PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION PART 2 : BULLETS

 

TOPIC: PHILOSOPHY OF NATURALISM

REFERENCES

Akinpelu, J. A (1981)

Chitumba, W (2006)

Morish, l (1967)

Reed, A. J. S and Bergmann B.E (1995)

Rusk, R.N and Scotland, J (1969)

Urmson, J. O (1975)

PROPONENTS OF NATURALISM

J.J Rousseau

J.H Pestalozzi

F. Froebel

Montessori

INTRODUCTION

·       Naturalism grew largely as an opposition to idealism and Christian doctrine of the original sin.

·       It disputes the notion that man is essentially evil.

·       It takes an extreme position in arguing that inherent in human nature are dynamic quality features- forces which make man naturally inclined to develop towards goodness.

DEFINITION.

NATURALISM

·       It is a philosophy that argues for the return to nature.

·       Its general outlook is that man’s development both physical and intellectual progresses in accordance with natural forces and natural laws.

METAPHYSICS OF NATURALISM

·       Naturalists believe that the totality of things which we call nature and which are studied in natural sciences is the totality of things.

·       Any explanations in-terms of the supernatural are illegitimate.

·       There is an inner principle of development in the universe, a sort of pattern according to which each thing develops according to the best of its type.

·       Thus there exist in the child some hidden powers which unfold when he grows up to become an adult.

·       The child has his own inner principle of growth by which he necessarily and naturally develops towards manhood.

·       Naturalists believe in the natural (innate) goodness and innocence of the child.

·       Inequalities and bad behaviours are a result of the child’s intercourse with the corrupted society.

·       The child is by nature inquisitive and inclined to learn.

·       If we allow the child to unfold in a natural way, he will develop into a good man and ultimately a good citizen.

·       The natural tendency of human nature is to develop towards freedom and happiness.

·       Rousseau says “man is born free but he is in chains everywhere”

EPISTEMOLOGY OF NATURALISM

·       Knowledge is human experience informed by his present values and interests.

·       Knowledge is acquired through a natural process of growth and development- evolution.

·       Knowledge is unfolding from within the child of the potentialities and capacities which follows it’s laid down patterns through engaging in meaningful activities.

·       Education is then the process of aiding and quickening this developmental process of the child.

AXIOLOGY OF NATURALISM

·       Values are man centred, relative and ever-changing.

·       What is good or right is what works or is likely to solve a problem.

NATURALISM AND EDUCATION.

·       Education should be student centred.

·       It should take into account the present interests, values and experiences of the learners.

·       Education is growth, it is a natural process.

·       They argue that nature will have them children before they are born.

·       Children have ways of thinking, seeing and feeling which are peculiar to themselves and they should not be interfered with.

·       Education is for the liberty and happiness of the child

·       Rousseau advocates learning without tears.

·       This means that in a learning set-up, never punish the child

·       If there is punishment needed, nature will take its course and punish the child.

·       Their argument is that if the child is permitted to suffer consequences of his free activities, he will learn from experience what makes his own happiness and his mates.

·       Education should be through experience.

·       Children should learn nothing from books which they can learn from experience.

·       Children learn best by doing through activities/ first hand experiences.

·       Allow children to use all their senses.

·       Education is for individual development and social consciousness.

·       Create activities that will make the child work with others, have a sense of belonging and community ownership.

·       Learners should learn at their own pace.

·       Methods of teaching should take into account the child’s readiness to learn something new.

·       Rousseau argues that when you craft a curriculum do it with the learners.

·       The education system should be divided into different levels according to the pupils’ ages.

NATURALISM AND EDUCATION

In teaching, move away from the child’s present experience and gradually lead him to new experiences

Children learn through trial and error, culminating in trial and success

The teacher must make learning interesting to the learner

According to Rousseau since boys by nature are different from girls, they require a different kind of education

He also says the ideal class size is 1tutor 1learner

Education should be funded and sponsored by the state

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

Naturalist argue that the teacher should be a provider and organizer of learning resources.

The teacher is a passive observer in the background and only interferes at the request of the child.

CONCLUSION

Some elements of the Zimbabwean education system are informed by naturalism

These include dividing the system into kindergarten, infant, junior and senior in primary education, secondary and tertiary education.

