PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION
Prasanth Payyanatt
Meaning of philosophy
Derived from two Greek words
Philo and Sophia
Philo means love
Sophia means wisdom
So philosophy is the love for wisdom or truth.
“ Philosophy and education are like two sides of the same coin; the one is implied
by the other; the former is the contemplative side of life, while the later is the active
side “ J.S.Ross.
“ He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and is
never satisfied may be justly termed a philosopher”.
Plato in his book “Republic”
Subjects and topics for philosophy INCLUDES:
What is the nature of life?
Whence human being has come and what will be his final destination?
How does external nature affect human life
How does this cosmos operate?
How does the heavenly bodies affect human life?
Is there life after death?
What is heaven and hell?
Specific meaning of philosophy
Deep thinking and meditation which concerns itself to god, the soul, and the
nature may be considered as philosophy.
“ Philosophy is a rigorous , disciplined and guarded analysis of some most difficult
problems which man has ever faced”
Henderson
Wider meaning of philosophy
All those persons are philosophers who in one way or the other search for truth
and realities.
“Everyman is a born metaphysician”:Schopenhauer, German philosopher.
“ Men live in accordance with their philosophy of life, their conception of the world.
This is true even of the most thoughtless. It is impossible to live without
metaphysics”
Huxley
According to Titus,
There are five different approaches to the meaning of philosophy as a professional
activity:
Philosophy as a personal attitude towards life and as the universe.
Philosophy as a method of reflective thinking and reasoned inquiry.
Philosophy as an attempt to gain a view of the whole.
Philosophy as the logical analysis of language and clarification of meaning.
Philosophy as a group of problems as well as theories about the solution of these
problems.
Deffinitions
“Philosophy is the logical enquiry into the nature of reality”
Dr.S.radhakrishnan
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Philosophy aims at the knowledge of the eternal nature of things”: Plato.
Philosophy like other studies, primarily aims at knowledge: Bertrand Russell
Features of Philosophy
According to experiences and situation:
Philosophy comes from specific experiences, specific circumstances and situations.
It is the reason why different people adopted different philosophies of life in
accordance with the specific circumstances and conditions.
Gauthama Buddha pondered over the ways to alleviate human sufferings which he
saw through his eyes.Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ both perceived ways of
life to alleviate human misery.
Philosophy and science:
Philosophy closely related with science.Science deals with the realities of nature
and life, animal or human.Those realities are integral part of the life of a child.
These serve the raw material for structuring the experiences of human beings.
This interaction and experience go to form philosophy.
Relation between education and philosophy
Education and philosophy are integrally and interdependently related to each
other.
Education is dependent on philosophy due to many reasons:
Philosophy determines the real destination towards which education has to go.
Philosophy determines the goal of life and also provides suitable and effective
guidance and supervision for education to achieve the goal.
“ True education is practicable only by a true philosophy”: Spencer.
Philosophy determines the various aspects of education.
“Philosophy and education are like the two sides of the same coin, present different
views of the same thing, and that one is implied by the other”: Ross
Great philosophers have been great educationalists also.
Plato, Aristotle
Socrates Locke Comenius, Rousseau Froebel Dewey,Gandhiji, Tagore, Aurabhindo
ghosh.
Philosophy is dependent on education due to several reasons:
Education is the dynamic side of philosophy.
Any task in its completion needs two things:
Thought or plan
Application or practicability
Philosophy is the thought or plan and education is the practical side.
Philosophy determines the aim of life and by analysis lays down the principles to
be followed for achieving the set aims. Education translates these principles and
ideas into practice.
“Education is the dynamic side of philosophy”:Adams.
Education is a means to achieve the goal.
“Education has no time to make holiday till all the philosophical questions are once
for all cleared up”:Herbart.
Philosophy and aims of education
Determination to aims of education by philosophy:
The aims of education are related to the aims of life and the aims of life are
creation of the philosophy of certain time.
So aims of education are determined according to aims of philosophy of life.
Education tries to achieve aims of life as goals of education and
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these aims of life are determined by philosophy of life prevalent in the time.
This cycle goes on as s time passes on….
Aims of education during different periods
Ancient period
Sparta
State of ancient Greece.
Constantly under the attack by enemies.
Aim of philosophy of ancient Sparta came to be a constant struggle against
enemies.
In the state of Sparta the aim of education was to inculcate in the children virtues
of patriotism, courage, fearlessness, bodily power ,strict discipline and spirit of self
sacrifice.
