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Section III - Philosophical Perspectives in Education Part 1  Philosophy begins with wonder -Socrates Overview Philosophy means "love of wisdom." It is made up of two Greek words,  philo, meaning love, and sophos, meaning wisdom. Philosophy helps teachers to reflect on key issues and concepts in education, usually through such questions as !hat is  eing educated# !hat is the good life# !hat is knowledge# !hat is the nature of learning# $nd !hat is teaching# Philosophers think aout the meaning of things and interpretation of that meaning. %ven simple statements, such as "!hat should e learned# &r !hat is adolescence#" set up raging deates that can have ma'or implications. (or e)ample, what happens if an adolescent commits a serious crime# &ne interpretation may hide another. If such a young person is treated as an adult criminal, what does it say aout 'ustice, childhood, and the like# &r if the adolescent is treated as a child, what does it say aout society*s views on crime# +our educational philosophy is your eliefs aout why, what and how you teach, whom you teach, and aout the nature of learning. It is a set of principles that guides  professional action through the events and issues teachers face daily . Sources for y our educational philosophy are your life e)periences, your values, the environment in which you live, interactions with others and awareness of philosophical approaches. earning aout the ranches of philosophy, p hilosophical world views, and different educational philosophies and theories will help you to determine and shape your own educational philosophy , comined with these other aspects. !hen you e)amine a philosophy different from your own, it helps you to "wrestle" with your own thinking. Sometimes this means you may change your mind. &ther times, it may strengthen your viewpoint or, you may e eclectic, selecting what seems  est from different p hilosophies. ut i n eclecticism, there is a danger of sloppy and inconsistent thinking, especially if you orrow a it of one philosophy and stir in some of another. If serious thought has gone into selection of strategies, theories, or  philosophies, this is less prolemat ic. (or e)ample, you may determine that you have to vary your approach depending on the particular learning needs and styles of a given student. $t various time periods, one philosophical framework may ecome favored over another. (or e)ample, the Progressive movement led to quite different

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Section III - PhilosophicalPerspectives in Education Part 1

 Philosophy begins with wonder -Socrates

Overview

Philosophy means "love of wisdom." It is made up of two Greek words, philo,

meaning love, and sophos, meaning wisdom. Philosophy helps teachers to reflect on

key issues and concepts in education, usually through such questions as !hat is

 eing educated# !hat is the good life# !hat is knowledge# !hat is the nature of

learning# $nd !hat is teaching# Philosophers think aout the meaning of things andinterpretation of that meaning. %ven simple statements, such as "!hat should e

learned# &r !hat is adolescence#" set up raging deates that can have ma'or

implications. (or e)ample, what happens if an adolescent commits a serious crime#

&ne interpretation may hide another. If such a young person is treated as an adult

criminal, what does it say aout 'ustice, childhood, and the like# &r if the adolescent

is treated as a child, what does it say aout society*s views on crime#

+our educational philosophy is your eliefs aout why, what and how you teach,

whom you teach, and aout the nature of learning. It is a set of principles that guides

 professional action through the events and issues teachers face daily. Sources for youreducational philosophy are your life e)periences, your values, the environment in

which you live, interactions with others and awareness of philosophical approaches.

earning aout the ranches of philosophy, philosophical world views, and different

educational philosophies and theories will help you to determine and shape your own

educational philosophy, comined with these other aspects.

!hen you e)amine a philosophy different from your own, it helps you to "wrestle"

with your own thinking. Sometimes this means you may change your mind. &ther

times, it may strengthen your viewpoint or, you may e eclectic, selecting what seems

 est from different philosophies. ut in eclecticism, there is a danger of sloppy andinconsistent thinking, especially if you orrow a it of one philosophy and stir in

some of another. If serious thought has gone into selection of strategies, theories, or

 philosophies, this is less prolematic. (or e)ample, you may determine that you have

to vary your approach depending on the particular learning needs and styles of a given

student. $t various time periods, one philosophical framework may ecome favored

over another. (or e)ample, the Progressive movement led to quite different

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approaches in education in the /012s. ut there is always danger in one "est or only"

 philosophy. In a pluralistic society, a variety of views are needed.

Branches of Philosophy

3here are three ma'or ranches of philosophy. %ach ranch focuses on a differentaspect and is central to your teaching. 3he three ranches and their su-ranches are

Branch Metaphysics: !hat is the

nature of reality#Epistemology: !hat is the

nature of knowledge# 4ow do

we come to know#

Axiology: !hat

values should one

live y#

Educational

Examples

 –Do you think human

beings are basically goodor evil?

 –What are conservative or

liberal beliefs?

 –How would an anthropologist

look at this classroom? A political scientist? A biologist?

 –How do we know what a child

knows?

 –Is morality

defined by ouractions or by what 

is in our hearts?

 –What values should be taught

in character

education?

Sub-

branches

 5 Ontology

!hat issues are related to

nature, e)istence, or

 eing# Is a child inherently

evil or good? How might your view determine your

classroom management? 5 Cosmology

!hat is the nature and

origin of the cosmos or

universe# Is the world anduniverse orderly or is it

marked by chaos? What

would one or the othermean for a classroom?