Teaching methods have also been influenced by naturalism especially the emphasis on participation rather than on preparation and assimilation.

However there are certain aspects of the philosophy which stand out as unworkable and overzealous.

TASK

Discuss the applicability of naturalism to the Zimbabwean secondary school setting, which ideas would you find difficult to apply and why.

TOPIC: PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

·       Educational philosophies and theories are closely related.

·       Philosophies refer to complete bodies of thought that present a world view.

·       Educational theories focus on education.

·       The main thrust is on what the school should teach i.e. the curriculum.

·       The theories are the school based components of the philosophical approaches.

EDUCATIONAL THEORIES/THEORY.

PROGRESSIVISM.

·       It is a philosophical theory that is founded upon pragmatism hence attributed to Dewey.

·       Progressive education arose as reaction against traditional schooling where progrevists condemned traditional schooling practices such as:

1.     Authoritarian teachers.

2.     Book-based instruction.

3.     Passive memorisation of factual information.

4.     Using physical/psychological coercion to manage classrooms.

·       They advocate for an education that focuses on the whole child rather than on the content/teacher thus they teach the head, heart and the hand.

·       Emphasis is on students testing ideas by active experimentation.

·       Emphasis is also on the process of learning (as opposed to product)-how one comes to know.

·       The learner is a problem solver and thinker who makes meaning through his individual experience in the physical and cultural context.

·       Learners should be free to experiment, play and express themselves.

·       Children’s readiness and interest rather than pre-determined subjects should shape the curriculum and instruction.

·       Progressivists emphasize social interaction and process oriented (hands-on learning) in which students work collaboratively to expand and revise their knowledge base.

·       Teaching and learning should be an active, exciting and ever-changing process.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TEACHER.

·       Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by doing.

·       A teacher must make use of the child’s interest.

·       Teachers must make use of participatory methods such as group work, role-play, project method and field trips.

·       Teachers must create an atmosphere that allows free expression and interaction.

·       Content should be broken down into manageable units.

·       The teacher must match the level of difficulty of content with the level of the children.

·       Teachers must teach from the immediate experience of the child and gradually lead the child to unfamiliar concepts.

·       The teacher acts as a guide to the child’s learning.

STRENGHTS OF PROGRESSIVISM.

·       It allows for active participation by learners.

·       Use of participatory method is believed to ensure long memory retention.

·       It boosts the learner’s confidence as they discover their own knowledge.

·       Learners learn to appreciate others opinion as they learn from each other.

·       Learners are self-motivated to learn,

·       Progressivism encourages scientific methods to experimentation in line with technological advancements.

·       It appreciates individual differences in learners.

·       Progressivism allows the child to learn as he plays.

TOPIC: LIBERALISM/ LIBERAL EDUCATION

·        The concept of liberalism originated in the Greek society during the time of Aristotle.

·       The word liberalism is derived from a Latin word “Liber” which means independent and free. It denotes that which is worth of a free man.

The concept of a free man

The Greek tradition

·       According to the Greek there were two types of man a slave and a free man.

·       The free man was someone with a legal status, a man who was not over burdened with material cares

·       He was a man capable of thinking beyond the now,

·       A man who would spend most of his time thinking about abstract issues i.e. justice, selfish

 

The English tradition

·       during the 19 century the concept of a freeman changed and followed the English tradition

·       a freeman was a man who qualified to be called a gentleman

·       this was a man of leisure, a man who would not do manual jobs, had dignity, commanded respect, a man of peace with polished speech, a man of high intellectual capability, a man whose reasoning was not contextually bound.

 

The contemporary times

·       Distinctions between a free man and a slave no longer exist.

·       A freeman has an openness of mind.

·       Man is expected to be free of dogmas and superstition.

·       He is expected to interrogate any standing beliefs and give new meaning to all phenomena.

 

Goals of liberal education

i.               prepare students for life – the learner should understand the life he or she lives

ii.              develop rational thinking

iii.            produce mature, good and hopefully wise man

iv.            produce the ideal of a well-stocked cultivated mind

v.              produce a gracious and well-disciplined character

 

 

 

Objectives

·       Provide the student with certain kinds of knowledge which every man is the better for possessing.

·       To provide a holistic approach to learning as opposed to a narrow specialised approach.

·       Liberalism agues for wholesomeness as opposed to one sidedness.

