Educational Philosophy- an introduction

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY : AN INTRODUCTION

BY

SUPRIYA PRATHAPAN

STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY? BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY WHAT IS EDUCATION? EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY FEATURES OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND

EDUCATION A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF:a) WESTERN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHYb) INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY ? Philosophy is the study of

general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language.

It is distinguished from other ways of addressing problems by its critical and generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.

The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek word “philosophia”, which literally means "love of wisdom.

The main areas of study in philosophy today include epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

EPISTEMOLOGY Epistemology is the study of knowledge

and justified belief. As the study of knowledge, epistemology is concerned with the following questions:

What are the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge?

What are its sources? What is its structure, and what are its

limits?

LOGIC Logic is the study of the

principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. It includes:

1) Deductive reasoning wherein an argument is constructed by showing that a conclusion necessarily follows from a certain set of premises. Such an argument is called a syllogism.

2) Inductive reasoning : It involves constructing or evaluating propositions that are abstractions of observations of individual instances of members of the same class.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

METAPHYSICS

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world. As Aristotle explains, Metaphysics is the study of a Substance and its properties which exist and cause all things, and is therefore the necessary foundation for all human knowledge. He called it the study of the first principles of things. He said it was the science of existence in general, or of 'being as such‘. Metaphysics, then, is a comprehensive study of what is fundamental to all existence, all knowledge and all explanation. Metaphysics has two branches:

Ontology: It investigates the basic categories of being and how they relate to each other.

Cosmology: It is the study of the totality of all phenomena within the universe.

ETHICS  Ethics, also known as moral

philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. The major areas of study in ethics include:

Meta-ethics: It deals with the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values may be determined.

Normative ethics: It deals with the practical means of determining a moral course of action.

Applied ethics: It deals with the ways moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

AESTHETICS Aesthetics is a branch of

philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty.

It is the study of sensory-emotional values, sometimes called judgment of sentiment and taste.

Aesthetics involves "critical reflection on art, culture and nature.

EDUCATION Education is a dynamic process, which involves the interplay of

the educator, educand and the social forces to make an individual socially adjustable and responsible.

The term ‘education’ means to plunge a man’s body, mind and soul from ignorance .

It enhances an individual’s personality and provides him confidence to reach out to the world.

It involves the growth and development of the individual in relation to his environment.

Education is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next.

Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts.

In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another.

These days education is seen not only as an instrument of social change but is also viewed as the best investment for the future.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy of education refers to the academic field of applied philosophy which examines the definition, goals and meaning of education.

As an academic field, philosophy of education is: The philosophical study of education and its problems. Its central subject matter is education and its methods are those of

Philosophy. The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the process of

education or the philosophy of the discipline of education. It is a part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the aims,

forms, methods or results of the process of educating or being educated. It is both a part of the field of education and the field of applied philosophy

drawing from the fields of metaphysics, epistemology and axiology (which is the study of values-ethics and aesthetics)

It also relies upon the philosophical approaches i.e. speculative, prescriptive and analytic, to address questions in and about pedagogy, educational policy, curriculum and the process of learning.

It defines the limits of education as an academic discipline and establishes the relation between educational theory and practice.

FEATURES OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS SPECULATIVE

a) Educational philosophy makes an endeavour to be synoptic.

b) It includes an overview of the areas of sciences and social sciences.

c) Derives a meaningful whole out of varied data.

d) It makes tentative inferences where there are gaps in data.

FEATURES OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS NORMATIVEa) Educational philosophy has traditionally assumed the

burden of formulating goals, norms or standards by which to conduct the educative process.

b) Norms should not lead educational practice but must follow it.

c) Educational Philosophy rationalizes the usages already in practice.

d) The philosopher formulates a common theory out of diverse practices.

e) At the normative stage, philosophy is retrospective and conservative rather than prospective and progressive.

f) Science might aid in determining the aims or values of a community but philosophy determines its appropriateness.

FEATURES OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS ANALYTICa) Educational philosophy subjects the terms

and propositions underlying educational thought and practice to rigorous scrutiny.

b) An educational philosopher needs assurance not only about the substance of the program of schools but also of its validity.

c) Philosophy examines the logical premises on which educational conclusions rest.

d) Philosophy also makes use of the discipline of ‘Semantics’ to closely examine the language used in educational theory to ensure that its meaning is clear and unambiguous.

METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

THE DIDACTIC METHOD According to the classical tradition the word ‘didactic’, referred to a

form of instruction in which the active teacher presented information to the passive student. However, the truth is that, didactic instruction engages the student’s mind and makes him an active learner.  

When a teacher engages in didactic instruction, she presents models to the students for mutual contemplation.

In this approach to didactic instruction the teacher and the student are engaged in a mutual contemplation. Both are actively thinking about the models placed before them. As a result, both move toward a more accurate understanding of the ideas contained in the object. 

This method is very effective when a teacher wants the student to understand an idea or interpret an artifact (e.g. a painting, musical composition, text, etc.).

It can be used effectively in science, art, music, math, and languages. It is also a wonderful way to approach children’s reading, which should be dominated by Bible stories, myths, fables, folk tales, and fairytales.

METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

THE DIALECTIC METHOD The dialectic method is often called the Socratic Method.   Dialectic Method is a relentless pursuit of truth through

unceasing questions.   Socrates’ questioning usually fell into two stages, the

ironic and the maieutic(ma-yoo-tic). In the ironic stage, the teacher asks questions to probe her student’s understanding–to find the inadequacies in his thoughts. These inadequacies might include contradictions, insufficient definitions of terms, faulty logic and other common mistakes. The purpose of the ironic stage is to weaken the individual’s confidence in an inadequate understanding of reality.

In the maieutic stage the teacher will make more suggestions than she did in the ironic stage, but will continue asking questions. In the end, the student and the teacher both understand an idea better. The purpose of the maieutic stage is to give birth to this more accurate understanding of reality.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION

Philosophy Determines The Real Destination Towards Which Education Has To Go: It determines the goals of life and also provides suitable and effective guidance and supervision for education to achieve those goals.

Philosophy Determines The Various Aspects of Education: According to Ross, “Philosophy and education are like the sides of the same coin, present views of the same thing and one is implied by the other”.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION

Great Philosophers Have Been Great Educationists: For example-Plato, Socrates, Locke, Gandhi,Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh etc.

Education is the Dynamic Side of Philosophy : Philosophy is the plan and education is its application. It determines the aims of education and lays down principles to achieve them.

PHILOSOPHY AND AIMS OF EDUCATION

Aims of education are related to the aims of life which are the creation of contemporary philosophical beliefs.

Different philosophers in view of their own thinking, keeping in mind the demands of society, formulated different aims of life and education.

As aims of life change, aims of education also change.

By means of curriculum desired behavioural changes are sought to be achieved through the goal of life which is determined by a particular philosophy.

The philosophy of a country at a particular time determines the curriculum.

Those subjects, activities and experiences are included in the curriculum which are expected to meet the emerging demands of the society.

PHILOSOPHY AND CURRICULUM

Pedagogy is based on the philosophical design of action.

The solutions of Educational philosophy can only be achieved through the action of teaching.

The classroom is a kind of a laboratory where philosophical distinctions can be empirically tested.

PHILOSOPHY AND PEDAGOGY

Philosophy determines the nature and form of discipline, whether strict and rigid or flexible and free

Philosophical beliefs of a country determines the nature of discipline. John Adams in his famous book “Modern Development in Educational Practice” has discussed the following forms of discipline:

a) Repressionistic Discipline: It is based on despotic and authoritarian ideologies. Children are kept under rigid control and unquestioning obedience is enforced through physical punishment.

PHILOSOPHY AND DISCIPLINE

b) Impressionistic Discipline: It is based on the philosophy of idealism. Here teacher is considered to be the role model who develops a sense self discipline among the students.

c) Emancipatory Discipline: It is based on the philosophy of Naturalism. Naturalists believe in the inherent goodness of the nature of a child and hence advocate full freedom for the child to think and behave as he likes.

PHILOSOPHY AND DISCIPLINE

To achieve the aims of life and of education, textbooks are of great importance.

Textbooks are affected by the prevailing philosophy of the society and country.

