RIO AVERIL T.

CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON EPISTEMOLOGY

Epistemological beliefs are linked to students academic performances. This may play in their knowledge, reasoning and study habits and participation and also with comprehension and information digestion. Through an evaluation of the students epistemology, teachers and instructors shall have a better way of devising and improving ones curriculum.

Well, epistemology tells me to provide opportunities for my students to react on and with each other in order to solve queries and controversies. This practice may be carried over not only to the teaching-learning process, but, more importantly, to life-long learning outside the academe. I firmly believe that an individual has to develop in himself the idea of considering ability to judge a wide range of issues concerning not only personal matters but also global ones. This would engulf critical thinking and evidence weighing. More than that, I have to develop in them the value of integration of skills and its evaluation. Hence, as a teacher, I should be well-versed with these issues and be more critical to evaluate truth among responses from learners. This is a tedious process but it shall be worth fulfilling. Finally, I shall aid them to articulate their wisdom. As one research emphasized, How teachers and learners ought to act in order that the educational experience is conducive to intellectual flourishing.

RIO AVERIL T. CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON METAPHYSICS
E. F. Schumacher once said, Education cannot help us as long as it accords no place for metaphysics.

This simply implies that we cannot isolate metaphysics because it is he study of the nature and purpose of reality. As a teacher, it is a duty to provide and develop commitment with spiritual and moral verities. It has to be always carried upon that the ultimate virtue of education is not the accumulation of facts and techniques but the idea of becoming virtuous. Becoming virtuous is being able to apply what is being learned. And, learning occurs through the digestion of knowledge. Furthermore, this philosophy made me realize that a childs greatest learning tool is his mind which has the ultimate need for enlightenment. It is therefore be stressed that all areas of learning contribute to only one knowledge, one truth that is about Gods purpose. This makes education a spiritual activity. In addition, the philosophy of metaphysics is more concerned of how human know what he knows since it is looking for a deeper meaning of life. This meaning according to this philosophy, would tell that true education is being portrayed and emphasized in the Bible. Beliefs on metaphysics become apparent with ones curriculum. A teachers belief would always be evident in the curriculum that he teaches.

As a teacher, teachings of God must be integrated with learning of the reality. Let education be a Christian process. The flower of true science possesses its roots in the fear of the Lord, grows forth from the fear of the Lord, and finds in that fear of the Lord its principle, its motive, its starting point. Abraham Kuyper

RIO AVERIL T. CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURALISM We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need
reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to mans estate, is the gift of education. ~Jean Jacques Rousseau The philosophy of Naturalism opines that the learner determines the character of the learning process, not the designs of teachers of the learner or there simply will be no learning. Thus, the school has a very vital role as an academic agency in order to make sure that there is preservation and development of a learners physical health and well-being. As a teacher, there are three key functions that I am ought to and have started to do. First, my role is to provide and set up an ideal environment with materials and opportunities in order to create a natural development among a learner. With such, a student shall encounter valid views ad shall partake authentic materials that will help his wholesome development. Thus, it is a task of making experience with such environment and materials are the teachers. It means that a pupil has to find answers for himself by observing nature in order to find facts and discover answers to real problems. Second, my focus of consideration and emphasis must always be of the child. He is the center of the teaching-learning process. This implies that, as a mentor, the technique that I should utilize should be in accordance to a learners skill and capacities. He being the ultimate consideration is the basis for a curriculum and its development. Third, my technique shall be the recognition of a pupils freedom to explore with his environment. In order, therefore, to teach a child under this philosophy, it has to be accepted first the creation of a space between my student and I to give way for him to think on his own, decide on his own thinking and act on his own decision. However, the presence of control is still a requirement. It must be a control, loose to let him grow naturally with knowledge and tight to let him be safe with wisdom. As the adage goes, Let a child, be a child.

