Education and the Role of Philosophy

gentility and, the consumption of school of thought In The Journey done Ameri dope Education Curriculum as a field of resume has been characterized as elusive, fragmentary and confusing (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009, p. 1). According to Wikipedia, instructional activity is any act or pose that has a formative effect on the approximation, character, or physical expertness of an privateist and is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and jimmy from one genesis to an some other.This report pull up stakes journey by dint of the report of rearing, its philosophies and the philosophers that easeed shape and design it. earlier American schools were defined by religion. The groundwork of teachingal activity was based on ghostly guinea pig. The schools meaning in 1620 was to ground a republic of God-fearing citizens. Women taught children to read the record and to spare the scriptures mend the men and quondam(a) b oys were out in the fields working.With the women as nurturers precept themselves to read and write and and so assuming that responsibility to nurture their childrens moral through the teachings of the scriptures led to the organisation of women as the backbone of American facts of life sentence which appears to still be the case of precede judgment of convictions (History of American Education Primer, p. 27). In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Protestant ideologic managers desire to compose a moral and God-fearing society and their goals were 1. Honor, fear, and accompany God, 2. Honor, fear, and succeed the father in the home and 3. Honor, fear, and obtain after the government.This ism of the Protestants was c anyed Calvinism which is the stamp that gentlemans gentlemans atomic number 18 born in sin and crucial(prenominal) purge this sin as children mount into adults (p. 10). The Massachusetts Law of 1642 which called for all parents to surface someone to teach their children how to read the bible, write out scriptures, follow Protestant theology, and obey the justnesss of the land along with The Old Deluder daystar Law of 1647 which called for all towns of 50 households or much to appoint a instructor to teach reading and writing and all towns of 100 or much households to bod a school and hire a schoolmaster were the first major laws of instruction (P. 0). As the colonies expanded, different forms of schooling doctrine surfaceed but the Common Schools (schools that sought to bring together white children in a common school to carry on the goals of the dominant white culture) were still dominated by Protestant values of a moral, God-fearing society (p. 31). Over time the teaching of children began to include, along with reading, writing and ciphering, kindly skills such as knowledge, etiquette, and debate. Schools began to include topics to elevate children for employment and if ones family could allow it, college (p. 16).As time passed, facts of life grew to include some different instructions and philosophies to where we are today. With the senseless teachings came many more philosophies. These different philosophies sterilise with teaching style, instruction, and school platform that exit be used to include Axiology, Behaviorism, Epistemology, existential philosophy, Ontology, Perennialism, Eclectic, ingenuousness and Reconstructionism. According to Pratt and Collins (2001), effective teaching may be classified as transmission, apprenticeship, developmental, nurturing, and social reform. To start, William Kritsonis (2005, p. 1) defines philosophy as the mankind beings attempt to deliberate most speculatively, reflectively, and systematically about the initiation and the relationship to that universe. He writes that philosophy has no proof and is therefore without theorems and has not questions that can be answered with yes or no. The goal of educational philosophy is to help develop th e pedagogs speak outing mental ability (p. 91). The deuce-ace branches of philosophy are Metaphysics (Ontology) which mess with last realism, Epistemology which deals with the nature of knowledge and Axiology which is the study of values.The major schools of philosophy are mentationlism which are certain universal compulsive concepts, realness where work is governed by assorted laws, known or unknown, reality which is principally an American philosophy of scientific abbreviation or learn through go through, and existential philosophy which believes that students should control much of what goes on (p. 92). Philosophy has many definitions and is hard to define. The word itself comes from the classic meaning love of wisdom and is the effect system that a person develops concerning existence, reality in the world, lawfulness, ethics, honesty, thought processes, aesthetics, and logic (Kritsonis, p. 8). In regards to education, philosophy is a way of examining melodic themes, proposals, and recommendations for breeding and how best to use them in the educational setting and it is therefore, the application of ideas or idea systems to educational problems (p. 97). Educators study philosophy to help them attain a better soul of the best way to success. Educators use philosophy for the roles in which philosophy stands for which includes to suggest ersatz methods of thinking, to develop sensitivity to the logic and quarrel we use in gathering solutions to problems (p. 97).Philosophy of education is the philosophical study of the use of goods and services, nature, process and ideals of education (Siegel, 2003). As time has progressed so has the disposition of philosophy and its importance on education. The history of philosophy and education would not be complete without its fore fathers so to turn to and the four primary philosophies of noble- judgingedness, pragmatism, Pragmatism and existentialism. idealism was the main philosophy of the thinkers of western civilizations during the exsert half of the 19th century and its believers believed that international reality must be tacit through the medium of the human melodic theme (Kritsonis, p. 03). They believed that when humans came into contact with whatever existed, the human mind functions to grasp the nature of reality and what is real.The three key words of idealism are growth, imitation, and maturity and by imitating a model of behavior, one matures and grows toward an ideal that view ass the apotheosis of virtues (p. 103). It applies to any theory that views the world as being made up of mind, spirit, or reason. They believe that to learn is to distinguish among values because some values are a matter of personal preference while others are absolute regardless of time, bit, and situation (p. 03). Plato is a major reader of noble-mindedness and is considered to be the first and foremost Idealist. He believed that proper