Philosophical Thoughts on Education

Desired Learning Outcomes: Discuss at least 6 philosophical thoughts on education

Topic: John Locke(1632-1704): The Empiricist Educator
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): Utilitarian Education
John Dewey (1859-1952): Learning through Experience
George Counts(1889-1974): Building a new Social Order
Theodore Bramel(1904-1987)- Social Reconstructionism
Paulo Freire(1921-1997)- Critical Pedagogy

Time frame: 3 hours

Activity
Read this conversation then answer the question.
In a Grade 3 Science class:

Teacher: What is the function of the mouth?

Student: To break the food into smaller pieces.
Teacher: Very good! What about the stomach?
Student: To digest the food.
Teacher: Very good! Perfect! And the small intestines?
Student: To absorb the food nutrients.

What classroom scenario is/are being depicted by the comic strip and the teacher student question
and answer?
 Isolated Facts and the Banking Method
Depicted in the question and answer proceeding in class are a common classroom scenario.
Most lessons are devoted to teacher asking low-level questions and students answering with what
they memorized the night before. Teacher deposited these facts a day before and withdraws them
the next day. A perfect example of the banking system of education that Paulo Freire is very
much against as it does not make the learner reflect and connect what he/she was taught to real
life.
We have nothing against facts. But isolated facts make no sense but become meaningful
when seen in relation to other facts. These facts when combined with other facts (with further
questioning from the teacher) help the learner see meaning and connection to his/ her life.
Example: The pupil learned that food is broken down into small pieces, which is digested by the
stomach and is absorbed by the intestine. To connect the facts, teacher should ask more questions
like: "What if the food is not chewed in the mouth, what happens to food in the stomach and to
the stomach itself. What if the stomach fails to digest food from the mouth, what happens to the
food in the small intestines? Will the small intestines be able to absorb food, etc.?...
Below are summaries of thoughts of education philosophers on what should be taught and how
learners should be taught.
A. John Locke (1632-1704): The Empiricist Educator
 Acquire knowledge about the world through the
senses - learning by doing and by interacting with
the environment
 Simple ideas become more complex through
comparison, reflection and generalization- the
inductive method
 Questioned the long traditional view that knowledge
carne exclusively from literary sources, particularly
the Greek and Latin classics
 Opposed he "divine right of kings" theory which held
that the monarch had the right to be an unquestioned
and absolute ruler over his subjects.
 Political order should be based upon a contract
between the people the government
 Aristocrats are not destined by birth to be rulers. People were leaders from among
themselves; civic education is necessary.
 People should be educated to govern themselves intelligently and responsibly (Ornstein,
1984)
Comments:
 For John Locke education is not acquisition of knowledge contained in the Great Books. It
is learners interacting with concrete experience, comparing and reflecting on the same
concrete experience, comparing. The learner is an active not a passive agent of his/her own
learning.
  From the social dimension, education is seeing citizens participate actively and intelligently
in establishing their government and in choosing who will govern them from among
themselves because they are convinced that no one person is destined to be a ruler forever.
B. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): Utilitarian Education
 Spencer's concept of "survival of the fittest" means that human
development had gone through an evolutionary series of
stages from the simple to the complex and from the uniform to
the more specialized kind of activity.
 Social development had taken place according to an
evolutionary process by which simple homogeneous societies
had evolved to more complex societal systems characterized
with humanistic and classical education.
 Industrialized society require vocational and professional
education based on scientific and practical (utilitarian)
objectives rather than on the very general educational goals
associated with humanistic and classical education.
 Curriculum should emphasize the practical, utilitarian and scientific subjects that helped
human kind master the environment.
 Was not inclined to rote learning; schooling must be related to life and to the activities
needed to earn a living.
 Curriculum must be arranged according to their contribution to human survival and
progress.
 Science and other subjects that sustained human life and prosperity should have curricular
priority since it aids in the performance of life activities.
 Individual competition leads to social progress. He who is fittest survives. (Ornstein, 1984)
Comments:
Specialized Education of Spencer vs. General Education
 To survive in a complex society, Spencer favors specialized education over that of general
education. We are in need of social engineers who can combine harmoniously the findings of
specialized knowledge. This is particularly true in the field of medicine.
 The expert who concentrates on a limited field is useful, but if he loses sight of the
interdependence of things he becomes a man who knows more and more about less and less. We
must be warned of the deadly peril of over specialism. Of course we do not prefer the other
extreme, the superficial person who knows less and less about more and more.
Spencer's Survival of the Fittest
 He who is fittest survives. Individual competition leads to social progress. The competition in
class is what advocates of whole-child approach and Socio-emotional Learning (SEL)
atmosphere negate. The whole child approach a powerful tool for SELF-focused schools has as
tenets "each student learns in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for
 students and adults" and "each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by
qualified and caring adults. " (Frey, N. 2019)
The highlighted words point to no competition for competition works against an emotionally
safe environment.

