Chapter 34
FORMAL
DISCIPLINE AND
RATIONALISM
• Formal discipline or disciplinism and the
aristocracy of reason or rational were two
educational movements that dominated
school during the eighteenth century up to
the middle of the nineteenth century.
Formal discipline arose in defense of
classical education which could no longer be
justified in terms of practical values.
Rationalism was to place a check on the rise of
popular or democratic education.
FORMAL DISCIPLINE
Formal discipline or disciplinism is
the theory that the mind has a
number of distinct and general
powers of faculties,such as
observation, memory, and will
power, which should be
strengthened by exercise.
JHON LOCKE (1632-1704)
The foremost champion of formal discipline.
He believed that the process of acquiring
knowledge is more important than the knowledge
acquired. He believed that if one is trained to
acquire knowledge in one area of learning, he can
use the same training in acquiring knowledge in
another area.
He advanced the idea that the mind of child at birth
is a bank tablet, a tabula rasa,,upon which are
printed or inscribed all the experiences of the child
acquired through his senses.
A. AIMS OF FORMAL DISCIPLINE
1.FORMAL OF CHARACTER. In it's broadest sense,this
involves the development of the whole man- physical,
morally,and mentally. Physical, mental and moral
powers are gained through rigorous exercises of the
body, and for developing self-control.
2.GOOD HABIT FORMATION. To habituate pupils to
think and act in effective and desirable ways,to form
specific habits through discipline and to develop
mental capacities through exercise in order to increase
the powers of the pupils,rather than increase their
knowledge.
B.TYPES OF EDUCATION
1.PHYSICAL EDUCATION. This was for the vigor of the body.
His formula for good health was: “plenty of open air,
exercise,and sleep, plain diet ,no wine or strong drinks , and
very little or no physical exercise, not too warm and straight
clothing, especially the head and feet kept cold , and the
feet often used to cold water and exposed to wet.”
2. MORAL EDUCATION. This was for the development of
wise conduct , good breeding, and the control of desire by
reason.
3.INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. This was to develop the
mental power to acquire knowledge, not to increase
knowledge by itself.
C.CONTENT TO BE STUDIED
The disciplinists had a limited curriculum. They believed
that the intellectual powers of memorizing and reasoning
developed by offering the proper kind of subject matter
could be used in mastering other subjects.
In the elementary, drill subjects such as spelling, arithmetic,
and grammar, and later history, geography, and elementary
science were offered.
In higher school, classical languages and mathematics,
English, and in addition, drawing, geography, history,
antomy , ethics, dancing ,and practical and fine arts as
hobbies were studied.
D.AGENCIES OF EDUCATION
1.The religious motivated elementary school
2.The humanistic secondary school
3. The humanistic college or University
4. The tutor. This was advocated by Locke but it
was not much used..
E.ORGANIZATION OF GRADE LEVELS
All the pupils had to pass through the three levels of
schooling: elementary, secondary school, and college.
F. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
1.All Methods were based on the laws of habit formation :
desirable habits of thinking and acting.
2.Drill and exercise. These were also used for habit formation.
3.Locke's three steps in learning:.
a.Sense learning
b.Memorization
c.reasoning
4. Discipline was very severe. Corporal punishment was used
extensively. But Locke used approval as a motivation for good
behavior.
G.FINANCING
When democratic and popular education was advocated by
the humanist reformers, pupils were admitted free in the
vernacular elementary schools but be paid fees in the higher
schools unless the schools were endowed.Tutors were paid by
the parents of their pupils.
H. OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO EDUCATION
Formal discipline as an educational process is the outstanding
contribution of this educational movement to Education. Even
certain subjects like mathematics, especially geometry, were
offered because of their value in formal discipline.
Chapter 35
RATIONALISM
Rationalism is the philosophical doctrine, which
advocated that reason can be source of knowledge and
that truth can best be established by a process of
deduction from a priori principle independent of
experience.
The rationalist movement is usually referred to as the
Age of Reason and sometimes known as the Age of
Enlightenment. The movement believed that man by his
reason could improve himself and his institutions .
However,the rationalists were concerned only for the
upper classes. They had no concern at all for the
masses.
A.AIMS OF RATIONALISM
1.INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM. To frees the individual
intellect from all repression imposed by the shackles of
religious, social ,and political authoritarian so that the
individual can think by himself freely.
2.LIVING A LIFE GUIDED BY REASON. To enable the
individual to control all aspects of his life guided by
reason, avoiding the display of uncontrolled passion,
vulgar feeling.
3. ARISTOCRACY OF INTELLIGENCE. To create an
aristocracy of intelligence and talent to replace the
aristocracy of family , position, church, and blood.
B.TYPES OF EDUCATION
1.Aristocratic. The rationalist envisioned an education only
for the upper class. They did not believe in universal or
democratic education for the masses.
2.Intellectual training. Physical , aesthetic, and vocational
education were neglected.
3.Social education. Manners, language, and taste were
developed to the highest degree.
C.CONTENT TO BE STUDIED
All things reasonable were included in the
curriculum and all unreasonable things were
through out. Scientific and philosophical
arguments were emphasized. Content included
philosophy, science, art, literature, and social
refinement, polished manners, formal
etiquette, and codes of self- interest. There was
no religion.
D.AGENCIES OF EDUCATION
1.SECONDARY AND HIGHER SCHOOLS. They utilized the
secondary and higher schools organized under the humanist
movement.
2 .ENCYCLOPEDIA. This was a compilation of all knowledge about
science and philosophy discovered up to that time.
3.FASHIONABLE SALONS. The ladies discussed in their salons what
they read in science pamphlets and leaflets distributed.