education comes before law and there would be no penury to dictate laws to humans of good breeding, for they will find out for themselves what regulations would be compulsory (p. 104). He believed that good breeding accredited through a sound educational system that produces reasonable humans. The impact that Idealism has on education is that its educational philosophy focus on who should be responsible for education, who should be taught, and what should be the curriculum (p. 109).To the Idealist, education is to assist in the development of the mind and self of the pupil and help in attaining the good life of the spirit. The curriculum must be based on the idea of the spiritual nature of humans and must draw on both sources of loyalty and right opinion for its idea matter. Its immemorial purpose is to teach student to think and to teach skills that develop conceptual ability (p. 109). The philosophy of Realism involves the act of truth being determined scientifically. It is based on absolute truth. It p roclaims that objects of perception are objects and contain real existence outside the mind (Kritsonis, p. 12). Aristotle was a major contributor of Realism and he believed that a proper study of matter could lead to better and more distinct ideas. He felt that education was designed to preserve the stability of the state, to create good citizenship, and to prevent revolutions (p. 115). The impact Realism had on education was to present strong to students so they could become acquainted with the subject matter as a pre-established obviate of material and the idea that successful learning consists of understanding that material (p. 118). The philosophy of Pragmatism is the result of action.Pragmatists believe that ideas become true in order to get into copacetic relations with other parts of baffle (kritsonis, p. 121). John Dewey was a major contributor of pragmatism. He was one of the most influential of all American philosophers and educators and was actively kindle in the ref orm of education (p. 122). His philosophy of education emphasized many things including experiences, experimentation, and freedom. He believed the learner must interact with that which is well-educated if a productive educational experience was to be achieved (p. 122).Other pragmatic philosophers were Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Charles Darwin. The impact that pragmatism had on education is that the childs own instincts and powers provide the material and offset point of all education and the educators knowledge of social conditions is obligatory to interpret the childs powers. The philosophy of Existentialism is a revolt against other traditional philosophies. Others attempt to grasp the ultimate nature of the world in consider systems of thought existentialists consider what it is like to be an individual human being aliveness in the world (Kritsonis, p. 125).It is concerned with an individuals willingness truly to commit to something with lastingness (p. 127). A major contrib utor to Existentialism was Soren Kierkegaard who believed that a humans essential self is developed in three stages Aesthetic stage, ethical stage, and religious stage. He believed that individuals are confronted with choices in life that they solely can make and for which they must allow in complete and full responsibility (p. 127). Existentialism impact on education was to accent unique experiences in the affective and what a student hears in class is more impressive than what the teachers say.The Philosophy of education in the United States has undergone a series of national struggles over the outgoing 25 years. some(prenominal) of the struggle with philosophy in these redbrick times has been the issue of the curriculum of multicultural education. The multicultural movement defines the main purpose of curriculum as social improvement, in particular as it relates to peoples who have been marginalized on the prepossess of race, ethnicity, language, social class and other id entities (English tenet, paginate 122).Over time and through history philosophers have had to be adaptable to diverseness and that change in American included a multicultural movement. This movement includes the philosophy of Reconstructionism which involves the view toward change and encourages individuals to try to make life better which ultimately means every individual in all cultures (National Outlook, 2006). Philosophers of the future will have to find a way to inculcate mulitculturism into their ideas (educational Administration every quarter 1998, p. 236).multiculturalism is described as focusing on how gender, race, sexual orientation, and class differences are graven in political and cultural practices ( company College ledger of Research and Practice, 2000). Our schools are, in a sense, factories in which the raw products (children) are to be mold and fashioned into products to meet the various demands of life. The specifications for manufacturing come from the de mands of twentieth-century civilization and it is the business of the school to work out its pupils according to the specifications laid down (English Teaching, p. 25). We build our curriculum based off of past philosophers because of the beliefs our present curriculum decision makers may possess. Philosophy is concerned with questions about the compendium of concepts and with questions about the grounds of knowledge, belief, actions and activities. The philosophy of education is then occupied with the analysis of such educational concepts as teaching, child-centeredness, inculcation of belief and curriculum.The main point of contrast mingled with philosophy and education is the role of value judgments values and ideals are embodied and uttered in the purposes of imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes (Scandinavian daybook of educational Research, 2001). In conclusion, the question remains unanswered, atomic number 18 our schools headed in the right direction with its curric ulum? From past philosophers to present we have had a continuous confusion take place which continues to make curriculum hard to define.References full-grown Education Quarterly (1977). The Concept of Educational Need An Analysis of Selected Literature. 16-127 American Education Through the Civil War (Chapter 2). Community College Journal of Research and Practice (2000). student Experiences With Multicultural and Diversity Education. 531-546 English Teaching Practice and Critique (2004). diminutive Multicultural Curriculum and the Standards Movement. 122-138 Kritsonis, W (2005). Philosophies of Schooling. 82-159 Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research (2001). Some Notes on the Relevance of Philosophy to Education. 341-351 Siegel, H. (1988). Educating Reason Rationality, Critical Thinking, and Education. 369-382 http//en. wikepedia. org