C. John Dewey (1859-1952): Learning through Experience

 Education is a social process and so school is intimately
related to the society that it serves.
 Children are socially active human beings who want to
explore their environment and gain control over it.
 Education is a social process by which the immature
members of the group, especially the children, are brought
to participate in the society.
 The school is a special environment established by
members of society, for the purpose of simplifying,
purifying and integrating the social experience of the
group so that it can be understood, examined and used by
its children.
 The sole purpose of education is to contribute to the
personal and social growth of individuals.
 The steps of the scientific or reflective method which are extremely important in Dewey's
educational theory are as follows.
 The learner has a "genuine situation of experience “involvement in an activity in
which he/she is interested. Within this experience the learner has a "genuine
problem" that stimulates thinking.
 The learner possesses the information or does research to acquire the information
needed to solve the problem. The learner develops possible and tentative solutions
that may solve the problem.
 The learner tests the solutions by applying them to the problem. In this one way
one discovers their validity for oneself
 The fund of knowledge of the human race-past ideas, discoveries and inventions was to be
used as the material for dealing with problems. This accumulated wisdom of cultural
heritage has to be tested. If it served human purposes, it becomes part of a reconstructed
experience.
 The school is social, scientific and democratic. The school introduces children to society
and their heritage. The school as a miniature society is a means of bringing children into
social participation.
 The school is scientific in the sense that it is a social laboratory in which children and
youth could test their ideas and values. In here, the learner acquires the disposition and
procedures associated with scientific or reflective thinking and acting.
  The school is democratic because the learner is free to test all ideas, beliefs and values.
Cultural heritage, customs and institutions are all subject to critical inquiry, investigation
and reconstruction.
 School should be used by all, it being a democratic institution. No barrier of custom or
prejudice segregate people. People ought to work together to solve common problems.
 The authoritarian or coercive style of administration and teaching is out of place because
they block genuine inquiry and dialogue. Education is a social activity and the school is a
social agency that helps shape human character and behavior.
 Values are relative but sharing, cooperation, and democracy are significant human values
that should be encouraged by schools. (Ornstein, A. 1984)
Comments:
The Fund of Knowledge of the Human Race
 Dewey does not disregard the accumulated wisdom of the past. These past ideas, discoveries
and inventions, our cultural heritage, will be used as the material for dealing with Problems
and so will be tested. If they are of help, they become part of a reconstructed experience. If
they are not totally accurate, they will still be part of a reconstructed experience. This means
that the ideal learner for Dewey is not just one who can learn by doing, e.g., conduct an
experiment but one who can connect accumulated wisdom of the past to the present.
Schools are For the People and By the People
 Schools are democratic institutions where everyone regardless of age, ethnicity, social status is
welcome and is encouraged to participate in the democratic process of decision-making.
Learners and stakeholders practice and experience democracy in schools.

D. George Counts (1889-1974): Building a New Social Order

 Education is not based on eternal truths but is relative to a
particular society living at a given time and place
 By allying themselves with groups that want to change society
schools should cope with social change that arises from
technology.
 There is a cultural lag between material progress and social
institutions and ethical values.
 Instruction should incorporate a content of a socially useful
nature and a problem-solving methodology. Students are
encouraged to work on problems that have social significance.
 Schools become instrument for social improvement rather than
an agency for preserving the status quo.
 Teachers should lead society rather than follow it. Teachers
are agents of change.
  Teachers are called on to make important choices in the controversial areas of economics,
politics and morality because if they failed to do so, others would make the decisions for
them.
 Schools ought to provide an education that afford equal learning opportunities to all
students. (Ornstein, A. 1984)

Comments:
Schools and Teachers as Agents of Change
 For George Counts, schools and teachers should be agents of change. Schools are
considered instruments for social improvement rather than as agencies for preserving the
status quo. Whatever change we work for should always be change for the better not just
change for the sake of change.
 Teachers are called to make decisions on controversial issues Not to make a decision is to
actually making a decision.
 Like Dewey, problem solving, should be the dominant method for instruction.
Lag Between Material Progress and Ethical Values
Counts asserts that "there is a cultural lag between material progress and social institutions
and ethical values." Material progress of humankind is very evident but moral and ethical
development seem to have lagged behind. A friend once wrote: "The Egyptians had their horses.
Modern man has his jets but today it is still the same moral problems that plague humankind."
Indeed, with science and technology, we have become very powerful and yet powerless. We have
conquered a number of diseases and even postponed death for many, we have conquered aging, the
planets, the seas but we have not conquered ourselves.
E. Theodore Brameld (1904-1987) - Social Reconstructionism
 As the name implies, social reconstructionism is a
philosophy that emphasizes the reformation of society.
The social reconstructionist contends that:
…humankind has moved from an agricultural and rural
society to an urban and technological society... there is a
serious lag in cultural adaptation to the realities of a
technological society. Humankind has yet to reconstruct
its values in order to catch up with the changes in the
technological order, and organized education has a
major role to play in reducing the gap between the
values of the culture and technology. (Ornstein, 1984)
 So, the social reconstructionist asserts that schools
should:
critically examine present culture and resolve inconsistencies, controversies and conflicts to
build a new society not just change society... do more than reform the social and
 educational status quo. It should seek to create a new society... Humankind is in a state of
profound cultural crisis. If schools reflect the dominant social values... then organized
education will merely transmit the social ills that are symptoms of the pervasive problems
and afflictions that beset humankind... The only legitimate goal of a truly human education
is to create a world order in which people are in control of their own destiny. In an era of
nuclear weapons, the social reconstructionists see an urgent need for society to reconstruct
itself before it destroys itself. (Ornstein, A. 1984)
 Technological era is an era of interdependence and so education must be international in
scope for global citizenship.
 For the social reconstructionists, education is designed awaken students' consciousness
about social problems and to engage them actively in problem solving" (Ornstein, 1984)
 Social reconstructionists are firmly committed to equality or equity in both society and
education. Barriers of socio-economic class and racial discrimination should be
eradicated.
 They also emphasize the idea of an interdependent world. The quality of life needs to be
considered and enhanced on a global basis. (Ornstein, A. 1984)
Comments:
 Like John Dewey and George Counts, social reconstructionist Brameld believe in active
problem- solving as the method of teaching and learning.
 Social reconstructionists are convinced that education is not a privilege of the few but a
right to be enjoyed by all.
 Education is a right that all citizens regardless of race and social status must enjoy.