E.ORGANIZATION OF GRADE LEVELS
The students went through the elementary, secondary, and
college.
•
F.METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
• 1.Sense- based. The rationalists believed that mental
processes were the impressions made by objects upon the
mind through the senses.
• 2.Application of reason. The rationalists always applied the
test of reason to every phase of activity or of life and
rejected those that did not meet the test, so they neglected
the emotional side of life, faith, and institutions. They
considered reason as the sole means of enlightenment.
G. FINANCING
Since the recipients of this kind of education belonged to the
upper class, they paid tuition fees.
H. OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION
The outstanding contributions of rationalism to education are
the training of creative thinking and reasoning (logic) and the
use of the inductive method in making generalizations.
Chapter 35
NATURALISM
NATURALISM was an education movement in Europe
during the eighteenth century in which the child was to be
educated in accordance with the natural laws of human
development,free from all that was artificial.
The child had to be educated to conform with the dictates
of the state,the religious practices of the church, the
ethical and moral standards of society, good manners and
right conduct, social grace, and assimilation of the
accumulated experiences of the race through books.
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
(1712-1778)
A Frenchman, the outstanding champion
of naturalism.
His educational ideas were set forth in
Emile (1762), one of the greatest and most
influential educational classics. Rousseau
set forth in this book how a boy should be
educated.
A. AIMS OF NATURALISM
1. Presentation of goodness and virtue. To Rousseau,an is
by nature good and virtuous. He believed that God created
man good and such goodness should be preserved.
2. Presentation of individual freedom. Rousseau also
wanted to free the individual from the impositions of the
state, the church, and the aristocratic society. To him,to be
free was a right.
3. Creation of a new society. Another aim was to create a
new society where there should be “simplicity, liberty,
equility, and fraternity” for all, a society in which the
individual could attain his fullest fulfillment as a natural
man.
B. TYPES OF EDUCATION
1. General education. Rousseau was opposed to
specialization because, according to him, this would make
some men dependent upon other men.
2.Democratic and universal education. Rousseau said that
education is a natural right of all freemen and sinse all
children are free and equal, they should receive the same kind
or type of education. The rich and the poor should be
educated together in the same way.
3. Moral education. Rousseau wanted to educate the child
morally the natural way, that is, the child should not be
punished by other people for his
4. Intellectual education. Rousseau did not approve the use
of books in intellectual learning. The learner had to learn
through the use of his senses.
5. Religious education. Rousseau felt that the learner should
be educated about religion only when he reached fifteen
years old when he was discern things about religion. The boy
should learn divinity through its manifestation in nature, and
a more plausible explanation about life.
6. Physical education. This was added by Johann Bernard
Basedow who tried to play the theories of Rousseau and
found that physical training for health was wanting inthe
curriculum of Rousseau.
7. Industrialization. This was also added by Basedow for it's
value in motor activity.
C. CONTENT TO BE STUDIED
1. The phenomena as perceived by the learner through his
senses.
2. Counting and weighing things, measuring distances,
drawing, and singing.
3. Agriculture, carpentry, and other manual arts and the use
of agricultural and carpentry tools.
4. Arithmetic and geometry not form books but from the
childs experience.
5. Astronomy and geography by observing the heavens and
observing the topography of the land.
6. The pupil studied human institutions and relations by the
visiting prisons, hospitals, and participating in group work
and other activities.
7. Also when the pupil approached maturity, he was
introduced to religion not through rituals and ceremonies
but through the conception of the logical organization and
constitution of the whole universe.
8. Women were taught only singing, dancing, embroidery
and home chores to please their men.
D. AGENCIES OF EDUCATION
1.The home(family). The parents had to
handle
the education of their children at home.
2. The tutor. Tutorship was the best suited to the
education plan of Rousseau.
3. Public authorities. The school probably were
supported by the state.
E. ORGANIZATION OF GRADE LEVELS
1. Infancy. B-5yrs. His feelings are dominant in determining
his action.
2. Childhood. 5-12yrs. he cannot discern what is moral and
what is immortal, and his feelings are still dominant.
3. Boyhood. His moral reasoning is emerging with his
judgement, but his feelings are decreasing in dominance.
4. Adolescence. 15-20 yrs.the boy realizes that he cannot live
alone, he has to associate with others. The sex urge becomes
stronger. His ability to abstract, imagine, and reason is
developing faster.
F. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
1. Child - centered. The child must be taught according to his
nature. The order of nature;
* Need
*Activity
*Experience
*Knowledge
Three modern principle of teaching:
*Principle of growth
*Principle of pupil activity
*Principle of individualization
2. Discipline. According to Rousseau, discipline should not be
imposed upon the child but it is the result of his action that
should discipline him.
G. FINANCING
Since Rousseau advocated a tutorial system, the child
must his tutor.
H. Outstanding Contributions of be Education
The three modern principle s of teaching:
Principle of growth, principle of pupil activity, principle of
individualization .
The order of nature:
Need, activity, experience , knowledge.
Some comments about the Educational Ideas of
Rousseau
1. The Educational Ideas of Rousseau are probably
good during the time of childhood. Since he was
against the use of books, his pupils could not
acquire the highly complex knowledge of today,
especially in mathematics and science. Rousseau's
country must be a backward one.
2. Naturalism cannot be used in big classes as we have today.
Since there would be no disciplinary restraint to be imposed
upon the children and they are free to do their will, there
would be a lot of noise, quarreling, and unruly behavior in the
classroom. No learning can take place. Besides, since no
disciplinary sanction could be encouraged to commit bigger
and more serious crimes when they grow older.
3.Only the tutorial system is adaptable to naturalism which is a
very expensive way of educating children. Only the rich can
afford this type of educating children and so the poor will
remain untutored.