LECTURE
FOUR:MARCH 26TH, 2019
Aspects of Education: Aims, Curriculum,
Role of Teacher, Role of Learner, Assessment, Learning Environment, Pedagogy,
Educational issues
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Definition
1.
Philosophy
of Education is the application of
Philosophical Principles, theories, language of philosophy and methods to analyze,
evaluate or solve educational issues.
2.
It
is both the process and the outcome of
philosophical thinking about education.
3.
Philosophy
of education is first of all an educational discipline and it belongs to the
mind of educationist. It is classified together with other educational
disciplines such as history of education, sociology of education, comparative
education etc.
4.
Education
is the main focus in all these disciplines. However, what makes them different
is the way they approach the study because each one of them follows its own
distinct approach in terms of content, methods and language.
5.
Philosophy
of education is also an integral part of technical philosophy because it’s an
area of specialization in the area of philosophy just like philosophy of
science, philosophy of law etc.
6.
Therefore,
we can say the application of philosophy of education can be seen as the
application of philosophy to the field of education where philosophy is the
abstract (Theory) and education is practice.
Technical vs General Philosophy
General Philosophy of Education
1.
This
refers to the common sense notion of what education ought to be.
2.
It
refers to the personal view or attitude concerning the ideal education.
3.
It
refers also to the preferred slogans concerning education such as ‘education
for self reliance, education for gender equity’ etc.
4.
In
a school setting, it refers to the school motto. In most cases, these
philosophies are varied, vague and are not based on systematic thought of what
type of man they want to produce.
5.
Education
commission reports contain general philosophical perspectives about education.
Technical Philosophy of
Education
1.
Technical
or professional philosophy of education refers to the thorough and in-depth
reflection on education.
2.
This
is done using philosophical methods, tools and techniques in investigating
problems of formal schooling.
3.
In
this case, the process as well as the product amounts to philosophy of
education. This means that the process of asking questions and criticizing
issues in education as well as development of a clear statement of a positive
and more rational alternative in education comprises of philosophy of
education.
4.
Technical
philosophy of education is an integral part of formal philosophy. It is the
exclusive domain of professional philosophers and of academic scholars
concerned with the study of education.
5.
It
is basically/largely Western in orientation attributed to Western Thinkers and
educationists such as Comenius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Dewey etc.
Development/Establishment of Philosophy
of Education
The origin of
educational philosophy dates back to the beginning of the last century and to
the time and work of John Dewey. However, we cannot ignore the contributions
which had been made by earlier philosophers to the study of philosophy of
education.
a.)General
Remarks on Plato and Confucius
1.
Plato
2.
Confucius
b. J.S. Herbert and J. Dewey
1.
J.S. Herbert
(1771-1834)
1.
He
was a Germany philosopher and his work was greatly influenced by contribution
of other scholars like Kant and his area of specialization was ethics.
According to Herbert, the purpose of education is to develop the moral
character of the learner i.e. good moral behavior. He proposed in his book
entitled The Science of Education
five main methods of education as
Ø Preparation
Ø Presentation
Ø Association
Ø Systematization
Ø Application
2.
He
also laid emphasis the importance of authority. To him, the teacher was the
authority during the process of learning. He controlled learners and little
freedom by learners. Europe accepted bur American questioned the idea of the
teacher being the sole authority.
2. John Dewey (1859-1952)
1.
He
laidemphasisfreedom and democracy and was the first American to adopt a
critical stand according to European educational theory which had been extended
earlier by Herbert. He come up with philosophy of education which was
systematic in design with American orientation emphasizing progress, change and
democracy.
2.
Dewey
reacted strongly against authoritarian approach in education which regarded the
teacher as the sole authority in the classroom. The implication was that he was
against the idea of learners adhering to rigid system of education and against
the idea of education developing moral behavior in the learner.
3.
He
suggested an approach of teaching learning that was not teacher centered but
child centered. This approach was seen as not content centered by method
centered. He believed that experience was the best teacher for the learner. He
perceived education as growth and an avenue of creativity. Education came to be
understood in terms of progressive movement thus meant to make the learners
change from one stage to another.
4.
Dewey’s
philosophy was built on American thinking of pragmatism. This philosophy is
derived from a Greek concept pragma- to act, to do, achieve. He believed that
good education should make learners realize their potential. Education should
be based on needs, interest and abilities of the learners.
5.
He
argued that knowledge can only be found through experience when the learner
interacts with the environment. Education is life in itself and not a
preparation for life. This can only happen if learning is directly linked to
the needs, interests and abilities of learners. The contributions of Dewey are
the ones that lead to great debate in the philosophy of education and he is
regarded as the father of philosophy of education.