·       Help form the mind and personality so that it is possible to be free of gross material cares and to experience more of what life really has to offer (Elvin, 1977:47).

·       To equip the students with a command of their own language.

·       To equip the students with the skills of vigorous thought.

·       To equip students with a grasp of mathematics.

                 

Tenants/ principles of liberalism

·       Man is a rational being, this capacity should be developed in every human being – capable of thinking, evaluating, and making judgements.

·       Human personality should develop freely guided by reason rather than limited by artificially constraints (superstitions, dogmas).

·       Liberal education is a process of freeing or liberating the mind from error.

·       Education aims ultimately to enable an individual to make free choices rather than to follow what is considered to be correct without understanding it.

·       Knowledge is a good for its own sake.

 

Curriculum of liberal education

·       Blydel (in Akinpelu, 1981) asserts that liberal education’s main feature is integration.

·       The curriculum is therefore a coverage of wide range of types of knowledge as Blydel (in Akinpelu 1981:98) reveals “it is our desire and purpose to teach not so much knowledge of useful things as useful knowledge”

·       The man so educated should be free or liberated from ignorance.

·       The liberal curriculum recommends the teaching of as many subjects as possible all of which should be learnt to a level that does not allow specialisation.

Justification for the wide curriculum

·       The first orientation of a liberal education is towards man as man, not towards man as a money maker.

·       The aim is to aid man’s sensible decisions.

Expected product of liberal education

·       His body is the ready servant of his will.

·       The product is expected to be rational.

·       They must be intellectually curious.

 

Implications to a teacher

·       Teach all subjects under the sun that constitute knowledge without much of detail

·       Children are unique individuals

·       Children are rational creatures

·       Children are free to express their feelings, opinions and beliefs

·       Developing in pupils both deductive and inductive reasoning

Summary

·       Curriculum of liberal education is very wide and there is no specialisation

·       There is emphasis on toleration of different fades 

·       Quest for knowledge must not be subordinated political or any other expediency

·       Knowledge, learning and personal development are goods themselves

·       The highest purpose of education is to produce a good man not good tradesman or citizens

 

Critics

·        The philosophy  has no clear belief on nature destined man 

·       Sound too much of utopia

·       Liberal beliefs lead to attitudes of shunning manual labour as it encourages attitudes of the social elite.

·       “Making all education truly liberal never succeeded even with the privileged groups of Greeks or the English of the 19^th century.”(Elvin 1977:56).

Question 2

How far can he stretch the idea that a man can be educated for sake of knowledge not for financial aid?

TOPIC: CONCEPTS OF EDUCATION

According to Socrates and Plato perfect education should focus on good reasoning, and perfect thought.

Forms that Socrates referred to are intangible things

Education enables a person to acquire a skill e.g. the skill of thought.

Skills that students may develop

·       Skill of thinking

·       Listening

·       Interpreting

·       Translation

·       Problem solving

-       According to Dewey education is experience and social reform. Teach by experience

Schools of thought

·       Idealism (thought behind existence) if children are not taught ideas then they are not educated

·       Realist  (can teach using reality)

·       Pragmatism (education trough socialising)

·       Existentialism (give meaning according to individual experience) you must appreciate an individual as he is

-       Education must provide for all classes of the social structure.

-       Sometimes education means to breed i.e. grooming.

Key concepts in education

1.     Teaching

2.     learning

-       Teaching is explaining everything, making it clear to a learner.

-       Learning is the gaining of knew knowledge/ skills. It is also advancing existing knowledge/ perfecting a skill or adapting a certain stimuli.

Educational forms

-       Alternative knowledge is self-learning (home schooling).

-       Indigenous education- traditional education it includes formal and non-formal education.

-       (E-learning)  self- directed learning

-       Formal learning

-       Special education (especially for students with disabilities).

NB The teacher should choose teaching media/activities wisely. Use diverse methods to teach because learning methods are diverse.

Summary

Education is the transmission of knowledge, formation of character, and development of the skill to solve problems. 

TOPIC: ISSUES IN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY.

EQUALITY AND JUSTICE.

EQUALITY

DEFINITION

·       It means the same in status, rights and responsibilities for all members of a given group, community, society, country, nation or an empire.

