which of its varieties they are criticizing, who held the complex ideas being judged, and in what context. The pragmatic legacy inherited by 20th century American thought does not provide a neat, finished system, legislating for intellectual or moral questions, but it does provide a philosophical stance in the defense of freedom or inquiry and experi-mental ways of thinking.

Because education occurs from generation to generation, it should not be looked upon as the mere acquisition of academic subject matter, but as a part of life itself. Pragmatists believe that training is not the same as education. The child’s own instincts and powers provide the material and starting point of all education and the educator’s knowledge of so-cial conditions is necessary to interpret the child’s powers.

10. The Basic Philosophy of Existentialism.

Existentialism is largely a revolt against other traditional philosophies. Where other philosophies attempt to grasp the ultimate nature of the world in abstract systems of thought, existentialists consider what it is like to be an individual human being living in the world. These philosophers are pri-marily interested in existence or being, concerning themselves with the personal and relevant. They seek to learn from the full range of human ex-periences.

Key features in existentialism are individuality, subjectivity, introspection, and feeling. It is an approach to a philosophy of human situations, not a philosophy of things. Existentialism is a rejection of all purely abstract thinking and a way of life capable of being lived. Existentialists believe


that existence precedes essence, and ideas about Heaven, Hell, and God are all human inventions.

Individuality and the priority of existence before essence indicate empha-sis on present situations and personal meanings for individuals. The exis-tentialist is concerned with the particulars of today, not in absolutes or per-manent ideals. In consideration of the mind/body question, the existential-ist tries to visualize in concrete terms the ways the mind and body are per-sonally experienced. Time and space tend to void abstractness and relate only to present conditions. Little attention is given to logic or science.

A principle upheld by the existentialist is that individuals are what they make of themselves and nothing less. This principle is also known as sub-jectivity. Individuals first exist and then become what they have planned to become by their own wills. Individuals make decisions about their futures and, because of this decision-making; they are responsible for their deci-sions not only individually, but also to all mankind. When individuals make personal choices, those choices affect others. From personal choices and acts, self-image is made, along with personal values and ideals. Thus, an existentialist involves self in making decisions that affect all mankind. So deep are existentialists convicted by their responsibility that they may be in a state of anguish or despair although they may not display visible signs of this anguish. Existentialists make decisions because they feel they are free to do so. They are also responsible for their behaviors as a result of the decisions, no matter how difficult it may become. Existentialists be-lieve in action and, if the action brings punishment, the punishment must be accepted.

Existentialists are basically concerned with three points in respect to their values. First, there is an uncompromising acceptance of anguish and suf-fering as a necessary condition of their experiences. If a person claims to have made a decision without anguish, the existentialist would believe that it was a petty choice and not really a choice at all, for suffering is an inte-gral part of life.

Second, for people who refuse to accept anguish as part of life, anguish takes the form of tedium, fear, apathy, or petty anxiety. Subsequently, the function of the existentialist is to free people from this pettiness. This em-phasis on negative aspects of life has brought the label “pessimistic” to the existentialist’s movement.

Third, existentialists’ values intensify the conscious mind, arouse the pas-sions, and commit the individual to a course of action that will engage total use of energies. Existentialism is very concerned with an individual’s will-ingness truly to commit to something with heightened intensity. For the


existentialist, the commanding value of life is intensity as manifested in acts of free choice, individual self-assertion, personal love, or creative work.

Existentialists do not believe in progress as time passes, as progress is as-sociated with betterment. Hence, although situations tend to vary, a person is always the same. Some choices a person makes are based on truth while others are based on error. Existentialists never consider humanness as an end because mankind is always in the making.

a. Selected Contributors to Existentialism

Sǿren Kierkegaard. One of the earlier existentialists was Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). Kierkegaard related existence to the individ-ual human beings and went against 2,000 years of philosophy when he denied the link between objectivity and reality. According to Kierkegaard, to exist meant to be a thriving, decision-making individ-ual who was committed to something. He believed that one did not ex-ist unless one consciously participated by one’s own will and choice in activities; truth was subjective to this thinking process.

Kierkegaard believed that a human’s essential self is developed in three stages. First is the aesthetic stage in which a person behaves according to impulses and emotions. Senses govern people, and life at this stage cannot result in true existence. Second is the ethical stage in which a person recognizes and accepts rules of conduct based on moral law and becomes conscious of his/her guilt. Third is the religious stage in which a commitment of faith will bring about a subjective and unique relationship between God and the individual.

Kierkegaard challenged the individual to seek out individual truth. He promoted the concept that Christianity had become warped by modern time because it perpetuated war. He called for a “leap of faith” in which individuals would accept the Christian deity without proof of God’s existence; they must abandon reason and accept groundless be-lief. He believed that individuals are confronted with choices in life that they alone can make and for which they must accept complete re-sponsibility. He professed there was an unbridgeable gulf between God and the world that we must cross through faith. He believed that educa-tion should be subjective and religions should be devoted toward devel-oping individuality and a relationship with God.


Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre was an atheistic existentialist who believed that God did not exist, but there was one who did exist before essences and that one was man. Sartre advocated that humans did not come into the world ready-made but made of themselves what they are; humans are always in the making. He accepted Descartes’ statement, “I think; therefore, I am.”

Sartre accepted humans as free, but attached to that freedom was heavy responsibility. From this responsibility, individuals experience anguish alone for there is no God to share this burden. Sartre asserts in Existen-tialism and Human Emotions that humans are beings whose project is to be God. Sartre believed in the investigation of consciousness (being-of-itself) and objects of consciousness (being-in-itself). He stipulated that consciousness is the reflection and negation of the objective world and that human consciousness tries to be its objects. Such attempts, Sartre concluded, are always failures, for individuality cannot really be what it is not.

Sartre proposed that consciousness deals with the meaning of things. He viewed human existence as meaningless, but totally responsible for choices and actions. He believed that scientific investigation was noth-ing more than striving to endow the natural world with meaning so that we could control our own lives better. He stipulated that we can make a difference but not without choosing our goals and working toward them.


Martin Buber. Buber suggested that a mutual respect and dignity must be attained among all individuals. He was a proponent of an “I-Thou” relationship where individuals are capable of relating and identifying with the outside world. He opposed the “I-It” relationship where teach-ers related to students as objects. Everyone has an intense, personal world of meaning. Buber stressed an I-Thou student-teacher relation-ship where there is mutual sensibility of feeling and a mutual empathic feeling. He also stipulated that each person involved in education is both teacher and learner where both should be in a position of sharing in a personal way. He emphasized that the most desirable educational situation is one where friendship between teacher and learner can exist.

Friedreich Nietzsche. Friedreich Nietzsche was often referred to as the “black sheep of philosophy” for his anti-Christian, anti-Jew and anti-re-ligious beliefs. He believed that pagan views were more natural and healthier than Christian views. Nietzsche authored the “God is Dead” philosophy because he believed that more inhuman acts are committed in the name of morality and religion than in the name of aggression.

b. Implications for Education

Existentialists stress unique experiences in the affective. What a stu-dent hears in class is more impressive than what the teachers say. Tech-niques and procedures employed, materials covered, and the number of lessons are important only if they help the student find self-identity. The end for which knowledge is the means is the ability to make good, sound judgments. Existentialists will tend to free the student from the dominance of the institution and will not hesitate to employ unconven-tional teaching methods to achieve their purpose.