Rome
Romans were conscious of their duties and rights.
So Roman education was centered to the needs of fullest development of children
in all spheres of human activity.
Athens
In Athens the aim of life was to have beauty of physique, beauty of character and
sense of appreciation for objects of beauty.
Hence. the aim of education was the development of wholesome character and
inculcation of qualities which enable the children to lead their lives comfortably.
Children were given full freedom and ample opportunities to develop themselves
physically.
Ancient India
Religion was regarded as most essential.
The aim of life to perform all worldly duties and then achieve salvation from
worldly ties of rebirth.
Hence education during this period was organized to attain happiness , bliss and
in the end salvation.
Medieval period
Philosophy of life during medieval period saw great ups and downs.
During these period Islam and Christianity were busy with propagation of religion.
The chief aim of Muslim education in India were:
propagation of Islam
Spread of education among Muslims
Extension of Islamic Kingdom.
Development of morality.
Achievement of material well being.
Propagation of Shariat and
Building of character.
Modern period
Philosophy of life again changed during the modern period.
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During the modern period, the stress of education was to develop the inherent
qualities ,aptitudes and capacities of the children.
Psychological tendencies began to influence education.
Education become child centered.
Aim of education should be for the development of personality of the child to the
fullest extent.Pestalozzi .
Herbart Spencer advocated that the aim of education should be the development of
character.
Industrial revolution had its impact on education.
Vocational efficiency came to the forefront as a result of industrial education.
Philosophy also influences the curriculum, methods of teaching, discipline ,text
books, teacher…
Philosophy and curriculum
Philosophy of a particular country at a particular time determines the curriculum
in which such subjects, activities and experiences are included .
Philosophy and methods of teaching
Philosophy is closely related to the methods of teaching.
Naturalistic philosophers give importance to the child’s individual tastes ,interests
aptitudes.So methods of teaching should develop the child’s innate potentials.
So they advocated Dalton plan, learning by doing, Heuristic method, Montessori
method etc which will help in developing the innate capacities of the child.
Pragmatists advocate project method for the free and full development of the child.
Idealistic philosophers give emphasis to question-answer method, discussion,
lecture and other methods to ensure total development of personality
Philosophy and discipline
Philosophy determines the nature and form of discipline.
Adams in his famous book “Modern Development in Educational practice” explains
three forms of discipline:
Repressionistic
Impressionistic
Emancipatory
Repressionistic discipline
It is based upon despotic(autocratic) and authoritarian ideology.
No freedom to the children
Strict control and unquestioning obedience enforced upon children.
Impressionistic discipline
It is based upon the philosophy of idealism.
Role of the teacher has a powerful influence upon the thinking and behaviour of
children.
So teacher should infuse sense of self discipline among the children through their
moral character and conduct.
Emancipatory discipline
It is based upon the philosophy of naturalism.
Naturalists believes in the inherent goodness of the child.
They advocate full freedom to the child
There should no repression or rigid control nor a scheme giving impressions to the
child.
Child himself should learn the discipline by the consequences of his own action.
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Idealism
Prasanth Payyanatt
Meaning
Idealism was originated from Plato’ theory of ideas.
Ideaism to Idealism.
Ideas, feelings and ideals are more important than material objects.
Human development should be according to moral ethical and spiritual values so that he
acquires the knowledge of unity in diversity. Spiritual world is more important than material
world. Material world is destructible and mortal.
Definitions
“Idealism holds that ultimate reality is spiritualism”:D.M Dutta.
Fundamental principles of idealism
Two forms of the whole world:
Spiritual world
Material world.
Spiritual world is the real and ultimate truth where as material world is transitory and mortal.
Fundamental principles of idealism
Ideas more important than objects.Knowledge of mind and soul can be obtained through ideas
only
Ideas are ultimate reality, where as objects dies out sooner or later.
Fundamental principles of idealism
Importance` of man over nature
Man is more important than the material nature.
Man can think and experience about material objects and phenomena.
Man is endowed with intelligence and sense of discrimination.
Fundamental principles of idealism
Faith in spiritual values
According to idealistic philosophers the prime aim of life is to achieve spiritual values- truth,
goodness and beauty.
Sathyam,
sivam
sundaram
The realization of these values is the realization of God
Fundamental principles of idealism
Importance of personality development.
Idealists give much importance to the self of the individual.
According to them the development of personality means the achievement of perfection
Fundamental principles of idealism
Full support to the principle of unity in diversity.They believe that implicit in all diversity is an
essential unity.
This unifying factor is of spiritual in nature, which is called as universal consciousness or
Divinity.
Idealism and education.The credit of introducing idealism in education goes to Plato,
Pestalozzi, Froebel etc
Idealism and aims of education.Self realization or exhalation of personality.According to
Idealists, man is the most beautiful creation of God. So the first aim of education is exhalation
of personality, i.e. the full knowledge of the self.
Idealism and aims of education
To ensure spiritual development.As they give much importance to spiritual values than the
material values, the second aim, was to develop the child mentally, morally and spiritually.
To cultivate truth , goodness and beauty or sathyam, sivam and sundaram
Conservation ,promotion and transmission of cultural heritage:
Our cultural heritage iis of immense value and worth.
The aim of education should be to preserve it and transmit it to the succeeding generations.
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Conservation of inborn nature into spiritual nature
To attain full development of the child, education should aim at the sublimation of instincts
into spiritual qualities and values
Preparation for a Holy life: holy life full of piety (faithfulness) and good ideals will naturally lead
to spiritual development and self realization.
Development of intelligence and rationality
According to Adams:There is a purpose in all objects and natural phenomenon.
The whole world is planned and organized.
Man can understand the plan and organization.
There are set principles working in this creation.
Idealism and curriculum
Idealists give more importance to thoughts, values, feelings and ideals than the child and his
activities.
Curriculum should be concerned with the whole humanity and its experiences.
These experiences should be imbibed by two ways:
From physical environment and
From contact with other fellowmen
Plato about curriculum
According to Plato, the aim of life is to realize God, which is possible by pursuing high ideals
like truth beauty and goodness.
These high ideals can be attained by practicing three types of activities:
Intellectual
Aesthetic
Moral
Herbart about curriculum:According to Herbart Spencer, the aim of education is promotion of
spiritual values.
Literature, History, Art, Music, Poetry together with other Humanities
Secondary place to scientific subjects.
Sir Thomas Percy Nunn (1870-1944)
Nunn about Curriculum
According to him, it is the function of school programme to promote and maintain morality
and historical tradition to preserve and develop its achievements more and more.
For this activities to be included are:
Ross
Sir William David Ross (1877 –1971), usually cited as W. D. Ross, was Scottish philosopher,
known for his work in ethics.Ross about curriculum.
Methods of teaching
Idealists are not specific about the methods of teaching.Socrates used Question- answer
method.
Plato emphasized discourse method.Aristotle advocated Inductive-deductive method.Hegel used
Logical measuring method.Descartes used simple to complex method.Idealism and the teacher.
To develop the individual child in spiritual way,
The teacher should posses high degree of self knowledge, self dynamism, and essential
qualities of spiritualism.
Discipline
Idealism wants to keep children under strict discipline.
There will be no spiritual development without discipline.
Idealism give importance to impressionistic discipline
School
School and its impressionistic environment is of great importance in developing the desirable
qualities among the children.
Evaluation of idealism
Merits
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It is the only philosophy wherein detailed exposition of the aims has been emphasized.
Idealist education emphasizes the inculcation of highest values like truth, goodness and
beauty.
This will lead to the development of moral character in children.
Idealism aims at self realization of all individual's by one’s own efforts. So it promotes universal
education.Teacher occupies an important role in idealist education.
Idealism respects the individuality of the child and tries to stimulate his creative energies.
Thus idealism has influenced other philosophies as well.
Idealism emphasizes self-discipline as the principle of education.
This principle develops the ‘self’ of the child.
Because of idealistic philosophy, the school has grown into an important social organization
Demerits
It is abstract and vague.
It avoids the present realities and prepares the child for next world.
It is concerned with the ultimate end of life.
It avoids the real problems of day to day living.
It lays too much emphasis on thinking and mental activities
It increases importance of intellectualism unnecessarily
Idealism emphasis upon the achievement of immortal values like truth, goodness and beauty.
These values are not absolute, but conditioned by the society needs of the individual.
It is the individual who determines his values.
It gives more importance to the teacher than the child.
Idealistic methods of teaching emphasizes cramming and rote memorization,
In modern methodology, these are given least importance.
Idealistic education gives much importance to social science for the attainment of spiritual
development.
Modern age science is given much importance.
Thank youuuu
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