·       Plato considered the ends of the justice to be best served recognising and exploiting human beings inequalities.

·       Aristotle remarked that injustice arises as much as from treating the unequal’s equal as from treating the equals unequal.

·       The Christian view holds that all human beings are equal in the sight of God, this is called ontological equality.

·       Nietzsche took a contrary view stating that the promotion of equality led to mediocrity and to the discouragement of effort and excellence.

THE CONCEPT OF EQUALITY.

That all men are equal is clearly not true.

Every single person as an individual; natural differences such as height, colour, sex and weight, strength, intelligence apply (physiological differences).

There are also social differences, rank, religion, citizenship and power.

Human beings in the descriptive sense are not equal.

EQUALITY OF TREATMENT.

There is prescriptive/moral sense of equality e.g. all human beings are equal because we belong to the same human race and have the same needs.

Human beings have the equal rights e.g. education, rights to housing, water, food, to vote, material benefits, health, salaries and wages.

John Locke thought that all human beings are all equal in certain natural rights e.g. water to drink.

EQUALITY AND EDUCATION.

The universal declaration of human rights by the U.N says all human beings should be provided with free education.

This is because an illiterate population does not make an efficient work and labour force nor a productive or a resourceful one.

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES

The idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige and power is not true because the rules of life maybe the same but may not apply to everyone.

INEQAUALTIES IN EDUCATION

·       Colonial education was not fair, it discriminated against Africans.

·       Education according to age, aptitude and ability.

·       Private schools.

·       Former A schools

·       Poor western schools

·       Rural and farm schools

·       Teacher student ratio

·       Teacher qualifications

·       Educational infrastructure and facilities.

·       Low incomes and high incomes

·       Teaching and learning stationery.

·       Social background, haves and have not’s.

TOPIC: ISSUES IN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY CONTINUED

AUTHORITY AND FREEDOM

DEFINITION OF AUTHORITY

·       The word authority is derived from the Latin word auctoritas

·       It can also be used to mean power given by the state or an institution

ACADEMIC DEFINITION

·       Academic definition of authority means knowledge of an area, someone can be an authority on a subject

·       Authority is the capacity, innate or acquired for exercising ascendancy over a group

·       Authority is not a capacity but a relationship, it is power that is sanctioned and institutionalized

·       Possession of power and the right to influence others (Agamben, 2005; Barker 1994; Bloom 2010).

·       Max Weber identified three types of authority

RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY/MYSTIC OF OFFICE

·       It is that form of power or authority which depends for its legitimacy on formal rules and established laws which are usually written down and often are complex e.g. a school

TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY

·       Which derives from long established customs, habits and social structures e.g. in Africa it is believed maturity comes with knowledge

CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY

·       It is believed to be from the gift of grace, or when the leader claims that his authority is derived from a higher power God or spiritual inspiration

·       They claim that this authority is superior to the other authorities

·       In authority sometimes superiors feel that they have the right to issue commands that subordinates perceive an obligation to obey.

There is also an aspect of leadership in authority that leadership comes through persuasion or influence.

There is also coercion i.e. the use of force and power.

EDUCATION AND CONTROL

There are three reasons why education is intimately connected with control

1.     Formal education as an institutionalised system needs organized management to ensure its smooth and efficient functioning

2.     There are definite rules and precepts intrinsic to both learning and forms of discipline/knowledge

3.     The school represents the society in microcosm reflects its rules governed by nature

Effective control in education centres round authority, discipline and punishment.

AUTHORITY AND THE TEACHERS ROLE

·       There is no doubt that the teacher is in a position of authority because the teacher has been placed there by whoever has the power to make such appointments

·       Teachers are authorized to make sure children learn 

·       In order to teach the teacher should possess a good deal of knowledge or expertise in a particular discipline to be taught

FREEDOM AND EDUCATION

·       People who do freedom and education are (Hannah, 1993; Young,1993; Sandel, 2010; and Acton,1907)

DEFINITION OF FREEDOM

·       Freedom is the ability to choose and to carry out that choice

·       Complete social freedom does not exist and it is self-contradictory

·       There is no complete freedom in the classroom

·       Aristotle has a solution and it’s called the Aristotle golden rule, he says freedom is to be limited and restrained if it is to be effective.