Existentialists believe in a variety of independent study situations and are critical of modern-day conventional testing techniques used to eval-uate student achievement. More radical innovations in content and ap-plications would be evident including spontaneity and authenticity. The teachers would train the students to question, to evaluate critically, and to stand up for their beliefs in their teachings. The teachers would be very dedicated in actively teaching their views and would have to be-ware of the danger of turning their teaching into indoctrination.

The teachers would have good mastery of their skills and of the exis-tentialist program of teaching the ideals and values synonymous with its belief. But, existentialists hold the conviction that everyone should be himself/herself, whether in the classroom or in society.


Existentialists question the assumption that education is primarily an agency for perpetuating society’s value system or for changing the child to fit into the lifestyle acceptable to adults. They are more con-cerned with the child’s personal experience and the final outcome. Ex-istentialists turn to experience rather than to knowledge or natural sci-ences for solutions to problems. The phrase “start where the student is” reflects the existential thought.

Existentialists believe that teachers should risk themselves for their stu-dents in classroom experimentation and look for the wisdom and trust in the person. They consider that past philosophies have led people to think deeply about abstractions that had little or no relationship to life.

Scholars have questioned whether existentialism is a viable philosophy. Some contend that it is too abstract for the average person to under-stand. However, existentialism is a way of examining life in a very per-sonal manner. It emphasizes deep personal cogitation on one’s commit-ments and choices. Self-definition is a personal responsibility. Existen-tialists believe that humans create their own values through the choices they make; that education is a process of developing consciousness about freedom to choose; and the teacher should seek to create an awareness in each student that each person is ultimately responsible for individual education and self-definition.

11. Activities for The Basic Philosophy of Existentialism.

a. Activity 3

Write, in detail, the major areas of agreement, if any, for Idealism, Re-alism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism.

b. Activity 4

Write, in detail, the major differences of Idealism, Realism, Pragma-tism, and Existentialism.

c. Activity 5

Select one of the four philosophies. On this page, write your argument as to why you believe this philosophy is superior to the others.



The greater the obstacle, the more the glory in overcoming it. Confucius

The door of success swings on the hinges of obstacles. Unknown

Nothing relieves and ventilates the mind like a resolution. John Burroughs

Never take counsel of your fears. Andrew Jackson

It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. Thoreau

We are supposed to forgive everyone; everyone includes ourselves. Unknown

13. Selected Philosophies Impacting Education and Western Civilization.

Historians typically classify philosophy by referencing the four major types: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism. However, through the years, these four primary philosophies have contributed to a wide diversity of secondary philosophical convictions with roots embed-ded in one of the four primary philosophical areas. This section will exam-ine some of these offshoots.

a. The Basic Philosophy of Communism

Although communism is not recognized as a contributing factor to western philosophic components, it was conceived from early philo-sophic elements and its presence has affected the extent of other philo-sophical movements. Therefore, communism is included as an intricate part in understanding yet another philosophical conviction.

Communism originally involved an ideal society in which property was jointly owned by all persons in the community. Property and necessi-ties were used by all members of the society and distributed according to needs. This idea of communism dates back to the times of Plato, who advocated an upper-class communism in his Republic. Since these early days, communism has taken many twists and turns. It has been advocated by Christian groups who held property in common and even by dictators who in turn used force to maintain communist ideals.

Early communism gained its roots from the European socialist move-ment. Communism was involved in the development of radical political ideals and in the industrial revolution. The industrial working class re-placed the peasantry that had been the base of the social pyramid. These peasants had less access to political influences than did the workers.

Socialism came about in 1827 while communism came about in 1840. In the 1840s, these terms were often used interchangeably. Socialist was used for followers of the “Utopian Socialists” who wanted to re-place their society, based on competition, with one based on coopera-


tion. They believed that a society could be evolved with assistance on the ruling classes.

Communist tradition can be traced back to the Conspiracy of the Equals, led by Frances Noel Babeuf, who in 1776 planned to overthrow the French government and establish an egalitarian society based on common ownership. Communist was applied to those who maintained that a fundamental transformation of society could be achieved only af-ter the proletariat forcibly had seized control of the state.

In the middle of the 18th century, communism took on a different mean-ing. Karl Marx and Friedreich Engels became proponents of the com-munist movement. These two men believed that communism should be spread abroad and not just in isolated communities. They also believed that major leaders were not a vital component for communism to thrive.

Marx borrowed elements from 18th century French materialists and from German idealist philosophies to create Marxism. The philosophy behind his idea became known as Dialectical Materialism. It was di-alectical because it was the outcome of the conflict between two oppos-ing or contradictory elements in society. It was materialistic because the world alone, being materialistic, possesses reality and the ideas of the world were simply reflexes of the system of material production at any given time. Communist philosophy gives account of why the de-velopment of a certain period of time took the form it did and also gives suggestions as to what to expect in the future.

In 1847, Marx was asked by the International Communist League to prepare a policy for their meeting of the coming year. Marx and Engels wrote this policy, known as the Communist Manifesto, in 1848. They set a stage of socialism that all class differences would disappear and humankind would live in harmony. In the Communist Manifesto, they declared the course of history was determined by a class of opposing forces rooted in the economic system and the ownership of property. The class struggle would be between the bourgeoisie, or the capitalist employers, and the proletariat, or the workers. According to Marx, the struggle would end in the socialist revolution and then the attainment of full communism.

Marx believed that it was not the consciousness of humans that deter-mined their lives but their special being that determined their con-sciousness. Marx believed that alienation occurs when workers become strangers, not at home with themselves in their labor. He felt the ruling classes would not provide a proper public education for destitute chil-


dren because it would abolish them. He advocated technical and indus-trial education where simple labor is done by children. Intellectual abil-ity found in children made no difference in wages.

Marxism was the main thought in European socialism throughout the 19th century. Parties of socialists grew and started electing representa-tives to national legislatures. There was a great deal of controversy be-tween parties who felt the necessity of a revolutionary overthrow of those who thought socialism could be achieved through reforms and those who advocated an overthrow of capitalism. European Marxists opposed imperialism and militarism. They declared that workers had no fatherland.

Marxists believed that human society must move from capitalism to so-cialism and eventually to communism. This educational aim will be greatly enhanced by providing an education that will develop a new so-cialist human being.

World War I demonstrated that nationalism had a strong grip on So-cialist parties. Most party leaders and members supported war policies of their government. In 1917, during the Russian Revolution, Vladimir I. Lenin and his followers seized power and divided world socialism into competing parties. These competing parties were those that opted for the Russian path and those that kept to democratic tradition. Lenin, founder of the Bolsheviks, was an inspiring leader during the Bolshe-vik Revolution. He was regarded as one of the 20th century’s most sig-nificant political leaders among communist and non-communist schol-ars. He was the source of Leninism that was co-joined with Karl Marx’s works to form Marxism/Leninism.

Lenin placed importance on the peasantry when he formulated his pro-gram. However, when it came down to the Russian worker’s move-ment, he neglected the peasantry. Being a disciple of Marx and Engels, Lenin pursued activities in the period on imperialism and in the period of the proletarian revolution. This is one reason Leninism is a further development of Marxism.

