Volume 11 Number 4
Summaries of Various
Educational Philosophers
Compiled
by Vincent Vaccaro, Instructor
Philosophy of Education, University of Virginia
Northern Virginia Campus Social Foundations of Education Program
Assumptions/Givens
About Human Nature
¨ Human beings are innately curious with a desire to know the environment in which they live. They show this curiosity throughout their lives and therefore they are life-long learners.
¨
Human beings
are innately social and learn how to
operate in social settings during their infancy. To help with their social nature, human beings have the
innate ability to understand social relationships (e.g., maternal care) and have
an innate capacity to learn language.
¨
Human beings
have multiple ways in which they show their intelligence. There are however two basic components of thought: Logico-scientific
and narrative.
¨
There are stages
of development which children go through. Their
appearance is partially natural and partially through the assistance of adult
(scaffolding).
Implications
for Educators
¨
Learning and
teaching are social in nature and begins in infancy.
During infancy children learn to identify and work cooperatively with
adults as people, learning to engage in mutually interesting exchanges.
¨
Adults play
an essential role in the development of the child. Developmental stages cannot be rushed, but they can be help by the aid of an adult community member
(Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development).
¨
Subject
areas may have unique but interrelated structure
that relates to the operations of the human mind.
¨
Through the
use of language a child learns to "negotiate"
meaning in life. "Negotiate"
has more than one meaning " the two most important of which are (a) learns way
around obstacles and (b) engages in exchanges for the purpose of finding
mutually satisfying results.
¨
Learning
involves the "construction" of meaning.
There is no reality, truth,
right or wrong existing in the world waiting to be discovered. Each person in conjunction with the communities in which they
operate construct reality, truth, right and wrong.
¨ Narrative (including autobiography) and dialogue play important roles in learning and teaching. Narrative is an important part of dialogue and meaning making.
Definition
Democracy
is a spiritual fact and not merely a form of government.
Democracy is the preferred system of social organization.
Assumption
Knowledge
come through the senses and is always subject to revision.
Educational
Corollaries
1.
Education must
begin with the ACTUAL experiences of the child.
2.
Education is the
fundamental method of social progress and reform.
Pillars
of the Educational Theory
1.
Human beings
think by using the five-step method of science.
Thinking is problem solving.
2.
Human experience
is both continuous and interactive. The
theory of experience allows for continuity of experience over time (past,
present and future) and for interaction of experience between the personal and
objective components of learning.
3.
American
Progressivism trusted that human beings could work effectively in social
organizations and thereby improve the lot of all people.
Progressivism sought changes in government, schooling, culture, health,
safety and class structure.
Teachers
1. Social reformers committed to improving the lives of students and their families through the application of the social sciences and child-centered education.
2. Facilitators encouraging the growth and development of each child.
Assumptions/Givens about Human
Nature
¨
Human beings are Subjects -- human beings make a difference and can
through their actions make changes to the world in
which they live. The
contrast is with objects
" people become objects when they lose hope and
accept fatalism and docility as a necessary fact
of life.
¨
Human beings are unfinished (historical) -- Because human beings are Subjects, they always
have the potential to change both themselves and society around them " in this
sense learning as well as reflection and social action are a continuing part of
their lives. But human beings live
within social structures that can either expand or limit their options.
Thus human beings all have a history and are affected by that history.
¨
Human beings are curious "
Human beings are struck by things that are different (ingenious or spontaneous
curiosity). They want to understand
things, they want to know why and how things are the way they are.
Epistemological curiosity examines
itself through the application of dialogue and analysis.
Implications
for Educators
¨
As Subjects,
the experiences of the learners must have primary
value. Begin with what the
learners know is not just a good rule for success, it is essential in affirming
the moral value of the learners.
¨
Dialogue is
the center of the learning process. Learners
and teachers together enter the learning relationship as Subjects, prepared to
listen, discuss, challenge and learn
¨
Education is
questioning " Learners should be
encouraged to ask why and how, especially about social and political conditions
that seem to limit their opportunities to act as Subjects. Education is a way of intervening in the world (Freedom,
99)
¨
Literacy
should free learners to question and
re-create their own experience. Literacy
is more than the application of a skill, it is a commitment to question what
appears to violate "the universal ethics of the human person" (Freedom, 114)
¨ Education is never value neutral. Education and school reflect (or more accurately are the product of) choices made by those who control society. Therefore, education and schooling are essentially political.
