Idealism and Realism Relative to The Philosophy of Education A Power-point Presentation in Support of a Lecture.

Professor G.D. Albear Eastern Illinois University EDF 4450

For Educational Purposes Only

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Education is a Complicated Business
Simplify it
Find its basic elements
Let those elements define the area of discourse The studentwhat is he/she? What can they become? What is the potential of a human being? What is the nature of human natureon which all education eventually works

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Elements (continued)
What is a society?
How does it work? What is the individuals relationship to it? Does the school stand in some special way between:
The individual & society?

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Elements (continued) What is the Cosmos?
What kind of universe do we live in?
What possibilities does it provide? What prospects does it hold for us?

What is the meaning of life?

Can this meaning find expression in our school program?

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Those are some of the central problems that philosophers of Education deal with Those issues are the focus of the study of our discipline
Lets analyze the elements relative to education
Divide into groups and read the sections given to you and prepare to explain them to the class

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Education and Human Nature
What are human beings What can they become

Every educator wants to know this!

Man the makerhomo faber
Education organized around making
Technological tendency

Man the talkerthe writer

Homo symbolicumuses symbols
Education should be organized around symbol usage

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

We need however to know more than this
So we need to combine these into
A system that builds culture
We need a common element to build that culture upon Multiple possibilities Humans are aggressiveneed competition Therefore a capitalistic & competitive economic system is best If so then our educational system must reflect that Child vs. child in a competitive functionalist environment

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Others say
No that is not healthy we need to
Bring out more humane and cooperative characteristics in our students Therefore we need to build, love, helpfulness, mutual assistance Teach them to work together in a common enterprise

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Who is right?
What is the best classroom procedure?
That depends on who is right about the nature of man!
Competitive and aggressive Cooperative and generous Or neither

We need an answer to this!

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Social psychologists say man is a bit of both That the main emphasis of their nature will depend on what society says is:
Right or wrong Therefore man is by nature adaptive to the patterns of life around him/her
Look at white children raised in China without white brothers or sisters in a Chinese foster home they assimilate and become by associative nature Chinesethey even think in Chinese!

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Therefore the general features of the human character are social in origin!
They come out of the child's environment So we can control character development by controlling the experiences and environment that the child grows up in. Education is a form of controlled experience
Therefore what children experience in school they will learn

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

People are the product of their culture:
If the environment says reading stinks you will have an illiterate society that builds an ignorant culture as truth! If the environment is dirty and abandoned and economically disadvantaged the predominant culture is more interested in survival than learning, and if learning interferes with human survival it is considered negative and undesirable by the cultureand can lead to the development of criminality.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Does the fact that people are the product of their culture make them passive recipients of it? No they are responsible! They are part of the culture and have the responsibility of being part of the genesis of the culture!
How did that happen?
Teacher responsibilityacquiescence or rebellion
Students need the guidance and the empowerment of learning as responsibility. Therefore value generation and knowledge of truth are part of the educational system! Otherwise known as: Axiology: Ethics and Epistemology

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Education and Society
The School as Reproductive agent
The American Way of Life
The American Culture

Prescribed method for social and psychological procreation

The school The social formal and deliberative agency for the continuation of the culture.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

The social need for continuity brings us the school So schools do not just satisfy functionalist ideasmoneycapitalismhigh paying jobsenriched social life.
They sustain and perpetuate a cherished pattern of living and maintain a culture that supports that pattern. Therefore to maintain society we must educate the young about their culture

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

What is included in that education:
Questions of truth Questions of values Questions of beauty Questions of life beyond the known
Beyond the physical

Questions central to philosophy

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

To develop therefore a social self image into an educational program we need to look at the school not as stagnant in its function but as an agent of :
Social changefor the sake of social justice!
New people New ideas New ethnicities New cultural concepts
Accepted Rejected Formed into the American ethos and pathos

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

We also need the schools to become the change agents for the discarding of out-dated and non productive social mores and values.
So it becomes important to see the school as the protector of the time independent values that aid in the development of a good society. A society that develops children for the sake of goodness and justice and truth and compassion etc. A place where good citizens are made so society can be made better.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

This is a true Idealism! This is a true Realism! Read the handout and:
With your group take a few minutes and share your thoughts on: The meanings of these two statements
Define realism and Idealism Give examples of their usage in the school setting

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

What is a conservationist theory of education? What is an experimentalist theory of education?page 14 of handout What is a reconstructionist theory of education?page 14 &15 of handout What is an existentialist theory of education?page 16

10

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Let us see a lexiconographical definition:of Idealism: the attitude that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind, in comparison with the world as perceived through the senses. In art idealism is the tendency to represent things as aesthetic sensibility would have them rather than as they are. In ethics it implies a view of life in which the predominant forces are spiritual and the aim is perfection.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

In philosophy the term refers to efforts to account for all objects in nature and experience as representations of the mind and sometimes to assign to such representations a higher order of existence. It is opposed to materialism. Plato conceived a world in which eternal ideas constituted reality, of which the ordinary world of experience is a shadow. In modern times idealism has largely come to refer the source of ideas to mans consciousness, whereas in the earlier period ideas were assigned a reality outside and independent of mans existence.