RIO AVERIL T. CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF IDEALISM

Education must enable Mankind through its culture to enter more and more fully into the spiritual realm, and also enter more and more fully into the spiritual realm, and also enlarge the boundaries of spiritual realm. ~Robert R. Rusk According to idealism, man is essentially a moral being. Therefore, moral, intellectual and aesthetic aspects of his personality should be promoted. How should I as a teacher achieve this task? I am tasked to develop a childs mind fully through education. In this way, he becomes a full rational being as God planned and purposed him to be. Thus, I, a teacher is an indispensable necessity. Next, it has become a responsibility to help a child realize the values of life and to train him completely and fully for manhood. As Frobel says, The object of education is the realization of a faithful, pure, inviolable and hence holy life. This maxim has always been my guide whenever I enter my class. Finally, I already started to fulfill this last point which is to be the priest of mans spiritual heritage, to be Gods worker, to be a living model. A teacher is not merely a teacher for profession; yet, he is also a guidance counselor, a life coach, a friend and a philosopher. As people say, a teacher should be a spiritual symbol of right conduct. All of these should be fulfilled towards utmost perfection of a learner or a person. According to Froebel, The school is a garden, the teacher is a cautious gardener and the child is a tender plant. The plant can grow, no doubt, without help but the good gardener sees that the plant grows to the finest possible perfection. Through teachers guidance the child can make his natural development into a process leading to perfection and beauty.

RIO AVERIL T. CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF REALISM

The aim of education should be to teach truth rather than beauty, to understand the present practical life. The purpose of education, according to social realists, is to prepare the practical man of the world. Indeed, it is my duty as a teacher to teach a child the natural and the moral law. This is so in order to teach him how to live a good life imbued with values and learning. Moving on, I agree with the philosophys point that education has to satisfy the needs of the body and the spirit. The spirit is that which keeps us living and like the body, it needs to be satisfied for growth. Hence, there should be a fusion of teachings of faith and reason imbibed with experience. Furthermore, I have to provide the student with essential knowledge he will need to survive in the natural world. This would entail more realistic scenarios where students can learn from. Most importantly, I must teach truth rather than beauty in order for him to understand the present practical life. Moving on, it is a learners role to discover knowledge through sensation and abstraction and be good at classifying and sorting objects based on their characteristics. Worth than this, the satisfaction of the spirit is more a concern through a thorough instruction, training and discipline being manifested to the educative process. However, at times, teachers encounter different types of learners. In most schools, this cannot be immediately applied due to the incompetency and inability of a learner. For me, there is still a need to assess the types of learners that we have. It would only turn out frustrating becoming so ideal when there is a misuse of a strategy. Finally, the teaching strategy to be utilized must be one that should proceed from simple to complex and from concrete to abstract. Students must to be taught to analyze rather than to construct; hence, repetition is necessary for retention together with a more emphasis on questioning and understanding. This method is, for me, shall be very exciting as well as informative for the students. More so, there shall be development through the leveling of tests, independency through individual analysis, and strong retention through the repetition of information. While this philosophy becomes effective at some, it might not be totally applicable for few.

RIO AVERIL T. CARMEN Master of Arts in Education - English

A REACTION ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAGMATISM

Real knowledge can be gained only be activity, experiments and real life experiences. The philosophy on Pragmatism provides a description about education. Foremost, education is life; therefore, it is continuously undertaking reconstruction and integration of activities: the culture of the past and the solutions to meet new situations. More than that, knowledge, therefore, is acquired through encounters, experiences and experiments. It seems an inductive process of learning. Next, education is growth that it develops a child in the community as it believed that a child is not a tabula rasa but a being with inherent capacities, tendencies and aptitudes which require to be fully developed. Indeed, a child has his gifting of ability and skill. Yet, due to the rapid changes in the environment, there begins transformation in this wholesome picture. For instance, the use of technology tends to make one lazy although well-informed and sociable. Finally, education is a social process as a child leans through personal experiences. John Dewey rightly speaks out Education is the social continuity of life. In addition, the philosophy guides me towards the teaching - learning process. Thus, as a teacher, I am responsible in providing my students authentic materials useful in the process. More so, there is also a need to consider the interest of a child which Dewey elaborated to be integrated with learning experiences. The dominant interest of the child is to do and to make. So, the method should be flexible and dynamic. It must be adaptable and modifiable to suit the nature of the subject matter and potentiality of the students. As a teacher, I become accountable as a helper, a guide and a philosopher.