Assumptions/Givens
About Human Nature
From Feminine Ethical Theory:
Human relations are based on the recognition of need, relation and
response (Gilligan). Because human
relations are grounded in the caring relationship, they are fundamentally moral.
From Dewey's The School and Society:
"What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must
the community want for all its children. Any
other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely: acted upon, it destroys our
democracy."
Purpose
The first job of the school is to care for the children, i.e., schools
should promote the growth of students as healthy, competent moral people.
Education then is fundamentally moral -- aimed at producing moral people,
using moral purposes, policies and practices.
Organization
of Educational Approach
Forget the educated person and
replace it with a multiplicity of models to accommodate the multiple capacities
and interests of children.
1.
Gardiner's Seven Intelligences -- language, logical-mathematical
analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve
problems and make things, the understanding of other individuals, and the
understanding of ourselves.
2.
Bobbitt's Human Activities -- religious, civic, family, occupation,
recreation, reading and meditation, and the rest of the things that are done by
the complete man or woman.
3.
Existential Heart of Life -- passions, attitude, connections, concerns,
and experienced responsibilities.
Components
of Education
1. Modeling: Concentrate on and set examples of how to be caring -- must
learn how to both care and be cared for
2. Dialogue: Become engrossed in the cared for -- we talk and
we listen; we give and we receive; we reflect and we act --
reciprocity and enlightenment -- dialogue must be open with no particular end in
mind -- we learn what others need and monitor how well we respond.
[Most fundamental component]
3. Practice: Develop the capacity for interpersonal attention -- learn the
effects of our actions -- practice expands our abilities to receive and to give
4. Confirmation:
Respond to another's acts of caring [and lack of caring] --
confirm the reciprocal relationship of both caring and being cared for --
shaping the child by assisting in the construction of his or her ethical
ideal
Teachers
Role: To foster
growth and shape acceptable children -- teachers perform a role similar to
parents, i.e., a developmental and moral role.
Preparation: A broad
curriculum closely connected with the Existential Heart of Life and to their own
special interests. It should
provide an intelligent approach to the legitimate needs and questions of
children.
Knowledge: Must have
not only intellectual capabilities, but a fund of knowledge about the particular
persons with whom they are working -- Must know anything which they believe all
students should know.
Instructional
Arrangements
1. As morality is
relational, so is education -- Teachers and students become partners in
fostering the students' growth. The
student is responsible for any work that he or she has agreed to do.
2. A curriculum built around
themes of caring: Caring for self, caring for the inner circle, caring for
strangers and distant others, caring for animals, caring for plants and the
earth, caring for the human-made world, and caring for ideas
3. Greater continuity in teachers from year to year, team teaching around a topic that involves cross-disciplinary issues, and greater continuity within multiple curricula: E.g. at the secondary level, a linguistics-mathematical program; a technical one concentrating on the world of technology; and arts program; and an interpersonal program.
Assumptions/Givens about
Human Nature
1.
Human beings
are curious. A major part of the
curiosity is the desire to know and learn.
2.
Human beings
naturally learn a culture. Human
knowledge has a significant cultural component that is grounded in shared
information. Human beings are not
simply products of nature but shape nature toward desired ends.
3.
Human
knowledge requires information upon which to apply the formal rules of thinking,
creating and problem solving. Facts
and skills are inseparable. Shared
schemas help us make sense of incoming data as well as to manipulate and correct
information rapidly.
Implications
for Educators
1.
The aim of civilization is to guide nature toward
humane and worthy ends.
2.
Democracy is a form of shared community decision
making that requires that those participating possess sufficient shared
information and ideas that communication and deliberation can be accomplished in
an effective and efficient manner.
3.
It takes knowledge to produce knowledge.
The principal role of schooling is to promote literacy as an enabling
competence. Grade progression
assumes knowledge and skill progression. Failure
to provide the needed knowledge and skill is a question of social injustice "
thus remedial efforts to insure universal readiness is essential.
4.
Primary learning crosses cultures and appears to be
natural: e.g., language development, psychological development and basic
conceptual development. Secondary
learning tends to have varying importance within cultures: e.g., reading,
writing, certain arithmetical operations, base-ten system, etc.
Levels of core knowledge à
core curriculum.
5.
A coherent curriculum centers around values as well
as knowledge. Important values
include civic duty, honesty, diligence, perseverance, respect, kindness and
independent-mindedness.
6. The core curriculum must be viewed as a national commitment focused on issues important to the nation as a whole. Education produces intellectual capital for the nation (tools for citizens to employ).
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