SYLLABUS COVER SHEET
1.
Course number, name and credit hours
EDU 535 MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION – 3 SH
2.
Professor(s) name(s)
Dr. Dale Titus
3.
Method(s) of teaching
Lecture/Discussion
Cooperative Learning
Role Play
Resource Persons
Small group discussions
Philosophical self-analysis
Historical analysis
4.
Course requirements
Completion of Philosophical Inventories
Research and Writing
Biographical Case Studies
Group Projects and Group Activities
Textbook readings
Role play of education philosopher
5.
Assessment
Assessment of each graduate student’s level of accomplishment with reference to the
course objectives will be based upon a subset of the following:
Role play of education philosopher
Active participation in class discussions and other activities
Research paper on a philosopher of education
Final examination
6.
Attendance/Participation (Optional)
Student grades reflect class participation
7.
Textbook, required readings
Ozmon, Howard & Samuel Craver. (2003) Philosophical Foundations of
Education (7th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, Merrill
Please Note:
This course incorporates the philosophy of the Kutztown University Conceptual
Framework, Teacher as Lifelong Learner, connects to the Pennsylvania Department of
Education (PDE) standards, and aligns, when appropriate, to the following standards:
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages (ACTFL), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM),
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and National Council for Social Studies
(NCSS).
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY
Kutztown, Pennsylvania
EDU 535
MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
SYLLABUS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Theorists such as Pierce, James, Mead, Dewey, Whitehead, Russell, Kilpatrick, and
Brameld are studied for their bearing on contemporary educational philosophy. Evaluation of
diverse current views is also presented.
The writings of such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, and others will be studied for their
contributions to current educational philosophy.
RATIONALE
Major Philosophies of Education is a course which examines the most important ideas in
education. Graduate students in this seminar gain a deeper understanding of the philosophical
underpinnings of our educational system. Students develop the cognitive processes for critical
thinking, reflective practice, and self-analysis. Higher order thinking skills of synthesis, analysis,
and evaluation are applied regularly. In an attempt to bridge the gap between theory and
practice, educators critically analyze a variety of controversial issues in education and their
related systems of thought. The primary rationale for this course is to provide educators with the
requisite intellectual background with which they can effectively evaluate ideas in education.
OBJECTIVES IN TEACHING THE COURSE
1.
To recognize the contributions that eminent philosophers have made to fields of inquiry.
2.
To apply philosophical methodologies and theories to important educational issues past
and present.
3.
To arrive upon a more explicit personal philosophy for each individual student in the
seminar.
4.
To help the student develop a sense of unity in all knowledge.
5.
To differentiate between traditional and progressive schools of educational thought.
6.
To recognize the educational implications of classical philosophical schools of thought
(idealism, realism, neo-Thomism, experimentalism, pragmatism, and existentialism).
7.
To analyze educational thought through the fundamental questions posed by the
philosophical branches of ontology, epistemology, and axiology.
8.
To evaluate with respect to school practice the educational philosophies of perennialism,
essentialism, behaviorism, existentialism, and progressivism.
9.
To compare and contrast eastern and western philosophies as they apply to teaching in a
multicultural classroom.
10.
To conduct critical philosophical analyses of current issues in education.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment of each graduate student’s level of accomplishment with reference to the course
objectives will be based upon a subset of the following:
Role play of education philosopher
Active participation in class discussions and other activities
Research paper on a philosopher of education
Final examination
COURSE CONTENT OUTLINE
FOUNDATIONS
1.
What is Philosophy?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
2.
Some introductory thoughts regarding philosophy.
Theory and philosophy
“The love of wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom.”
Philosophy as the capstone discipline
Living the reflective life.
Classical Philosophies
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Idealism
Realism
Pragmatism/Experimentalism/Empiricism
Existentialism
Neo-Thomism
Eastern
FROM CHURCH TO STATE IN EDUCATION
1.
Variety in Christianity
a.
b.
2.
Most Formal: Roman and Greek
Most Informal: Quaker
Some Isms to be Discussed
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Atheism
Agnosticism
Polytheism
Pantheism
Deism
Theism
3.
Four Theories Regarding Human Nature
4.
Early Dominance of the Church in American Education
5.
From Church to State in American Education
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Education regarded as a function of the church.
Clergymen were frequently the teachers.
Calvinistic influence strong in New England.
The Bible and catechism became core learning material.
Religious sects increased in number.
State government entered the picture.
Religious material as cultural subject matter.
6.
Public support for religious education
7.
Locke’s philosophy concerning the state
ESSENTIALISM AND PERENNIALSIM
1.
Historical Resume
a.
b.
2.
Platonic roots of Essentialism in the Republic
Aristotle
The Liberal Arts
a.
b.
The Trivium
The Quadrivium
3.
Comparison of the Terms Essentialism and Perennialism
4.