·       For Plato and Socrates freedomis to do with one’s duty to use reason rather than desire because desire controls and bonds the individual

·       Desire is used whenever wrong things are done

·       Freedom is following authority

·       The nobility of doing what is wanted is morally good

·       People in general choose what is correct they only choose what is not correct because of ignorance.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF FREEDOM

·       Education militates against freedom since education is an initiation into a people’s culture there is no room of freedom

·       Students have got freedom to choose e.g. students choose careers.

·       Teachers also have the choice of selecting teaching approaches, methods and classroom activities

·       There is academic freedom in education that freedom is freedom of thinking but schools are only free if their society is free

·       Freedom for school children e.g. students choose which sports to do

Freedom for parents to choose which school to send their children and to choose teachers

TOPIC: DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT

DEFINITION

DISCIPLINE

The term is derived from the Latin word ‘disco’ which means learn.

It is derived from the word ‘disciple’ meaning follower, not just a follower in the sense of following a leader or blindly but following because one has chosen to follow and sees benefits or reasons, logic, necessity,  to follow in agreement to certain principles, rules, morals or beliefs.

 The word discipline refers to the conscious and willing acceptance of and submission to, a code of framework of rules and regulations designed to order, manage, conduct and control a system e.g. knowledge, method of thinking or form of behaviour

Discipline is a self-driven state of mind which begins by being externally imposed and ends up being internalised as voluntary self-control.

 

 

FIVE MAJOR AREAS WHERE DISCIPLINE CAN BE SEEN TO OPERATE.

1.     Discipline of knowledge within a particular subject area, rules of grammar e.g. English or the rule of reading or moral rules or rule of teaching arithmetic.

2.     Discipline of method e.g. rules of procedure in scientific inquiry and investigation.

3.     The discipline of thinking e.g. the rules of logic and academic thinking.

4.     Discipline of personality, rules of balance integration, the discipline of personality, mental health and maturity

5.     Discipline of behaviour governed by social institutions.

JUSTIFICATION OF DISCIPLINE IN EDUCATION

In education there is need to establish authority in order to develop in pupils self-control and discipline

Discipline is part and parcel of education including moral development and it is necessary in education for effective teaching and learning

PRINCIPLES OF DISCIPLINE

Discipline gives students a feeling of security by showing them that they may not or do something

Discipline helps develop in children a conscious which will guide decision making and behavioural control

Discipline involves trying to get students to see the point of order and following whatever is being ordered.

TYPES OF DISCIPLINE

POSITIVE (SELF-IMPOSED)

Conforming to rules because the individual feels or thinks it is desirable

NEGATIVE (EXTERNAL-IMPOSED)

This results in adoption of instrumental attitudes because of a reward attached or its bribery in nature.

PUNISHMENT

Action taken by someone in authority when there is a breach of rule(s)

It involves the intentional infliction of pain or something unpleasant on someone who committed such a breach of rules

It can be seen as a method adopted by human beings in normative groups to uphold the law and order of their system or society and to restore it when it breaks down.

TYPES OF PUNISHMENT

1.     PUNITIVE/RETRIBUTIVE

It is the eye for an eye approach or the Old Testament approach

Authoritarian and physical in nature

2.     REFORMATIVE/ UTILITARIAN

They consider punishment as always bad and must not be allowed despite the outcomes.

Their approach to punishment is avoidance of unwanted behaviour

THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT.

1.     THE THEORY OF RETRIBUTION

It is morally just that an offender should be made to suffer punishment for their sins.

2.     THEORY OF PREVENTION

Punishment in this case is believed will prevent others and the offender himself from repeating the crime.

3.     THEORY OF PROTECTION

Society has a moral right to demand its protection

4.     THEORY OF RESTITUTION

Punishment is seen as a kind of compensation or reparation for wrong done.

PUNISHMENT AND EDUCATION

There is less emphasis on punishment in schools today

There are arguments against punishment in schools which are based on human rights

ARGUMENTS FOR PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS

1.     There are good reasons why students must be punished, this is because a school is there to produce an intellect not a tout and also because society is made of rules and regulations.

2.     Society has rules and regulations and these ought to be imposed and the school also has rules and regulations.

3.     Little can take place in a school where there is chaos.

Control is essential in learning and teaching and punishment is a sure and effective way of achieving that control.