PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
AND TEACHING PRACTICE
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Patricia Smith
MY PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
A Reflective Essay
Presented by Brett
Penza
The philosophies I have
been reading over the past few weeks have provided many ideas and techniques
that I can incorporate into my own approach regarding education. Studying the masters has enabled me to
classify and give structure to my own informal philosophy. As a result, I find my philosophical stance
to be totally eclectic, picking and choosing from the ideas that have been born
throughout the ages. I consider this
“eclecticism”, while it may appear noncommittal to the reader, to be the only
logical approach, as history has been very generous in supplying great thoughts
and ideas for use in a wealth of circumstances. Each has a time and place for providing an
effective means of individual discovery and intellectual growth. By using a flexible philosophical approach as
an educator, I can maintain maximum effectiveness, customizing my technique for
each particular circumstance.
Nonetheless, there are several ideas which have left greater impressions
than others. These, I present in an
attempt to more clearly define the details of my philosophy on education.
The
foundation of my philosophy is based upon and presupposes the existence of
faith in a greater power. The concepts
of “a priori” knowledge are strongly linked with God, the omniscient holder of
absolute truth. Plato theorizes “that
when we die, our soul departs to some other world where all things become known
to it. When reborn, the new body blinds
the soul; in reality, all knowledge is there and all that is required is a
stimulus to bring it into focus (Barrow, 1976)” (D. Jacobsen, 2003, p. 76). The recognition
that absolute truth is associated with God provides us with the important
concept of faith. While some would
claim that a religious faith clouds one’s logical thinking, David Jacobsen wrote concerning Immanuel
Kant, that “through sensory experience,
we can only come to know the characteristics and properties of a physical
object, while the “essence” of the object remains unknown. Therefore, we cannot attain concrete
knowledge of reality because the totality of the universe lies beyond human
experience…” (Jacobsen, 2003, p.153). Thus, we find a connection between
Plato and Kant. These men believed
that there was an innate value system, brought about by a higher
authority, concerning commitment to
duty and positive moral understanding.
This ideal, provides us everlasting hope when addressing a group of
students. For if we truly believe that
the moral fabric, and capacity to understand what is proper and fair, does
exist from birth, then we can count upon the student’s desire to
succeed well. With proper guidance, all
students will curb behavior away from negative results. These expectations, based upon a commonly
established moral foundation or conscience, enable us to define the essential
discipline that must be asserted prior to any academic endeavor. The countless students who go forth with
hopes and dreams for their future each year are a testament to this belief.
Once
we accept that faith and conscience within the individual do exist, we must then proceed to guide the young
individual. The family and support
structures must be employed to shape the young student’s essence in accordance
with the expectations of society. John
Dewey, the prolific composer of pragmatic educational philosophy “believed that
every purposeful human activity has potential for intellectual, emotional,
aesthetic, and moral growth” (Ozmon and Craver, 2003, p. 154). This is a definitive statement that has been
echoed in various flavors throughout history.
Dewey agreed that the individual must first be brought to a socially
acceptable level of moral and emotional development, before effective aesthetic
and intellectual pursuits could be engaged.
Thus, it is crucial that the family and social acquaintances exhibit and
enforce the boundaries and expectations of established customs, laws, and
responsibilities. In the early years of
development, the individual must be introduced to and instilled with the moral
values of the community. Through family
activities and peer playgroups, the child is shown the proper methods of social
interaction. Once entered into an
educational setting, the child can begin to exercise this proper behavior in
the classroom environment.
Further,
the student must understand that his behavior will be met with appropriate
rewards and punishments to be consistently administered by all social
authorities. Regarding discipline, John
Locke wrote:
“By which way of treating them, children may
as much as possible be brought to conceive, that those that are commended and
in esteem for doing well, will necessarily be beloved and cherished by every
body, and have all other good things as a consequence of it. And, on the other
side, when any one by miscarriage falls into disesteem, and cares not to
preserve his credit, he will unavoidably fall under neglect and contempt; and
in that state, the want of what ever might satisfy or delight him, will follow”
(Locke, 1693, p.58).
This approach toward
developing proper behavior is most necessary.
It is this consistent interaction and reaction between student and
society that will strengthen and provide for the individual’s moral and
emotional success.
Once
a moral and ethical base has been established, we can pursue intellectual and
aesthetic activities. It is the duty
of all responsible individuals, of sound mind and body, to seek out and pursue
purposeful activity. In writing of
Immanuel Kant, David Jacobsen writes “We are merely what education makes of us,
and the primary goal is to make us good and promote or foster desired
dispositions of intellectual skill and moral traits, which in turn would allow
us to know and to do our duty (Frankena, 1965)” (Jacobsen, 2003, p.156). Conclusively, once we are “made good”, our objective must be to enhance or improve
the community of which we are a part. Thus, the true purpose of education is
to enable the individual in order that he can achieve this objective.
One of the most effective approaches toward
intellectual growth is the use of Plato’s Dialectic. Since my first introduction to the works of
Plato and Socrates, I have enjoyed reading about the ancient Greek masters and
the dialectic approach to learning.
The process whereby the instructor proposes leading questions to the
eager student, unleashing a flood of self discovery, is for me, a very
fulfilling methodology. Used repeatedly
as one of
Recently, while preparing for a Final
Exam, I gave the class an exercise in
Microsoft Excel. A simple invoice,
created on a spreadsheet with list prices and quantities, was given. To complete the task, the students had to
create mathematic formulas to calculate sale prices, percentage of savings, and
totals. As usual, one of my students
asked a question that I would have expected was intellectually far beneath
them. “How do I figure out the new sale price and savings? I don’t know how to do that? “. While masking an internal grimace, after
all this was a senior in high school, soon to be unleashed on the world, I
grabbed the opportunity to throw on my Grecian toga, figuratively of
course. I told the student that she
did indeed know how to do the math.
“Do you ever go shopping for clothes?” I asked
her.
“Yeah,”
she sighed.
“Well,
let’s say you see this beautiful summer dress for $100.00 list price.” She seemed interested. “Now, you need this dress, and you’re in
luck, it’s on sale for 20 % off!
(...effective instructor pause…) Now, how much will you pay for that
dress?”
She considers the problem. “I don’t know $80.00?”
“Yes… Now how much are you going to save? “
“$20.00!” she confidently offers.
“Exactly, now how did you know that?” I
question.
“I just figured ten percent is ten dollars and
then double it for the 20 %…”
“Sounds good, Now that you have broken down the steps to
figure the problem, you can write the equation into the cell.”
While,
perhaps not a classic example comparable to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, it
does help to illustrate the use of the dialectic. In the example, we have a student who, upon
realizing that mathematics is required, immediately builds a mental wall. However, when she is shown that the landscape
is not so foreign to her, she is able to use her own personal experience, and
solve the problem. For the instructor,
the greatest reward of the dialectic is watching the student’s mind engage and
work out the issue. The student hashes
out the problem before her and builds confidence through self-discovery. This is a very good way to activate the student
mind, and a technique that any educator
can find valuable, regardless of his philosophical orientation.
Another
important aspect of intellectual training is in the application of
constructivism. It has become a very
effective method of education. The
teacher empowers the student to use his own curiosity and interest to pursue an
active learning process. Through
vocational applications, the student becomes adept at searching and creating
new directions, instead of simply learning what has already been done. While there are many outstanding
opportunities for this type of learning,
the student must be properly prepared through a sturdy “natural
education”. In reading Immanuel Kant,
“He proposed two kinds of education, natural
education and practical education. The
former primarily involved the
acquisition of information, while the latter focuses on decision making with specific regard to moral behavior.
…Education needs to provide discipline … Discipline in the classroom promotes obedience and respect for
others … and lays the foundation for the acquisition
of knowledge and cultivation of skills” (Jacobsen, 2003, p.156).
In the same manner, John Locke, in his essay “ SOME THOUGHTS
CONCERNING EDUCATION (1693) “, writes
copiously on the establishment of a strong moral character, prior to describing his recommended academic
goals. Together, these philosophers
agree that this moral code is founded upon a belief in God and nurtured by both
parents and community. It is a fundamental
necessity if the student is going to pursue further academic achievement.
Unfortunately, the breakdown of the family
unit and lack of community commitment have resulted in an incomplete “natural
education”. Thus, an additional burden
has been placed upon the classroom teacher.
Instead of a full commitment toward the development of academic
disciplines, the educator is spending more time as a disciplinarian, enforcing
values that should have been ingrained into the student years earlier. Academic training cannot truly progress until
the student values honor, discipline and the pursuit of knowledge. Unfortunately, it is very disheartening to
learn that some students do not possess these values nor do they value their
education. As teachers, we
face a continuing challenge to develop the natural element of their education
while also introducing them to additional academic challenges.
In reflecting on this point, I admit that I have difficulty employing
modern concepts of constructionism, though I do persevere. “First and Foremost, student ownership of a
learning task is a basic principle of constructivist pedagogy (Greening, 1998)
…elements of autonomy and empowerment are critical components of a constructivist
learning environment” (Jacobsen, 2003, p.300). While I do believe in the principle that
the student must be able to perform the task to truly understand, it is
disheartening to find that many high school students are not properly prepared for
responsibility or self-motivation. These
qualities are essential for the successful implementation of this style. Sadly, I find that many students are
interested only in obtaining a good grade, memorizing some facts and
regurgitating them to paper on the exam.
On days like this, I become an existentialist, “hence, Kierkegaard’s
belief that all was doomed” (Jacobsen, 2003, p.260). However, there is no question that in
today’s classroom, the individual must take an active part in learning. The students have to be conditioned to
realize that they will have to perform well to be successful, contributing
members of society. The world has
become a much smaller place. Today’s
youth must compete on the Global stage.
As it has been said in many ways, education is and will be the key to
the future of the individual and society.
REFERENCES:
Barrow, R.
(1976). Plato and education.
Frankena, W.
(1965). Three
historical philosophies of education.
Greening,
T. (1998). Building
the constructivist toolbox: An
exploration of cognitive technologies. Education
Technology, 38,25.
Jacobsen, D.
(2003). Philosophy in Classroom Teaching. Merrill Prentice Hall.
Locke, J.
(1693). Some thoughts concerning education ,
http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whp/histeduc/locke/locke001.html
Ozmon , H. and Craver, S.
(2003). Philosophical
Foundations of Education.
Merrill Prentice Hall.