The Five Postulates of Essentialism
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
5.
The rational nature of man.
The theory of mental faculties
Formal discipline
Transfer of training
Essential subjects
How Essentialist and Perennialist Views Affect Classroom Procedure
IDEALISM AND EDUCATION
1.
What is Idealism?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
The universe is the expression of Mind, Spirit, Intelligence, First Cause, Logos,
God.
The Idea is Reality (Idea-ism vs. “Idealism”).
Mind is the enduring substance.
Concepts may be innate or abstracted from percepts.
Of the two realms, the apparent (day-to-day experience) and the real (the
ultimate truth of things) the latter is placed on a higher level or rank.
The source of true knowledge.
2.
Plato’s Two-World Concept
3.
The Idealism of Kant
4.
The Idealism of Hegel
a.
b.
5.
His beliefs
His dialectic
How Idealism Affects the Classroom Situation
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Curriculum (where emphasis is placed)
The role of the teacher
Getting to know the pupil
Attitudes regarding the pupil
Seating arrangements
Grouping
Teaching techniques
Teaching aids
Discipline
Evaluation and testing
REALISM IN EDUCATION
1.
What is Realism?
2.
Views of the Early Greek Philosophers
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Thales of Miletus
Anaximander
Anaximines
Heraclitus
Xenophanes, Parmenides, and Zeno
Empedocles
Anaxagores
h.
3.
The Atomists
1) Leucippus and Democritus
Aristotle’s Realism
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Aristotle’s Form-Matter hypothesis
Comparison of the beliefs of Plato and Aristotle
Thomas Reid’s Common Sense Realism
Rousseau’s Common Sense
Thesis of Independence
4.
Religious Realism, Scholasticism or Thomism
5.
Natural or Scientific Realism
6.
John Locke’s Realism
7.
Johann Herbart
8.
Herbert Spencer
9.
John Fiske
10.
Alfred North Whitehead
11.
The New Realists
12.
Phenomenology in Education
13.
The Critical Realists
14.
The Analytic Movement in Philosophy
15.
The Influence of Realism on Modern Classroom Procedures
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Classroom management
1) Seating of pupils
2) Attitude of teacher toward pupils
3) Place or role of the teacher in the classroom
Kind of furniture and its arrangement
Grouping
Techniques of teaching
Aids to teaching
Discipline
Rules
Testing
Grades and report cards
PRAGMATISM IN EDUCATION
1.
What is Pragmatism?
a.
2.
Charles Pierce
a.
b.
c.
3.
His life
His general philosophy
His educational philosophy
Early Appearances of Beliefs Found in Pragmatism
a.
b.
c.
5.
His life
His contribution to pragmatism
His philosophy
William James
a.
b.
c.
4.
Principle themes of this school of thought
Heraclitus
The Sophists
Protagoras
Pragmatism Compared to:
a.
b.
Rationalism
Empiricism
6.
Pragmatism Metaphysics and Education
7.
Pragmatism, Human Nature, and Education
8.
Pragmatist Epistemology, and Education
a.
Dewey’s five phases or aspects of reflective thought
9.
Pragmatist Values and Education
10.
Dewey’s General Philosophy
11.
Dewey’s Conception of “Knowledge”
12.
Dewey’s Conception of “Intelligence”
13.
Dewey’s Conception of “Experience”
14.
The Development of Child-Centered Education
a.
European Antecedents
1)
2)
3)
15.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
a) A need for studying the child
b) Nature as the guide to nurture
c) Learning through Action
d) The Pedagogy of interest
Johann H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827)
Friederich W. Froebel (1782-1852)
The Effect of the Pragmatic Philosophy on Classroom Practices
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Seating Arrangement
Grouping
The role of the teacher
The role of the pupil
Teaching methods
Discipline
Aids to teaching
Testing
Evaluation and reporting
RECONSTRUCTIONISM IN EDUCATION
1.
Reconstructionism and Theodore Brameld
a.
The basic principles of Reconstructionism
2.
Futurism
3.
Critical Theory and Critical Pedagogy
4.
Marxism and Education
EASTERN PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION
1.
Asian Indian thought and education
a.
b.
2.
Hinduism
Jain
Chinese thought and education
a.
b.
c.
Confucianism
Buddhism
Taoism
3.
Japanese thought and education
a.
b.
4.
Middle Eastern thought and education
a.
b.
c.
5.
Zen
Shintolism
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
The effects of Eastern thought in the multicultural school
EXISTENTIALISM IN EDUCATION
1.
What is Existentialism?
a.
2.
Soren Kierkagaard
a.
b.
c.
3.
His life and important works
His contributions to existentialism
His philosophy
Jean-Paul Sartre
a.
b.
c.
4.
Principle themes of this school of thought
His life and major works
His contributions to existentialism
His philosophy
Carl Rogers
a.
b.