Lenin was considered to be the greatest revolutionary thinker since Marx. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Josef Stalin became the leader of the communist party. Stalin was one of Lenin’s closest associates in the November revolution.

Stalin’s vision of the future was that of a collectivized society. Produc-tion must have reached such a level as to make it possible to supply at least all the basic needs for its citizens.


The ideas of communism never really made a strong headway into American political circles. Communist parties have held national politi-cal control in many nations including China, Yugoslavia, Poland, North Vietnam, and Cuba. Little unity has existed between these countries or others involved in the system for many years. Displeasure with com-munist ideas and desire for free enterprise and other freedoms present in democratic America have brought about a severe weakening of the “Communist Bloc.” Communism, though still present in many nations, has lost much of its power since the fall of the Soviet Union and the days of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin.

The main feature of the communist party is the abolition of the bour-geoisie property. Communism does not deprive people of the power to appropriate the products of society but it does deprive them of the power to subjugate the labor of others by means of such appropriation. The Communist Manifesto was a plea for the laboring classes to let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. Marx contended the proletarians had nothing to lose but their chains, however, they had a world to win.

b. The Basics of Analytic Philosophy

For the most part, Analytic Philosophy seeks to clarify the languages, concepts, and methods we use in the more precise activities of life. Hence, clarification is its one central theme.

Ludwig Wittengenstein is the major contributor to the trend of linguis-tic analysis. He felt there should be no systematic doctrine, no rules of procedure, and no grand manner approach to philosophizing. He ar-gued the natural sciences were the primary source of true propositions and the primary means of finding new facts. Philosophy should not be seen as the discovery of truth, but as an activity to solve dilemmas, problems, and to clarify ideas obtained from other sources. He empha-sized that philosophers should not concern themselves with the truth of the data but should deal with the language and statements made about the data.

Wittengenstein thought the only significant use of language was to pic-ture the facts; other than this, he considered it nonsensical. He believed that words have no true meaning given to them by some independent power. They have the meanings people give them. An ideal language, he thought, should remove the trouble of thinking.

Gilbert Ryle believed that a category mistake occurs when one allo-cates concepts to logical types to which they do not belong. Knowing


how is having the capacity to perform, being able to do, and so forth. He suggested the creation of myths helped us get around many difficul-ties.

Dialectic, he stressed, was not only a method for arriving at truth, but also a method for eliminating contradictions that stood in the way of truth. Since thinking depended on language, thinking problems were also language problems resulting from faulty usage and lack of clarity. He concluded that people’s behaviors were influenced by the language they encountered, for language served as a stimulus to all kinds of be-haviors.

Analytic philosophy stipulates that in order to improve the educator’s concept about education and the way these concepts are used, we must become aware of language and its potential. It becomes necessary to clarify what we propose to do in education. Analysts do not believe that words have inherent meanings; they insist that we use them in pre-cise ways to reflect accurately what is intended.

Analytic philosophy emphasizes that language itself is changing and evolving; one can neither define a word forever, nor prescribe its mean-ing for everyone else. Education, therefore, is the process that people are initiated into their particular life styles based on the understanding and clarification of their language.

c. The Basic Philosophy of Reconstructionism

Reconstructionism is a philosophy that advocates an attitude toward change and encourages individuals to try to make life better. Plato pro-posed radical departures from the customs of his Greek contempo-raries. Some of these were sexual equality, communal child rearing, and rule by philosopher-king.

Reconstructionists promote such things as the scientific method, prob-lem solving, naturalism, and humanism. They are concerned with the broad social and cultural fabric in which we exist; Reconstructionism is almost a purely social philosophy.

Reconstructionists promote two major premises: (a) society is in need of constant reconstruction or change; (b) such social change involves both a reconstruction of education and the use of education in recon-structing society.

George S. Counts (1889-1974) argued that educators should give up their comfortable role of being supporters of the status quo and should take on the more difficult tasks of social reformers. Ralph Nader has long fought for consumer protection and has maintained there can be


an end to mass injustice if enough private citizens become public citi-zens. Alvin Toffler, who coined the term “Future Shock,” points out that people are suffering mental and physical breakdowns from too much change in too short a period of time. Paul George believes that we should emulate successful business practices by applying them to schools. Ivan Illich believes that we need no schools at all, that educa-tion should be spread throughout society. He proposed the use of learn-ing webs where people can pool information and talents with others.

Reconstructionists see the primary struggle in society today between those who wish to preserve society as it is and those who believe that great changes are needed to make society more responsive to the needs of individuals. Regarding education, reconstructionists consider demo-cratic control over the decisions that regulates human lives and a peace-ful community as vital components to success. They encourage educa-tors to become involved in affairs outside their own classrooms and schools.

d. The Basic Philosophy of Scholasticism

Scholasticism is a philosophic belief deriving its name from school doctors or scholars (doctor scholasticus), a label first applied to teach-ers in monastic and Episcopal schools. The new approach, the applica-tions of philosophic discipline to religious doctrines and problems be-gan with these school men. Scholasticism succeeded in harmonizing re-ligion with secular thought for three centuries (11th through the 13th). It disintegrated in the 14th and 15th centuries when it no longer could maintain this harmony.

Scholasticism may generally be characterized as a means for employ-ing reason in the search for truth. As a means, it was responsible for most, if not all, of the intellectual accomplishments attributed to the medieval period. It spread its influence throughout the intellectual cen-ters of Europe, but it was a method too, and scholasticism as an intel-lectual movement could never have been very vital had it not been pro-ductive and effective as a method.

Followers of scholasticism wanted progress and were dissatisfied with what had gone on before. Their own age had problems that demanded answers, problems that were philosophical, theological, and scientific, to say nothing of social and human.

Scholasticism developed reason to its rightful position in the pursuit of truth by defining deductive logic to the highest point in the history of thought, by devising terminology that facilitated scholarly communica-tion, by training a large body of critical thinkers who set the intellectual


tone for years to come, and by producing a large body of scholarly works, especially in the fields of law, theology, and philosophy. The important feature of scholasticism was to dissolve all conflicting opin-ions in an effort to derive the desired conclusion.

Saint Anselm (1033-1109), Archbishop of Canterbury, was a theolo-gian and considered one of the best Latinist of his day. Anselm was the first of the most important thinkers between Augustine (354-430) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). In philosophy, Anselm is considered the author of the ontological argument for the existence of God.

Pierre Abelard (1079-1142), a theologian and philosopher who studied logic at Paris, was a contributor to the scholastic thought. He also at-tended Anselm of Laon’s theological school, but alienated his masters by sharp criticism of their scholarship and went back to Paris as a teacher of logic and theology at Notre Dame. Abelard believed that constant and frequent questioning is the first key to wisdom and the over use of doubt and comparative inquiry.

e. The Basic Philosophy of Instrumentalism

The legacy of instrumentalism is derived from Dewey’s pragmatism. The instrumentalism position is that thought and action are primary in-struments used by human beings to solve practical problems. An idea is defined by the instrumentalists as a plan of action. To find out what the idea means, one puts it into practice and discovers the consequences it has in practical reality.

In 1890, Dewey’s philosophy began to appear. That year he left behind Hegeleanism and announced an early version of the pragmatist theory of truth. Upon this he began to build his idea of instrumentalism. The manner in which Dewey held on to both theories is illustrated by the fact that what he meant by a working theory was actually a theory that organized facts and ideas. He seemed to express a new framework called organicism. This organicism seemed to yield to the earliest traces of instrumentalism.

Dewey’s theory holds that knowledge is used for the purposes of adap-tation and mastery over an environment. The general theory of value, true reality, and true knowledge belongs to many kinds of instruments to solve problems. Dewey’s instrumental reality was an outstanding opinion that differed from the view of past philosophy.

He drew this theory from the pragmatic view that intelligence is seen as a sensitive and flexible adaptation of means to ends-in-view. Dewey believed that knowledge arose in the context of problem-solving activi-


ties so it was seen constantly in the experimental practices of testing hypotheses and adjusting and revising goals in the light of experience. Throughout the pragmatic/instrumentalist theory, there was a strong el-ement, that knowing is a particular adaptation of intelligent organisms in the context of interacting with a changing environment.

In instrumentalism, change is an ultimate trait of reality. Progress is not successive stages in the advancement toward some perfect immutable standard. Dewey observed that we have changed from our grandfathers and that we should permit our children to change also.

Dewey’s ideas on the psychological perceptions led to the belief that ideas were really anticipations of the future. He believed that when ideas were expressed in propositions, they were hypotheses or predic-tions. Dewey’s object of knowledge was the correlation between process and change. These specific changes were deliberately intro-duced and controlled by the inquirer and the object of knowledge was the correlation between these isolated variations. However, some, espe-cially Dewey, believe that with further knowledge of nature, new inter-actions are introduced.

Dewey had many ideas that shaped the philosophy of instrumentalism. He basically divided his thoughts for instrumentalism into three impor-tant concepts of a changing existence.

Presently, instrumentalism is used almost exclusively in positivism. A positivist’s approach is to the status of scientific theories. Dewey in-sisted that theories be used to make predictions and those predictions either stood or fell on the strength of their ability to do this. For the positivist, there is a contrast between things known in some favored sense and things used in the course of making changes in order to an-ticipate what can be known in the favored sense. For Dewey, it is quite different. He believed that we know something precisely to the extent that we can use it successfully to make changes. Instrumentalism does not mark a contrast to what is really known.

Dewey protested that no restrictions were to be placed on consequences that served to test an idea or proposition. He did not want a practical project to be interpreted narrowly; rather it should be integrated widely to include the most disinterested projects of theory and experimental scientists. On the other hand, positivists suggested instrumentalism to be the “utilities of bread and butter type.” It is not quite clear just how far Dewey’s instrumentalism is from the positivist doctrine that trades under the same name.


Another element or theory by Larry Laudan positions instrumentalism with rationality. Laudan models his instrumentalism account of scien-tific rationality on that of a goal-directed, rational action. This is similar to Dewey’s theory of having or possessing previous knowledge and ap-plying it to the environment and accepting the change or the conse-quence.

Dewey’s doctrine for instrumentalism expresses the drive to understand things in terms of being interrelated, which, in effect, did characterize his thinking and personality from the start of his career. Dewey’s in-strumentalist theory did not stand the test of time, but his different ideas were later used and developed into many other philosophies.

f. The Basic Philosophy of Progressivism

The progressive movement, generated from the work of Dewey, had its inception during the years 1900 to 1914, but its influence spanned many years. The progressive movement brought about much criticism and change.

Progressivism would have been impossible without the social griev-ances placed on some people during this time. It was not nearly so much the movement of any social class or coalition of classes against a particular class or group as it was a widespread and remarkably good-natured effort of the greater part of society to achieve some not-so-clearly defined self-reformation.

During this era of self-reformation and progressivism, William James was publishing his lectures on pragmatism. This philosophy expanded the progressive movement. The general theme of progressivism was the effort to restore a type of economic individualism and political democ-racy that was widely destroyed by corrupt organizations and political machines. As the progressive movement developed, it formed into a political party.

The aim of progressivism was to educate the individual according to personal interests or needs. The progressivist curriculum emphasized activities and projects. The instruction featured problem-solving, group activities, and experiences as the progressive teacher acted as a facilita-tor of the learning process.

Progressive educators stressed the view that all learning should center on the child’s needs and interests and believed that the aim of educa-tion should be to meet the specific needs of the growing child. Progres-sivists believed that a child should want to come to school, therefore


education should focus on the child as the learner rather than on the subject.

The progressive mind was sometimes called the Protestant mind be-cause this was basically its design. Participation in World War I set the stage for the eventual decline and end to the progressive movement due to individuals forgetting political differences and adopting American-ism and preparedness.

g. The Basic Philosophy of Essentialism

Essentialism is considered a modern philosophy although it was a prod-uct of the Renaissance in the 15th century. It attempted to offer a sys-tematized, unified conception of mankind and of the universe that would relate to modern needs and institutions. The theory was shaped, at times, by realism, in its emphasis on natural and material terms, and at times, by idealism, in its emphasis on spiritual and mental premises, and at still other times, by a combination of both philosophical thoughts.

The leading thinkers of the 15th century were concerned with building a set of beliefs that would enable humans to live in a culture increasingly secular, scientific and industrial. They were also concerned with making certain this set of beliefs would continue to provide a foundation of cer-tainty to which mankind could subscribe and in which people could trust.

Essentialism developed in the United States during the 1930s, growing out of opposition to the philosophic theory of progressivism. Essential-ists were not opposed to progressivism as a whole but they criticized it for being too liberal. They argued that it had forgotten to develop the human intellect in the pursuit of personal, social, and vocational needs.

Essentialists believed that in the pursuit of democracy, progressivism had permeated the school system, relegating the teacher to a position of minor importance thereby bringing about a decline in the quality of ed-ucation. Moreover, essentialists believed that progressivism had failed to instill the heritage of proven merit in public values that make for a good person and a model citizen.

It was in accord with this belief that essentialists believed the safety and welfare of a nation depended largely upon success in teaching the young to be loyal to their institutions and freedoms, upon their under-standing of democracy, its strengths and its weaknesses, and upon the efficiency of the nation’s vocational training. Essentialists asserted that subject matter must become the center of the educational process. To accomplish this goal successfully, they re-examined curriculum mat-


ters, distinguishing essential and non-essential parts from school and reinstating the position of the teacher, characterizing the role of the stu-dent and promoting effective discipline practices in the classroom.

As a result, in 1938, the Essentialists Committee for the Advancement of American Education was founded. This committee had a short exis-tence, however, the upward movement of persistent ideas the commit-tee endorsed continued to grow.

The Essentialist Committee for the Advancement of American Educa-tion attempted to adapt the educational system more effectively to the needs of a world in crisis. The country had just gone through a depres-sion during which time progressivism seemed to be gaining a lost pop-ularity. As European countries lost their democracy, American educa-tional leaders became more concerned with the phases of education that were essential to education for democracy. Educators, as well as the na-tion, set up goals for the preservation of democracy and the winning of the war. Consequently, their whole attitude was directed towards devel-oping the skills, knowledge, and attitude essential to this task.

Essentialists maintain that mankind has mastered its culture by a long struggle from primitive savagery. The knowledge, skills, customs, manners, attitudes, and appreciations built up through centuries of civi-lizations are our most precious heritage and the best aids in meeting the real problems that were confronting humanity at that time and that will confront humanity in the future.

Essentialists’ believed that American education was, at that time, ignor-ing the acquisition of funded knowledge. Instead, educators attempted to locate curriculum in the present and thereby schooling became cafe-teria-like, trying to be all things to all people. They believed that Amer-ican values such as free enterprise and self-direction were no longer promoted in schools. Rather, educators were using the curriculum, es-pecially with the emphasis on school sciences more than natural sci-ences, to promote social equality and democracy.

Essentialists also believed the teacher must have the capability to teach the student in the necessary skills that are presented in a prescribed cur-riculum and this curriculum should reflect the rightness of established beliefs and institutions that have withstood the test of time. This cur-riculum would include the time-tested subjects of reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, solid science (astronomy, geology, chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, and botany), and the older sciences (history, geography, and political science). The curriculum would also include skills in the use of the dictionary, encyclopedia, and other reference


sources. Finally, other areas of study such as sociology and anthropol-ogy would be added to the curriculum only after proficiency in the core subjects had been achieved.

Essentialists believe that students are receptive to, and are spectators of, the world and the teachers are the agents of that whole, selecting needed elements from that vast welter of facts, laws, and customs that make up historical and contemporary contents. Students should be guided, disciplined, and instructed while making the teacher a liaison officer between the world portrayed through the curriculum and the re-spective student.

The most far-reaching criticism of essentialism has resulted from the spread of the scientific method in the human-social field. It has also been argued that essentialism is a contradiction in theory and practice. The theory emphasizes mind, ideas, self and the need to develop inde-pendence and self-sufficiency but, in practice, there appears to be con-siderable pressure on the student to give willing acceptance to whatever is taught.

Essentialists realize they struggle with conflict; they attempt to emanci-pate themselves from the world-view of the Middle Ages and to substi-tute for it another world-view that is appropriate to a more secular, sci-entific, and capitalistic society. However, essentialism has had a great impact by providing training in industrial skills and in cultivating mid-dle class virtues throughout the long era during which the middle-class grew to a position of dominance.

h. The Basic Philosophy of Perennialism

The era of the perennialist’s schools has long since passed and proba-bly will not return. Yet, as a school of professional thought, it still plays a role in education today; that role is one of reaction, pointing out the gross failures and inadequacies of modern education. Unlike many modern critics, perennialists do not just complain, but also make sug-gestions based upon their own philosophy.

In the perennialist philosophy, truth is the same everywhere and educa-tion, therefore, should also be conducted in the same fashion every-where. The true purpose of education is to improve mankind, with the only concern of educators being what is good for the student to know, regardless of what the student may profess an interest in. While peren-nialists admit that we are living in difficult times, their response would be to ignore the present situation and concentrate individual energies only to the experiential world.


The perennialist believes that because mankind is uniquely endowed with a rationale faculty, education must be aimed exclusively at the cultivation of the intellectual virtues. Education must pursue the peren-nial truths and not be misdirected toward meeting contemporary, tem-poral needs.

For the perennialist, the cultivation of intellectual virtues is accom-plished only through the permanent studies that constitute our intellec-tual inheritance. These virtues are embodied in the Great Books of the western world that cover every department of knowledge. The founda-tion of the Great Books consists of grammar that disciplines the mind and develops the logical faculty, the rules of reading, rhetoric, logic, and mathematics that provide for correctness of thinking. The perenni-alist conception of the ideal education is not an ad hoc process and not an education directed toward immediate needs. It is not specialized ed-ucation or a professional education; neither is it a utilitarian education. It is an education calculated to develop the mind.

To the perennialist, the Great Books are timeless because they deal with the permanent ideas and problems of humanity. Some perennial-ists would add the classical languages and perhaps a modern language such as French to this list. Vocational or practical studies have no place in the perennialist curriculum since such studies are considered tempo-ral and do not cultivate the intellectual circles. The same argument is adopted for physical education and the study of contemporary affairs.

Since the perennialist is concerned with enduring truths or immutable values that can be delivered only through pure reason, they categori-cally dismiss any empirical data from the behavioral sciences that re-veal, for example, that perennial studies are not more effective than other studies in disciplining the intellect. Similarly, the perennialist dis-misses research findings on the importance of affective influences in learning.

Perennialists have a great deal of antagonism toward the vocation or utilitarian education of today and propose instead that a liberal educa-tion is what is needed. They believe that the role of education is an in-tellectual one and that schools should help learners reach their full po-tentials regarding intelligence. After this potential is reached, simple training can be used to prepare learners to earn a living. However, they believe that a learner must first learn how to learn.

Perennialists believe the object of liberal education for all is not to make young people scientists, mathematicians, or engineers, but to help them grasp what everybody ought to know about science, mathematics


and engineering. The perennialists also cannot accept the modern con-cept of adapting the curriculum to the environment or current culture. To do this, they argue, is to fail to establish any standard of good or bad in the quality of education. Since it is impossible to judge an indi-vidual’s current culture as good or bad, any curriculum adapted to that culture must also lack any standards. Therefore, the perennialist cur-riculum is based on eternal truths and always, in any environment or culture, its quality must be good.

i. The Basic Philosophy of Behaviorism

In 1912, a psychologist, John B. Watson, formulated ideas about be-haviorism. He is credited with being the founding father of behaviorist psychology.

Even though Watson was the founding father of behaviorism, Skinner is more well known for his work in this field. In 1928, without ever having a course in psychology, Skinner decided that he would pursue it as a career. Those who influenced his style and ideas, other than Wat-son, included Plato, Descartes, and Pavlov.

Although Skinner was influenced by Watson, both men had slightly different perspectives concerning behaviorism. Watson believed that behaviorism was a natural science that took the whole field of human adjustments as it own. In addition to Watson’s view, Skinner believed that behaviorism was not the science of human behavior, but the phi-losophy of that science. One point that both agreed upon was that pun-ishments were bad and unnecessary. They believed that one should not react to unfavorable actions but should respond with positive reinforce-ments.

There are many misconceptions about behaviorism. Skinner believed the science itself is misunderstood. There are numerous kinds of behav-ioral sciences, some that do not address certain behavioristic issues. To aid in explanation, a special discipline called experimental analysis of behavior was developed.

Behaviorism is a sensitive subject to the individual, for who knows us better than ourselves? Our environment, according to behaviorists, plays an important part in our behavior. We have reflexes that are the result of combining behavior and stimulation. Behavior that is evolved in a species is said to be instinct. Other feelings that a person experi-ences, according to behaviorists, are wants, needs, desires, and wishes. Language is considered to be verbal behavior that is the expression of mental connotations. However, Skinner was more concerned with in-


terpretation than with describing what is felt or what has been accom-plished.

Behavior research and experiments originally were performed strictly with animals. However, in 1952, things changed and humans were used in testing as Ogden Lindsley, a student of Skinner, made a pioneering attempt to control human behavior.

Another area affected by the thought of behavior modification is educa-tion. Skinner recognized that the obvious improvements needed in edu-cation included covering more subject areas, keeping classes small, more favorable working conditions, higher pay for teachers, and in-creased public interest. However, even today, how these goals are to be achieved is a very challenging question.

As for the method of teaching, Skinner’s position was that an intelli-gent person already has what is needed to teach. A teacher’s goal, he believed, was to capture the student’s attention and to keep it, some-thing that a teacher should know in everyday life.