Textbooks contain matter which reflects the ideology, ideals and values of society.

Government should keep an eye on the production and circulation of books to avoid the dissemination of extremist ideologies

PHILOSOPHY AND TEXTBOOKS

Philosophy has a great influence on a teacher’s thoughts and behaviour.

Ordinarily a teacher’s philosophy of life affects his teaching.

A teacher should uphold high moral and spiritual values in order to inculcate the same among students.

He/she must be aware of his/her national responsibility and the needs and aspirations of the society.

PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHER

WESTERN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY: A BRIEF

OVERVIEWIDEALISMREALISMNATURALISMPRAGMATISMEXISTENTIALISM

IDEALISM Idealism, as a

philosophical doctrine considers ideas, feelings and ideals more important than material objects and emphasizes that human development should be according to moral, ethical and spiritual values so that a person acquires knowledge of unity in diversity. Some idealist philosophers are: Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Kant, Froebel, Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh etc.

REALISM

Realism is the doctrine that objective reality or the material universe exists independently of the conscious mind, its nature and properties are being affected by being known. Realists firmly believe that knowledge acquired through senses is real in nature and the only true entity in this world. Some famous realists are: Irasmus, Milton, John Locke, Bacon, Bertrand Russel etc.

John Locke

NATURALISM According to this philosophy

the basis of the world is Nature or matter. Hence , man should investigate the truths of Nature by scientific methods with all his capacities and resourcefulness. Naturalists believe that if man will come near Nature, his development will be natural and normal.

Famous Naturalists are: Aristotle, Comte, Hobbes, Darwin, Rousseau Huxley etc.

Rousseau

Hobbes

PRAGMATISM

In the words of Ross, “Pragmatism is essentially a humanistic philosophy, maintaining that man creates his own values in the course of activity that reality is still in the making and awaits its part of completion from the future, that to an unascertainable extent our truth are man-made products. “ Hence, only those things are true which can be experimented. Pragmatists firmly believe that through various activities a human being creates his own values and ideals. Some famous pragmatists are: William James, C.B. Pearce and John Dewey

William James

John Dewey

EXISTENTIALISM

According to existentialism, to understand what a human being is, it is not enough to know all the truths that natural science—including the science of psychology—could tell us. The dualist who holds that human beings are composed of independent substances—“mind” and “body”—is no better off in this regard than is the physicist, who holds that human existence can be adequately explained in terms of the fundamental physical constituents of the universe. Existentialism claims that human beings cannot be fully understood in terms of science. Nor can such an understanding be gained by supplementing our scientific picture with a moral one. Categories of moral theory such as intention, blame, responsibility, character, duty, virtue, and the like do capture important aspects of the human condition, but neither moral thinking nor scientific thinking suffices. “Existentialism”, therefore, may be defined as the philosophical theory which holds that a further set of categories, governed by the norm of authenticity, is necessary to grasp human existence. The idea that philosophy cannot be practiced in the disinterested manner of an objective science is indeed central to existentialism. Some famous existentialists are:

Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger ,Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus.

ALBERT CAMUS

SIMONE de BEAUVOIR

SOREN KIERKEGAARD

INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY JAINISM Jainism traces its philosophy from teachings of Mahavira

and other Tirthankaras .Jain philosophy deals extensively with the problems of metaphysics, reality, cosmology, ontology, epistemology and divinity. The distinguishing features of Jain philosophy are its belief on independent existence of soul and matter, absence of a supreme divine creator, owner, preserver or destroyer, potency of karma, eternal and uncreated universe, a strong emphasis on non-violence, accent on relativity and multiple facets of truth, and morality and ethics based on liberation of soul. Jain philosophy attempts to explain the rationale of being and existence, the nature of the Universe and its constituents, the nature of bondage and the means to achieve liberation. It has often been described as an ascetic movement for its strong emphasis on self-control, austerities and renunciation. It has also been called a model of philosophical liberalism for its insistence that truth is relative and multifaceted .Jainism strongly upholds the individualistic nature of soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions; and that self-reliance and individual efforts alone are responsible for one's liberation

BUDDHISM Buddhist philosophy is a system of

beliefs based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepalese prince later known as the Buddha. Buddha criticized all concepts of metaphysical being and non-being as misleading views caused by reification.Buddhism shares many philosophical views with other Indian systems, such as belief in karma, a cause-and-effect relationship between all that has been done and all that will be done. Events that occur are held to be the direct result of previous events. However, a major difference is the Buddhist rejection of a permanent, self-existent soul (atma). This view is a central one in Hindu thought but is rejected by all Buddhists.

INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

VEDANTIC PHILOSOPHY The Vedanta, or later Mimamsa school,

concentrates on the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads rather than the ritualistic injunctions of the Brahmanas.

While the traditional Vedic rituals continued to be practised as meditative rites, a more knowledge-centered understanding began to emerge. These were mystical aspects of Vedic religion that focused on meditation, self-discipline, and spiritual connectivity, more than traditional ritualism.

The more abstruse Vedanta is the essence of the Vedas, as encapsulated in the Upanishads. Vedantic thought drew on Vedic cosmology, hymns and philosophy. The most significant contribution of Vedantic thought is the idea that self-consciousness is continuous with and indistinguishable from consciousness of Brahman.

The aphorisms of the Vedanta sutras are presented in a cryptic, poetic style, which allows for a variety of interpretations. The most famous Vedantist was Swami Vivekananda.

SĀMKHYA PHILOSOPHY Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy

that is apparently dualist.Samkhya does not mention the existence of Ishvara (God). It regards the universe as consisting of two realities: Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter). They are the experiencer and the experienced. Prakriti further bifurcates into sensor and sensed realms : on the other hand, Puruṣa separates out into countless souls or individual units of consciousness which fuse into the mind and body of the sensor branch of Prakriti consisting of 13 karanas (instruments) Jiva is that state of Puruṣa in which Puruṣa lies bonded to Prakriti through the glue of desire, and end of this bondage is Moksha. Samkhya does not describe what happens after Moksha. Chitta is merely a two sided mirror : on the one hand it reflects the external physical world through senses to the inner perceiver, and on the other hand it reflects one's self identity sometimes wrongly due to false self-identification with Ego. Due to attachment to desires, this false self (ego) is strengthened and the soul gets alienated from its real identity. That is why Saamkhya stresses the need of self knowledge for getting rid of this delusion.

ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY The word Islam defined by the Quran itself means submission to the Supreme Being and compliance with His laws, which constitutes Nature. Islam lays special emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is of two types, revealed knowledge and acquired knowledge. Revealed knowledge has been given to human beings, through prophets by Allah. Acquired knowledge is that which is being acquired by the human beings though the study of natural phenomena, attitude of man and through the study of society. Quran says that for the prosperous life on earth both kinds of knowledge, revealed and acquired is necessary. It shows the basis of the educational set-up in Islam where the children are not only equipped with religious knowledge but also with acquired that is scientific knowledge so that they can live a righteous and prosperous life. That is why the knowledge in Islam is considered as the greatest gift of Allah to Man. It helps man to attain righteous and prosperous life. Islamic philosophy derives its origin from the teachings of the Quran and Hadith (the saying of the Holy Prophet). The Qayas and Fiqqah, are also the crucial components. Islamic education system comprises of the following principles:1. Belief in the oneness, immateriality, absolute power, mercy and supreme compassionateness of the Creator.1) Charity and brotherhood among mankind.2) Subjugation of passion.3) The outpouring of a grateful heart to the Giver of all good.4) Accountability of human actions in another existence.5) Developing a sense of social consciousness i.e. enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

CONCLUSION

I hope that by now you understand that how intricately philosophy and education are related. Philosophy is the foundation stone of Education. Every nation, culture, religion, community has its own set of philosophical beliefs which are propagated through the medium of education. Accepted philosophical beliefs help in the formulation of educational goals, based on which the curriculum is designed. Philosophy also defines the role of a teacher and the pedagogical practices. Thus, the educational policies and practices of a country are determined by and large by the philosophy of life upheld by its people.

REFERENCES

WEBSITES:1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Epi

stemology3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Log

ic4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Aes

thetics5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_e

ducation6) http://www.articlesbase.com/education-artic

les/existentialism-in-education-1233391.html

REFERENCES

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics/