PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

MODULES- 1& 2

Marisen Mwale (PhD)

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BACKGROUND TO THE DISCIPLINE OF PHILOSOPHY

Every one of us has some naïve appreciation of philosophy or is rather a

philosopher. We have perspectives of life, God, religion, love, values, norms and,

good and bad, and what we ought to do or not to do.

These ideas develop from experiences, socialization or grooming and underpin our

perspectives of life or rather philosophical inclinations.

Philosophy as a concept is etymologically derived from two Greek roots: Philos

and Sophia which come from the Greek noun Philosophia.

Philos means love of or affinity for or liking of. while Sophia means wisdom.

Literally therefore philosophy entails the love of wisdom.

Psychologically philosophy is a worldview, an approach or a paradigm of life.

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Others feel philosophy is a rational thought about all issues that influence human

life.

From a technical perspective, a suggested definition is that philosophy is the

systematic inquiry into the principles and presuppositions of any field of study.

We will look at three or four other recurring definitions of philosophy from

renowned authorities in philosophical literature.

First, Bertrand Russell [1945], in his book, ‘History of Western Philosophy’.

considers philosophy as something intermediate between theology and science.

In other words, as having both attributes of theology and of science.

In essence like theology, it consists of speculations on matters.

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Like science on the other hand, it appeals to human reason rather than authority or

dogma.

Russell contends all definite of factual knowledge belongs to science and all

dogmatic or authoritative knowledge to theology.

But between theology and science is a No Man's Land called philosophy.

According to Hirst and Peters (1974) in their book ‘Philosophy of

Education’, :Philosophy as a discipline is concerned with questions about ‘the

analysis of concepts’ and with questions about ‘the grounds for knowledge, beliefs,

actions and activities.’

The systematic and critical use of concepts and words and application of different

forms of knowledge and their origins.

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A Nigerian scholar by the name Akinpelu [1981] in his book again entitled,

‘Philosophy of Education’, conceives philosophy as an academic discipline

characterized by logical, consistent and systematic thinking so as to reach

conclusions that are sound, coherent and consistent in all their parts.

To some these theoretical conclusions or speculations are what philosophy is all

about.

Roger Straughan and John Wilson [1983] contrary to other authorities preferred to

use the verb philosophizing instead of the noun philosophy in endeavouring to

appreciate the meaning.

Perhaps the question would be why use the verb philosophizing instead?

According to the two scholars - philosophy is an activity, something you do and

usually get better at with practice.

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It is a form of thought you use; it is a method of argumentation you adopt.

Philosophizing involves getting clearer about the meanings and uses of words and

about the concepts that lie behind the words and about relevant types of reasons

and arguments, so that serious issues may be discussed sensibly.

The bottomline is the use of reasoning or logical argumentation as tools in the

pursuit of knowledge.

From the few definitions highlighted beforehand, if one is to name one single

characteristic element of philosophy, it is its absolute reliance on the use of logical

reasoning.

By definition reasoning implies examining every evidence in favour or against any

claim, from a dispassionate and impartial point of view, exposing prejudices in

claims that are put forward, and in general, giving to every bit of evidence as much

weight as it actually deserves.

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The other characteristic of philosophy is the tentative nature of whatever

conclusions are reached - it shares with modern science the belief that no

conclusions are so absolute and certain as to be immune to further future correction

by new evidence.

In other words, an attitude of scepticism which regards no conclusion as final and

every matter, however apparently closed, as open to further question or

investigation.

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FORMS/TYPES OF PHILOSOPHY

There are three major types or forms of philosophy that also underpin its functions:

 Philosophy as speculation underpinning the rational or speculative function

 Analytical philosophy underpinning the critical function

 Prescriptive philosophy underpinning the normative function

1] Philosophy as Speculation

Speculative philosophy underpins the rational or speculative function of

philosophy.

Speculative philosophy allows us to look at the world synoptically and to have an

objective view of reality.

It helps us to look at various parts of issues at our disposal holistically. To have an

informed perspective of reality.

Speculation is the process of asking questions.

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This process begins in infancy.

Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers used this approach also known as the

dialectic approach in order to clarify people’s ideas and to ‘rid their minds of

errors’.

Socrates in that sense regarded himself as a gadfly: A critique of issues – of

morals, of politics, of state.

He believed that too many people accepted ideas at face value without ever

questioning them.

By asking questions, Socrates attempted to rid his own mind and those of others

from pre-conceived ideas.

Some of Socrates’s questions were metaphysical in nature implying questions

beyond the realm of reality or transcendental questions.

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For example when one asks, ‘What is justice?’ he or she is just being metaphysical.

However, the greatest weakness of the Socratic method is that it is easy to ask

loaded questions.

Loaded questions are those, which compel the person whom we are asking to give

the answer which we expect or require to suit our purposes – in a court of law such

questions are called leading questions.

These questions lead the one that is being asked to answer in the way the one who

asks wants.

So philosophical questions must not be loaded but impartial.

These questions foster free thought and open mindedness.

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Speculative or contemplative questions are not scientific since they cannot

produce the laboratory answer on which absolute knowledge is based.

These questions may belong to the realms of theology.

Speculative or theoretical or contemplative questions require thinking – in order to

obtain an answer.

According to Kneller G. F [1971], speculative philosophy is a way of thinking

systematically about everything that exists.

It wishes to understand how all the different entities, which have been discovered

together form some sort of meaningful totality.

Speculative philosophy, then, is a search for order and wholeness, applied not to

particular items or experiences but to all knowledge and all experiences.

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Speculative questions are different from empirical questions - the word empirical

is derived from the Greek noun empeiria, meaning experience.

These empirical questions can be answered by our own direct experience - we can

test the rightness or the wrongness of the answer.

To answer empirical questions we must experience.

An example of an empirical question is: ‘Do metals expand when heated?’ or

‘What is the boiling point of water?’.

For both questions you experiment to prove a point. You use experience. An

example of a speculative question is:

‘Did humans evolve or were they rather created?’ This second speculative question

does not require experience or experimentation, but rather contemplation or

speculation.

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2] Philosophy as Analysis

Analytical philosophy underpins the critical function of philosophy. Critical

philosophy looks at meaning of concepts constructively to make them clear.

The process of critically examining issues for ourselves in an effort to produce

solutions to philosophical problems is called the analytical approach.

In the context of modern philosophy three constructs are frequently used: linguistic

analysis, concept analysis, and philosophical analysis.

Linguistic analysis examines statements to see if they have any real meaning.

Concept analysis analyses certain terms [words] which represent ideas or

concepts.

For example, Man is a concept and if we critically examine the statement by

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Protagoras: ‘Man is the measure of all things’ we are applying linguistic analysis.

Or in the statement by Heraclitus:

‘You never cross the same rivers twice’ ....we could apply linguistic analysis to

critically examine the statement and concept analysis to examine the application of

the construct river.

On the other hand if we write down a term ‘Man’ or ‘River’ and attempt to decide

what they mean we use concept analysis.

According to Kneller G.F [1971] philosophical analysis focuses on words and

their meaning.

The analytic philosopher examines such notions as ‘mind’, ‘academic freedom’,

‘nepotism’, ‘justice’, ‘democracy’ and ‘equality’ in order to critically examine the

different meanings they carry in different contexts.

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3] Philosophy as Prescriptive

Prescriptive philosophy serves the normative function of philosophy. The

prescriptive or normative side of philosophy considers the nature of values and

ideals.

The good and the beautiful are moral and aesthetic values. Prescriptive

philosophy seeks to establish standards for assessing values, judging conduct and

appraising art.

It examines what we mean by good and bad, right or wrong, beautiful or not

beautiful.

It asks whether these qualities are in the things themselves or whether they are just

projections of our own minds.

The prescriptive philosopher seeks to discover and to recommend principles for

deciding what actions and qualities are most worthwhile- and why they should be

so.

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Comparing Science and Philosophy

Science and Theology represent two extremes of the knowledge continuum.

Between these two dichotomies is Philosophy.

To consider the disjunction between philosophy and Science we go back to the

definition of philosophy by the contemporary philosopher Betrand Russell.

Russell considers Philosophy as something between Theology and Science, but

how are the three different. Some scholars give an analogy of a tortoise shell on the

beach.

Once one comes across a tortoise shell on the beach they may ask themselves

questions for instance about the nature or reality of the shell.

Where for instance the tortoise shell came from, whether the tortoise that wilded

the shell was created or it rather evolved.

That type of question may require objective or logical reasoning or just

contemplation or may require a bit of belief or faith.

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If one contemplates and reasons and uses logic, then they may be thinking

Philosophically.

However, if they decide to just faithfully believe that maybe the tortoise that

wilded the shell in the first place was created by God and did not evolve, such

unquestioning and dogmatic belief may belong to the realm of Theology.

From another dimension one may think of taking the shell to the laboratory to

determine its chemical composition, its weight, its colour and perhaps its mass.

Such activities may belong to the realm of Science – involving measurement

objectivity and experience. Science may be considered empirical in nature while

Philosophy may be considered speculative in nature.

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Further reading

Allen and Unwin (1964). Betrand Russell on Education, London, http

Aristotelianism: [Link]

Betrand Russell (1969). History of Western Philosophy

Britannica – Plato: Education and the Value of Justice, http

Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

Jamie Gianoutsos – Locke and Rousseau: Early Childhood Education, http

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Emile, or On Education, http

J.J. Chambliss – John Dewey’s Philosophy of Education before: Democracy and

Education, http

Michael J. R. (2000). Russell vs. Dewey on Education, http

Plato: [Link]

Pre- Socratic philosophy: [Link]

Richard Aldrich – John Locke (1632-1704), http

Samson. O. G. (2003). Philosophy of Education, African Virtual University, http

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PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

‘Philosophy of education’ and ‘Philosophy and education’

‘Philosophy of education’ and ‘Philosophy and education’ are often considered as

referring to one and the same thing or rather utilized synonymously.

In our analysis however we stick to ‘philosophy of education’ because ‘philosophy

and education’ with the conjunction and rather than the preposition of seems to

suggest that there are two separate or disjointed components or two separate

disciplines which are desperately trying to link together.

On the other hand, the term ‘philosophy of education’ [like philosophy of history,

or of science or of law - jurisprudence] seems to place education in the centre, and

philosophy becomes the tool with which to examine the subject-matter which is

education.

As Brickman puts it, ‘Philosophy of……..’ implies an inquiry into the fundamental

nature of the field in question [Akinpelu, 1981] - It is not a derivative or deduction

from some other field.

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What is philosophy of education?

By definition Philosophy of education refers to both the process of philosophizing

about education and the product of that activity.

From the analytical perspective it must be concerned with a critique of the

philosophical assumptions of the existing educational systems and practices,

consistency and adequacy in the light of the growing body of human knowledge.

On the other hand from the speculative perspective it must also be concerned with

developing a positive conception of what education ought to be in the light of as

much information about man, society and the universe as he can master from all

available areas of experience and knowledge.

From the prescriptive perspective it is concerned with the value of education - that

is both its intrinsic value and its instrumental value as well as standards for

appraising conduct in educational institutions.

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Relevance of philosophy of education

 Philosophy of education applies to education the answers philosophers have

given to various questions that might be of concern to education in general.

 Philosophy of education utilizes the methods, tools, techniques, and such, of

philosophy in investigating problems of formal schooling.

 Philosophy of education utilizes world-frames, systems of philosophy, and

the like, to explain or interpret education.

 Finally Philosophy of education deduces educational implications from

systematic philosophies and philosophical theories and applies them in

solving educational problems.

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Central Aims of Education – A philosophical Approach

The definition of education by Plato shows that he regarded education as having a

moral aim: to produce good citizens.

The aim affected the content of the educational programme, with the result that

children were to be allowed to see only examples of good conduct from their

parents, teachers and nurses.

They were to be allowed to read only good literature, that is, literature that showed

them good behaviour.

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Four Ways of Expressing the Idea of Aim or Aims

There are four ways of expressing the idea of aim in education:

 The aim of education

 The aims of education

 Aims of education

 Aims in education

By examining each we shall see whether it is more meaningful to use one rather

than the others.

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The Aim of Education

You may wish to know that expressing the idea of aim in this way is prescriptive.

It is value laden or rather expressed as finality.

It is dogmatic too.

You may note that there is toughness about the expression.

It is like to say this is the only aim of education.

Dogma – something to be accepted as true without questioning.

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The Aims of Education

Again using the term in the plural is also prescriptive.

However, it is less dogmatic than the first expression, and we are not so aware of

the toughness in it.

We imply several generally accepted aims instead of only one.

It is more promising to use the plural term in at least one respect.

However, it is not satisfactory because it implies that ‘these are the only aims of

education to the exclusion of all others’.

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Aims of Education

This statement is not in the least dogmatic, it is NOT prescriptive.

It is neither dogmatic nor prescriptive because we have dropped ‘the’ definitive

article.

If we adopt the wording ‘aims of education’ we can expand it to ‘some of the

aims of education are A, B, C, D …….’

This does not make it impossible for the listener or reader to suggest other aims

which are not given by the writer or speaker.

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Aims in Education

This differs significantly from the other three forms of expression.

In this form alone the word ‘of’ is replaced by the word ‘in’.

When we analyzed the first two expressions we suggested that the use of the

definitive article was the reason why they were prescriptive or even dogmatic.

Further more, this feature was increased by the use of ‘of’ in combination with the

definitive article. There is another important consequence of using the word ‘in’.

In the first three expressions, there was an implication that aims were something

outside education, something to which education was directed.

If we talk of ‘aims in education’ we are making a descriptive statement.

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When we take these things outside education we make them aims by saying that

education ‘must do them’.

Peters [1975] says externalizing the aims of education and expressing them in the

form of a prescriptive statement is merely another way of saying:

‘the aim of education is to educate’.

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Value of Education [Knowledge]

To be educated or to acquire knowledge is to become aware of experience as

structured, organized and made meaningful in some quite specific way.

According to O’Connor with respect to its values - Education:

 Provides men and women with the minimum of skills necessary for them to

take their place in society and to seek further knowledge.

 Provides men and women with vocational training that will enable them to

be self-reliant or self-supporting.

 Instils an awakening and interest in as well as a taste for knowledge.

 Helps men and women develop a critical and open mind.

 Puts people in touch with and trains them to appreciate cultural and moral

achievements of mankind.

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Further reading

Allen and Unwin (1964). Betrand Russell on Education, London, http

Aristotelianism: [Link]

Betrand Russell (1969). History of Western Philosophy

Britannica – Plato: Education and the Value of Justice, http

Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

Jamie Gianoutsos – Locke and Rousseau: Early Childhood Education, http

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Emile, or On Education, http

J.J. Chambliss – John Dewey’s Philosophy of Education before: Democracy and

Education, http

Michael J. R. (2000). Russell vs. Dewey on Education, http

Plato: [Link]

Pre- Socratic philosophy: [Link]

Richard Aldrich – John Locke (1632-1704), http

Samson. O. G. (2003). Philosophy of Education, African Virtual University, http

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Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, http

William Hare – Russell’s contribution to Philosophy of Education, http

Yaroslav, S. (2008). Plato: His Precursors, his Educational Philosophy, and his

Legacy, Paideusis, 17(2): 91-98

Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

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BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY AND THEIR RELATION TO

EDUCATION

Philosophy and its associated studies may be reduced to a search for answers to

three basic questions: what is real, what is true, what is good but also in addition

what is valid reasoning.

The main branches of philosophy are divided according to the nature of these four

questions asked in each area.

The integrity of these sub-divisions however cannot be rigidly maintained for one

area overlaps into the others - the main branches of philosophy include:

1] Logic

2] Axiology

 Ethics

 Aesthetics

3] Epistemology

4] Metaphysics

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A] LOGIC

Logic is the study of rules and techniques of valid reasoning and argumentation.

It attempts to correct the faculty of thought that is operational.

It is the study of rules of valid inferences, which enable us to pass from one

argument to the other successfully.

Logic was studied in several ancient civilizations including India, China, Persia

and Greece.

In the West, logic was established as a formal discipline by Aristotle who gave it a

fundamental place in philosophy.

The study of logic was part of the classical trivium [three], which also included

grammar and rhetoric.

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Types of logic

There are three types of logic:

 Deductive reasoning

 Inductive reasoning

 Abducive reasoning

1] Deductive reasoning

According to Aristotle deductive reasoning starts from the known or general and

ends with the unknown/specific – rather from the concrete to the abstract.

Deductive reasoning uses theories that are derived directly and inevitably from the

general rules and particulars are isolated from a major rule.

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A syllogism is composed of two premises, one major and the other minor that lead

to a conclusion.

A premise is a statement based on reasoning or logic.

In deductive logic one starts from a general rule, then isolates particulars and then

extracts an inevitable conclusion from those particulars.

For example:

1] All planets orbit the sun – [universal truth or general rule]

The earth is a planet - [isolated particular]

It follows then that:

Therefore the earth orbits the sun – [inevitable conclusion]

2] All human beings are mortal- [universal truth]

Socrates is a human being – [isolated particular]

It follows then that:

Therefore Socrates is mortal – [inevitable conclusion]

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The general rule should be universally accepted, that is, universally true.

Here care should be taken that major premises should be true and universally

accepted.

For example – All planets orbit the sun- is a universal truth.

2] Inductive reasoning

As postulated by Francis Bacon [1600], inductive reasoning starts from the

unknown or specific and ends with the known or general – from abstract to

concrete.

Inductive reasoning uses theories that start from particular instances to the

formation of a general rule.

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Certain particulars with certain similar characteristics are observed and on the

strength of their ‘sum total’ a general rule is formed.

Teachers must guard against the tendency of students jumping into conclusions

from inadequate examples or instances.

For example:

Tiwonge, Vanessa and Annie are intelligent.

They all come from Lomagundi district.

Therefore all people from Lomagundi district are intelligent.

People make generalizations which are probably invalid when they observe a few

persons of a certain age, tribe, sex, profession, behave in a certain way and they

carelessly conclude that all X’s are Y’s adding that they have seen a lot of them.

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For both deductive and inductive arguments, two separate questions need to be

answered:

 Do the premises support the conclusion?

 Are all the premises true?

To answer the first question we begin by assuming the premises to be true.

Then, for deductive arguments, we determine whether, in light of this assumption,

it necessarily follows that the conclusion is true - If it does, the argument is valid;

if not, it is invalid.

For inductive arguments we keep in mind the requirements that the premises

actually support the conclusion and that they not ignore important evidence - if that

is the case the argument is strong, if not the argument is weak.

Finally, if the argument is either valid or strong, we turn to the second question and

determine whether the premises are actually true.

If all the premises are true, the argument is sound [in the case of deduction] or

cogent [in the case of induction] - All invalid deductive arguments are unsound,

and all weak inductive arguments are uncogent.

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3] Abdjucive reasoning

Abdjucation is a form of logical inference that goes from observation to a

hypothesis that accounts for the reliable data [observation] and seeks to explain

relevant evidence.

Charles Sanders Peirce [1839-1914] is credited for introducing the term.

Piece proposed that to abduce a hypothetical explanation A from an observed

surprising circumstance B is to surmise that A may be true because then B would

be a matter of course.

Pierce argues that good abducive reasoning from P to Q involves not simply a

determination that Q is sufficient for P, but also that Q is among the most

economical explanations for P.

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Example:

If most people from Likoma are intelligent [Observation]

And A comes from Likoma

It follows as a matter of fact or course that A must be intelligent [Hypothetical

explanation] – It is an inference to the best explanation although not guaranteed.

Simplification or parsimony and economy are major attributes of abduction.

In Abducive reasoning unlike in deductive reasoning, the premises do not

guarantee the conclusion therefore one can understand abducive reasoning as

‘inference to the best explanation’.

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Things that spoil Logic [FALLACIES]

1] Fallacy of Generalization

Fallacy of generalization means making conclusions from only a few selected

examples.

For example:

Mr. X, Mrs. Y and Mr. Z are poor.

They all come from Limpopo district.

Therefore all people from Limpopo district are poor.

This is called a fallacy of generalization because the people mentioned cannot be a

representative sample of all people living in Limpopo district.

As teachers we should avoid fallacy of generalization by studying as many

examples as possible/ researching before making any conclusions.

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2] Fallacy of using credentials

In posing a person uses his/her credentials in order to make people believe that

what they are saying is true.

For example, you would say I know this is true because I have a Degree in

Education with credit from Mzuni.

This is what we call a fallacy of using credentials.

Teach the students what they are supposed to know and do not intimidate them

with your credentials.

This can easily be avoided by knowing the subject matter before we go to class.

In other words a teacher should be well prepared – read widely to know the subject

matter.

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3] Genetic Fallacy

Genetic fallacy is a fallacy where a person uses history.

For example you tell your pupil …..you cannot pass examinations because no one

from your home has ever passed examinations; or saying that because all your

parents are daft.

As teacher learners do not conclude from history – don’t mention the family

history but encourage and motivate students to learn.

Give individual guidance to help them learn.

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4] The Fallacy of using Pseudo [False] Technical Jargon

Sometimes students may read ahead of a teacher and may pose challenging

questions.

Now instead of answering the student you respond by bombarding the student with

very big words which in essence are vague or ambiguous in the context.

The motive being to confuse or silence.

As teacher learners we should avoid this fallacy of using false technical jargon by

getting well prepared for our lessons.

Where we are not sure it is prudent to assure students that you will come back to

them later after doing some research on the issue in question or alternatively you

can throw the question back to the students and sometimes their answers can give

you a clue.

Teachers should be well prepared to tackle a question from any angle.

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5] The Fallacy of arguing in circles

It is defining a word by using the very same word.

For example, an activity is an activity done by people or Mlowa m’malo ndi mau

omwe amalowa m’malo mwa dzina.

As teacher learners we should avoid this fallacy by reading widely to get an

alternative to that term or word.

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B] AXIOLOGY

It is only in relation to man that we talk of education.

Man paradoxically is the only species that receives an education and in the same

vein, it is only in relation to man that we talk of values, ethics, and aesthetics.

The reason being that man is a valuing being.

Man values certain things higher than others, cherishes, appreciates, wants, desires

and prefers certain things in relation to others – chooses.

For instance we value education and pursue it as an intrinsic value, i.e. for its own

sake.

We also value education for instrumental purposes, that is for the material benefits

it pre-offers, for prestige, status and social mobility.

We also value happiness and having a good life.

These things make meaning only to Axiology and its component parts namely

ethics and aesthetics.

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Axiology is a branch of philosophy that generally studies values. Etymologically

Axiology comes from two Greek roots axia meaning ‘value’ or ‘worth’ and logos

meaning study.

It is therefore the philosophical study of value; the investigation of its nature,

criteria, and metaphysical status.

It is either the collective term for ethics and aesthetics – philosophical fields that

depend crucially on notions of value – or the foundation for these fields, and thus

similar to value theory and meta-ethics.

The term was first used by Paul Lapie in 1902 and Eduard von Hartmann in

[Link] Axiology, the attempt to lay out principles regarding value with

mathematical rigor, is exemplified by Robert S. Hartman in ‘Science of Value’.

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Axiology is concerned with three main questions:

 Whether values are subjective or objective – that is, personal or impersonal.

 Whether values are changing or constant.

 Whether there are hierarchies of value.

1] Whether Values are subjective or objective

To say there are objective values is to claim that there are values that exist in their

own right regardless of human preference.

Such values as goodness, truth, and beauty are cosmic realities; they are part of the

nature of things.

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Certain things are objectively true.

Certain actions and certain qualities are inherently good. Certain things are

beautiful in themselves.

And that education has an objective value; it is worthwhile in itself.

To maintain that values are subjective is to claim that they reflect personal

preferences. To be valuable is to be valued by someone.

What is valuable is so, not in itself, but because we happen to value it.

To say that education is valuable, for example, is to say that one values education

oneself or that some people value education.

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2] Whether Values are changing or constant

Some people argue that there are values that are absolute and eternal.

These values are as valid today as they were in the past, and they are valid for

everyone regardless of race or class.

It is argued that charity is good for all men everywhere at all times.

Other people maintain that all values are relative to men’s desires.

As our desires change, so do the values that express them.

Desires, and so values, change in response to new historical conditions, new

religions, new findings in science, new developments in technology, advances in

education etc.

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3] Whether there are hierarchies of value

Here it depends on the school of thought a person belongs to: Philosophic idealists

maintain that there is a fixed hierarchy of values in which spiritual values are

higher than material values.

The idealists rank religious values high because they help them realize ultimate

goals and unity with the spiritual order.

Philosophic realists also believe in the hierarchy of values, but rank rational and

empirical values high because they help adjust to objective reality, the laws of

nature and the rules of logic.

Philosophic pragmatists believe that one activity is likely to be as good as another

if it satisfies an urgent need and possesses instrumental value.

The pragmatist is sensitive to the values that society prizes [Kneller, 1971].

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Other Axiological questions

1] Nature of value

Is value a fulfillment of desire, a pleasure, a preference, a behavioural disposition,

or simply a human interest of some kind?

2] Criteria of value

Do objective standards apply? [de gustibus non [est] disputandum]

3] Status of value

How are values related to [scientific] facts?

What ultimate worth, if any, do human values have?

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FIELDS OF AXILOLOGY

Axiology is usually divided into two main fields [branches]

 Ethics

 Aesthetics

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ETHICS

Sometimes denoted moral philosophy ethics investigates the concepts of ‘right’

and ‘wrong’ in individual and social conduct.

Also denoted the normative science of human conduct ethics describes the way

things ought to be.

Some authorities define ethics as the study of values in human behaviour or study

of moral problems:

 The rightness and wrongness of actions.

 The kinds of things which are good or desirable

 Whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy

Still others regard ethics as the study of rules guiding us in the judgment of wrong

and right.

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Ethical questions are difficult to solve because there are no proofs in what we call

wrong.

This is just a general agreement among people that this must be good and this bad.

There are rules that are agreed by the society in order for the society to be healthy.

Something is wrong when the society classifies it as wrong.

To be a member of a society you have to follow what that society does in

accordance to the social contract.

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Judgment of wrongness - Deontological versus Utilitarian approaches

To judge whether an action is bad or good we consider the following questions:

 What was the intention behind the action?

 What is its consequence?

 What were the circumstances surrounding the action?

The first two questions spell out the traditional dichotomy in ethical or moral

theory between exponents of principles of intentionality or deontologists and

exponents of consequentiality or utilitarians.

In Law the actus reus vs the mens rea.

Moral judgement involves more than calculating the consequences of actions; it

also requires an assessment of the protagonist's intentions, the act's nature

including whether the acts are omissions [e.g. failure to render aid in an accident]

or violate the protagonist's own commitments [e.g. acts of negligence by doctors].

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Deontological views are primarily contrasted with consequentialist or utilitarian

theories which explain the morality of an action solely in terms of its effects or

outcomes.

A theory counts as a form of deontology, roughly, if it explains the morality of an

action in terms of principles that are generally non-consequentialist.

One way for a moral principle to be non-consequentialist is for it to treat the

motivation behind an action, not merely its consequences, as intrinsically relevant.

Consequentialists or utilitarians however typically maintain that intentions are only

important for blame, not wrongness.

Deontologists argue to the contrary that intentionality more powerfully affects

judgments of wrongness than attributions of blame and punishment, for which

outcomes or consequences are comparatively more important.

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Ethics and Education

In education ethics deal with such questions as:

 What is the good life for all men and how can it be achieved?

 How ought we to behave as students and teachers?

Ethics is concerned with proving ‘right’ values as the basis for ‘right’ actions even

in the education of children.

Types of Ethical theory

There are two types of ethical theory:

 Intuitionism

 Naturalism

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Intuitionism

Intuitionism asserts that the individual apprehends moral values directly.

We grasp the rightness or wrongness of something by means of an inborn moral

sense.

The moral values we apprehend in this way are right in themselves. Their rightness

cannot be proved logically or tested empirically; it can only be intuited.

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Naturalism

Naturalism maintains the utilitarian view that moral values should be determined

by careful study of the ascertainable [known] consequences to which they give

rise. In brief the naturalist maintains that moral values should be formed on an

objective examination of the practical consequences of any act of human conduct.

The question that however arises with respect to moral values is as to whether

moral values can be taught in the same sense that factual knowledge is taught?

Assuming moral virtues were latent in each individual the teacher should be able to

bring these values into the students’ consciousness. The teacher should help

students to become aware of such virtues.

However, by knowing the moral values it is no guarantee that students’ conduct

will be morally good – There is often an inconsistency/dissonance or gap between

moral reasoning and moral behaviour.

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AESTHETICS

Aesthetics deals with the norm of beauty, in other words with appreciating beauty

in nature and in art.

Aesthetics studies the concepts of ‘beauty’ and ‘harmony’.

It attempts to evaluate the various criteria of beauty, the justification we make for

preferring a certain work of art for example in comparison to another.

Other scholars consider it the study of value in the arts or the inquiry into feelings,

judgments, or standards of beauty and related concepts.

A philosophical question however arises as to what we mean by beauty?

If we say X is beautiful, what do we mean? Do we have absolute beauty?

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The fact remains in that realm that beauty is rather relative or subjective- it lies in

the eyes of the beholder.

Aesthetics in the realm of art is concerned with judgments of sense, taste, and

emotion.

Several questions arise with respect to art in the realm of axiology:

1] Is art an intellectual or representational activity?

Does art represent sensible objects or ideal objects?

2] Is artistic value objective?

Is it merely coincidental that many forms in architecture and painting seem to

illustrate mathematical principles? Are there standards of taste?

3] Is there a clear distinction between art and reality? Some do argue that art is the

mirror of society.

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In education and in as far as aesthetics is concerned our degree of appreciation of

beauty differs from one person to another depending on the quality of perception of

the individual.

The quality of education to a larger extent gives meaning to our appreciation of a

piece of art or culture e.g., Leonardo da Vicci’s - The Monalisa.

Duties of a School in promoting Aesthetic Values

 Encourage pupils to appreciate good things.

 Encourage pupils to create beautiful things e.g. paintings.

 Encourage pupils to preserve beautiful things.

Teachers must encourage beauty in schools.

Pupils must always look presentable.

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Education and Values

Education is a value, both intrinsic and extrinsic.

It has intrinsic value because it is preferred rather than lack of it, it is positive and

implies a positive state of mind – it is commendatory.

In essence to say that one is educated is to imply that one has attained high position

of honour and respect not for any material thing or instrumental thing.

Education is also a value extrinsic when viewed for its material ends.

It elevates one, gives recognition, prestige, status and social mobility.

The most important however is the intrinsic value of education that’s why

R.S. Peters (1966) considers education as worthwhile in itself.

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We educate man to enable him to understand the positive and negative aspects of

life and be responsible for choosing any.

This is why Socrates and Plato argued that evildoers are suffering from ignorance.

Knowledge helps to unveil us of the darkness of ignorance.

In the practice of teaching, teachers should help strengthen the conviction that

education is valuable by showing education as completely fair for all.

Education should reinforce values which society wants to promote both intrinsic

and extrinsic or instrumental values.

To some educationists, education is viewed as not having an instrumental value

only an intrinsic value to foster an open minded and critical mind.

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E] EPISTEMOLOGY

Man is the central theme in nature and since man is considered the centre point,

there is need for him to seek knowledge.

The pursuit of knowledge enables man to know himself properly and to know the

world around him.

To impart a selection of knowledge to the growing person is therefore the school’s

most important task.

In fact the search for knowledge and truth is the most common task of both

philosophy and education and the concern of Epistemology as a branch of

philosophy.

Epistemology is derived from the Greek roots episteme meaning knowledge or

understanding and logos meaning study of.

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The term epistemology was introduced by the Scottish philosopher James

Frederick Ferrier [1808 – 1864].

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of

knowledge.

Technically, epistemology is defined as ‘the theory of science that investigates the

origins, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge’ [McKechnie, 1979].

It is also referred to as ‘theory of knowledge’ – by which we mean the branch of

philosophy which is concerned with posing, reflecting and examining questions

related to knowledge or knowing.

It is considered by other scholars as the study of ‘Intellectual history’.

Queering where what we know as humans came from, what it means, what

processes are involved for that to become known and whether we know what we

know absolutely or only provisionally.

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Underscoring the disparity between ‘Truth’ [capital T] and ‘truth’ [small letter t].

What humans assert as Truth [capital T] or absolute/universal truth might, in

reality be truth [small t].

Socrates in Meno notes that provisional truth or [correct opinion] is that which is

based upon a probability that the provisional and subjective or tentative truth might

actually be false.

For example, the pre-Copernican world believed the earth to be flat and believed

that to be a true statement about the nature of things.

However, with greater insight, and tools, humans came to know something that is

more true and unveiled something false.

But and we should not forget that the new ‘truth’ may itself also become less true

at some future point.

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Advances may rather than rendering previous knowledge obsolete or invalid also

change the insights or just improve upon them.

Newtonian physics versus Einstein physics is a case in point.

Epistemology questions what knowledge is and how it can be acquired, and the

extent to which knowledge pertinent to any given subject or entity can be acquired.

In particular, epistemology is the study of the nature, scope, and limits of human

knowledge.

It investigates the origins, structure, methods and integrity of knowledge.

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Epistemology digs into the roots of knowledge by asking such questions as:

 What do we mean by knowledge itself?

 What is it to know something?

 What are the sources of knowledge?

 How do we establish that we know when we claim that we know something?

 Do we know in the same way in all the subjects in the curriculum?

If not, what are the types of knowledge that are possible?

 What are the prices that we should place on the different types of knowledge

available to us, or what type of knowledge is of most worth?

The kind of knowledge usually discussed in epistemology in general is

propositional knowledge, also known as ‘knowledge that’.

This refers to knowledge of facts that such and such is the case or a theoretical

understanding of something.

This is distinguished from ‘knowledge how’ and ‘acquaintance knowledge’.

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‘Acquaintance knowledge’ or personal knowledge is knowledge that has to do

with ‘being familiar’ with something – a person, thing, or event.

‘Knowledge how’ or procedural knowledge is knowledge concerned with skills or

ability to do something.

It differs from propositional knowledge in that with propositional knowledge it is

possible to know facts or the theory, or being able to explain the steps involved.

To illustrate the three using an example in mathematics, it is known for example

that 2 + 2 = 4 [that/propositional] – the theoretical part of it through the

Number Theory of adding intergers, but there is also knowing how - the process

to add two numbers – intergers [how/procedural] as well as knowing the persons

who conceptualized the Number Theory [acquaintance/personal].

Some philosophers think there is an important distinction between ‘knowing that’,

‘knowing how’ and ‘acquaintance knowledge’ with epistemology being primarily

concerned with the first of these.

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In his paper ‘On Denoting’ and his later book ‘Problems of Philosophy’ Betrand

Russell stressed the distinction between ‘knowledge by description’ and

‘knowledge by acquaintance’.

Gilbert Ryle is also credited with stressing the distinction between ‘knowing how’

and ‘knowing that’ in his paper ‘The concept of mind’.

In recent times, some epistemologists [Sosa, Greco, Kvanvig, Zagzebski] and

Duncan Pritchard have argued that epistemology should evaluate people’s

‘properties’ [i.e., intellectual virtue].

And not just the properties of propositions or of propositional mental attitude.

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Epistemology and Teaching

The question we may need to ask ourselves could maybe why we study

Epistemology.

As teachers we impart various types of knowledge according to disciplines.

We need to be clear over what knowledge is and how it is related to or different

from beliefs and opinions.

It is therefore appropriate for teachers to know the type of knowledge they impart,

their sources and how much reliance can be placed on them.

It is important for you as teachers to be aware of the ‘ways of knowing’ in your

particular subject matter because that will help you select what materials to teach,

and where to place emphasis when teaching your subject.

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Through studying epistemology, teachers will greatly improve on methods of

teaching once they understand the different sources of knowledge.

A question also arises about the relationship between knowledge and education.

Whether the two are synonymous or rather different.

In other words, is knowledge the same as education?

To answer this question it pertinent to underscore the fact that knowledge is a

necessary condition for education although it is not a sufficient one.

Knowledge could be considered neutral in that it has both a positive and negative

connotation.

Knowledge can be used positively or negatively by the possessor.

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Education on the other hand always or absolutely implies a positive quality, a

positive state of mind.

Education always implies improvement, always implies betterment.

Knowledge becomes education where it is used positively, but becomes

miseducation when used negatively – for instance to champion corruption or

terrorism.

When knowledge is used to harm others it is not qualified to be called education.

That is why a knowledgeable person is not necessarily an educated person.

Until knowledge is evaluated and adjudged to be positive and worthwhile can it

qualify as education.

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Why do people want to know?

 It is in human nature to wish to know.

Human beings are curious by nature – they are born with a curiosity and

inquisitive instinct from infancy.

Sometimes people just want to know something just for the sake of

knowing.

 People also want to know because knowing to human beings is inevitable.

Knowing to humans is an evolutionary trait – it ensured the survival of the

human species [Research in the medical and technological sciences for

instance].

 People also want to know because there is a specific purpose for the

knowledge they want to obtain - this is the instrumental value of knowledge.

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Types of knowledge

Types of knowledge vary with their sources, and their methods of acquisition and

validation. There are five types of knowledge:

 Revealed knowledge – is divine knowledge revealed to special men through

dreams and visions.

 Authoritative knowledge – is knowledge we accept as true because it comes

from experts.

 Intuitive knowledge – is the most personal type of knowledge where a

person knows in a flash of insight.

 Rational knowledge – is knowledge we derive by reasoning or by deducing

new knowledge from what we know already.

 Empirical knowledge - this is sensory knowledge or knowledge that comes

from experience like scientific knowledge.

D] METAPHYSICS
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Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the

fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it, although the term

is not easily defined.

It is a branch of philosophy that enquires into the problem of existence.

Etymologically the word metaphysics derives from two Greek words mata

meaning ‘beyond’, ‘upon’ or ‘after’ and physika meaning nature or physics.

It was first used as the title for several of Aristotle’s works because they were

usually anthologized after the works on physics in complete editions.

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According to McKechnie [1979], Metaphysics deals with first principles and seeks

to explain the nature of being or reality [ontology] and of the origin and structure

of the world [cosmology].

Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broader

possible terms.

 What is ultimately there?

 What is it like?

The focus of metaphysics is not what humans know [that’s epistemology] but how

humans know that they know that ……..

Metaphysics seeks to explain the nature of being [or reality] in order to arrive at

the substance [or essence] upon which most human beings in the world are

grounded.

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The goal of metaphysics therefore is to arrive at an immutable First Principle that

serves as the ground of human beings in the world.

A person who studies metaphysics is called a metaphysicist or a metaphysician.

The metaphysician attempts to clarify the fundamental notions by which people

understand the world, e.g.; existence, objects and their properties, space and time,

cause and effect as well as possibility.

A central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into the basic

categories of being and how they relate to each other.

Another central branch of metaphysics is cosmology, the study of the origin [if it

has had one], fundamental structure, nature, and dynamics of the universe.

The third central branch of metaphysics is theology, the study of religion and the

nature of God.

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Some include epistemology as another central tenet of metaphysics but this is

conjectural.

Prior to the modern history of science, scientific questions were addressed as a part

of metaphysics known as natural philosophy. Originally, the term ‘science’

[Latin – scientia] simply meant ‘knowledge.’

The scientific method, however, transformed natural philosophy into an empirical

activity deriving from experiment unlike the rest of philosophy which was

grounded on speculation.

By the end of the 18th century, it had begun to be called ‘science’ to distinguish it

from philosophy - thereafter; metaphysics was denoted philosophical enquiry of a

non-empirical character into the nature of existence.

Some philosophers of science, such as the neo-positivists, say that natural science

rejects the study of metaphysics, while other philosophers of science strongly

disagree.
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Basic issues in Metaphysics

Metaphysical problems are perennial problems which keep recurring and

pre-Socratic philosophers like Parmenides of Elea have discussed them; they have

been studied by Scholastics and even modern philosophers.

Even the un-philosophical mind keeps on wondering about his creation, the

creation of the physical world, the world beyond and a host of issues that keep on

fascinating people.

Philosophers identify about ten metaphysical controversies, namely:

 The problem of Being

 The problem of Substance

 The problem of Essence and Existence

 The problem of Universals

 The problem of Appearance and Reality

 The problem of Change and Permanence

 The problem of Causality

 The problem of Mind-Body interaction

 The problem of Freedom and Determinism

1. The Problem of Being

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For Parmenides whatever exists is being and to him; being is one, eternal, and

unchanging.

Aristotle made reference to this being as God who is the pure being.

St Thomas Aquinas maintains that God is being per excellence.

A necessary being who owes his existence to no other being outside himself.

God is the uncaused causer, the unmoved mover.

2. The Problem of Substance

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This metaphysical problem has continued to attract the attention of philosophers.

Aristotle distinguished between substance and accident - Substance is whatever

stands on its own, while its opposite, accident is whatever cannot exist on its own

but only inherent, in other things.

John Locke concurs that when we look at things what we see are actual qualities;

colour, height, size; e.g. in Water – mass, volume, density, boiling point are

qualities or characteristics and similarly in Metals as iron, copper or mercury –

mass, weight, melting point are also qualities or characteristics of the substances.

But we know qualities cannot exist on their own as they must be existing in

something which supports them.

This is how we come to form ideas of substance or matter.

3. The Problem of Essence and Existence

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J.P. Sarter’s main contention is that existence precedes essence, as opposed to

traditional western philosophy, which gives primacy to essence over existence.

Philosophers are divided over which comes first?

Is it existence of essence?

‘Does a thing exist first before it is known?’

This is the standing controversy – which forms the basic question between Platonic

idealism and Aristotelian realism.

4. The Problem of Universals

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Philosophers in succession hold that things such as beauty, justice, goodness,

whiteness, humanity etc. are universals.

They are universal concepts and not just ideas in the mind.

We recognise them in things that exhibit them, and this means that they are real,

though they are not physical.

Socrates was the first philosopher in the West to articulate the issues of universals.

5. The Problem of Appearance and Reality

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It is a truism to say that appearance deceives, and that our senses often deceive us.

We cannot therefore always take things as they appear to us, nor can we always

rely on our senses, since they sometimes deceive us.

Parmenides, Plato, and Rene Descartes mistrust senses as a means of acquiring

knowledge.

For instance, Betrand Russell says we assume as certain many things which on

closer scrutiny are found to be full of apparent contradictions that only a great

amount of thought enables us to know what it is that we really may believe.

6. The Problem of Unity and Diversity

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The question is as to whether Unity and Diversity are observable in the Universe.

How it is that there is basic unity in the midst of amazing diversity of things in the

universe?

The Ionians, the earliest philosophers in the west, were struck by the unity as well

as diversity of things in the universe.

These philosophers adopted a monoistic explanation and held that all these are

basically one thing though in various forms.

In western philosophy, three approaches have been adopted, namely: the

monoistic, the dualistic, and pluralistic approaches to explain the problem of unity

and diversity in metaphysics.

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 7. The Problem of Change [dynamics] and Permanence [statics or

constancy]

One of the earliest problems in western philosophy is the problem of change and

permanence.

Which of the two elements; i.e. change or permanence is primary?

Heraclitus and Parmenides held extreme positions which subsequent philosophers

tried to reconcile.

While Heraclitus held that change was the basic feature of the universe,

Parmenides held that permanence was the primary feature.

‘You never cross the same river twice’ – Heraclitus alludes.

Here lies the controversy.

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 8. The Problem of Causality

Cause is that which is responsible for bringing something into existence and the

statement, ‘everything has a cause’ is taken to be of universal application.

Since there is no event that has no cause, nothing ever happens without cause.

Scientists tell us that the universe is an orderly cosmos, not a chaotic universe

where anything can happen; the sun rises and sets and summer follows winter each

and every year.

In other words it is a universe governed by laws and things happen only according

to these natural laws.

This is the basic presumption of modern science, and all that scientists do, is to

understand the laws so as to know the kind of causes that can produce certain kinds

of desirable effects.

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 9. The Problem of Mind-Body interaction

The question of the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body has long

been a controversial issue.

Different philosophers have conceived mind differently.

Plato, St Augustine, St Aquinas and Rene Descartes conceive the mind as a

separate substance that exists on its own without the body.

Others like David Hume, and Betrand Russell have denied that the mind is a

separate substance that can exist independently of the body.

This problem, like other philosophical problems still remains unsolved to the

satisfaction of all philosophers.

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 10. The Problem of Freedom and Determinism

It is commonly believed that man is free; that he makes use of his freedom the way

he likes and is therefore held morally responsible for whatever he does–this is the

free will theodicy – man is free to will and free to choose.

In other words man determines his fate or destiny through the choices he makes for

himself, although this comes with the burden of responsibility.

The theory of determinism however denies that man is really free – he has no

control over what happens to him or her.

The theory of determinism is also known as the fatalism or predestination

theodicy.

Its main thesis is that the future of man is irrevocably fixed and man can do very

little to change it.

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Styles and methods of Metaphysics

1] Rational vs Empirical

Rationalism is a method or a theory ‘in which the criterion of the truth is not

sensory but intellectual and deductive.’ [Bourke, 263].

Rationalist metaphysicians aim to deduce the nature of reality by armchair, a priori

reasoning.

Empiricism holds that the senses are the primary source of knowledge about the

world.

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2] Analytical vs Systemic

The ‘system building’ style of metaphysics attempts to answer all the important

questions in a comprehensive and coherent way, providing a theory of everything

or complete picture of the world.

The contrasting approach is to deal with problems piecemeal - systematically.

3] Dogmatic vs Critical

Under the scholastic approach of the Middle ages, a number of themes and ideas

were not open to be challenged.

Kant and others thought that this ‘dogmatism’ should be replaced by a ‘critical’

approach.

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4] Individual vs Collective

Scholastic and Analytical philosophy are examples of collaborative approaches to

philosophy.

Many other philosophers expounded individual visions.

5] Parsimonious vs Adequate

The question that often arises with respect to methodology is should a

metaphysical system posit as little as possible or be simplistic, or as much as

needed or be comprehensive?

6] Descriptive vs Revisionary

Peter Strawson makes the distinction between descriptive metaphysics, which

sets out to investigate our deepest assumptions and revisionary metaphysics,

which sets out to improve or rectify them.

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Metaphysics and Education

Metaphysical issues pose challenges to man which call for solutions by man

himself and Education is the best instrument through which man can speculate

about himself and about the universe

The question that often arises however with respect to education is what

implications metaphysics has to education in general:

 The most pertinent implication of metaphysics to education is its power to

generate intelligent discussions of theoretical problems lacking statistical or

categorical answers – those within the realms of theology and philosophy.

 The other implication is that curriculum designed to liberate the mind of

man or develop free critical thinking and open mindedness is superior to

vocational and professional curriculum.

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Further reading

Allen and Unwin (1964). Betrand Russell on Education, London, http

Aristotelianism: [Link]

Betrand Russell (1969). History of Western Philosophy

Britannica – Plato: Education and the Value of Justice, http

Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

Jamie Gianoutsos – Locke and Rousseau: Early Childhood Education, http

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Emile, or On Education, http

J.J. Chambliss – John Dewey’s Philosophy of Education before: Democracy and

Education, http

Michael J. R. (2000). Russell vs. Dewey on Education, http

Plato: [Link]

Pre- Socratic philosophy: [Link]

Richard Aldrich – John Locke (1632-1704), http

Samson. O. G. (2003). Philosophy of Education, African Virtual University, http

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Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, http

William Hare – Russell’s contribution to Philosophy of Education, http

Yaroslav, S. (2008). Plato: His Precursors, his Educational Philosophy, and his

Legacy, Paideusis, 17(2): 91-98 .Educational Biography and the Historical and

Philosophical Foundations of Education – Quintilian, http

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SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT

IDEALISM

The word 'idealism' is derived from two distinct sources; the idea and the ideal

(Jonhson, 1995).'Idea' means 'true and testified knowledge' while the term, 'ideal'

stands for 'the perfected form of an idea or ideas'.

The philosophy of idealism was conceptualized around 400 B.C and is one of the

classical and traditional philosophies which date back to Plato.

Idealism, in the modern world, owes its genesis to philosophers such as George

Berkeley, who was possibly its greatest proponent, Immanuel Kant (German), and

Rene Descartes.

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Meta-physical perspective

From a metaphysical perspective, Idealism is the philosophy that tries to explain all

existence in terms of the mind and how it works.

The metaphysical realm is placed above and beyond that of the physical one.

Idealism puts forth the argument that reality, as we perceive it, is a mental

construct or rather construction or representation.

That is, its experience is due to the sensory abilities of the human mind and not

because reality exists in itself as an independent entity.

Plato the father of idealism believed that there are two worlds, the spiritual or

mental world which is eternal, permanent, orderly, regular and universal.

He also believed that there is a world of appearance, the physical world

experienced through our senses.

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This world of appearance he described as changing, imperfect and disorderly.

The dichotomy or division between the spiritual/mental and appearance/physical

world he denoted the duality of mind and body.

Louis Antz further puts it that, ‘idealism is the name which has come to be used for

all philosophical theories which give priority to mind.’

By the mind, the idealists sometimes mean the spiritual element in man; a man’s

personality or ‘the man himself’ as different from his body; the self; and

sometimes the intelligence and reasoning capacity of a person.

In the idealists’ metaphysics, all things in the universe are in the final analysis an

expression or manifestation of the mind: they exist as ideas in the mind, because

they cannot be known to exist except if the mind takes notice of or thinks about

them.

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According to critics the fundamental flaw in the model is to think that the

generalizations of the intellect or mind can stand on their own, divorced from, and

counter posed to, the material world from which, ultimately, they are derived.

Epistemological perspective

In their Epistemology or Theory of Knowledge, the idealists hold on to the

primacy of the mind.

All external objects must be known by the mind and pronounced upon before we

can say that they exist.

In other words, one cannot know the existence of things beyond the intellect.

Except where there is a mind to know an object, we cannot make any reasonable

claim as to its existence.

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For a thing to exist, it has to be perceived (esse est percipi – as George Berkeley

puts it in Latin).

In this theory, the world and everything in it is as the mind interprets it to be.

If we ask what the cause of a thing is, we end up with its essence - the Greek word

is 'eidos', which can be variously translated as form or idea.

The ideology is expressed tacitly in Plato’s Theory of Forms or Ideas.

Plato's Theory of Forms or Theory of Ideas asserts that non-material abstract (but

substantial) forms or ideas, and not the material world of change known to us

through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality.

Plato held that the world of Forms is transcendent to our own world (the world of

substances) and also is the essential basis of reality.

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Furthermore, Plato believed that true knowledge or intelligence is the ability to

grasp the world of Forms with one's mind.

A Form is aspatial(that is transcendent to space) and atemporal(that is

transcendent to time).

Atemporal means that it does not exist within any time period, rather it provides

the formal basis for time- It is neither eternal in the sense of existing forever, nor

mortal or of limited duration.

It exists transcendent to time altogether.

Forms are aspatial in that they have no spatial dimensions, and thus no orientation

in space, nor do they even (like the point) have a location.

They are non-physical, but they are extra-mental - real in the strictest sense of the

word.

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In Plato's conceptualisation, there is a form for every object or quality in reality:

forms of human beings, mountains, colours, courage, love, goodness and truth.

These Forms are the essences of various objects: they are that without which a

thing would not be the kind of thing it is.

For example, there are countless tables in the world but the Form of tableness is at

the core; it is the essence of all of them.

Plato gives an analogy of a Triangle as an example - in that if for example we have

a triangle drawn on a blackboard- the triangle as it is on the blackboard is far from

perfect.

However, it is only the intelligibility of the Idea or Form ‘triangle’ that allows us to

know the drawing on the chalkboard as a triangle, and the Idea or Form ‘triangle’

or the essence of triangleness is perfect and unchanging.

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Axiological perspective

In their Axiology or Theory of Values, since a person’s mind is part of the

Universal Mind, individual objects held to be of value are valuable only because

they have their origin from God who is the source of all true values.

While all values are rooted ultimately in God, there is a hierarchy of human values

and spiritual values are ranked supreme to material values.

Idealist Philosophy of Education

In the idealist philosophy of education, education is regarded as a process of

developing the person, particularly his conscious and spiritual self.

The self or the individual personality is very important in the idealist’s

metaphysics.

The process of education is therefore very much the efforts to develop that self.

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The school as an educational institution exists in idealist terms to provide the right

atmosphere and proper direction for the growth of the personality of the individual:

 To enlarge his personality by increasing his knowledge

 To cultivate his aesthetic taste

 To frame his character

 And to equip him with suitable skills

Whatever subjects are included in the curriculum must go beyond immediate

vocational and economic use to the more important spiritual development of the

person.

In general, the outlook is that of a liberal and humanistic education with each

discipline being important not in itself or for the material comforts it makes

possible.

The disciplines are important for grooming the human mind towards maturity and

appreciation of the divine origin of all things in the universe.

The idealist curriculum emphasizes subject matter of the mind, incorporating

literature, history, philosophy and religion.

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Implications for today’s classroom

 The teacher must be an example of a human being who is nearer the perfect

ideal of personality, and therefore worthy of emulation.

 He must awaken and stimulate the mind of the child until it has acquired

self-discipline.

 He has to know the psychology of the child, to know him as a person, and

realize the two aspects of teaching – the child and the subject – it is the

child that matters more.

 Teaching methods in idealist terms must emphasize self-learning activities

of the child and the positive influence of the teacher.

 One of the methods is through imitation of ideal models(social learning)

which the teacher must be.

 Another popular method in idealist terms is the dialectical or Socratic

method – the method of question and answer in which the mind of the child

is exercised.

 The project method is also recommended in which pupils singly or jointly

initiate a learning task, pursue it by themselves, and, with the help of the

teacher.

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In summary, the idealist’s philosophy might be construed as purely speculative as

an ideology and might be outdated.

However the kernel of their philosophy, which is the emphasis on the spiritual self

and the personality of the individual as the target of education, is still most relevant

today.

It has to be accepted by educators that whatever material advantages that education

may confer on the individual; it is still his character and his personality that is of

the ultimate importance.

‘For what does it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?’

This Biblical quotation in a way summarizes the emphasis in the idealist

philosophy of education.

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B. REALISM

‘We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality’.

Ayn Rand

Etymologically, the term 'realism' is derived from the Greek word 'res' which

means real.

The Philosophy of Realism is another classical and traditional system of thought,

dating as far back as Aristotle’s time, but reformulated and reinterpreted over the

ages.

Like idealism, it has been overtaken by other more current philosophies like

Pragmatism and Existentialism; but the influence of both of them and certain truths

of life which they express still persist.

Realism, simply put focuses on 'what actually is' as compared to idealism which

focuses on 'what could be'.

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In more modern times philosophers such as Francis Bacon, John Locke and later

G. E Moore and Ayn Bismarrck and Carl Von Clausewitz were proponents of

political realism.

Modern realism has various forms such as, scientific, socio-political, aesthetic,

epistemological and moral realism.

It follows the general rejection of philosophical idealism and the acceptance of

reality as independent of human perception or of the mind and its constructions.

According to Aristotle, realism suggests that ideas can free float without having

matter, whereas matter cannot exist without some semblance of form, and this

form is independent of mental cognizance.

In simple terms, the distinguishing point in realism is that all physical

things/objects of the external world are real in themselves existing independently

of the perceiver.

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Even if there was no human perception, the objects could still exist and could still

be real.

The reality of a particular object is not affected by the nature of a particular mind

perceiving it.

Realism is represented by those who take the most objective and scientific rule of

the world.

Such people believe that nature in its order is the source of all the knowledge that

humans need.

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Key concepts:

Meta-physical perspective

In metaphysical terms, realism postulates that reality exists independent of human

perception and is not dependent on observers to define its objective boundaries.

The Aristotelian Theory of Universals is the basis for realism since it attempts to

define the universal forms or simply ‘universals’.

A universal is the singular property of an object which can exist simultaneously in

two places in the same space-time continuum.

From a metaphysical perspective, realists more precisely assume that the:

 Material world exists that is independent of and external to the mind of the

knower.

 All objects are composed of matter.

 Matter must assume the structure of particular objects.

 Matter or objects which we see exist absolutely.

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This reflects the dichotomy between idealism and realism: Idealists are of the

opinion that the world, and everything in it, is but a creation of our minds, and that

there is no objective reality.

Realists counter this with the argument that observation is not the sole determinant

of actuality – there is an independent material world removed from mental thought,

but defined by ‘universals’.

Epistemological perspective

In their Epistemology or Theory of Knowledge, the guiding principle is that the

world exists by itself as a reality independent of whether there are humans to

know it or not.

In opposition to the idealists, the realists assert that the world is not a construct of

the human mind - reality is not an illusion.

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They argue that for a person to claim that he knows an object, that object must

have existed prior to his knowledge.

If the object does not exist, then there is nothing for the mind to know, hence they

conclude that objects have a reality independent of our knowledge or our desire to

know them.

This is the Principle of Independence of Matter.

The other Epistemological Principle is that the world gives every evidence that

there is some orderliness behind its organisation.

Law and order prevail in the universe.

In spite of apparent disorder, the world is in reality not chaotic, it is orderly, stable

and well-structured.

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The night follows the day as regularly as the rainy season follows the dry season-

everything is in order.

The other principle is that the world is real as the objective sciences tell us it is.

Realists assume that knowing is a process that involves two stages:

1. Sensation and abstraction:

Sensation is where the person perceives and records sensory data about the

thing, e.g. colour, size, weight, sound – etc.

Abstraction is where data is sorted out into permanent activities and or

occasional qualities – this leads learners to recognise objects as belonging to

a certain class by abstracting out common activities shared by class

members.

2. Humans as spectators and classifiers:

Humans are spectators of this [Link] they experience the world, they

perceive and classify objects into, for example, different species either in the

plant kingdom or animal kingdom.

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Axiological perspective

In relation to their Axiology or Theory of Values, realists also subscribe to the fact

that there is a hierarchy of values with rational and empirical values being ranked

as supreme to other values because of their emphasis on objectivity and reality.

Realist philosophy of education

In the view of the realist, education is in one sense the process of developing

humans to enable them to know the truth as it is.

The ultimate aim of education is the achievement of the knowledge of the nature

and how the universe works.

That is for the learner to consciously adjust himself to what is real.

The realist curriculum focuses on humanistic and scientific principles and values

based on universal natural laws.

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Realist teachers focus on teaching students the scientific methods of problem

solving.

They emphasize subject matter of the physical world particularly science and

mathematics.

Implications for today’s education

In the scheme of the realist, education is discipline-centered.

A teacher with realism background will bring teaching aids and other instructional

media to class for pupils to see what he is trying to teach.

He or she uses discovery methods of teaching to make pupils find out things for

themselves and hence acquire knowledge.

A realist teacher often uses group work and provides reading materials to pupils.

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[Link] (EXPERIMENTALISM)

Pragmatism is one of the most recent philosophies with one of its major proponents

being the American Philosopher John Dewey who founded it.

Charles Sanders Pierce (1879 – 1914) was the first to define it and defended the

view while his friend William James (1842 – 1915) further developed it. Chauncey

Wright and George Herbert Mead then determined its direction.

Etymologically the concept pragmatism comes from the Greek word pragma

meaning action from which the word practice or practical are derived.

The philosophy is summarized by the phrase, ‘whatever works is likely to be true’

- what works best to help us achieve desirable ends [outcomes] is ideal.

A pragmatist is basically a practical person who wants to know and weigh costs

and consequences.

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This school of thought rejected the dualistic epistemology and metaphysics of

modern philosophy in favour of a naturalistic approach that viewed knowledge as

arising from an active adaptation of human organisms.

Like idealism; pragmatism accepts the reality of ideas but rejects the idealist view

that ideas or minds are the only reality.

It is concerned with the practical usefulness of ideas, beliefs and attitudes that are

important for the formation and functioning of social systems.

Pragmatists also believe that all things and knowledge are in a state of flux

(fluidity or change) and consequently there is a continuous need for

experimentation to achieve only those that matters.

The pragmatists also respect science and its methods but they do not agree with its

fixed truths as idealists and realists do.

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With existentialists they share the rejection of absolute truth emphasizing rather on

the contextual and situational nature of truth, knowledge and reality.

Pragmatism like existentialism also emphasizes on subjectivity – that is the

subjective nature of human experience and the importance of individual

perspectives in shaping reality.

There is also focus on human agency, both regard a human being as an agent of

shaping one’s life, thus Sartre’s phrase ‘Living authentically’ or living with the

responsibility to control your freedom.

Some of the proponents of pragmatism include Charles Sanders Pierce (1839 –

1904), William James (1842 – 1910), Chauncey Wright and George Herbert Mead.

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Key concepts:

Metaphysical perspective

From a metaphysical perspective pragmatism is a philosophical movement that

emphasizes practicality, usefulness and experience over abstract principles or

metaphysical theories.

Pragmatists believe that the truth of an idea or concept can be determined by its

practical usefulness and its ability to solve real-world problems.

Pragmatists stress four main themes, that:

 Every organism lives in a habitat and acquires experience as he/she interacts

with it.

 In the process of living, humans experience problems that threaten their

continued existence or interfere with their ongoing activities.

 Successful human beings can solve these problems and add the details of a

particular problem-solving incident to their list of experiences.

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Since life processes depend on successes in problem solving, education seeks to

cultivate problem-solving skills according to the scientific method.

John Dewey, refuted the prior foundations as advocated by the idealists, realists,

and perennialists and he proposed the ‘Test of Experience Theory’.

Test of Experience Theory (TET)

TET advocates judging human purposes (goals) and plans (proposals) by their

consequences.

The need to judge by consequences also applies to educational programmes.

Questions like, ‘Did a particular educational programme, curriculum design, or

methodological strategy achieve its intended goals and objectives?’

For Dewey, the only valid test was to try out the proposal and judge the results.

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Pragmatism and the problem-solving process

While idealism, realism, perrenialism and essentialism emphasise on bodies of

substantive knowledge or subject matter disciplines; Dewey stressed on the process

of problem solving.

For Dewey, learning occurs when the person, either as an individual or as a

member of a group, encounters problems or, solves them with the aid of the

scientific method.

The problem-solving method can be developed into a habit that is transferable to a

wide variety of situations.

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Epistemology perspective

Pragmatism (Experimentalism) sees epistemology as a process of examining the

ever changing universe.

Accordingly, the epistemological or knowing process involves a person and an

environment.

A person interacts with the environment in order to live, grow and develop.

The interaction may alter or change the person or the environment.

Pragmatists believe that there are no permanent realities as claimed by perrenialists

and essentialists.

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Human beings establishes their own generalisations and tentative assertions about

the world or universe resulting from their interaction with their environment which

they further subject to research and verification.

Dewey stress problem-solving as the most effective method for transformation or

reconstruction of the person and environment.

Axiological perspective

Pragmatic Axiology or Value Emphasis Theory is highly situational.

According to pragmatists values are not constant, are in a state of fluidity, do

change as the universe/environment and the people change.

Values are relative to time, place and circumstances.

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Basic questions in relation to pragmatism

What is knowledge?

Knowledge from the pragmatist’s standpoint is tentative and subject to revision.

What is education?

Education from the pragmatist’s perspective is an experimental process.

It is considered a method of dealing with problems that arise as people interact

with their world.

Since optimum social and personal growth occurs when people interact

intelligently and reflectively with their environment, the most intelligent way of

solving problems in pragmatic terms is through the scientific method.

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Pragmatism and other disciplines (The interdisciplinary approach)

To solve problems, one requires multifaceted sources or a multidiscipline

approach.

To solve a problem like environmental degradation for example, we isolate causes

that are historical, political, sociological, scientific, technological and cultural.

Pragmatists favour interdisciplinary education and regard the school as a miniature

(microcosm) society of the larger community.

In essence the school has three major functions:

 To simplify; to purify and to balance cultural heritage

To simplify: schools select elements of the cultural heritage and reduce them to

appropriate units to suit learners’ readiness, interests and experiences.

To purify: schools select worthwhile cultural elements – eliminating those that

limit human interaction and growth or those that are detrimental.

To balance: schools integrate and harmonise the selected and purified experiences.

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Pragmatists encourage cultural diversity and shared learning through the use of the

scientific method of learning and inquiry.

Pragmatists’ emphasise combining quality and equity through openness, and equal

sharing of resources among people of all cultures.

Implications for today’s education

 Pragmatic educators are concerned with the process of problem solving –

they guide the learning process, and the subjects are instruments in problem

solving activities.

 Students’ main objective is to share the experiences applying the scientific

method to a full range of personal, social and intellectual problems.

 Apply the problem solving method to situations in and out of school to

reduce the gaps between school and society.

 Pragmatic educators work to transform classrooms into learning

communities by encouraging students to share their interests and problems

and hence build their community, as they work together.

 Pragmatic educators encourage cultural diversity and commonalities, and

encourage shared communication between members of different cultures to

create the larger democratic community.

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  Pragmatic educators take risks – by regarding knowledge as indeterminate

and open-ended by allowing their education goals to become an on-going

process of inquiry that leads to action.

A teacher should aim at making students autonomous and capable of making

their own decisions and courageous enough to act on them and accept full

responsibility for such decisions.

Criticism

Pragmatism has been criticised for its denouncement of universal truths as it

asserts that truth consistently changes.

Existentialism on the other hand has been criticised for its emphasis on individual

freedom which undermines the value of ethics (Gale, 2008).

Regardless of the criticisms, pragmatism enhances the development of systems that

are relevant to people’s needs while existentialism aligns itself with democratic

principles.

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D. EXISTENTIALISM

‘Man is the measure of all things’ Truth or Refutations/Being or

Nothingness(Protagoras)

It is often said that there is no philosophy of existentialism but there are

existentialists.

The term ‘existentialism’ seems to have been coined by Gabriel Marcel (French) in

the mid- 1940s and was later adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre (French).

Existentialism is said to have been founded by the Danish philosopher and

Protestant theologian,

Soren Kierkergaard and the Friedrich Nietzsche (German).Etymologically, the

concept ‘existence’ comes from the German word existentia meaning ‘that which

stands out’ or ‘emerges’.

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Existentialism is not a systematic body of thought like idealism or realism; but

instead, it is more like an umbrella under which a very wide range of thinkers

struggle with questions about the meaning of life.

According to Karl and Harnalian (1963) Existentialism is a philosophy based on

the notion that man’s existence is an internal subjective experience and is premised

on man as an individual.

Its overriding concern is with the individual, and its primary value is the absolute

freedom of the person who is only what he, makes himself to be and who is the

final and exclusive arbiter of the values he freely determines for himself.

It holds that beyond mere existence lies essence which can be achieved by those

who actively seek to discover purposefulness in their existence and to attribute

personal meaning to it (Sartre, 1947).

Consequently ‘existence precedes essence’ meaning that man exists first and then

defines his essence (quintessence) by the choices he makes and his actions.

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Existentialists also believe that man is naturally a free being, but along with his

freedoms, come the burden of responsibility which is the dark side of his freedom.

Further, it is postulated that man is not a helpless prisoner of his genes, of the

environment, of historical forces, or of culture; rather he alone is responsible for

his destiny and for who he is.

Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) argues in this perspective that ‘Man needs to

conquer himself rather than the world’.

Similarly Protagoras one of the leading Sophists stipulated in his Truth or

Refutations in existentialist fashion that ‘Man is the measure of all things’ meaning

there is no truth but that which man deems to be the truth.

Existentialists believe in placing a high value on individual choice and personal

freedom. They believe that one should live life fully and authentically and resist

conforming to externally imposed forces or inherited standards.

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They therefore consider the development of individual potential as paramount or

most important emphasising choice making in the light of both alternatives and

consequences.

Some key exponents of existentialism include Soren Kierkergaard (1813 – 1855),

Friedrich Nietzsche; Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976), Gabriel Marcel (1889 –

1973), Albert Camus (1913 – 1960), Jean-Paul Sartre (1940), and Karl Jaspers.

Key concepts:

Meta-physical perspective

From a metaphysical perspective, Existentialism can be described as the

‘philosophy of existence’.

 It is concerned with human beings in their concrete existence, with human

beings thinking, feeling and acting as individuals.

 It is concerned with man’s living here and now, rather than with man in the

abstract.

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Generally, existentialists disclaim any interest in metaphysics or abstract

speculation about the nature or essence of man, or about what is real and

unchanging in the world.

Thus the existentialists confine their attention to the definition of a man, rather

than of man in general.

A man according to them is a living person who has become conscious:

 That he is alive and has a life to live as it ought to be.

 That he has feelings and emotions of love and hate, of appreciation and

prejudice.

 That he thinks freely as he should.

 And most importantly that he is free to decide for himself what he wants to

do and what he wants to be.

Perhaps, the most fundamental principle in the Existentialist Philosophy is that a

man is a free and self-determining individual.

A man is a free individual, free to will and free to choose what he wants to become.

That choice however comes with the burden of responsibility.

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Epistemological perspective

As with the Pragmatists, the most important source of knowledge in the

Existentialist Philosophy is experience.

Unlike pragmatists who regard experience as the raw material to be processed by

intelligence and reflective thinking, existentialists think that personal experience is

the most authentic knowledge.

The question that often arises with respect to knowledge here is that if the

experience is so personal/subjective, how can we be sure of its objectivity?

The existentialists argue that scientific objectivity is an abstract concept; it is the

objectivity of the person who is involved.

With respect to an individual objectivity, it is obtained by a person through the use

of his own reasoning power to consider the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of the issue, and

whatever decision he arrives at is objective for him.

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The bottom-line however is that existentialists pay scant regard to rationality and

scientific objectivity for to them the emotion is as equally important as reason in a

man’s life.

Axiological perspective

In their Theory of Values, man is the judge of all values.

Value is personal and subjective – subjective in the sense that it is the person who

is interested in a thing who values it.

What a man chooses is what is valuable; in that sense, it is the man who creates his

own values; by his choice he decides what he considers to be good because nobody

willingly and knowingly chooses what is not valuable.

But the process of choosing is neither blind nor irrational - choice is made after

taking into consideration all possible factors – including the consequences.

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An individual is not compelled to follow the ‘crowd’, the majority opinion or the

society’s norms in any of his actions.

To allow majority opinions to decide for one is to sell one’s freedom to choose for

one. As Maxine Green puts it while quoting Soren Kierkegaard::

‘A crowd in its very concept is the untruth, by the reason of the fact that it renders

the individual completely impertinent and irresponsible, or at least weakens his

sense of responsibility by reducing it to a fraction’.

The crowd induces ‘pleasant irresponsibility’ so in essence man must not fear

courting unpopularity and must take his stand courageously in opposition to the

status quo.

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Existentialist philosophy of Education

Existentialism advocates child-centered or learner -centred education.

Education that focuses on open-classroom participation, democracy and flexibility

(Rogers, 1969).

According to existentialists, education should aim at building the whole man with

the focus being on character formation, self-realisation as well as self-actualisation

in the final analysis.

Education is not to adjust the learner to his environment but integrate him at all

costs into society.

The adjustment and the integration should be done by the individual, and the task

of education is only to enhance his ability to decide correctly.

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Again education is to help the individual develop his initiative, help him search for

and discover himself, and to cultivate self-reliance as the key character trait.

The existentialist teacher must be a good mediator, authentic, subjective,

a reflective enabler and must try as much as possible to aid learners or consult

learners in the choice of subject matter.

The teacher’s role in the existentialist classroom should be that of guider and

facilitator.

The method of instruction must allow for the student’s development of his/her full

potential which is why the existentialist would reject a standardised curriculum and

an authoritarian model for teaching.

The curriculum should avoid systematic knowledge or structured disciplines, and

the students should be free to select from many available learning situations.

Humanities are commonly given tremendous emphasis in existentialist curricula.

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Great emphasis is placed on art, literature, and overall humanistic studies for it is

in these areas that man finds himself and discovers what values he will seek to

attain.

Whereas realists and pragmatists emphasise science and technology, existentialists’

emphasis humanities especially art, design and literature.

The instructional methods should not resemble the out-dated authoritarian model,

where the teacher is the ‘superior’ possessor of knowledge and the student the

empty vessel waiting to be filled.

This model for pedagogy stresses the co-creative, co-responsive and co-

participatory aspects of education which are explored as a means of providing

students with vicarious experiences that will help unleash their own creativity.

For example, rather than emphasising historical events, existentialists focus upon

the actions of historical individuals, each of whom provides possible models for

the students’ own behaviour (Chaube & Chaube, 1996).

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The teacher should continually encourage their students to have ‘the courage to

be’, to ‘seize the day’ and to ‘bear the burden of responsibility’ for the outcomes of

their decisions so that student behaviour will become increasingly more

responsible.

Teachers who celebrate the authentic and who continually challenge and inspire

their students to have ‘the courage to be’ may well see their students leave school

with a strong sense of identity.

Implications for today’s education

 Existentialists favour the Socratic method of teaching because it involves the

learner in teaching and learning activities.

 Role-playing and drama is another good method since learners imagine

themselves into the role they play and this brings vicarious experience of

the situation.

 Since to the existentialist the home is the best teacher, the teacher has to

bring himself as close as possible to the position of parents.

 A teacher must cultivate an optimistic attitude to his work and especially in

his opinion of the child – he must at least not be a pessimist because of what

the psychologists call the self-fulfilling prophecy.

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  The teacher should vitally allow freedom of opinion and discussion in his

classroom to pave way for free-expression and open-mindedness in his

students.

Criticism of this Philosophy

Existentialism is often criticised as being too individualistic and too personal.

Critics argue that it overemphasises the rights and freedoms of individuals.

However, according to existentialists that is exactly the strength of the philosophy.

They counter argue that there is too much conformity in the present society, too

much blind following of the crowd without critical analysis.

Individuals need to be fortified to follow stand by their own conscience.

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E. EMPIRICISM (POSITIVISM)

This is the philosophical school developed in the 16th and 17th centuries with the

discovery of the scientific method by natural scientists such as Galileo and Isaac

Newton.

Emphasis in this school of thought is on the empirical foundations of knowledge.

The word empirical is derived from the Greek noun empeiria, meaning experience.

Like the pragmatists and existentialists, empiricists focus on knowledge or

experiences from our environment as the major source of knowledge.

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Key concepts:

Metaphysical perspective

Research that is empirical means that it is based on objective observations coupled

with a theoretical base.

This is also the major methodology of obtaining knowledge in this school of

philosophy.

A theoretical base is useful for interpreting the ‘facts’ obtained by the research.

A theory is a general explanation of how social ‘facts’ are related to one another or

it is something that seeks to explain why certain things happen the way they do.

Therefore, a theoretical base allows the data collected from empirical research to

be interpreted and given meaning in a social context.

Empiricists often apply the scientific method in generating and gathering data.

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Stages of ‘The scientific method’ as applied by empiricists

 Definition of the problem and identification of the phenomena that are to be

subsumed under it.

 Observational stage at which the relevant factors, variables or items are

identified and labelled, and at which categories and taxonomies are

developed.

 Correlational research in which variables and parameters are related to one

another and information is systematically integrated as theories begin to

develop.

 The systematic and controlled manipulation of variables to see if the

experiments will produce expected results, thus moving from correlation to

causality.

 The firm establishment of a body of theory as the outcomes of the earlier

stages are accumulated and depending on the nature of the phenomena under

scrutiny, laws may be formulated and systematised.

 The use of the established body of theory in the resolution of problems or as

a source of further hypotheses.

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Kerlinger (1970) defines empirical research as the systematic, controlled,

empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the

presumed relations among natural phenomena.

A hypothesis is defined as a conjectural statement of the relations between two or

more variables.

More simply put, it has been termed as an ‘educated guess’, though it is unlike an

educated guess in that it is often the result of considerable study, reflective

thinking and observation.

In empiricist terms, all advances of scientific understanding, at every level, begin

with a speculative adventure, an imaginative preconception which always, and

necessarily, goes a little way (sometimes a long way) beyond anything which we

have logical or factual authority to believe.

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It is the invention of a possible world, or a tiny fraction of that world.

The conjecture is then exposed to criticism to find out whether or not that imagined

world is anything like the real one.

Scientific reasoning is therefore at all levels an interaction between two episodes of

thought:

A dialogue between two voices, the one imaginative and the other critical.

A dialogue, if you like, between the possible and the actual, between proposal and

disposal, conjecture and criticism, between what might be true and what is in fact

the case (Medawar, 1972).

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Epistemological perspective

Epistemologically, empiricism is positivist in nature.

Positivism as an epistemological programme originally comes from the natural

sciences.

According to Bryman (2004) positivism espouses the following assumptions:

 Only phenomena and knowledge confirmed by the sense can be warranted as

knowledge (in that sense it shares the knowledge base with

phenomenalism).

 Theories are used to generate hypothesis that can be tested and allow

explanations of laws to be assessed (deductivism).

 Knowledge can be produced by collecting facts that provide the basis for

laws (inductivism).

 Science must and can be conducted in a way that is value free and thus

objective.

 And there is a clear distinction between scientific and normative

(speculative) statements.

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Positivism is often associated with realism - Both assume that natural and social

sciences should and can apply the same principles to collecting and analysing data

and that there is a world out there (an external reality) separate from our

descriptions of it.

Implications for today’s education

 Teachers need to utilise methods that call for critical thinking in students

such as the project method and the experiment in which students develop

hypothesis and research problems by themselves.

Hypothesis enable students to understand the problem with greater clarity

and provide them with a framework for collecting, analysing and

interpreting their data.

Criticism of the Philosophy

 Those who criticise empiricism do so on the grounds that science is

considered as the ‘disenchantment (disillusionment) of the world’.

The implication is that the methods and findings of science obscure

objective reality.

 Critics further argue in relation to the social sciences that the low degree of

applicability of results and the problems of connecting them to theory and

societal developments are taken as indicators of this embitterment.

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 Advocates of postmodernism have argued that the era of big narratives and

theories is over.

Blumer (1969) contends in that the initial position of the scientist and the

psychologist is practically always one of lack of familiarity with what is

actually taking place in the sphere of life chosen for [Link] essence, the

result is often misrepresentation of reality.

 Concerning research in psychology in particular, it is argued that it lacks

relevance for everyday life because it is not sufficiently dedicated to exactly

describing the details of a case in its concrete circumstances.

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F. PHENOMENOLOGY

Phenomenology is a recent philosophical and social life theory that focuses on the

concept that ‘things’ have no meaning in themselves.

They therefore only mean what they are taken to mean by social actors.

Phenomenologists argue that members of a socially created world must have

shared meanings for things if there is to be any kind of order.

In other words, people in every society, however different, teach their offspring, as

part of socialization, how to see things in that society.

Berger and Luckman (1985) support the belief that we learn how to ‘know’ our

world:

‘The man in the street inhabits a world that is ‘real’ to him, albeit in different

degrees, and he ‘knows’, with different degrees of confidence, that this world

possesses such and such characteristics.’

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Consequently, what we have learnt is taken for granted and appears to be ‘natural’.

For example, gender roles are assumed to be a natural extension of the sex

differences between men and women, when they are really a relatively modern

social construction.

Phenomenologists argue that shared meanings are the common-sense

understanding people have of the world.

These common-sense meanings are supported through language.

Language as a means of socialisation provides us with the knowledge we need to

make sense of social life.

For example, few of us can experience everything we know about therefore

knowledge about the world around us is passed on through language.

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Alfred Schutz (1889-195) developed phenomenology from the work of his teacher

Edmund Husserl; to show that the reality we experience is based on ‘taken-for-

granted’ knowledge that has come to represent the social world.

In other words, the implication is that we do not experience the world ourselves as

advocated by pragmatists and existentialists, but interpret it in ways that are

meaningful to us usually viewed in the lenses of others.

In essence, we create representations of the world through our interpretations of the

world.

For example a ball has meaning because we know about balls; if we did not

understand the concept of the ball from others, it would simply be a round

spherical object.

Therefore, all social actors possess common-sense knowledge that is attained

through living and experiencing life, and this makes people feel as though they

know and understand the world they live in.

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In a school situation, teachers can apply concept analysis, discourse analysis or

conversation analysis to allow pupils to make sense of the concepts and diverse

discourse.