Relevance of Philosophy of Education to Teacher Trainees
1.
It
provides room for a vision beyond the empirical data of education i.e. seeks to
explain what education is.
2.
It
tries to liberate those being educated and their educators from their
shortsightedness. It helps us to enlarge our perception of education as well as
for teaching.
3.
It
helps the student to think logically, systematically, consistently and clearly
about educational problems as well as life. The teacher will learn the essence
of clarifying meanings and justifying statements.
4.
It
equips teachers with insight into the whole purpose of teaching. Thus, it goes
beyond knowledge of subject matter and competence in teaching skills. Teachers
ought to know what they are doing and why they are doing it.
EDUCATION AND HUMAN
KNOWLEDGE/COGNITIVE DIMENSION OF EDUCATION
Human knowledge falls within
epistemology. Epistemology deals with philosophical reflection of knowledge. It
studies the nature, sources and validity of the knowledge. It attempts to
answer questions about knowledge such as:
(a)
What is knowledge?
(b)
What is the nature of knowledge?
(c)
What are the principles of knowledge?
(d)
What is truth?
(e)
How do we come to know?
(f)
How can we verify knowledge?
(g)
How do we know that we know?
(h)
What can we really know?
(a)
What is Knowledge
The concept of knowledge ‘to
know’ can be sub-divided into three aspects:
Knowing that – facts, information or details about something.
Knowing how – having the ability to demonstrate, possession of a skill
or technique.
General familiarity – lack of sufficient details.
(b)The
Conditions of Knowledge
According to I. Scheffer (1965),
there are three conditions of knowledge:
1
Belief Condition
Belief is a construction that
something is as it is stated. Anyone who makes a claim to knowledge must
believe that it is so. He must personally accent to the truthfulness of the
claim. This involves the conviction of the claimant. It is different from
opinion (I think) which implies doubt. Believing indicates certainty. To
believe is however not to know: it is just the beginning, more isi required
than mere belief. Believing is more of a psychological state of mind and
knowing is more than a strong conviction. This is necessary for communication/teaching
as it helps one to demonstrate an element of originality.
2
Truth Condition
It refers to the actual truth of
what one asserts. Knowing thus points to something independent of the
individual claiming to know – points to the truth of the matter. What one
‘believes’ may not be necessarily the truth as it is universally known. To know
is thus more than believing: it implies that there is actually truth: a matter
of true belief. To establish the truthfulness of a proposition/statement, it
must be subjected to the following theories:
i.
Correspondence theories of truth: whatever is
claimed to be true must correspond with reality i.e. must agree with what can
be empirically verified, measured, observed. The major impediment to this theory
is that our verification tools/observation are at times faulty. It is possible
to perceive reality wrongly.
ii.
Coherence theory of truth: whatever is
claimed must cohere/agree with what is already accepted/admitted as truth. Any
new knowledge is validated on the basis of the existing knowledge. However,
this theory has limitations. Whatever is known may be untrue or false, one
could possibly be mistaken e.g. the Galileo’s case with the Roman Catholic
Church.
iii.
Pragmatic theory: whatever is of utility/value works
and is useful or beneficial or true
iv.
Semantic Theory: Truth is based on language use
and manipulation
3 Justification/grounds
condition
The claimant must be able to cite
evidence and evidence of the right kind to support/justify his claim. Absolute
certainty is difficult to attain because human knowledge tends to be limited.
Certainty thus remains uncertain or hypothetical. One must always be prepared
to review/reconsider their knowledge in the light of new evidence though
adequacy of evidence is many times a serious problem. Although every claim to
knowledge must be based on some grounds, there are statements which do not
necessarily require evidence. E.g. analytic propositions that are self
explanatory statements; statements based on existential and consciousness i.e.
I feel frustrated. While we insist on evidence, we should exempt analytic
proportions based on existential realities.
c. Sources of Knowledge
i. Authority as a Source of
Knowledge
It refers to people
or individuals who occupy superior positions in relation to the claimant.
Knowledge is here based on what those in authority have said i.e. I know it
because so and so says so. People in authority include parents, teachers,
preachers, authors and journalists. Authority is simply believed. Individuals
rely on authority because they lack time to verify for themselves. Also, there
tends to be lack of commitment to question issues and search for clear
knowledge. In a classroom situation, students tend to believe wholesale whatever
the teacher says. There is therefore a need for care and concern for truth on
the part of the teacher.
Precautions when dealing with
authority:
The person whose statement we believe must be a relevant authority in
the field.
Authorities sometimes disagree. There is need to be careful: sometimes
judgment needs to be suspended before arriving at a conclusion.
Verify information. Whenever we accept the other people’s statements, we
should establish whether they are actually true.
No matter how reliable an
authority is, it cannot be the primary source of knowledge.
ii. Revelation
This is a source
of knowledge from which various religions derive their basic dogma. Although
the truths recorded in sacred books are considered eternal, the language in
which they are written is not hence religious scholars spend much time arguing
over the precise meaning of words and expressions in the sacred textual
interpretation. The purpose this is to bring to light the external truths that
are locked in these words.
iii. Sense experience
Common sense
tells as that sense experience is the starting point of knowledge for we begin
to be conscious at all when we begin to exercise our senses.
If we merely
looked at what occurs in our own lives, and reflect on our own experience, we
realize that our minds, at the onset, are no more than “white paper, void of
all characters, without any ideas” (Locke’s famous Tabula rasa, that is blank tablet) all we know or think about is
ideas which come from experience.
iv.Intuition
The immediate
knowledge of truth, without the aid of any reasoning and without appeal to
experience is called intuition. It is sub-conscious activity, which instantly
reveals into consciousness that which the mind has been at grips for a period
of time.
v.Human reason
The view that
reason is the sole source of knowledge is known as rationalism and the
proponents of this doctrine are called rationalists. The human mind has innate structure that is responsible for a
variety of intellectual competence.
The mind, by its
reasoning power has instinctive capacity to discover knowledge within itself;
knowledge is therefore a product of man’s power of thought and explanation.
Plato claimed
that
man’s knowledge is basically a recollection of the ideas which the soul had
known in the perfect world of ideas before it was buried in the human body.
Education
therefore, is to focus on the soul with the view to helping it recollect as
much of that knowledge as possible.
Rationalists
claim that it is dangerous to rely solely on our senses as they are prone to
being highly insensitive and unreliable. Senses are capable of establishing
conflicting results about the same phenomenon depending on our location, health
condition and even attitude.
Knowledge and Curriculum
Generally, curriculum
refers to knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and skills which are considered
desirable for transmission to others. Knowledge is classified or categorized
within the curriculum based on certain criteria:
1.
Language: each subject tends to have a
particular language e.g. maths -matrix, integral, numbers; religion –
sin, grace, soul etc.
2. Methods of verification or testing: e.g. sciences depend on
empirical observation and tests on experiments while mathematics uses deductive
reasoning.
3.Area
of specialization or subject matter: physical sciences deals with natural
world while social sciences concentrates on the world of culture. Philosophy,
religion and mathematics also deals with distinct areas such as the world of
numbers.
Based on the above
criteria, the following classifications of knowledge have been enunciated:
a. Logic and mathematics.
b. Physical sciences.
c. Human sciences.
d. Aesthetics (e.g. fine arts)
e.
Morality or ethics.
f. Philosophy.
4.Theories of Assessment of Curriculum
(a)
The utilitarian curriculum: This means the curriculum that is useful to the
learner and one conducive to human happiness i.e. promotes the greatest amount
of happiness for the largest possible number of people. Such a curriculum
includes survival skills, social skills, and politics.
(b) A
curriculum for rationality (thinking systematically): It has to produce a
rational mind. In order to cultivate this certain subjects need to be
incorporated i.e. logic, mathematics, philosophy.
(c) A
heritage curriculum: The chief point of education is to bring children into
what exists as a public tradition of shared knowledge i.e. culture which refers
to the intellectual aesthetic, moral and material achievements of mankind.
5. Role of the learner
a. Epistemology
considers the learner as a knowing being and so an educable being(Homo
Educandus)
b. Epistemology
anticipates that a learner be active
both intrinsically and extrinsically in the pursuit of knowledge
c. Recognition of
authority as a source of knowledge demands an appreciable but open degree of
respect towards the authority of the teacher and learning resource materials.
d. Intuition is valid
source of creativity in Education
6. Learning Environment
Different epistemological systems
call for various learning environments:
A realist epistemology with its emphasis on
sense experience as a primary source of
knowing advocates for a classroom
environment with adequate teaching aids
that appeal to the senses like
photos, audio visuals, Tactile objects.... By extension it envisions
equipments for practicals as in the case of laboratories and workshops
VIDEOS
1.PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
2. PHILOSOPHERS OF EDUCATION
3.EPISTEMOLOGY
4. EPISTEMOLOGY AND EDUCATION
5. EPISTEMOLOGY AND EDUCATION