Skinner believed that in the pretense of helping people, we were actu-ally stifling their growth. He referred to Comenius, 400 years ago, who stipulated that the more a teacher teaches, the less the student learns. Skinner also contended that if the teacher helped the student too much, the student became too dependent and therefore would lack the ability to think for himself/herself. The goals of teachers, according to Skin-ner, must be to prepare their students to eventually be independent thinkers.

Another topic of concern for behaviorists in relation to education is ac-countability: “Who should answer to the fact the student is not learn-ing–the teacher, the student, or the administration?”

j. The Basic Philosophy of Constructivism

In response to nationwide calls for educational reform, legitimate con-cerns have been raised regarding appropriate goals of early childhood education. Parents, teachers, administrators, and legislators have been struggling to define what “excellence in education” means for children from three to seven years of age and to establish what steps educators need to take for young children to be successful in the early years of formal education.

Constructivism, originating in Missouri, is a present-day philosophy and is based on theory that states that children construct their own knowledge and values as a result of inter-actions with the physical and social world. Project construct, as it is called, was formed to demon-


strate in a very practical way the principles of constructivist theory. It is built on the belief that the teacher is a professional whose day-to-day decisions in the classroom influence the child’s development. Within the framework for curriculum and assessment, the teacher has consider-able autonomy in choosing or designing experiences that will actively involve children and best promote learning.

Constructivism is based on four basic principles of child development and related teaching practices.

1. Children have an intrinsic desire to make sense of the world. What they genuinely need to know and are genuinely interested in know-ing help them learn. In this instance, learning activities are created that are meaningful and interesting to young children; conditions are created in which children need to construct, develop, and apply additional knowledge or skills; activities are provided that offer children choices and opportunities to function as planners, decision makers, and creators; sufficient time is allowed for children to pur-sue their ideas.

2. Children actively construct knowledge and values by acting upon the physical and social world. Because their thoughts are still closely tied to actions, they require a physically and mentally active learning environment. Opportunities are provided for exploration, interaction, and experimentation with peers, adults, and objects; children are helped to reflect on and evaluate their thoughts and ac-tions; activities are created that allow children to make use of their knowledge in new situations; opportunities are provided for chil-dren to cooperate and consider different points of view; children are permitted to use concrete actions to inform their decision making.

3. In their universal struggle to understand the world, young chil-dren’s thinking will contain predictable errors. Children’s imagina-tive but often incorrect and illogical answers and ideas are valued; peer interaction to discuss, question, and challenge each other’s ideas is encouraged; all children are allowed to experience the con-sequences of their ideas and actions within reasonable constraints; children are encouraged to find answers to their own questions; analysis is made of how and why children learn in certain ways.

4. Developmental domains are interactive and interrelated, each influ-encing the other. It is within the socio-moral environment that cog-nition and language are furthered. Emphasis is placed on an inte-grated approach to teaching; integrated academic instruction within contexts that are meaningful to the child is practiced; curriculum


goals which promote various aspects of development are encour-aged; learning is viewed as dynamic and organic rather than static and linear.

Constructivist theory was developed to fulfill a need for a curriculum and assessment framework that supports young children’s characteris-tic ways of learning while at the same time providing teachers, parents, and administrators with the information they need to make appropriate decisions regarding the education of young children. This philosophy enables teachers to function as professional decision makers whose knowledge and observations of young children enrich teaching practice.

14. Activities for Selected Philosophies Impacting Education and Western Civilization.

a. Activity 6

Describe, in detail, the major concerns that led to the development of the following philosophies.

1. Communism

2. Analytic Philosophy

3. Reconstructionism

4. Scholasticism

5. Instrumentalism

6. Progressivism

7. Essentialism

8. Perennialism

9. Behaviorism

10. Constructivism

a. Activity 7

Determine how the four “main” philosophies, Idealism, Realism, Prag-matism, and Existentialism, have impacted on each of the philosophies.

b. Activity 8

What philosophy or philosophies encompass constructivism? Write, in detail, your argument for your choice(s).



Tough times never last, tough people do. Robert Schuller

That which is within us is stronger than that which is without. Unknown

The steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath. John Greenleaf Whittier

Faith is the force of life. Tolstoy

When you hoist the sail of faith, it is the wind, not the sail, that counts.Unknown

When anger arises, think of the consequences. Confucius

The great remedy for anger is delay. Seneca

16. Selected Fundamental Principles of Eastern Thought.

Fundamental principles of Eastern tradition can be basically divided into three areas: Indian Thought that is characterized by stern devotion to duty and the caste system while stressing motivation, purpose, and meaning of human actions; Chinese and Japanese Thought that generally includes no God, no saviors with emphasis on dependence on oneself instead of outside sources for answers and wisdom; Middle Eastern Thought con-sisting of: (a) Islam that emphasizes religion for the hopeless, poor, and outcast races and strict discipline and laws regarding morals; and (b) Ju-daism and Christianity that stress pure morals but with mercy and forgive-ness. All of these have great concern for the inner man above the outer and which there is great emphasis on teacher-student relationship within a strict moral code.

a. Far Eastern and Indian Thought

This area includes China, Japan, Korea, and India. Similarities exist in each of these areas for several reasons:

1. they are noted for stable traditions;

2. they live in the same area for extended periods of time;

3. they believe in a sense of duty;

4. they believe in a rigid class structure;

5. they have strong family ties;

6. they have powerful ancestor worship;

7. they believe in punishment of the body.


These areas contrast Western philosophy in that Western philosophy dictates:

1. excessive concern for material goods;

2. social advancement;

3. changing moral standards.

b. Indian Thought

Indian philosophy promoted a search for wisdom. It emphasized specu-lation to solve basic problems, to improve life, and to provide remedies for suffering. They stressed Universal Moral Justice in which individu-als are responsible for what they are and what they become.

1. Hinduism

Hinduism is practiced as a way of life in which one should be able to control and regulate desire. Hinduism is composed of three basic texts: Vedas, Upanishads, and Epics.

Vedas consists of 10 components and beliefs:

a. hymns, chants, and treatises of Aryan people;

b. the worship of nature;

c. three entities to the universe (earth, atmosphere, and Heaven);

d. three Mantras (gods are praised, sacrifices to the gods, and a constant battle between gods and demons);

e. ultimate reality;

f. uncreated reality and eternal spirit;

g. leading a life of virtue and righteousness;

h. divine human soul;

i. humans are spirit;

j. the heart and mind must be purified which may take several life-times of reincarnation.

Upanishads are made up of 12 components and beliefs:

a. secret teachings;

b. built on Vedas;

c. the gods receded into the background;


d. divine knowledge is important;

e. merge self with Brahman;

f. women were elevated to equal status with men;

g. monistic conception of the deity;

h. Brahman is the beginning and end;

i. true knowledge of Brahman can be obtained by purity of life and meditation;

j. quest for a true understanding of Brahman;

k. Brahman is the only absolute reality;

l. development of laws such as man-righteous conduct (developed four classes of people and established three desired stages in one’s life).

Epics are made up of nine components and beliefs:

a. the world of nature and the universe are illusions;

b. spirit is reality;

c. devotion to duty;

d. God speaks to humans intimately and in more detail;

e. a poem of 700 versus in 18 chapters;

f. describes a great war for the succession to the throne;

g. a divine comparison for humanity;

h. salvation is open to all;

i. yoga is important in that the mind can be trained to function at higher levels.