F. Paulo Freire (1921-1997) - Critical Pedagogy

Critical Pedagogy and Dialogue vs. the Banking Model of Education
 Paulo Freire, a critical theorist, like social
reconstructionists, believed that systems
must be changed to overcome oppression
and improve human conditions.
 Education and literacy are the vehicle for
social change. On his view, humans must
learn to resist oppression and not become
its victims, nor oppress others. To do' so
requires dialogue and critical consciousness, the development of awareness to overcome
domination and oppression.
 Rather than "teaching as banking," in which the educator deposits information into
students' heads, Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the child
must invent and reinvent the world.
 Teachers must not see themselves as the sole possessors of knowledge and their students as
empty receptacles. He calls this pedagogical approach the "banking method" of education.
  A democratic relationship between the teacher and her students is necessary in order for the
conscientization process to take place.
 Freire's critical pedagogy is problem-posing education.
 A central element of Freire's pedagogy is dialogue. It is love and respect that allow us to
engage people in dialogue and to discover ourselves in the process and learn from one
another. By its nature, dialogue is not something that can be imposed. Instead, genuine
dialogue is characterized by respect of the parties involved toward one another. We
develop a tolerant sensibility during the dialogue process, and it is only when we come to
tolerate the points of view and ways of being of others that we might be able to learn from
them and about ourselves in the process. Dialogue means the presence of equality, mutual
recognition, affirmation of people, a sense of solidarity with people, and remaining open to
questions.
 Dialogue is the basis for critical and problem-posing pedagogy, as opposed to banking
education, where there is no discussion, only the imposition of the teacher's ideas on the
students. (Ornstein, 1984)
Comment:
 All of these education philosophers, point to the need of interacting with others and of
creating a "community of inquiry" as Charles Sanders Peirce put it. The community of
inquiry is "a group of persons involved in inquiry, investigating more or less the same
question or problem, and developing through their exchanges a better understanding both
of the question as well as the probable solutions." (Lee, 2010) A community of inquiry will
engage learners in active problem solving.
ASSESSMENT
A. Explain in a sentence why each education philosopher was associated with these given words:
1. John Locke- the empiricist
2. Spencer- the utilitarianist
3. John Dewey- experience
4. George Counts- Building a new social order
5. Theodore Brameld- the Social Reconstructionist
6. Paulo Freire- Critical pedagogy bs Banking method

B. LET Clinchers
1. Which is NOT TRUE of social reconstructionist?
A. Use of problem-solving
B. Study of the Great Books
C. School as an agent of change
D. Introduce a new society
2. Which teaching practice goes with the “banking system” of education which was contrary
to Paulo Freire’s educational thought?
A. Rote memorization
B. Project-based learning
C. Problem-based learning
D. Community of inquiry
3. For which will social reconstructionist be?
A. Stress on isolationism
B. Inequality and inequity as normal for an international society
C. Building of an interdependent world that is international in scope
D. Narrow concept of nationalism
4. Why is Spencer’s educational thought described as utilitarian?
A. He emphasized vocational and professional education based on scientific and practical.
B. He stressed on general educational goals associated with humanistic and classical
education
C. He stressed a balance of specialized and general education in the curriculum
D. He eliminated the vocational and professional education component of the curriculum.
5. For which educational practice was John Dewey?
A. Problem-solving
B. Banking method
C. Emphasis the Humanities
D. Teaching of the Classics

REFERENCE
Prieto, N., Arcangel, C. & Corpuz, B. (2019) The teacher and the community, school culture
and organizational leadership. Lorimar Publishing Inc. Metro Manila