Criticism of the Philosophy

Phenomenology has been critiqued from many angles, the most common of which

comes from the structural perspective.

Structuralists criticise the phenomenological focus on the meaning of everyday life

at the expense of understanding social structures, such as inequality and power.

Secondly, phenomenologists have been criticised for offering only their own

interpretation of the actors’ meaning, rather than an objective account.

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Lincoln and Denzin (2000) for example, wonders whether knowledge produced for

the purpose of interpretation, and knowledge formulated as a result of the

interpretation, corresponds not just to the interests (of the research or whatever) of

the interpreter.

How far does the knowledge correspond also to the interests of those being

studied?

According to this view, experiences are neither the world per se nor an objective

representation of parts of this world.

Rather they result from the interests of those who produce the experience as well

as of those who interpret them.

However , by deconstructing ‘taken for granted meanings’ phenomenology has

challenged many common-sense assumptions that needed to be investigated.

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Also, the type of interpretivist stance taken by phenomenology has enabled a

theory to develop, which emphasizes the dynamic nature of common-sense

knowledge.

This theory is Ethnomethodology.

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G. CRITICAL THEORY

Influenced by the Institute of Social Research in Frankfort, Germany - Critical

theory is the most recent philosophical school.

Critical theory also has its basis in Marxist Social and Economic Theory.

The underlying concept of Critical Theory is ‘class struggle’.

Critical theorists are concerned with injustices in society and the part the school

plays in sustaining those injustices.

Critical theorists offer no prescribed programmes or pedagogical processes,

stressing instead the need for empowerment of the individual with the goal of

improving both the school and society.

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The theory critiques how schooling has become an instrument of neo-colonialism

in less technologically developed countries in Asia, Latin America, and African

societies.

Paulo Freire, one of the major proponents of the Critical Theory in ‘Pedagogy of

the Oppressed’ refers to them as the disempowered and dispossessed or oppressed.

To him, in essence, powerful groups of people politically and economically control

those people who are powerless by imposing on them oppressive knowledge,

beliefs and values so as to apparently keep them in their respective class and exert

control over them.

Through control of the school system, elite groups have channelled disadvantaged

students into second-rate secondary schools and education programmes, third –rate

community colleges and fourth-rate jobs.

The Educational system has been designed specifically to produce disciplined

workers at the bottom of the class structure.

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These in turn, emphasise discipline in working class schools, just as the working

class family and the factory labour system emphasise discipline.

The outcome of Critical Theory has led to Critical Pedagogy commonly referred to

as Resistance Theory or Critical Theory.

Critical theory has focused on socio-economic conflict between the dominator and

the oppressed leading to the development of Conflict Theory or Resistance Theory.

Critical theorists ask four questions:

 Who controls schools?

 Who makes policies that regulate schools?

 Who decides ethical, social, economic goals of education?

 Who sets the curriculum?

Once the question of control is answered, critical theorists turn to the motivations

behind this control.

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Critical theory focuses on five aspects of education against domination and hence

the theory proposes:

 Making schools to become democratic public spheres to awaken young

people to be genuine moral, economic, and civil rights activists responsible

enough to reverse the oppressive trend.

 Creation of a public philosophy for the post-modern era with a view to

deconstruct class structures, reinforced e.g. through literature, the social

sciences, and philosophy as these are subjects that promote the old order of

e.g. USA’s Euro-centricists, white-made perspectives of racism, sexism and

imperialism.

 Promotion of a good education -learning that is rooted in learners’ own

autobiography, family and community experiences.

 Empowerment of teachers to design and conduct instruction without

involvement of legislators and administrators (Academic freedom).

 Banning standardised testing, teacher competency tests, top-down

administrator controlled schools and so on.

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Criticism of the Philosophy

Critical theory has many philosophical and ideological opponents:

 Essentialists and Perrenialists see it as an abandonment of the school’s role

as an intellectual and academic agency.

 They further argue that critical theory will politicise schooling and use it to

create an undefined form of democratic socialism.

 Another criticism is that instead of deconstructing the schools as purported,

Critical Theory wishes to establish new controls that will be more to the

liking of the theorists.

Unit assessment test

With members of your study circle discuss the following questions

1. Compare and contrast idealism and realism as schools of philosophical

thought

2. Existentialism as a philosophical ideology inclines more towards democratic

principles in schools than pragmatism. Discuss.

3. Educationists need embrace diverse philosophies if they are to appeal to

individual differences in terms of ideology among their students – Discuss.

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Further reading

Akinpelu, J.A (1981).Introduction to Philosophy of Education. London,

Macmillan.

George F. Kneller (1971).Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Second

Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.

[Link]

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PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR IDEOLOGIES

A. PLATO, THE PHILOSOPHER KING

Plato (427-348 BC) was a philosopher as well as mathematician, in classical

Greece and was an influential figure in philosophy. He was central to western

philosophy.

He was Socrates’ student, and founded the Academy in Athens – the first

institution of higher learning in the Western world.

Along with Socrates and his famous student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the

foundations of Western philosophy and science.

Plato’s philosophical ability is evident in his Socratic dialogues.

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Thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him although 15-18

are rather contested as not belonging to him.

Plato’s dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects including philosophy,

logic, ethics, rhetoric, religion and mathematics.

Simply put, you may need to know that Socrates taught Plato, and that Plato

taught Aristotle.

Among some of Plato’s dialogues were the Republic; the Symposium; the

Apology, the Meno, the Crito and the Phaedo.

His most influential academic work is his Theory of Forms or Ideas which set the

pace for a unique perspective on abstract objects and subsequently lead to a School

of Thought called Platonism.

It is in the Republic that Plato’s chief treatment of education is to be found.

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Rousseau has said:

‘If you wish to know what is meant by public education, read Plato’s Republic.

Those who merely judge books by their titles take this for a treatise on Politics, but

it is the finest treatise on Education ever written.’

Edward Caird has likewise affirmed of the Republic that ‘perhaps it might best be

described as a treatise on Education.’

The Republic is professedly an inquiry into the nature of justice, that is, morality or

righteousness.

But justice is essentially a social virtue, consequently to determine the nature of

justice Plato is driven to construct in thought an ideal state wherein he hopes to

find justice ‘writ large’.

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Because of the multiplicity of human wants and of the insufficiency of any one

individual to satisfy these by his own efforts, the state, in Plato’s view, is

necessary.

It is likewise advantageous, since by reason of the diversity in the natural

endowment of the individuals constituting the state the greatest efficiency can only

be attained by two principles.

That is the application of the principle of the division of labour and by co-operative

effort.

The application of the principle of the division of labour results in the separation of

the citizens of the state into two classes – the industrial or artisan and the

guardian class.

The duty of the former being to provide the necessaries of life, the duty of the latter

being to enlarge the boundaries of the state.

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A proceeding which involves war – that luxuries may be available for the citizens

and the state be something more than ‘a community of swine’.

The guardian class, is further subdivided into the military and governing classes,

representing respectively the executive and deliberative function (Parliament) of

government.

After the division of the citizens into the three classes – the industrial or artisan,

the military and the ruling.

The state assumes the nature of a permanent structure, and this has caused Plato’s

constitution to be designated ‘a system of caste’.

To give sanction to the divisions in the state thus constituted Plato would bring into

play ‘a seasonable falsehood’, and the myth which he suggests is as follows:

He would tell the people – ‘You are brothers, yet God has framed you differently.

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Some of you have power of command, and in the composition of these he has

mingled gold, wherefore also they have the greatest honour; others he has made of

silver, to be auxiliaries; others again who are to be husbandmen and craftsmen he

has composed of brass and iron’.

The barriers between the classes are not, however, absolute, nor are the hereditary

principle in legislation regarded as infallible, for Plato immediately adds:

‘As all are of the same original stock – a golden parent will sometimes have a

silver son or a silver parent a golden son’

Hence the foundation for his Theory of Education was founded on the ideal state.

What is Education?

According to Barrow (2008) in terms of articulate and comprehensive thought

about education, in terms of rationality and in terms of the western tradition, Plato

is the practical beginning – the ‘fons et origo’ of it all.

Plato indeed has been the first to contribute a known theory of education.

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His starting point is that humans are unique in that they possess the divine spark of

rationality.

They thus have the capacity for reason, along with a tripartite soul or psyche with

an unlimited potentiality.

Education for Plato is therefore considered as a process that aims at character

formation, developing an understanding and virtue in those endowed with

leadership potential and future leaders (guardians) of state (Barrow, 2008).

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Whom is Education for?

Plato believed that an ideal state, embodying the highest and best capabilities of

human social life, can really be achieved, if right people are put in charge.

Since the key to the success of the whole is the wisdom of the rulers who make

decisions for the entire state, Plato held that the perfect society will occur only

when ‘kings become philosophers’ or ‘philosophers are made kings’(Republic

473).

Only those with a philosophical temperament, Plato supposed, are competent to

judge between what merely seems to be the case and what really is.

Between the misleading, transient appearances of sensible aspects and the

permanent reality of unchanging, abstract forms.

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For Plato, therefore, Education should aim at training leaders or in other words

philosopher kings to run the affairs of the state whom he refers to as guardians of

society.

What is Education for? The nature of Education or Aims of Education

Since an ideal society will be ruled by those citizens who are mostly cognizant of

what really matters, it is vital to consider how that society can best raise and

educate its philosophers.

Education for Plato should aim at character formation and virtue for its rulers.

Above all else the highest goal in all of education, Plato believed, is therefore

knowledge of the Good; that is, not merely an awareness of particular benefits and

pleasures, but acquaintance with the Form itself.

Just as the sun provides illumination by means of which we are able to perceive

everything in the visual world, for Plato: The Form of the Good or the Ideal Good

provides the ultimate standard by means of which we can apprehend the reality of

everything that has value.

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How should Education be practiced? (Pedagogy and the Curriculum)

With respect to how education should be practiced, Plato in the Republic began by

describing the elementary education and physical training.

That is grammar and gymnastics that would properly occupy the first twenty years

of the life of prospective guardians.

Plato then applied his account of the structure of human knowledge in order to

prescribe the disciplined pursuit of the guardians’ higher education.

The school of Dialectic naturally was to begin with mathematics the vital first step

in learning to turn away from the realm of sensible particulars to the transcendent

forms of reality.

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Arithmetic was supposed to provide for the preliminary development of abstract

concepts, but Plato held that geometry was especially valuable for its careful

attention to the eternal forms.

Study of mathematical, not observational disciplines of astronomy and harmonics,

would encourage further development of skills of abstract thinking and

proportional reasoning.

Only after completing this thorough mathematical foundation will the future rulers

of the city state be prepared:

 To begin their study of philosophy, systematising their grasp of

mathematical truth, learning to recognise and eliminate all of their

presuppositions.

 And grounding all genuine knowledge firmly on the foundation of their

intuitive grasp of the reality of the Forms.

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An extended period of apprenticeship would help the guardians learn how to

apply everything they have learned to the decisions necessary for the welfare of the

city state as a whole.

Only in their fifties would the best philosophers among them be fit to rule over

their fellow citizens.

Implications for teaching in today’s classroom

It is pertinent beforehand to stipulate that Plato does not provide any recipes for

teacher assessment or any pseudoscience that purportedly establishes pedagogy or

curriculum evaluation.

For Plato, it is more important to establish aims, content and organisation.

Plato argues that ‘only when we have a clear idea of what we are doing, only when

we have grasped the idea of Form of education can we begin to judge the efficacy

of various methods.

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In the same token, no way of evaluating can itself be evaluated except in the light

of the idea of education.

Some of the educational implications of Plato’s educational ideology in today’s

classroom include that:

 The teacher plays a crucial role in creating the appropriate classroom

environment.

This environment must be one that values knowledge, encourages learning

and allows the child to pay attention to the input.

 The teaching of humanities as a representation of the arts and literature as

opposed to the empirical sciences – is to be an important consideration of

Plato’s curriculum both directly and indirectly.

 Dialogue is to be considered a better way of seeking knowledge in Platonic

terms with methods like the Dialectic [Question & Answer], the Debate or

the Forum being recommended.

 Other subjects that inculcate character and virtue such as music, drama,

classics, history and theology are to be included in the curriculum.

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Summarily, although Plato’s philosophical and educational ideologies have been

prodigious or exceptional, his influence has remained relatively insignificant.

Plato’s ideological influence on educational thought today is therefore not much

and its influence on practice, though slightly greater has been largely indirect.

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B. ARISTOTLE

Aristotle (384 B.C – 322 B.C) whose name means, ‘the best purpose’ was born in

384 B.C. in Stagira, a town in Northern Greece.

Together with his great predecessors Plato and Socrates he helped lay the

foundations for western philosophy and is considered one of greatest Greek

thinkers.

His father was Nichomachus, the court physician to the Macedonian royal family.

Tutored privately, he trained first in Medicine.

Considered to be a brilliant student, Aristotle was sent to Athens to study

Philosophy under Plato.

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He stayed at Plato’s Academy until 347 B.C.

Aristotle may have opposed some of Plato’s teachings and may have challenged

the master openly.

When Plato died, he left to pursue his own studies maybe having been

disillusioned at being bypassed as successor to his master. He spent time travelling

and studying in Asia Minor and its islands.

He returned to Macedonia at the request of Phillip 11 to tutor Alexander the Great

and two other kings Ptolemy and Cassandre.

Aristotle took full charge of Alexander’s education and is considered to be the

source of Alexander’s push to conquer Eastern empires. Aristotle returned later to

Athens where he founded his own school, the Lyceum.

Some of his greatest works or treaties include; The Politics and The Ethics.

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Comparisons with Plato

Aristotle and Plato differed in terms of philosophical ideology: Plato was an

idealist while Aristotle was a realist.

Aristotle was much interested in politics, ethics, science, logic and metaphysics.

Plato on the other hand was much interested in rhetoric, art, literature, justice,

virtue, politics, family and militarism.

In ethics Plato was Socratic in his belief that knowledge is virtue and of itself:

meaning that knowing the good is to do the good (moral reasoning/judgement is

equivalent with behaviour – no dissonance).

Aristotle on the contrary was of the perspective that knowing what is right is not

enough but one needs to cultivate a culture of goodness, one has to choose to act in

the proper manner (sometimes people act contrary to their moral judgement).

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In essence in Aristotelian terms, to create the habit of doing good.

The two also differed with respect to Logic.

Plato was more inclined towards inductive logic while Aristotle was more inclined

towards deductive logic.

On the role of sense knowledge, both philosophers believed thoughts were superior

to senses.

However, Plato believed that senses could fool a person, while Aristotle was of the

view that senses were needed to properly determine reality.

In the same vein with respect to interpretations of the, ‘Allegory of the Cave’ – the

two philosophers’ disparity on sense knowledge comes out clearly.

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According to Plato, reality would be thoughts, forms or ideas with a person in the

cave perceiving shadows cast from the outside light as reality (what might be).

Aristotle on the contrary was of the view that the person in the cave ought to move

from the cave to experience the actual reality (actuality as it is) – what is casting

the light and shadows directly and objectively.

On politics the two great thinkers also had diverging views.

Plato considered a state as having three elements of which each fulfils a unique

function which corresponds to the three elements of the human soul.

To him, the state like the person is a living organism whose well-being must be

sought by its subjects.

He believed that the health or well-being of a state is desirable for its own sake and

also best for the individual in it.

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Aristotle like Plato also considered a state a living organism but he regarded it as

existing for the purpose of promoting the good life of humans (citizens in the

state).

Different from Plato’s theory Aristotle believed a state was good only to the degree

which enables its citizens to achieve good life (Bluder & Moore, 2016).

He viewed political unit as the city (polis) which took precedence over the family,

which in turn took precedence over the individual.

He alluded that man was political animal by nature and thus couldn’t avoid the

challenge of politics which functions as an organism than a machine.

He believed power rests in and is shared by all social classes irrespective of the

form of the state.

Because of his naturalism, Aristotle like Jean Jacques Rousseau of the Social-

contract is sometimes viewed as the source of Natural Law political theory.

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What is Education?

In Aristotle’s system the art of education is a part of Politics, and it is therefore a

practical and not a theoretical or speculative science.

Aristotle views education as associated with preparation of individuals for

happiness, which he denotes the goodlife.

Education according to him ought to furnish the science and art of politics and

ought to prepare students for the goodlife.

Aristotle, like Plato held the education of a liberal man to be contingent on two or

more physical factors.

The first of them being a sound body with sound instincts – Rationality.

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‘Nature or reason,’ Aristotle says, ‘gives us the capacity to receive virtue.’

In order to develop the native potentialities inherent in a person, Aristotle

advocates another factor – Habituation.

The need to cultivate a culture or habit of seeking knowledge naturally.

In, ‘The Politics’, he argues that education by habit must come before education by

reason.

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What is Education for? – [the nature and aims of education]

Education according to him has a double end, just as the soul of man has a double

nature.

In the first place, it aims at producing such a character as will issue in acts tending

to promote the happiness of the state.

In the second place, it aims at preparing the soul for the right enjoyment of leisure

which becomes possible when practical needs have been satisfied.

Specifically, Aristotle conceives the purpose of education as being the fulfilment

of a person’s happiness through the moulding of character [ethos] and rationality

[logos].

According to him, every normal being wants to be happy or, in Greek, to achieve

Eudaimonia.

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But lasting happiness – though a dream anyhow – cannot even be approximated if

we hunt for pleasure.

He does not equate happiness with pleasure like Hedon and Epicurus of, ‘the

Pleasure principle’ – instead he advocates, ‘the Golden mean principle.’

He argues that, to have a comparatively

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C. QUINTILIAN (THE ORATOR)

Marcus Fabius Quntilianus was a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely

referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing.

Quintilian was born in Calagarris in Spain somewhere around 35 – 40 A.D.

His father, a well-educated man, sent him to Rome to study rhetoric early during

the reign of Nero.

Of his personal life, little is known but in his works, he mentions a young wife and

two sons who predeceased him.

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His major philosophical work the, ‘Institutio Oratoria’ (Institutes of Oratory) was

a series of twelve books containing lessons involving rhetoric.

When compared to other philosophers there are one essential difference between

the Roman Quintilian and the two Greek thinkers – Plato and Aristotle.

Quintilian in his main work ‘Institutio Oratoria’ published before the end of the

first Christian century, is primarily concerned with the practical side of education.

Specifically with the education of the orator, who represents to him the apex of

human perfection.

Plato for one detailed for us the education of the philosopher, Quintilian that of the

orator.

The former the education for speculation, the later for practical life and that is their

difference.

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The difference is typical of the national genius of the two peoples, Greek

(Philosophy) and Roman (Oratory).In terms of similarity, Plato was a ruler or king;

Quintilian was an orator, sage and a statesman.

Both described the perfect man and the training which was to produce such.

What is Education?

Education according to Quintilian is training for eloquence in speech and training

in character or virtue.

These will lead to the art of oratory and statesmanship.

Quintilian believed that the proper training one must undertake to possess

knowledge is the art of oratory or public speaking.

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Although Quintilian believed that knowledge is not inherent, he did believe that

humans were born with the natural quest for reason.

Whom is Education for?

In the ‘Orator’s Education’ Quintilian placed emphasis on the education of boys.

He spoke of the paternal importance echoed in the time of the Roman Empire.

He began his book by stating:

‘As soon as his son is born, the father should form the highest expectation of him.’

Quintilian never mentioned the education of females except for when he wished,

‘for the parents to be cultured and as highly educated as possible.’

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What is Education for? The nature of Education

Education for Quintilian will culminate in an orator and statesmanship.

The perfect orator must be a man of integrity, the good man; otherwise he cannot

pretend to be in that character.

Therefore, we do not only require in him eloquence or a perfect talent for speaking.

Eloquence must be combined with virtue.

An orator is defined as a good man skilled in the art of speaking – not only that the

orator ought to be a good man; but that he cannot be an orator unless such.

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The three divisions of philosophy which Quintilian sets up, rather arbitrary, namely

‘Dialectic’, ‘Ethics’ and ‘Physics’ may be of use to the orator, the lawyer and the

statesman.

Dialectic helps to know the properties of each word, to clear away ambiguities, to

unravel perplexities, to distinguish between truth and falsehood, to prove or to

refute as may be desired.