Mahatma Gandhi is usually associated with modern Hinduism. He turned his law practice to one of social reform. His civil disobedi-ence protests against Great Britain led to India’s independence in 1947.

Gandhi believed that God can be realized by living in the world and practicing ahimsa (the practice of nonviolence). He conveyed that we should live a life of love and service toward others. Although Gandhi stressed peace and gentleness, he did have opposition con-cepts of untouchability, enforced widowhood and child marriage. He advocated equal rights for women, temple and school entrance for all, and manual labor for everyone. For all that he opposed and


advocated, his beliefs were steadfast. He promoted the concept that one cannot know God completely in this life, that one should be willing to suffer for one’s own convictions without making others suffer, and that absolute non-violence may not be possible.

Jain, an offshoot of Hinduism, originated in India. It gave great im-portance to non-injury. Believers vowed not to injure any form of life (this included not stepping on anything or even scratching). Al-though contrary to the practice, followers were expected to commit suicide by starvation if they could not follow vows. This seems al-most contradictory to the vow of non-injury.

2. Buddhism

Siddhartha Gotama (563-483 BC) is generally considered one of the most influential proponents of the Buddhism philosophy. In essence, Buddha means “enlightened one.”

Gotama is purported to have lived on one grain of rice a day. He be-lieved that personal gratification was the cause of world suffering. The universe, he insisted, is pamsara (a stream) without end and in which the law of Karma exists. Followers believed that Buddhism should not be explained all at once; it should begin with what is re-lated to the student’s condition. At first women were shunned, but later were admitted in a submissive role. After about 1,500 years in India, Buddhism was absorbed by Hinduism.

c. Chinese Thought

1. The Influence of Confucius

Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and ethical teacher, was born in 551 BC in the feudal state of Lu. His father, a commander of a dis-trict in Lu, died three years after Confucius was born, leaving his family in poor circumstances. Nevertheless, Confucius received careful training from his mother in regard to the rigorous Chinese customs and ceremonials. His great love of learning led him to ac-quire a good educational foundation.

Living in the midst of warfare, corruption and tyranny, Confucius deplored the disorder and lack of moral standards about him. He came to believe that the only remedy was to be found in converting people once more to the principles and maxims of the holy savants of antiquity. He urged a system of morality and statecraft to bring about peace, justice, and universal order. His teachings became the basis of the moral system of Confucianism.


The basic moral principle of the system is the maintenance of hu-manity or sympathy between men by keeping right relationships: Treat those who are subordinate to you as you would be treated by those in positions superior to yours. This is the Confucian Golden Rule. Actually, his rule suggests that “What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others.”

His entire teaching was practical and ethical rather than religious. He claimed to be a restorer of ancient morality although he did not put the principles of his philosophy into writing; these have come down to us only through his disciples.

Confucius was the greatest teacher in the history of China. Educa-tion became the profession he chose, politics was the profession he would have preferred, and universal social reform was his ideal. He considered that all politics stemmed from education; therefore his philosophy of education merged into his political philosophy. His teachings set the tenants for his part of the world; his life cast the mold for the ages to come and his theories never departed from the realities of life.

Confucius was the initiator of several points of Chinese cultural life:

a. Lecture as a method of teaching began with Confucius who was the first man in China to popularize teaching.

b. Teaching as a profession started with Confucius. He initiated the theory that where education took root, no class distinction would exist. This theory has been the mainspring of Chinese thought ever since.

c. The basic educational aim consisting of four consecutive ideals–proper personal discipline, harmonious family relations, wise government, and peace on earth–was taught.

d. The unity of Chinese culture consists of the democratic spirit that can be vitalized only through the process of education.

Confucius differed from the philosophical schools that followed him. Confucius’s aim in teaching was to nurture and develop a per-son so that he might become someone who would be useful to his state, rather than to produce a scholar belonging to any one philo-sophical school. Hence, he taught his pupils to read and to study a wide variety of books and subjects. Rote memorization was re-garded as an inadequate form of learning.


The accomplishments of the disciples of Confucius were also not all of one pattern. They were noted for moral character, for gifts of speech, for administrative ability, and for knowledge in literature and in learning. This overall wisdom signified that Confucius wished his disciples to become “men” in the full sense of the term. Confucius was, in short, an educationist.

In initiating lecturing as a teaching method, Confucius was the first person to introduce to the people the kind of education that had been the monopoly of the aristocracy. He was the first person who brought the knowledge reserved for the temples of the aristocracy to the marketplace of the common man. He was the first person to make teaching his profession and thus to popularize culture and ed-ucation. He opened the way for many traveling scholars and philosophers of succeeding centuries. He inaugurated, or at least de-veloped, that class of gentleman in ancient China that was neither farmer, artisan, merchant, nor actual official, but was professional teacher and potential official.

In carrying out his belief that where education took root, class dis-tinction would not exist, Confucius admitted all, irrespective of po-sition and wealth, to his school and taught them all the same sub-jects. This was the beginning of the popularization of learning and the prelude to the age of the assumption of political leadership by the common man.

Confucius never refused instruction to anyone who sought his in-struction, even those who gave him a token tuition fee of a bundle of dried meat. The expression of “a bundle of dried meat” is still somewhat used in China to refer to tuition fees. Confucius probably did not have a fixed fee for tuition, but it was likely that he accepted some honorarium from each of his students. In the maintenance of his livelihood through teaching, Confucius gave teaching its profes-sional status.

Confucius initiated the fundamental principles of self-discipline, domestic harmony, wise government, and universal peace. Confu-cius was educated in many fields of knowledge and acquired com-petency in many skills. While his curriculum included many sub-jects, the principal emphasis was on the art of government. What-ever promotes the interest of the state and the welfare of the people deserved serious study. The means of attaining these objects con-sisted of self-discipline and the development of the personality of


the governors. Political astuteness was secondary to the develop-ment of a well-rounded personality.

Even though the emphasis was on the art of government, good gov-ernment alone, or a royal doctrine alone, would not be sufficient to secure political progress. Education had to be its foundation. Educa-tion did not include schooling alone; family discipline, hunting, walking, social meetings, and personal interviews possess great ed-ucational values. In other words, anything that would train the con-duct and character of the individual, or that would increase one’s knowledge and skill is a form of education. Furthermore, in educa-tion, emphasis should be laid more on the training of the mind, char-acter, and feelings than the increase in knowledge and skill.

The fundamental value of education to progress is to make the democracy of the masses, not the aristocracy of the intellectuals or the virtuous, to understand and hence to move toward the social ideal. Without education, the mass of the people would be ignorant and would not know the importance of the royal doctrine and the di-rection of progress.

Confucius’s system of education was an elaborate one. In the center of a village that contains 80 families, there should be a school house. The aged and virtuous men should be elected teachers of the school. Usually they are recruited from the retired officials of the government. Such a school of a local village is called a local school. It should open in the 10th month when the agriculture work has been finished, and should close in the first month when the agricul-tural work begins again. At eight years of age, the child should be-gin to go to school and should study reading, writing, mathematics, geography, and ethical rules of the family and society.