11

The Philosophical dimensions of Education

Nevertheless, modern idealism generally proposes suprahuman mental activity of some sort and ascribes independent reality to certain principles, such as creativity, a force for good, or an absolute truth. The subjective idealism of George Berkeley in the 18th cent. held that the apparently objective world has its existence in the consciousness of individuals.
The tree falling in the woods example---

Immanuel Kant developed a critical or transcendental idealism in which the phenomenal world, constituted by the human understanding, stands opposed to a world of thingsin-themselves.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

The post-Kantian German idealism of J. G. Fichte and Friedrich von Schelling, which culminated in the absolute or objective idealism of G. W. F. Hegel, began with a denial of the unknowable thing-in-itself, thereby enabling these philosophers to treat all reality as the creation of mind or spirit. Forms of post-Kantian idealism were developed in Germany by Arthur Schopenhauer and Hermann Lotze and in England by Samuel Coleridge; forms of post-Hegelian idealism were developed in England and France by T. H. Green, Victor Cousin, and C. B. Renouvier. More recent idealists include F. H. Bradley, Bernard Bosanquet, Josiah Royce, Benedetto Croce, and the neoKantians such as Ernst Cassirer and Hermann Cohen

12

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education--Realism

In medieval philosophy realism represented a position taken on the problem of universals.
The extreme realists, following Plato, maintained that universals exist independently of both the human mind and particular things.

There were two schools of realism. Extreme realism, represented by William of Champeaux, held that universals exist independently of both the human mind and particular thingsa theory closely associated with that of Plato. Some other philosophers rejected this view for what can be termed moderate realism, which held that universals exist only in the mind of God, as patterns by which he creates particular things.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

St. Thomas Aquinas and John of Salisbury were proponents of moderate realism. In epistemology realism represents the theory that particular things exist independently of our perception. This position is in direct contrast to the theory of idealism, which holds that reality exists only in the mind. Most contemporary British and American philosophy tends toward realism. Prominent modern realists have included Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, and C. D. Broad.

13

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Realism
Educational impact
EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF MODERN REALISM Aims of Education The basic purpose of education, in Realist educational theory, is to provide the learner with the essential knowledge required for survival in the natural world. Such knowledge will provide the skills necessary to achieve a secure and happy life.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Curriculum Realists believe that the curriculum is best organized according to subject matter - that is, it should be subject-centered. These subjects should be organized according to the psychological principles of learning, which teach that the subjects should proceed from the simple to the more complex. Subjects must include
(i) Science and Mathematics; (ii) Humanities and Social Sciences; and (iii) Values

14

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Science and Mathematics should be emphasized Because the Realist considers these be the most important area of learning. Knowledge of our natural worlds enables mankind to adjust to and progress in his natural environment.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

The Humanities are not as important as Science and Mathematics. However, they must never be ignored. Because it is important for each individual to adjust to the social environment, the curriculum should emphasize the effects of the social environment, on the individual's life. By knowing the forces that determine our lives, we are in a position to control them.

15

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Values of scientific objectivity and critical examination should be stressed. When teaching values, one should not use normative methods but critical analysis. To encourage desirable learning habits, rewards should be given when required

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Teaching-Learning Process The Realist classroom is teacher-centered; subjects are taught by a teacher who is impersonal and objective, and who knows the subject fully. The teacher must utilize learners interest by relating the material to the learner's experiences, and by making the subject matter as concrete as possible. He or she maintains discipline by rewarding efforts and achievements, controlling the attention of the individual, and keeping the learner active.

16

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Methods of Teaching The teaching methods recommended by the Realist are authoritative. The teacher must require that the learner be able to recall, explain, and compare facts; to interpret relationships, and to infer new meanings. Evaluation is an essential aspect of teaching, according to this view.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

The teacher must use objective methods by evaluating and giving the type of test that lends itself to accurate measurement of the learner's understanding of the essential material. Frequent tests are highly desirable. For motivational purposes, Realists stress that it is important for the teacher always to reward the success of each learner. When the teacher reports the accomplishments of his learners, he/she reinforces what has been learned.

17

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Idealism
EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF MODERN IDEALISM Aims of Education. The purpose of education is to contribute to the development of the mind and self of the learner. The education-imparting institute should emphasize intellectual activities, moral judgments, aesthetic judgments, self-realization, individual freedom, individual responsibility, and self-control in order to achieve this development.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Curriculum.
The curriculum is based upon the idea or assumption of the spiritual nature of man. This idea in turn leads to an idea of the nature of the larger units of family, community, state, earth; the universe, and infinity. In preserving the subject matter content, which is essential for the development of the individual mind, the curriculum must include those subjects essential for the realization of mental and moral development. These subjects provide one with culture, and they should be mandated for all pupils. Moreover, the subject matter should be kept constant for all.

18

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

The Teaching-Learning Process.
Idealists have high expectations of the teacher. The teacher must be excellent, in order to serve as an example for the student, both intellectually and morally. No other single element in the school system is more important than the teacher. The teacher must excel in knowledge and in human insight into the needs and capacities of the learners; and must demonstrate moral excellence in personal conduct and convictions. The teacher must also exercise great creative skill in providing opportunities for the learners' minds to discover, analyze, unify, synthesize and create applications of knowledge to life and behavior.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Methods of Teaching. The classroom structure and atmosphere should provide the learners with opportunities to think, and to apply the criteria of moral evaluation to concrete within the context of the subjects. The teaching methods must encourage the acquisition of facts, as well as skill in reflecting on these facts. It is not sufficient to teach pupils how to think. It is very important that what pupils think about be factual; otherwise, they will simply compound their ignorance.

19

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

Teaching methods should encourage learners to:

Enlarge their horizons Stimulate reflective thinking Encourage personal moral choices Provide skills in logical thinking Provide opportunities to apply knowledge to moral and social problems Stimulate interest in the subject content Encourage learners to accept the values of human civilization.

The Philosophical Dimensions of Education

REFERENCES:
Van Cleve Morris and Young Pai, Philosophy and The American School, Houghton-Miffling, 1967. Idealism section and Realism section Taken from: http://www.tolueislam.com/Bazm/Manzoor/LT_034.htm By: Dr. Manzoor-ul-Haque The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Bartleby Encyclopedia on Line Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

20