Ethics will cultivate equity and virtue as well as quality.

Physics will cultivate a loftier inspiration required to speak of things divine than of

things human.

Quintilian rightly demands again that the orator cultivate not only eloquence but

also his character.

He must be ‘vir bonus dicendi peritus’ – good man and experienced in speaking.

Quintilian believed that all forms of knowledge were equally important and that

speaking, writing and reading were the most dominant skills.

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He illustrated that talent, good health and valuable attributes are, ‘of no profit

without a skilled teacher, persistence in study, and much continued practice in

reading, writing and speaking.’

How should Education be practiced? (Pedagogy and Curriculum)

According to Quintilian the training of an orator should commence from infancy.

The training of the orator falls into three stages:

 The early home education up to seven years of age.

 The general ‘grammar’ school education.

 The specific training in ‘rhetoric’.

Early home education

Quintilian took much care as Plato devoted to the early education of the citizens

and rulers of his ideal state.

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Recognising like Plato the great part which suggestion and imitation play in the

early education of the child, Quintilian demands for his future orator that his

parents – not his father only – be cultured.

That his nurse should have a proper accent, that the boys in whose company he is

to be educated serve as good patterns.

He also demands that his tutors be skilful or know their own limitations.

When such conditions do prevail, Quintilian suggests that an experienced master of

language should be secured to give constant instruction.

With respect to study at this age, he warns that great care must be taken lest the

child who cannot yet love study should come to hate it.

After the manner of Plato, he declares that study ought to be made a diversion.

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The instruction at this early age is to include reading, and exercise in speech

training which consist of repetition of rhymes containing difficult combinations of

sounds.

Writing is also to be taught, the letters being graven on a plate so that the stylus

may follow along the grooves therein.

With respect as to whether the child needs to be offered public or private

education, Quintilian objects to public education.

Firstly, on the grounds that there is risk to a child’s morals from his interaction

with other pupils of the same age.

Secondly, with respect to the difficulty experienced by a tutor in giving the same

attention to many compared to one pupil.

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Grammar school training

The grammar-school training is considered by Quintilian in its two aspects, the

moral and the intellectual.

He recognises that children differ with respect to moral disposition, and that

training must be adapted to such differences.

But he desires for his future ideal orator the lad who is stimulated by praise and

who is sensible of glory.

Children must be allowed relaxation, but, as in other respects a mean has to be

preserved.

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Deny them play, they hate study; allow them too much recreation; they acquire a

habit of idleness.

Play also reveals their bent and moral character, and Quintilian observes that the

boy who is gloomy, down-cast and languid, and dead to the ardour of play affords

no great expectations of a sprightly disposition for study.

With respect to intellectual training, Quintilian considers as to whether the Roman

youth should begin his grammar school training with Greek or with Latin.

He suggested that the youth needs to be taught first Greek and not Latin, because

Latin, ‘being in general use’ would be ‘picked up’ by them automatically.

As Plato was for music so was Quintilian for grammar, literature and poetry.

He divided grammar into two parts: the knowledge of correct speaking and writing

and the interpretation of poetry.

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Like Plato, Quintilian recognises that children should be taught not only what is

beautiful and eloquent, but in a greater degree what is good and honest.

Apart from Grammar, Quintilian also recommends the study of arts and sciences as

a knowledge of which the future orator ought to acquire because the orator should

be wanting in nothing.

Music is proposed for the arts in both voice and body.

For the sciences, Quintilian proposes geometry which includes all mathematics as

in Plato’s scheme for the practical advantage to the orator for instance in a court of

law.

Dancing too is recommended while the pupil is young, but should not be too long

for it is the orator not the dancer you are creating.

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School of Rhetoric

At the school of rhetoric, the child needs to learn dialectic, ethics and physics.

All are aimed at cultivating moral character.

In selecting a school of rhetoric for the youth, the parents’ first concern must be the

character of the master.

Qualities of the ideal teacher of rhetoric

 Let him have towards his pupils the benevolent disposition of a parent, and

assume the place of those by whom he has been entrusted with this charge.

 Let him be free from moral faults and not countenance such faults.

 Let him be severe but not too harsh, affable but not lax, lest the former

generates hatred and the latter contempt.

 Let him speak frequently of what is honourable and good, for the often he

admonishes the seldom will he be obliged to punish.

 Let him not readily be given to anger but not ignoring faults requiring

correction.

 Let him be unaffected in his manner of teaching, persevering and firm rather

than excessive in his demands.

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  Let him reply readily to his pupils’ questions and stimulate those not

inclined to put questions.

 In praising the reactions of his pupils, he must neither be mean nor fulsome;

the former will cause the work to be irksome, the latter will make the pupil

upright.

 In correcting faults, he must not be sarcastic; still less abusive, for the

reproof which creates dislike will result in avoidance of work.

 The same high standard as in moral attainment is deemed requisite for the

intellectual qualification of the master of the school of rhetoric.

Contributions to contemporary education

 Quintilian among others contributed towards the establishment of the

principles for modern University education especially in the core language

skills which reading, writing and speaking.

 Quintilian also contributed towards the ethics for the teaching professionas

demanded today.

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Criticisms to Quintilian

Quintilian’s Institutes is the most comprehensive if not the most systematic treatise

on rhetoric in existence.

Quintilian is nevertheless criticised for not considering the education of women in

his treatise.

However from his proposal that both parents of the orator should be cultured, it

might be inferred that he at least expected women to receive some form of

education.

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[Link] LOCKE (THE GENTLEMAN)

John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and physician regarded as

one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and also known as the

‘Father of Classical Liberalism.’

He is also considered as the ‘Father of Education in England.’

Locke is one of the first British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis

Bacon and is equally important to the Social Contract Theory.

His work greatly affected the development of epistemology and political

philosophy.

His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment

thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries.

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Locke’s Theory of Mind is often cited as the origin of modern conceptions of

identity and the self.

Among his books on education theory and philosophy are, ‘Essay concerning

human understanding’ (1690) in which he highlights his ‘Theory of Knowledge’

and ‘Some thoughts concerning Education’ (1693).

‘Some thoughts concerning Education’ is his treatise on the education of a

gentleman.

It was the most important philosophical work on education in [Link] treatise

explains how to educate the mind using three distinct methods:

 The development of a health body

 The formation of a virtuous character

 The choice of an appropriate academic curriculum

Locke initially wrote Some thoughts as letters to his friend Edward Clarke who

had requested for advice on the education of his son, ‘Edward and the letters’ were

later published.
203
What is Education?

According to Locke, education is training for life.

Locke brought to the practice of education his own views on such subjects as

philosophy, psychology, Christianity and government.

His medical knowledge contributed to a concern for the physical, and mental and

spiritual well-being of children.

As he stated in the first paragraph of ‘Some thoughts’:

‘Of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil,

useful or not, by their education.’

In making this claim, Locke was arguing against both the Augustinian views of

man, which grounds its conception of humanity in the original sin, and the

Cartesian position, which holds that man innately, knows basic logical

propositions.

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Locke’s Theory of Knowledge

In Essays concerning human understanding, Locke posits an empty mind – a

tabula rasa or blank slate at birth that is ‘filled’ by experience.

The human mind at birth is void of all experience or character.

Experience, according to this model, is the cornerstone of knowledge.

In describing the mind as a blank slate at birth, Locke was rejecting the doctrine of

innate ideas associated with Plato, and also in his own day with Descartes.

205
Whom is Education for?

Education for Locke is specifically for the aristocratic or noble children.

‘Some thoughts’ was written for a specific purpose – the education of the son of a

country gentleman.

Fundamental features of that education included:

 The employment of a tutor

 Close supervision by parents

 The curriculum

 Details of diet

Would have been available only to a very small proportion of parents and children

of seventieth – century in England.

Locke was well aware of the niceties of rank and fortune, and proposed different

routes for the son of a prince, a nobleman, and an ‘ordinary’ gentleman’s son.

206
Locke believed in a top-down approach to education, and that priority should be

given to the sons of the nobility.

In the dedicatory epistle to Some thoughts he stated that:

‘If those of that rank are by their education once set right, they will quickly bring

all the rest into order.’

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What is Education for? The Nature of Education and its aims

The aim of education for Locke is specifically to train gentlemen who will become

leaders in the political and social arena.

Leaders who will provide for the overall project of democracy and liberalism.

According to Locke the, ‘welfare and prosperity of the nation depended on their

education’.

Locke never wrote about popular education or education for all but rather for the

rich. Even though he was writing for the minority then, most of his ideas had

universal appeal.

208
In consequence, it is possible to argue that much of the advice given to parents in

Some thoughts required:

 Good habits at an early age

 Paying attention to the child’s real needs

 The use of esteem, praise and blame rather than corporal punishment to

discipline children

 The importance of good parental example.

These views were applicable to all ranks in society, not only to the gentry.

Yolton and Yolton (1989) have argued that, though Some thoughts was

concerned with the education of a gentleman’s son, the ‘treatise is less about

gentlemen than it is about developing a moral character.’

The development of moral character as one major aim of education according to

Locke was not limited to gentlemen but was universally valid.

209
Locke’s hierarchy of values with respect to moral character included:

 The creation of virtue; wisdom; breeding; learning and religion respectively.

Virtue was placed first in the education of a gentleman by Locke as absolutely

requisite to make him valued and beloved by others, acceptable or tolerated to

himself.

Wisdom was to be of a practical kind – accustoming children to truth and to

sincerity, by submitting to reason and by reflecting upon the effects of their own

actions.

True wisdom involved the application of both reason and experience.

Good breeding to Locke sought to avoid ‘sheepish bashfulness’ on the one hand

and ‘misbecoming negligence and disrespect’ on the other.

210
Locke’s maxim for avoiding such faults was simple:

‘Not to think meanly of ourselves and not to think meanly of others.’

The best way to cultivate a proper conversation and behaviour was to mix with

people of genuine quality.

A well-bred or well-cultured person would exhibit goodwill and regard for all

people and eschew the habits of roughness, contempt, censoriousness,

contradiction and captiousness.

With respect to learning Locke advocated basics – to read, to write, to express

themselves clearly and to count.

Locke believed in the importance of observing children, and of tailoring education

to their needs and capacities.

211
A ‘sound mind in a sound body’, is a short but full description of a happy state in

this world.

His views in inculcating character through education include:

 Exposing children to plenty of open air; exercise and sleep; plain diet; no

wine or alcohol; very little physic

These would be acceptable today although his hardening regime of toughening the

feet by wearing thin or leaky shoes so that the gentleman’s son might acquire the

ability, if necessary to go barefoot as the poor do might seem to be somewhat

harsh.

212
How should Education be practiced? (Pedagogy)

Locke had an overall view of the curriculum which was coupled with teaching

methods.

He believed in starting with the plain and simple, and of building as far as possible

upon children’s existing knowledge in emphasising the interconnections and

coherence of subjects.

He believed in the importance of early education.

Children, according to him, should be taught to read at the earliest possible age –

as soon as they can talk.

He also considered the significance of play.

213
Locke commented upon how much energy, practice and repetition children happily

put into play, and therefore suggested:

‘Dice and play – things with letters on them, to teach children the alphabet by

playing.’

From letter, they should proceed to syllables and then to easy and pleasant books,

such as Aesop’s Fables, preferably in an edition which included pictures.

Writing should begin with correct holding of the pen and copying of large letters

from a sheet.

As soon as children could speak English, they should begin French, by the

conversational method.

Once children could speak and read French, a task which Locke envisaged would

take but a year or two, they should begin Latin.

214
Locke declared Latin was ‘absolutely necessary to a gentleman.’

Other subjects which Locke recommended apart from the languages included;

geography, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, chronology and history in that order.

History would naturally lead on to the study of law and government subjects of

importance for future gentlemen who might be required to assume public office.

The curriculum should also include other types of accomplishment.

Dancing was recommended from an early age, though learning to play a musical

instrument was not encouraged as, ‘it wastes so much of a young man’s time.’

The two military exercises of fencing and riding the ‘great horse’ or charger were

commended.

215
Locke also advised that every gentleman’s son should learn at least one manual

trade and preferably two or three.

Such a skill might be useful in itself, should the gentleman fall on hard times. He

also promoted physical well-being and was a useful antidote to too much bookish

study.

Some of such skills included gardening, husbandry, working in wood, as a

carpenter, joiner or turner these being fit for and healthy recreations for a man of

study, or business.

Other recommended pursuits included varnishing, engraving and working in base

and precious metals.

Locke advised all gentlemen and their sons to learn merchants’ accountants.

216
Though Locke put much store by recreation, he warned against such sedentary and

potentially ruinous pastimes as cards and dice (gambling).

On the other hand, he was a keen advocate of foreign travel though he thought that

this usually took place at the wrong age of between 16 and 21 instead of earlier.

Implications for teaching in today’s classroom

 Teachers should foster and acknowledge ‘different temperaments’, ‘natural

aptitudes’ and ‘natural inclinations’ in pupils – in short they should

acknowledge individual differences.

 Teachers should reinforce good conduct in children and deplore bad

character.

Locke’s maxim of praise in public and blame in private is broadly

recognised in education.

 Peer education through learning by interaction between students should be

encouraged.

 According to Mason (1961) Locke’s concluding remarks in ‘Some

Thoughts’ that: ‘Each man’s mind has some peculiarity, as well as his face,

217
 that distinguishes him from all others, and that there are possibly scarcely

two children, who can be conducted by exactly the same method.’

Probably represented the most sophisticated and developed parts of his

educational theory namely:

1. The vital importance of individual temperament.

2. The need to make education more attractive or at least not too repressive.

3. The stress on reasoning and practice.

4. The role of habit in the non-intellectual aspects of Education.

 Punishment (ceteris paribus) should be deplored or eschewed as a means of

correcting bad conduct in schools. Locke argues that ‘great severity of

punishment does but little good but great harm in education.’

 Play and recreation should be promoted especially in early childhood

education.

Locke writes, ‘children are naturally active and less apt to be idle than men.’

‘Children enjoy play as it is that liberty alone, which gives the true relish

and delight to their ordinary play game.’

218
Criticisms to Locke

Locke made a significant contribution not only in the realm of educational thought

but of thought itself in general.

Although Locke’s works were written in an era of constitutional, religious,

economic and intellectual strife, he was invariably on the radical rather than the

traditional side in such struggles but his radicalism was constructive and

characterised by circumspection, humanity and commonsense.

In consequence, he was eminently qualified to distil and to transmit the new

knowledge and values of his day to succeeding generations.

His writings according to Haron (1971) secured for posterity the advances which

had been made by the most radical and progressive elements of society in the

seventeenth century.

However, his works did not go without criticism:

219
 Firstly, with respect to the, ‘Theory of Knowledge’, Immanuel Kant argued

that although our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that

it arises out of experience.

He rather emphasised the active urgency of the mind in manipulating

experience.

 Other critics do argue that in his comprehensive course of study in which he

advances modern ideas on objective teaching, manual training, trade

schools, and gardening, he neglected the cultural subjects such as art and

music.

220
D] JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (THE NATURALIST)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer and

composer of the 18th century.

He wrote as an early modern social contract theorist, and promoted reason and

freedom as essential components of political societies.

His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall

development of modern political, sociological, and educational thought.

He is known as a revolutionary philosopher who wrote against the contemporary

social and political set up, hypocrisy, artificiality, cruelty, and despotism prevalent

at that time.

The key thesis of his philosophy is termed Naturalism.

221
It advocates his concepts of, a ‘Natural state’, ‘Natural man’ and ‘Natural

civilisation’.

In his book on education entitled Emile or On Education, Rousseau describes an

early childhood education method with the hope of minimising the obstacles of

civilisation and bringing man as near to nature as possible, for:

‘Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the world but

degenerates once it gets into the hands of man’.

Instead of an educated man being guided by societal norms, Rousseau desires for a

child to have no other guide than his own reason by the time he is educated.

In his Natural Romanticism, Rousseau contends that man can attain his freedom

and independence of thought through naturalistic education.

Rousseau’s other major philosophical work is the Social Contract.

222
What is Education?

It is pertinent to stipulate beforehand that Rousseau’s educational philosophy was

born out of his Naturalistic inclinations.

For Rousseau, education does not mean merely imparting information or storing

knowledge.

Education is not an accretion from without.

Education should teach children how to live.

It is the development of the child’s natural powers and abilities from within.

According to nature of men and things:

[Link] from Nature – consists in the spontaneous development of our

endowments and faculties of a child’s natural tendencies and interests.

223
Education from nature acts independently of a man’s [Link] gave it top

priority.

B. Education from Man – consists in influencing our social contacts and various

groups.

Rousseau did not favour it at least in the initial stages.

Education from man is entirely in his control.

C. Education from Things – consists in the acquisition of knowledge and

information through contact with physical surroundings and our experience of

dealing with the things.

Education from things depends on man only in a limited extent.

Rousseau’s conviction was that education should be considered as, ‘the process of

development into an enjoyable, rational, harmoniously balanced useful and hence

natural life.’

224
Since the three educators – Nature, Man and Things must be mixed together for a

perfect result; Rousseau contends that nature, which man cannot control, must

determine the course of the other two in cultivating children.

Thus he justifies naturalism as a guide to education.

Education for Rousseau must conform to nature, and must be a means of not

preparing for citizenship in any particular government, much less for an

occupation, but of developing manhood and fitting for the duties of human life.

Rousseau wishes to teach natural life.

When nature and society conflict with each other, one must decide between,

‘making a man or making a citizen.’

In this decision, Rousseau deems that, ‘First and foremost, he will be a man.’

225
Whom is Education for?

For Rousseau education is for a child isolated from the exigencies of civilization.

Emile offers, ‘an imaginary educational experience for a child in a rural setting.’

Since public schools and colleges were irredeemably corrupted, the only solution

was to withdraw the pupil from society.

Rousseau considered public schools and colleges to be unsound.

In his opening pages of Emile, Rousseau describes such institutions as,

‘ridiculous’, teaching children to become ‘double – minded, seemingly concerned

for others, but really only concerned for themselves.’

Rousseau believes that more intimate rural communities allow parents to shield

their children from these, ‘filthy morals of the towns and cities’.

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What is Education for? The nature of Education and aims

There were several aims of Education according to Rousseau:

1] Development of a child’s inner faculties

Rousseau says that the most important aim of education is the natural development

of the child’s inner faculties and powers.

To live is to work, to develop and to properly utilise the various parts of the body.

In Emile, Rousseau seeks to train Emile in the profession of living so that he may

become a human being before becoming a soldier, a magistrate, or a priest.

Education aims at making the child a real human being.

227
2] Different aim at different stages:

A. Infancy stage – Development of well-regulated freedom

From0 to 5 years the aim of education is to develop in Emile a well-regulated

freedom according to his capacities.

B. Childhood stage – Develop sufficient strength

From 5 – 12 years, the aim of education is to develop in the child sufficient

strength in order to have well-regulated freedom.

Rousseau’s advice for this period is to exercise the body, the organs, the senses and

powers and keep the soul lying as long as you can.

C. Preadolescent stage – Intellectual development

From 12 – 15 years of age; the aim of education is to develop the intellect of

Emile. Education should help in the acquisition of knowledge which may enable

him to meet the practical needs of life.

228
D. Adolescence stage – Emotional, moral and religious development

From 15 – 24 years, Emile should learn to live for others and to live together in

social relationships.

His emotions should be sublimated.

Moral and religious bias should be given to education.

In short, during this stage, education should aim at emotional, moral and religious

development.

229
How should Education be practiced?

Curriculum

Even in framing the curriculum, Rousseau paid attention to the four stages

stipulated in his aims on infancy, childhood, boyhood and adolescence:

A. Infancy stage (up to 5 years)

The underlying principle is that, ‘A feeble body makes a feeble mind. All

wickedness comes from weakness. Give his body constant exercise, make it strong

and health.’

During this stage of infancy the child should be properly protected.

230
 B. Childhood stage (5 – 12 years)

Rousseau believes that, ‘Childhood is the sleep of reason and the educator is not to

disturb him in this sleep.’

So at this stage, neither intellect nor moral nor social education is to be imparted to

the child.

Instead, Rousseau proposes what he calls ‘Negative education’.