Next in succession to the local schools should come district school, the provincial college, the national academy, and the imperial uni-versity. A local school should be in every village; a district school in every district; a provincial college in every province, a national academy in every capital city of every feudal state, and an imperial university in the imperial capital. All of these schools should be supported by the government. In schools, both knowledge and char-acter should be emphasized and there must be a balance of mental and moral training. Education should also emphasize the teaching of citizenship, such as the duties of public service, the organization of the government, the spheres of political authority, and military tactics.


The general idea of Confucius’ philosophy can be traced through a sequence of actions; the principles of higher education consist in preserving man’s clear character, in giving new life to the people, and in dwelling in perfection or the ultimate good.

Confucius believed that:

a. Only after knowing the goal of perfection where one should dwell can one have a definite purpose in life.

b. Only after having a definite purpose in life can one achieve calmness of mind.

c. Only after having achieved calmness of mind can one have peaceful repose.

d. Only after having peaceful repose can one begin to think.

e. Only after one has learned to think can one achieve true knowl-edge.

There are a foundation and a superstructure in the constitution of things and a beginning and an end in the course of events. There-fore, to know the proper sequence or relative order of things is the beginning of wisdom.

As an ethical teacher, Confucius takes his stand by the side of Gau-tama Buddha, Christ, and Mohammed, but he is differentiated from these founders of world religions by the absence from his teaching of everything to do with the supernatural. The great philosopher of China displayed neither the mysticism of Buddha, the spirituality of Christ, nor the religious fervor of Mohammed. He worshipped the ancient gods of China, but as a teacher he dealt only with worldly affairs, declaring the ways of Heaven and the laws of the other world to be beyond human comprehension. His appeal was primar-ily to reason, seldom to the emotions, and never to the divine imma-nence of man. Confucius died in 479 BC.

2. Taoism

A foremost follower of Taoism was Lao-Tzu (Fifth Century BC). He practiced the belief that one should develop the inner life to meet any difficulties. Tzu believed the best leader is one who rules by letting things alone and that conflict and war represented a fail-ure in society.


Tzu emphasized that one should not be in rebellion against the laws of the universe. He also advised that people can govern themselves and the more laws there are, the more thieves and bandits multiply.

d. Japanese Thought

Zen Buddhism was a way of promoting national and political unity. Practitioners modified Buddhism to fit Japanese culture. Founded by Daruma, Zen Buddhism has no saviors, faith, or God. It contains no scriptures for teaching, but merely points the direction to seek one’s own answers.

Zen Buddhism proposes to discipline the mind and seeks freedom of mind. Therefore, it is dependent on oneself for answers and wisdom, and on intuition. Logical thinking may prevent enlightenment. This would prevent the development of a “third eye” that is vital for helping us to be attuned to things around us (enlightenment can be achieved at any time and at any place).

Although Zen Buddhism is a personal experience that emphasizes silent meditation, Zen methods of study may include the hitting of stu-dents for failure to comply with proprieties of the belief. Practitioners believe that one lifetime may not be enough to become a Zen master.

e. Middle Eastern Thought

1. Judaism

Abraham believed in a tribal God. God was viewed as having the same physical attributes as humans. Followers believe in the com-ing of a Redeemer, a Messiah. The observance of the Sabbath is holy and ceremonial observances are prominent.

2. Christianity

Christianity appealed to the poor and oppressed. They believed that each person should read the Bible and interpret it for himself/herself.

Christianity developed from a small group proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. Followers proclaimed that belief in Jesus as a divinity was the difference between Judaism and Christianity.

During His ministry on earth, Christ sought to open the minds of doctors, lawyers, priests, rulers, and so forth., the very people who verbally attacked Him. Christ rarely is depicted as an itinerant preacher/teacher. “He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:32). This was the idea the Pharisees had about Jesus.


Christ taught using figures of speech many times and it should be known that He did not mean for His figures of speech to be ac-cepted in their entirety. No one could suppose that when Jesus said, “He was the door,” He meant that He was made of wood. Most fig-ures of speech exist to illustrate them with requisite vividness. Con-sequently, each becomes patently absurd when it is pressed too far. The very fact that such figures of speech are necessarily limited gives each one of them a little touch of humor.

3. Islam

According to oracle, Mohammed (571-632 AD) spent many hours in a cave studying and thinking. At 40, Allah spoke to him through an angel, Gabriel (the angel of revelation). Allah called on Mo-hammed to have the people worship Allah. He told the people to give up worshipping many gods to follow him in the worship of Al-lah. His message was not well received and he was forced to depart. Eight years after he left Mecca, he conquered the city with his armies. He sought to unify Arab tribes.

According to Islam, every word in the Koran is the word of God to the Muslims. The Koran did away with intermediaries between God and humans and emphasized that each person will be tried on the Last Judgment.

Followers of Islam believe in one God, Allah, with all earthy be-longings going to Him. Islam maintains equality before god and a life hereafter. Followers also believed in limited polygamy.

17. Activities for Selected Fundamental Principles of Eastern Thought.

a. Activity 9

Write, in detail, any areas of agreement among Indian, Chinese, Japa-nese, and Middle Eastern Thought.

f. Activity 10

Write, in detail, the major areas of difference among Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern Thought.

g. Activity 11

Describe, in detail, how Far Eastern Thought differs from Western Phi-losophy.

h. Activity 12

Describe the contributions of Confucius not only to the far eastern civi-lization, but also to western civilization.


i. Activity 13

Refer to your personal philosophy score. From what you have learned throughout this text, analyze your score and write a brief synopsis of the results.

j. Activity 14

From your brief synopsis, develop your personal philosophy for educa-tion. First, to establish thought processes, please respond briefly to the following areas with the prefix I BELIEVE THAT . . .

1. Curriculum

2. Student Achievement

3. Educational Environment

4. Learning

5. Teaching Performance

6. Administrative effectiveness

7. Educational mission

8. Discipline

9. Student self-efficacy

10. Teacher Self-Efficacy

11. Parental Involvement

12. Exceptional Children

k. Activity 15

From the information in Activity 3, write, in narrative form, your phi-losophy of education. Be specific in what you believe, but do not over-indulge in unnecessary wording.


Whatever may happen, every kind of fortune is to be overcome by bearing itVirgil

This too shall pass away. Unknown

In every adversity, there are the seeds of an equal or greater opportunity. Clement Stone

Oh, but man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what is heaven for. Browning

I steer my boat with hope . . . leaving fear astern. Thomas Jefferson


Courage in danger is half the battle. Plautus

The nearer the dawn, the darker the night. Longfellow

The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. Unknown

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by failing to attempt. Shakespeare

. . . in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. The Bible

Have patience - everything is difficult before it is easy. Saadi

This is a world of action, and not for moping and droning in. Dickens

19. In Conclusion.

Civilization faces many challenges. There are a wide range of problems and issues that impact directly on educators and school systems. Under-standing and appreciating the importance of philosophies in education gives educators the framework to help develop real solutions to many lin-gering problems.

We need daring educators armed with the ability to think critically, analyt-ically, creatively, and imaginatively. There are numerous questions that are of great importance to educators. We hope this text will help educators think and search imaginatively for penetrating ways to provide answers to the many questions.

This text provides the reader with a solid, base-line reference to philoso-phies in education. We recommend that educators keep this text and refer to it as a helpful reference to philosophies in education. To the serious reader who wants a more comprehensive treatment of the various philoso-phies presented here.

Dr. William Allan Kritsonis, Chapter 3 - Philosophies of Schooling

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