His influence and major contributions
His application of existentialism to psychology and education
5.
Secular Humanism
6.
The Effect of Existentialism on Classroom Practices
BEHAVIORISM IN EDUCATION
1.
What is behaviorism
a.
2.
Basic principles of behaviorism
Philosophical Bases of Behaviorism
a.
b.
c.
3.
Philosophical Aspects of Behaviorism
a.
b.
4.
His life and philosophy
B.F. Skinner
a.
b.
c.
6.
Human Nature
Cultural Design
Thomas Hobbes
a.
5.
Realism
Materialism
Positivism
His life and works.
His contributions to behaviorism
His philosophy of education.
The Effect of Behaviorism on Classroom Practices.
Instructional Resources
EDU 535 Major Philosophies of Education
Adler, M. The Paideia Proposal. New York: Macmillan, 1982.
Aristotle. The Politics of Aristotle (G. Apostle and Lloyd P. Gerson trans.) Grinnell, IA:
Peripatetic Press, 1986.
Bagler, W. A Century of Universal School. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
Becker, W. Ethics for Educational Leaders. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004.
Bloom, A. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.
Brameld, T. and Elam, S. Values in American Education. Bloomington, IN: PDK,
1964.
Brubaker, D. Teacher as Decision Maker. New York: Corwin Press, 1993.
Bull, B., Fruehling, R. and Chattery, V. The Ethics of Multicultural and Bilingual
Education. New York: Teachers College Press, 1992.
Caine, R.N. and Caine, G. Education on the Edge of Possibility. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD, 1997.
Cleary, L. and Peacock, T. Collected Wisdom: American Indian Education. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
Cohen, A. The Educational Philosophy of Martin Buber. Rutherford, NJ: Farleigh
Dickenson University Press, 1983.
Cohen, R. and Scheer, S. (eds.) The Work of Teachers in America: A Social History
Through Stories. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997.
Cooper, L. Rousseau, Nature and the Problem of the Good Life. University Park:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.
Dewey, J. Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1938.
Dwotkin, M. Dewey on Education. New York: Teachers College Press, 1959.
Farrell, F. Subjectivity, Realism, and Postmodernism: The Recovery of the World.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Fosnot, C. (ed.) Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives, and Practice. New York:
Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1996.
Freire, P. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1995
Giroux, H. and McLaren, P. (eds.) Critical Pedagogy, The State, and Cultural Struggle.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Gutek, G. Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Gutek, G. Philosophical and Ideological Voices in Education. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
2004.
Hodgkinson, C. Educational Leadership: The Moral Art. Albany, NY: State University
of New York Press, 1991.
Holt, J. Growing Without Schooling: A Record of a Grass Roots Movement.
Cambridge, MA: Holt Association, 1997.
Hurn, C. Limits and Possibilities of Schooling. 3rd ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1993.
Jacobsen, D.A. Philosophy in the Classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
1999.
Lipman, M. Natasha, Vygotskian Dialogues. New York: Teachers College Press,
Columbia University, 1996.
Nash, R. Answering the Virtuecrats: A Moral Conversation on Character Education,
1997.
Noddings, N. Philosophy of Education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995.
Noll, J.W. ed. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Educational Issues, 13th
ed. Dubuque, ID: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2005.
Paringer, W. John Dewey and the Paradox of Liberal Reform. Albany, NY: State
University of New York Press, 1990.
Plato. Education: Ends and Means. Washington, DC: University Press of America,
1982.
Plato. The Republic. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1974.
Power, E. A Legacy of Learning: A History of Western Education. Albany, NY: State
University of New York Press, 1991.
Provenzo, E. Religious Fundamentalism and American Education. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1990.
Purpel, D. Moral and Spiritual Crisis in Education. Bergin and Garvey, 1989.
Putnam, H. Pragmatism: An Open Question. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1995.
Reagan, T. Non-western Educational Traditions. 3rd ed. , Mahwah NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum, 2005.
Reed, R. and Johnson, T. eds. Philosophical Documents in Education. 2nd ed., New
York: Longman, 2000.
Reitman, S. Educational Messiah Complex. New York: Caddo Gap Press, 1992.
Rogers, C. Freedom to Learn. 3rd ed. New York: Merrill, 1994.
Russell, B. On Education and the Good Life. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1926.
Searle, J. The Construction of Social Reality. New York: Free Press, 1995.
Simon, R. Teaching Against the Grain. New York: Bergin and Garvey, 1992.
Strike, K. and Ternasky, L. (eds.) Ethics for Professionals in Education. New York:
Teachers College Press, 1993.
Watras, J. Philosophic Conflicts. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004.
Wink, J. Critical Pedagogy, 2nd ed. New York: Longman, 2000.
Young, R. A Critical Theory of Education. New York: Teachers College Press, 1990.