This consists of the free development of the child’s physical organs and the

exercise of his senses with maximum freedom free of moral obligations or social

obligations.

There should be no verbal lessons, in language, history or geography.

Physical exercises should constitute the core of the curriculum at this stage.

231
 C. Boyhood stage (12 – 15 years)

Physical sciences, languages, mathematics, manual work, a trade, social relations,

music and drawing will constitute the curriculum at this stage.

Sciences will develop Heuristic(discovery) attitude, mathematics will develop

precise thinking, manual craft will develop qualities of character and drawing will

train eyes and muscles.

However, the knowledge of social relations will impress upon the boy the need of

co-operation and economic interdependence of man upon man.

232
 D. Adolescence stage (15 – 24 years)

Rousseau laid special stress on moral and religious education at this stage.

Moral education is to be given through activities and occupations and not through

lectures on ethics.

Besides moral and religious education, history, geography, sex education, physical

culture and aesthetics are to constitute the curriculum.

For all these subjects, he has specific aims:

History is to be taught for the service of moral instruction.

Religious education is to be taught for realising the existence of God.

Sex education is to be taught for the orientation to sex affairs.

233
Aesthetics is to be taught for the cultivation and improvement of tastes.

Pedagogy

A. Learning by doing

Rousseau says, ‘teach by doing whenever you can, and only fall back upon words

when doing is out of question.’

The child should take part in various activities and learn in a natural [Link] will

help him in the satisfaction of creative activity.

[Link] experience

Knowledge acquired through books is second hand and can easily be [Link]

the other hand, knowledge directly acquired from various learning situations is

permanent.

Rousseau also advocated experience before expression and object before words.

234
[Link] of Individual instruction

Rousseau asserted that the teacher should properly identify with the individual

child and place emphasis on individual instruction.

[Link] method

In this method, the child is placed in the position of a [Link] is to be given

an opportunity to make experiment with the apparatus that he made himself or

invented.

Rousseau also advocates the heuristic method of teaching.

[Link] is better than precept

For imparting moral education, Rousseau argued for example rather than precept.

The teacher should practice morality and act as a role model – he should provide

opportunity to practice virtue and lectures on morality will not prove useful.

235
[Link] participation

During the period of adolescence, children will get knowledge about social

relations by actually visiting places and establishing contact with the members of

the community practically.

The role of the teacher

Rousseau did not assign a high place to the teacher in his Educational theory:

 The teacher should however see that the education of the pupils lead to free

development of their interest and motives.

 The teacher should provide suitable opportunities and protect the child from

repression and mental conflicts.

 With respect to discipline, Rousseau opposes imposed discipline – ‘leave the

child free.’

It is only in a free atmosphere that the child can develop his innate powers.

No punishment should be given to the child for improving his behaviour.

236
 He advocated discipline by natural consequences.

He advised that the child should be allowed to suffer the natural results of

his acts.

For example, if the child puts his hand into fire, let him burn his hand and

learn by consequence.

Criticisms to Rousseau

Rousseau’s contribution to education has been profound.

He influenced educational theory in its organisation, aims, methods, curriculum

and discipline.

Above all, his natural romanticism influenced the recognition of childhood rights

as well as human welfare.

According to Munro, out of Rousseau’s teaching, derived the ‘new education’ of

the nineteenth century.

237
His theory gave a clear formulation of the direct impetus to psychological,

sociological and scientific conception of education.

His theory however did not go without criticism:

1. Antisocial Attitude

Rousseau had no faith in the influence and goodness of the society.

One of the fundamental aims of education in a democratic dispensation is to be

actively involved in the development of the child.

All is not bad with the social set up – Rousseau had rather an exaggerated

pessimism in his romantic naturalism model.

Furthermore, he rather contradicted himself in his works with respect to his

ideology.

238
In the Emile, for example, he advocates for the priotisation of man in case there is

conflict between man and society which contradicts his ideal in the Social contract

where he is concerned more with citizenship or society at the expense of

individuality.

2. Women Education

Rousseau’s view that literary education of women of any culture is the plague to

all is not consistent with the modern precepts of equality for all regardless of

gender enshrined in democratic constitutions and in the democratic bill of rights.

[Link] regard for positive virtue

Rousseau laid an exaggerated stress on ‘negative education’ living little scope for

the inculcation of positive virtue during childhood.

[Link] higher ideals

There is no place for higher morality and ideals in Rousseau’s educational theory

yet these are what make for a dignified society.

239
[Link] theory of discipline

Rousseau’s theory of discipline through natural consequences is very dangerous

and not tenable in the modern way of life where for example you cannot live the

child to be electrocuted or contract HIV/AIDS and learn by consequence since you

indefinitely loose the child.

240
[Link] DEWEY (THE PRAGMATIST)

John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist and

educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social

reform. Dewey was a contemporary of Russell and they are both considered major

influential philosophers of the 20th century. Dewey and Russell were both

progressive educators who wanted schools to be experiential and [Link] is

one of the primary figures associated with philosophy of pragmatism and is

considered one of the founders of functional psychology.A well-known public

intellectual, he was a major voice of progressive education and

[Link] Dewey is known best for his publications concerning

education; he also wrote about many other topics including epistemology,

metaphysics, aesthetics, art, logic, Social Theory and [Link] for his

advocacy of democracy, Dewey considered two fundamental elements – schools

and civil society – as being major topics needing attention and reconstruction to

encourage experimental intelligence and [Link]’s pragmatism and his

unqualified belief in democracy in education probably resulted from his American

upbringing.A belief in democracy was part of the uncritical socialisation of the

American school [Link] his works on education were; My Pedagogic

creed(1897), The School and Social Progress(1899), The School and

Society(1900), The Child and the Curriculum(1902), Democracy and

241
Education(1916) his celebrated work on progressive education; and Experience

and Education(1938).

What is Education?

According to Dewey education is a reconstruction of [Link] defines

education as the process of the reconstruction of experience, giving it a more

socialised value through the medium of increased individual [Link] essence,

education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school

itself is a social institution through which reform can and should take [Link]

views education as a preparation for life - he makes a strong case for the

importance of education not only as a place to gain content knowledge, but also as

a place to learn how to [Link] his eyes, the purpose of education should not revolve

around the acquisition of a pre-determined skills [Link] education should aim

at the realisation of one’s full potential and the ability to use those skills for the

greater good.

What is Education for? The nature of education and aims

According to Dewey education should aim at helping students’ realise their full

[Link] further acknowledged that education and schooling are

instrumental in creating social change and [Link] notes that education is a

regulation of the process of coming to share in the social [Link] him,

242
the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the

only sure method of social [Link] believed that

process(methodology) was the most important aspect of education while content

was only minimally [Link] is identified with [Link] doing so, he

distinguishes this kind of process with various positions that set up aims external to

the [Link] instance – preparing for life in the future or attaining a certain

kind of moral character for the [Link] identifying process with aim, Dewey

argues that ‘the only learning which is really educative is the learning which

emerges in and through the process of learning itself.’Intelligence according to

Dewey should be used to formulate and solve problems as they [Link]

individuals are to serve society, not as it exists now, but by taking into account

changes they intend to be part of the makeup of a society different from the one

that exists.

How should Education be practiced? (Pedagogy & Curriculum)

In addition to his ideas regarding what education is and what effect it should have

on society (purpose or aim) Dewey also held specific notions regarding how
243
education should take place within the [Link] The Child and the

Curriculum(1902), Dewey discusses two major conflicting schools of thought

regarding educational [Link] first is centered on the Curriculum that

focuses almost solely on subject matter to be taught. (The William Torrey Harris

school). Dewey argues that the major flaw in this methodology is the inactivity of

the student; within this particular [Link] argues that in order to be most

effective, content must be presented in a way that allows the student to relate the

information to prior experiences, thus deepening the connection with this new

[Link] the same time, Dewey was alarmed by many of the ‘Child-centered’

excesses of educational school pedagogies who claimed to be his followers. He

argued that too much reliance on the child could be equally detrimental to the

learning process(Herbartian school). According to Dewey, the potential flaw in

this line of thinking is that it minimises the importance of the content as well as the

role of the [Link] order to rectify this dilemma between the two schools, Dewey

advocated for an educational structure that strikes a balance between delivering

knowledge and the interests and experiences of the [Link] notes that, the child

and the curriculum are simply two limits which define a single [Link] just as

two points define a straight line, so the present standpoint of the child and the facts

and truths of studies define [Link] is through this reasoning that Dewey

became one of the most famous proponents of hands-on-learning or experiential

244
[Link]’s ideas went on to influence many other influential experiential

models and advocates.

For example, Problem-Based learning(PBL) a method used widely in education

today, incorporates Dewey’s ideas pertaining to learning through active [Link]

the way in which teachers could intervene in the development of humans, Dewey

was a follower of Rousseau. He accepted the naturalistic, content neutral kind of

education fostered by [Link] believed that children learn best within

a context of social and emotional development that did not focus heavily on the

acquisition of knowledge but rather on the humanistic development of

[Link] also believed that schooling could result in the positive growth of

[Link]’s pragmatism and his stronger commitment to unbridled

democracy lead him to this [Link] respect to the curriculum, Dewey

distinguished between the study of nature and the study of humanity or the dualism

between nature and [Link] argues that when the studies are opposed to one

another, each suffers from ‘an arbitrary isolation’ which leads Dewey to a

discussion of the relationship between the scientific branches of the curriculum and

those classed as humanities.

Implications for teaching in today’s classroom

 The teacher’s role should be that of a facilitator and guider.

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 According to Dewey, the teacher should not be the one to stand in front of

the room doling the actual teaching and make learners look like sponges.

 The teacher should not be in the school to impose certain ideas on the child,

but should be there as a member of the community.

He should select the influences which shall affect the child and assist him in

properly responding to these.

Criticisms to Dewey

 Critics of Dewey and his pragmatic orientation argue that pragmatism made

the search for truth into an issue of power (democracy) in which the

majority could tyrannise the minority.

 Betrand Russell for example viewed the role of democracy in education as a

more limited one and feared what he called ‘the heard instinct’ in which

the majority of people tend to move in single-file towards unpopular

ideologies as was the case in the Nazi or Fascism rule.

Russell was also afraid that too much democracy in education could result in

a ‘dead level of uniformity’ that neglects individuality or rather individual

differences and special needs.

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 Critics have also pointed out the limited scope of Dewey’s works as one of

his weaknesses.

Dewey is purported as having targeted his works on education to teachers

and college faculties and occasionally to parents rather than popular

readership.

 Dewey’s conceptualisation of education as a democratic institution that

should aim at creating good citizens more to uphold the status quo is

considered by other critics as a conservative and reactionary objective of

[Link] according to these detractors should aim at producing

good individuals rather than good citizens because the former are presumed

as adept to exhibit informed free thought while the latter may be prone to

subscribe to the status quo without questioning counterproductive issues.

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[Link] RUSSELL (THE CRITICAL ANALYST)

Russell (1872-1970) is generally credited with being one of the founders of

analytic philosophy. He also produced a body of work that covers logic, the

philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, ethics and epistemology, including his

1973 ‘Theory of Knowledge’. Betrand Russell and John Dewey are considered the

248
major philosophers of the twentieth [Link] was interested in teaching and

learning throughout most of his [Link] wrote two major books on Education –

Education and the Good life in 1926 and Education and the Social Order in

[Link] the writing of these two volumes, he and his second wife, Dora

Black, founded Beacon Hill School in [Link] Education and the Social Order,

Russell abandoned the behaviourism he had embraced in Education and the Good

[Link] had discovered John B. Watson, a leading proponent of behavioural

psychology, shortly before he wrote his first [Link] he wrote Education and

Social Order, Russell had discovered Freud and given up his commitment to

behavioural psychology –and over time, Russell continued to gain strength as an

educational [Link]’s main contribution to philosophy of education is

twofold.

Firstly, he makes an important contribution to our understanding of that

fundamental distinction which we have come to speak of as the distinction between

education and indoctrination.

Secondly, he formulates and defends a conception of teaching appropriate to the

ideal of education.

What is Education?

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It should be pointed out that Russell’s aversion for pragmatism and his affinity for

scepticism was the cornerstone of his Educational [Link] held the

viewpoint that pragmatism entailed that knowledge was determined by

[Link] ultimately rejected pragmatism because of his distrust of what he

called the ‘herd instinct’ – the tendency of masses of persons to go unthinking in

single-file or [Link] opposed pragmatism and was much more cautious about

the extent to which education could be democratized. He was critical of unchecked

democracy in [Link] according to Russell entails free inquiry as well

as a preparation for freedom that should evoke open-mindedness and critical

thinking in students.

Whom is Education for?

Until the nineteenth century, education was reserved for the children of aristocratic

and/or wealth [Link] were erudite [Link] teacher was teaching

only one child at a [Link] children, i.e. the vast majority of children, were

obviously not given such an [Link] in this era was exclusively for

children of the aristocracy and of wealth [Link] strongly criticised it

arguing that such method of education was only available to the privileged class

and had no place in an egalitarian or democratic society that espouses equality for

250
[Link] further argued that education should take a form that enables it to be

available to all children or at least all children capable of benefiting from

[Link]’s ideal was very radical for his time, and he must have succumbed

criticism yet his message returns its thrust even [Link] after Russell’s

proposition, the world is not providing the same education to all children but

however his ideals are now shared by almost [Link] is also a new trend of

education that aims at education tailored to suit every child’s special [Link]

Education and the Good life, with respect to special needs, Russell suggests that

the existence of democratic values in education could lead to ‘a dead level of

uniformity.’This uniformity Russell opposed because of the likelihood for

individual differences among students and of course special need cases.

What is Education for? The nature of Education and aims

What is education for? What sort of knowledge would good education give? What

are the objectives of teaching children?Russell rightly sees these questions about

the aims of education as [Link] to him, before considering how to

educate, it is good to be clear about the sort of result we wish to [Link]

notes in this vein that what passes for education, falls short of any serious

conception of education associated with free inquiry and a concern for the absolute

[Link] further notes that the reason for the disparity in opinion as to what should

251
be learned through education lies in the fundamental question of ‘what is education

for?’

Russell points out the dilemma as to whether education is for practicality or for

leisure; whether education should focus on technical skills that would train a

merchant or a professional as quickly as [Link], we are also faced with the

problem whether education shall aim for packing the children’s brains with

practical knowledge or giving them intellectual [Link]’s advocacy to the

disparity as to whether education should be practical is that ‘of course it

should’.His justification for such a position is because the educational process is a

means to an end and not an end in [Link] further argues that the essence of

practicality is that it benefits something that is not purely practical……the faculty

of the mind and of course [Link] should aim for the happiness of

each [Link] Russell opposes dividing the society into practicality and

embellishment because according to him both types of knowledge should be

provided – knowledge for material gains as well as for intellectual

[Link] should have both utility and humanity as components –

instrumental and intrinsic [Link], it is easy to use education for imposing

specific beliefs on children through propaganda and [Link] Japan for

example; during the Second World War, children were given very skewed

knowledge and philosophy for the purpose of aggrandising the [Link]

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characteristics were evident in the Nazi – era [Link] educational systems

were very effective, but the tragic result is known to [Link] was harmful in these

situations was that children were not the purpose of education but were a means to

achieve a specific [Link] argues that children are not the means but the

purpose.

Educators must love children more than the nation or the church and knowledge

should be dominated by ‘love’.Three specific questions arise in Russell’s theory of

knowledge with respect to the nature education should take:

 Firstly, should children be given freedom or a preparation for freedom or

rather should schooling train good individual or good citizens?

In a perfect society, there would be no difference between the two but this is

not an ideal world and therefore the question is legitimate.

Russell makes the point that governments prefer citizens who support the

status quo and who want to preserve it.

 Secondly, should there be blind respect to disseminated knowledge or the

status quo, or should there be thinking respect based on recognition of merit

in arguments?

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  Thirdly, should we consider the value of free thought – in which an

important distinction should be drawn between the opinions a person has

and the way in which they are held.

The bottom-line is that if we assess for example a person’s arguments as valid

and/or true or not valid and/or true, we encounter the problem that the available

evidence may have led this person to the wrong [Link] is crucial,

however, is how the person reacts in the light of emerging evidence – viewing

evidence frankly without preconception and without bias which is the essence of

[Link]-mindedness should be one of the qualities- according to

Russell- that Education should aim at [Link] should stimulate

constructive doubt or scepticism not absolute credulity or certainty or even

[Link] doubt entails doubt which has a basis and which is

designed to lead to a better appreciation of the [Link] to Russell, the

difference between a rational man and a dogmatist is not that the latter has beliefs

while the former has none, rather the difference is as to the grounds of the beliefs

and the way in which they are [Link] position is not surprising because as an

individual there was a deep rooted scepticism in Russell which led him to become

a critic of pragmatism, a critic of democracy in education, and generally a gadfly

in western society.

How should Education be practiced? (Pedagogy)

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On the perception of the way in which teachers could intervene in the development

of human [Link] as a deeply committed rationalist and social democrat

felt that schooling must intervene directly into the educational development of

[Link] of this perspective, Russell created the Beacon Hill [Link]

Education and the Social Order, Russell analysed the notion of progressive

educators that education is primarily the affording of opportunity for natural

[Link] idea, Russell calls the ‘Negative Theory of Education’.He rejects it

because it fails to account for the educational needs of a complex [Link]

Russell, the primary purpose of schooling should be to produce certain necessary

characteristics in men as well as in [Link] is the development of character that

is the most important purpose of [Link] identifies four qualities that

must be included in character education which were: vitality; courage;

sensitiveness and intelligence.

With respect to intelligence, he makes an important distinction between acquired

knowledge (in which intelligence is measured through IQ tests or SAT scores) and

what he calls the aptitude for acquiring [Link] truly intelligent person is

the one who knows how to [Link] also states that curiosity about general

propositions rather than interest in specific facts is a sign of intelligence which

also includes the ability to think for oneself. Russell points out the importance of

early [Link] also emphasises the importance of the role of parents in the

255
early education of the [Link] order for the education for happiness to work, the

recipient of such education must be ready too and of course at an early [Link]

formation of a child’s characteristics starts at the point of [Link] role of parents

as educators in the formative years is vitally important and in this vein Russell

shares the same sentiments as Freud and the [Link] education is

for him the foundation and the first step of the education for happiness.

Implications for teaching in today’s education

 All teachers, not only those at the university level must be free to express

their opinions even if these differ from the prevailing orthodoxy.

Students must similarly be exposed to argumentation on all sides of a

controversy in order to offset fanaticism.

 In attitude, a teacher should evoke reverence and humility.A more liberal

outlook and spirit with respect for the student to foster open-mindedness,

free thought, critical thinking though devoid of laxity that might culminate

in contempt.

 Students should have freedom of opinion and by being respected or

(revered) the educational system will foster a spirit of free inquiry.

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  The teacher should not be construed as the authoritative source of

knowledge but as a co-inquirer rather more familiar than the student with the

field but aware of his or her limitations.

 In methodology, teaching should take a critical manner approach in which

students have the right to question and demand reasons.

Criticisms to Russell

 Russell is criticised for offering empirical generalisations based on

psychology, general observation and common [Link], for instance,

denounces Russell’s undifferentiated approach and viewed what he called

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 the ‘omnibus conception’ of the philosopher’s task as ‘a relic of the old

conception of the philosopher as a kind of oracle’.

 Russell has also been criticised because of his penchant for the general

pronouncement and the value judgment which he presents as an obvious or

absolute truth.

 Some critics have suggested that Russell’s ideas on education should be

treated as hypotheses, formulated by a scholar which remains to be

substantiated or rather subjected to scientific investigation rather than a

wholesome ‘Theory of Education’.

Unit assessment test

1. Compare and contrast Plato and Quintilian’s philosophies of education.

2. John Locke might appeal to today’s generation in educational thought but

Rousseau is more practical – Discuss.

Further reading

Allen and Unwin (1964). Betrand Russell on Education, London, http

Aristotelianism: [Link]

Betrand Russell (1969). History of Western Philosophy

Britannica – Plato: Education and the Value of Justice, http

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Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

Jamie Gianoutsos – Locke and Rousseau: Early Childhood Education, http

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Emile, or On Education, http

J.J. Chambliss – John Dewey’s Philosophy of Education before: Democracy and

Education, http

Michael J. R. (2000). Russell vs. Dewey on Education, http

Plato: [Link]

Pre- Socratic philosophy: [Link]

Richard Aldrich – John Locke (1632-1704), http

Samson. O. G. (2003). Philosophy of Education, African Virtual University, http

Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, http

William Hare – Russell’s contribution to Philosophy of Education, http

Yaroslav, S. (2008). Plato: His Precursors, his Educational Philosophy, and his

Legacy, Paideusis, 17(2): 91-98

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Educational Biography and the Historical and Philosophical Foundations of

Education – Quintilian, http

260
Unit 6 CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

Introduction

This unit presents some contemporary philosophies of education. The philosophies

considered include; perrenialism, essentialism, progressivism, and social

constructionism. The philosophies are considered in light of; background to the

philosophy and its associated proponents, associated curriculum, possible

criticisms, and implications in education.

Areas of Emphasis

 Understanding contemporary philosophies of education namely;

perrenialism, essentialism, progressivism and social constructivism

 Understanding the proponents of each contemporary philosophy

 Appreciating implications of the contemporary philosophies for classroom

practice and curriculum design

Key words

Contemporary philosophy, curriculum, educational practice

Prerequisite knowledge

It is hoped that students can relate philosophy to curriculum design, aims of

education, and classroom practice in terms of pedagogy. Students are also expected
261
to have prior appreciation of teaching approaches and strategies that have

philosophical roots like the dialectic and socratic approach that is learner centered

as opposed to didactic approaches that are teacher centered.

Time required: 4 hours

Learning objectives

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 Describe each of the contemporary philosophies of education; perrenialism,

essentialism, progressivism and social constructivism

 Identify the proponents of each contemporary philosophy

 Explain the curriculum strategy associated with each contemporary

philosophy

 Analyse the implications of each contemporary philosophy to classroom

practice and curriculum design.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF EDUCATION

A. PROGRESSIVISM

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In the late 19th and 20th centuries progressivism swept through the educational

structure of America, challenging the time-honoured doctrines of essentialism.

Led by John Dewey, John Childs, and Boyd Bode; the progressivists maintained

that it was time to subordinate subject matter to the learner.

Borrowing from some European philosophers like Rousseau, who advocated

rearing a child in a relaxed environment without forcing learning, the

progressivists created the child—centered school. Its prototype was the University

of Chicago Laboratory School.

John Dewey formulated progressive beliefs in a series of publications that included

Democracy and Education, Experience and Education, How we Think, and My

Pedagogic Creed.

At the heart of progressive thinking is an abiding faith in democracy.

What is education?

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To the progressives, education is not a product to be learned – for example facts

and motor skills – but a process that continues as long as one lives.

To their way of thinking, a child learns best when actively experiencing his or her

world as opposed to passively absorbing preselected content.

If experiences in school are designed to meet the needs and interests of individual

learners, it follows that no single pattern of subject matter can be appropriate for all

learners.

The progressivist position that the child should undergo educative experiences in

the ‘here and now’ has led to the cliché like indicators of progressive philosophy,

‘education is life’ and ‘learning by doing’.

In both thought and practice, progressivism shows concern for the student, society,

and subject matter, placing the student at the center of the learning process.

Progressivist curriculum

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  The content of the curriculum ought to be derived from students’ interests

rather than from the academic disciplines.

 Effective teaching takes into account the whole child, and his/her interests

and needs in regard to cognitive, affective, and psychomotor areas.

 Learning is essentially active rather than passive; effective teachers provide

students with experiences that enable them to learn by doing.

 The aim of education is to teach students to think rationally so that they may

become intelligent, contributing members of society.

 At school, students learn personal as well as social values.

 Humankind is in a constant state of change, and education makes possible a

future that is better than the past.

Progressive Strategies

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  Problem-solving, continual self-analysis and reflection, cooperative groups.

 Replication of real-life situations; freedom given to learners.

 Teachers begin with where students are and act as a guide to facilitate

learning about what is important to the student.

The scientific method also known as reflective thinking, problem solving, and

practical intelligence is both the goal and major technique in the progressive

school.

Criticism of the Philosophy

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In a nutshell, Progressivism despite being popular for a while is declining in

acceptance by both the public and educators.

Critics argue that the progressive school went to extremes or exaggerated in its

position on catering for the needs and interests of children.

In appealing to the child’s immediate needs and interests, some progressive

schools seemed to sacrifice long-range needs and interests of which the immature

learner was sparely aware.

Critics also argue that compared to the apparent tidiness of the essentialist

curriculum and the relative ease of measuring achievement of subject matter, the

progressivist curriculum appeared at times disorganised and impossible to

evaluate.

For the most part, graduates of progressive schools were criticised for lacking

touch with basic skills or the elements of the nation’s cultural heritage.

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Some of the more zealous progressivists even led Dewey to warn:

‘………..everything is made play, amusement. This means overstimulation; it

means dissipation of energy. Will is never called into action. The reliance is upon

external attractions and amusements. Everything is sugar-coated for the

child…………..and distracts the child.’

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B. PERRENIALISM

In the tradition of Plato, Aristotle, and the Scholasticism of the Catholic thinker St.

Thomas Aquinas, the contemporary perrenialists see the aims of education as:

 The disciplining of the mind.

 The development of the ability to reason

 And the pursuit of truth.

Unlike progressivists, who hold that truth is relative and changing, the perennialists

believe that truth is eternal, constant, everlasting, and unchanging.

The aim of education is to ensure that students acquire knowledge of unchanging

principles or great ideas emphasising rationalist thinking and stressing arts and

sciences, as well as adherence to the Classics.

In their pursuit of truth, the secular perrenialists joined hands with the sectarian

perennialists.

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The secular perrenialists advocated a highly academic curriculum with emphasis

on grammar, rhetoric, logic, classical and modern languages, mathematics, and – at

the heart of the perennials curriculum – the great books of the Western world.

In the great books of the past, one searched for truth, which in perennials thinking

is the same today as it was then and always shall be.

To these academic disciplines, the sectarian perennialists would add study of the

Bible and theological writings.

Robert Maynard Hutchins former president of the University of Chicago and

Mortimer Adler are perhaps the best known exponents of the philosophy of

perennialism in America.

Hutchins and other perennialists shunned immediate needs of the learners,

specialised education, and vocational training.

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Hutchins made these points clear when he stated that:

‘The ideal education is not an ad hoc education, not an education directed to

immediate needs; it is not a specialised education, or a pre-professional education;

it is not a utilitarian education. It is an education calculated to develop the mind.’

Hutchins’ assumptions about education include that:

 Education must promote humankind’s continuing search for truth. Whatever

is true will always, and everywhere, be true; truth is universal and timeless.

 Because the mind’s work is intellectual and focuses on ideas, education must

also focus on ideas. The cultivation of human rationality is the essential

function of education

 Education should stimulate students to think thoughtfully about significant

ideas. Teachers should use correct and critical thinking as their primary

method, and they should require the same of students.

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The perennialist agrees with the essentialist that education is preparation for life

but opposes the progressivist who holds that education is life.

If taken seriously, perennialism would afford an education suitable to that small

percentage of students who possess high verbal and academic aptitude.

The perennialist looks backward for the answers to social problems.

In solving environmental problems, for example, they propose using Lucretius’

‘De Rerum Natura’ – multidimensional approach.

In terms of leadership Mortimer Adler in perrenialist fashion quotes Aristotle:

In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos:

272
‘The [ethos] is the moral character, the source of his ability to persuade.

The [pathos] is his ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally.

The [logos] is his ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people

intellectually.’

Perennial Curriculum

Since their goal is searching and disseminating truth, and that truth is universal and

unchanging, genuine education should be universal and constant.

273
Therefore school curriculum should consist of permanent or perennial studies with

emphasis on human life themes for example:

 Cognitive subjects that cultivate critical thinking (training the intellect)

 Study of moral, aesthetic and religious principles to cultivate ethical

behaviour.

 Subject-matter curriculum should consist of History, Language,

Mathematics, Logic, Literature, the Humanities and Science if it is to

train the intellect.

 Study and discussion of great books of western civilization which would

place members of each generation in dialogue with the great minds of the

past.

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Criticism of the philosophy

One criticism that appears to be overlooked in most critiques of perennialism is its

ethnocentricity.

Perennialism attempts to give Western European culture predominance over other

cultures of the world e.g., those of Asia and Africa.

The perennialists in general consider works of the Western world as the greatest

works of all humanity.

Excluded are the great writings of the Eastern world, of which many of us are

abysmally ignorant.

The bottom-line here is that an inclusive and outstanding curriculum project would

bring together, perhaps under the auspices of UNESCO, a group of world scholars

who would draw up a set of great books of the entire world.

275
East and West and even South have much to say to each other.

Therefore perennialism does not prove to be an attractive philosophy for our

educational system because it fosters elitism which is also another of its major

weaknesses.

Perennialism is also discredited for its conservatism or not allowing for change

and indeed coping with change in a changing world which renders all curricula

thereof temporarily invalid.

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Implications for today’s classroom

In today’s classroom Perennial teachers:

 Need a liberal education more than their courses in educational methods.

 Should structure lessons around enduring human concerns explored in the

great works of History, Literature, Philosophy and Classics that have

captured people’s interest across generations.

Teachers, students, administrators should maintain high academic standards.

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C. ESSENTIALISM

Essentialism like perennialism is another conservative educational theory that has

its roots in idealism and realism and is also a reaction to progressivism.

They see historical experience as the surest guide of resolving educational issues.

The school is concerned with ideas, knowledge, the cultivation of human

intellectuality, and the cultural heritage.

Essentialism emphasises academic subject-matter curriculum and it encourages

teachers to stress order, discipline and effort.

William C. Bagley, one of the foremost advocates of essentialist philosophy

strongly criticised the child-centered approach and urged teachers to follow

essentialist principles.

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The essentialist theory has three important goals:

 To transmit the basic skills and knowledge in the cultural heritage.

 To emphasise skills and subjects that can lead learners to higher order skills

and knowledge.

 To use education as a civilising agency that emphasises continuity between

the knowledge and values of the past and the requirements of the present.

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What is Education?

In essentialist terms Education involves learning the basic skills, arts, and sciences

that sustain civilisation.

Mastering these skills and subjects prepares students to function effectively in the

civilised society.

Hence learning requires discipline and hard work; teachers should be skilled

professionals both in subject matter and teaching methodology.

The core subjects include liberal arts and sciences considered necessary intellectual

disciplines.

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Essentialist curriculum

 The elementary school curriculum should cultivate basic skills that

contribute to literacy and to mastery of arithmetical computation.

 The secondary curriculum should cultivate knowledge of History,

Mathematics, Science and Foreign languages.

 Schooling requires discipline and a respect for legitimate authority.

 Learning requires hard work and disciplined attention.

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Criticism of the Philosophy

Lately, there have emerged two critique movements to essentialism:

Back-to-Basics

These critiques contend that social experimentation and untested innovations

have lowered academic standards because:

 Children in elementary schools have not mastered basic literacy and

computation skills leading to weakness in high school and absence of

prescribed curriculum.

Neo –essentialists

Neo-essentialists contend that education should not strictly be conservative but

should aim however to civilise human beings by bringing children and adolescents

into contact with the great works of art and literature.

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Implications for today’s education

 The curriculum should seek to transmit the cultural heritage to students

through carefully structured basic skills and subjects.

 Teachers should be specialists in subject-matter content and skilled in

organising subject content into instructional units.

 Students in an essentialist classroom should devote their energy to learning

academic skills and subjects e.g., the RWAs – reading, writing and

arithmetic; English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics, History, Science and

Geography.

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D. SOCIAL – CONSTRUCTIONISM

Social constructionism examines the relationship to reality of diverse phenomena

by dealing with constructive processes in approaching the phenomena.

Examples of constructions can be found on different levels:

 In the tradition of Piaget, cognition and perception of the world and

knowledge about it are seen as constructs or representations.

Radical constructivism (Glasersfed, 1995) takes this thought to the point

where every form of cognition – because of the neurobiological processes

involved – has direct access only to images of the world and of reality, but

not of both.

 Social constructivism in the tradition of Schutz (1962) and Luckmann

(1966) inquires after the social conventions, perceptions, and knowledge in

everyday life.

Constructivism is not a unified philosophy rather, it is developing in parallel

fashion in a number of disciplines: psychology, sociology, philosophy,

neurobiology and information science.

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Constructionist epistemological position

With respect to knowledge of the world Schutz (1962) argues that all our

knowledge of the world involves constructs, i.e., a set of abstractions,

generalisations, formalisations and idealisations, specific to the relevant level of

thought organisation.

Schutz sees every form of knowledge as constructed by selection and structuring.

The individual forms differ according to the degree of structuring and idealisation,

and this depends on their functions.

The constructions will be more concrete as the basis of everyday action or more

abstract as a model in the construction of scientific theories.

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Glasersfeld (1992) enumerates the ‘core theses’ of constructivism as follows:

 What we call ‘knowledge’ in no sense represents a world that presumably

exists beyond our contact with it……

Constructivism, like pragmatism, leads to a modified concept of

cognition/knowledge.

Accordingly, knowledge is related to the way in which we organise our

experiential world.

 Constructivism holds the position that it would be unreasonable to confirm

the existence of something that cannot, at some point, be perceived.

 Human knowledge is considered a human construct.

 Constructionism abandons the claim that cognition is ‘true’ in the sense that

it reflects objective reality.

Instead, it only requires knowledge to be viable in the sense that it should fit

into the experiential world of the one who knows it.

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For the social constructionist, the process of social interchange or interaction in the

genesis of knowledge takes on a special significance, especially the concepts that

are used:

 The terms and forms by which we achieve understanding of the world and

ourselves are social artefacts, products of historically and culturally situated

interchanges among people…..

 Language derives its significance in human affairs from the way in which it

functions within patterns of relationship…….to appraise existing forms of

discourse is to evaluate patterns of cultural life and such evaluations give

voice to other cultural enclaves.

What is education?

Education in constructivist terms is a process of social construction of what we can

address and find through social research.

The acts of writing contribute to this educational social construction of worlds and

subjects under study.

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Unit assessment test

1. Knowledge and ideas are inborn and not socially constructed. Experience,

just accords the opportunity for inborn ideas to unfold and manifest

themselves – Discuss?

Further reading

[Link]

[Link] perennialism

[Link] progressivism

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 Module Test

MZUZU UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TEACHING STUDIES

BACHELOR OF ARTS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

END OF SEMESTER EXAMINATION

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Time allowed: 3 Hours

Instructions:

1. There are two sections in this paper, A and B.

2. Answer all questions in this paper.

3. Marks are indicated against each question.

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4. Write your examination number on all answer sheets used.

5. Marks will be deducted for mispelt words, incorrect grammar, incoherent sentences

and disorganization.

Section A:

Answer all Questions in this section

1. Distinguish the following concepts with examples where necessary as they

are utilised in Philosophy of Education:

a. Ontology vs cosmology (2 marks)

b. Intuitionism vs naturalism (2 marks)

c. Procedural knowledge vs propositional knowledge (2 marks)

d. Speculative questions vs Empirical questions (2 marks)

e. Concept analysis vs linguistic analysis (2 marks)

2. a. Explain briefly any two major distinctions between philosophy and

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 science. (4 marks)

b. Explain briefly any three major distinctions between teaching and

indoctrination. (6 marks)

3. a. Explain briefly why some philosophers choose to use the verb

philosophising when they seek to understand philosophy as a concept.(3

marks)

b. ' Education has both an intrinsic and instrumental value'. Explain briefly

the philosophical implications of this statement. (3 marks)

4. a. In defining philosophy of education as a discipline of study, why is it

pertinent to consider it as ‘philosophy of education’ not ‘philosophy and

education’. (2 marks)

b. With a plausible example distinguish between ‘Truth’ [capital T] and

‘truth’ [small t] in the realm of knowledge and epistemology. (2 marks)

5. [Link] a hypothesis is considered more like an 'educated guess'

explain two reasons why empiricists counter this assertion. (4 marks)

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 b. Briefly explain any three factors that are considered in the judgement of

wrongness. (6 marks)

6. Explain briefly why it is pertinent to use the expression ‘Aims in Education’

rather than ‘The Aims of Education’ in expressing the idea of aim in

education. (2 marks)

7. a. With an example explain what you understand by abductive reasoning as

a type of logic. (2 marks)

b. What two major distinctions with examples exist between deductive

reasoning and inductive reasoning. (4 marks)

8. Highlight four major questions into which philosophical studies could be

reduced and for each question mention its associated branch of philosophy.

(6 marks)

9. a. With examples, explain briefly what Rousseau means by 'Negative

education' during childhood. (4 marks)

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 b. Explain briefly any three criticisms levelled against Rousseau's theory of

education. (6 marks)

10. a. Briefly compare and contrast Plato and Locke as philosophers of

education with respect to their meaning of education and principles for

the educated person. (4 marks)

b. Briefly compare and contrast Quintilian and Plato as philosophers of

education with a Roman and Greek background. (4 marks)

c. Explain briefly any two underlying focal areas posited as goals of

education in light of the major philosophers of education. (4 marks)

Section B:

Answer in ESSAY form the question in this section

11. Compare and contrast idealism and realism as philosophical schools of

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 thought. In your analysis you should also consider the educational

implications for each school of thought. (25 marks)

END OF QUESTION PAPER

This exam paper has some which questions which have not been discussed in

this module. Either include the information to enable the leaners answer these

questions or direct them to the sources where they can get the information.

References

Akinpelu, J.A. (1981).Introduction to Philosophy of Education. London,

Macmillan.

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Barrow, R & Woods, R. ([Link] Introduction to Philosophy of Education. New

York, Routledge.

Betrand, R. (1969).History of Western Philosophy. City, Publisher.

Cahn, S.M. (1993).Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of

[Link] Hill, New York.

Enoh, O.A. (2003).A Handbook of Educational Foundations. Boston, JOS, Seniez

Publications

Gutek, G.L. (2004).Philosophical Ideological Voices in Education. BostonPearson

Education [Link], G. (2001).Education or Pedagogy? Journal of Philosophy

of Education, 35(1): 31-45.

Hacker, P.M. (1986).Insight and Illusion: Themes in the Philosophies of

Witgeinstein. Oxford, Clarendon.

Kneller, G.F. (1971).Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Second Edition,

New York, John Wiley & Sons.

O’Connor, D.J. (1954).An introduction to the Philosophy of Education. London,

ROUTLEDGE & Kegan Paul.

Peters, R.S. (1966).Ethics and Education. London, George Allen & Unwin.

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Phenix, P.H. (1961).Philosophies of Education. New York, John Wiley & Sons.

Power, E.J. (1982) Philosophy of Education: Studies in Philosophies, Schooling

andEducationalPolicies. London, Prentice-Hall.

Wilson, J. (2003).Perspectives on the Philosophy of Education. Oxford Review of

Education, 29(2): 279-283

Marples, R. (2010). What is education for? In Bailey, R. (ed). The Philosophy of

Education. An introduction: London, Continoum books. PP35-46

Plato. (1970) The Republic: Book VII. Revised and translated by W.H.D Rouse.

New York, London, Toronto: New American Library. PP371-403.

Sisulu, J. (2010). Should the state control education? In Bailey R. (ed). The

philosophy of education. An introduction, London, continuum books. Pp99-112

Kant (1992) and 1984) Paul Freira (1970) Emancipatory Theories of Education

or emancipatory pedagogy and emancipatory teaching and Enlightment theories of

education [Link]

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Rule, P.N. (2015) Paulo Freire and Emancipatory Education. In: Dialogue and

Boundary Learning. Educational Futures (Rethinking Theory and Practice).

SensePublishers, Rotterdam.

Biesta, G. J.J. (2010) “A new ‘logic’ of emancipation: The methodology of Jacques

Rancière”, Educational Theory 60(1) pp.39-59.

Curtler, H.M. (1993). Ethical argument: Critical thinking in Ethics. New York:

Paragon House. Chapter One: Is it all a matter of opinion? Relativism versus

objectivism. Pp 1-30.

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