Knowing based on:

 5 Scientiic !n"uiry

 5 Senses and #eelings

 5 #rom authority or di$inity

 5 Empiricism 6e)perience7

 5 !ntuition

 5 %easoning or &ogic  !hat reasoning processesyield valid conclusions#

  5 'educti$e:  reasoning

from the general to the particular All children can learn!

 "ret is a fifth grader! He has a

learning disability! #an "retlearn?

  5 !nducti$e:  reasoning from

the specific to the general. After

e$perimenting with plant growthunder varied conditions stu%

dents conclude plants need water 

and light 

 5 Ethics

!hat is good and

evil, right and

wrong#

 Is it ever right totake something

that does notbelong to you? 5 Aesthetics

!hat is eautiful#

   How do werecogni&e a great

 piece of music?

 Art?  #an there be

beauty in

destruction?

Think about it: 

'! Why might the study of philosophy be particularly important to educators?

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(! Which branch or branches of philosophy would you want to emphasi&e in your

classroom? Why?

)! Do you learn better deductively or inductively? Why do you think?

*! #an you think of other school%based e$amples for each of the branches and subbranches?

8ontinue to Part 9

Four General or World Philosophies

3he term metaphysics literally means "eyond the physical." 3his area

of philosophy focuses on the nature of reality. :etaphysics attempts to

find unity across the domains of e)perience and thought. $t the

metaphysical level, there are four; road philosophical schools of thought that apply

to education today. 3hey are idealism, realism, pragmatism 6sometimes called

e)perientialism7, and e)istentialism. %ach will e e)plained shortly. 3hese four

general frameworks provide the root or ase from which the various educational

 philosophies are derived.

+ A fifth metaphysical school of thought called ,cholasticism is largely applied in -oman #atholic schools in the

educational philosophy called ./homism!. It combines idealist and realist philosophies in a framework thatharmoni&ed the ideas of Aristotle the realist with idealist notions of truth! /homas A0uinas '(11%'(2 was the

theologian who wrote .,umma /heologica. formali&ing church doctrine! /he ,cholasticism movement encouraged

the logical and philosophical study of the beliefs of the church legitimi&ing scientific in0uiry within a religious

 framework!

3wo of these general or world philosophies, idealism and realism, are derived from

the ancient Greek philosophers, Plato and $ristotle. 3wo are more

contemporary, pragmatism and existentialism. 4owever, educators who share one of 

these distinct sets of eliefs aout the nature of reality presently apply each of these

world philosophies in successful classrooms. et us e)plore each of these

metaphysical schools of thought.

!dealism

Idealism is a philosophical approach that has as its central tenet that ideas are the onlytrue reality, the only thing worth knowing. In a search for truth, eauty, and 'ustice

that is enduring and everlasting, the focus is on conscious reasoning in the mind.

Plato, father of Idealism, espoused this view aout <22 years 8, in his famous

 ook, /he -epublic. Plato elieved that there are two worlds. 3he first is the spiritual

or mental world, which is eternal, permanent, orderly, regular, and universal. 3here is

also the world of appearance, the world e)perienced through sight, touch, smell, taste,

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and sound, that is changing, imperfect, and disorderly. 3his division is often referred

to as the duality of mind and ody. =eacting against what he perceived as too much of 

a focus on the immediacy of the physical and sensory world, Plato descried a utopian

society in which "education to ody and soul all the eauty and perfection of which

they are capale" as an ideal. In his allegory of the cave, the shadows of the sensory

world must e overcome with the light of reason or universal truth. 3o understandtruth, one must pursue knowledge and identify with the $solute :ind. Plato also

 elieved that the soul is fully formed prior to irth and is perfect and at one with the

>niversal eing. 3he irth process checks this perfection, so education requires

 ringing latent ideas 6fully formed concepts7 to consciousness.

In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and develop each individual*s ailities

and full moral e)cellence in order to etter serve society. 3he curricular emphasis is

su'ect matter of mind literature, history, philosophy, and religion. 3eaching methods

focus on handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue 6a method

of teaching that uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge7.

Introspection, intuition, insight, and whole-part logic are used to ring to

consciousness the forms or concepts which are latent in the mind. 8haracter is

developed through imitating e)amples and heroes.

%ealism

=ealists elieve that reality e)ists independent of the human mind. 3he ultimate

reality is the world of physical o'ects. 3he focus is on the ody?o'ects. 3ruth is

o'ective-what can e oserved. $ristotle, a student of Plato who roke with his

mentor*s idealist philosophy, is called the father of oth =ealism and the scientific

method. In this metaphysical view, the aim is to understand o'ective reality through

"the diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all oservale data." $ristotle elieved that to

understand an o'ect, its ultimate form had to e understood, which does not change.

(or e)ample, a rose e)ists whether or not a person is aware of it. $ rose can e)ist in

the mind without eing physically present, ut ultimately, the rose shares properties

with all other roses and flowers 6its form7, although one rose may e red and another

 peach colored. $ristotle also was the first to teach logic as a formal discipline in order

to e ale to reason aout physical events and aspects. 3he e)ercise of rational

thought is viewed as the ultimate purpose for humankind. 3he =ealist curriculum

emphasi@es the su'ect matter of the physical world, particularly science andmathematics. 3he teacher organi@es and presents content systematically within a

discipline, demonstrating use of criteria in making decisions. 3eaching methods focus

on mastery of facts and asic skills through demonstration and recitation. Students

must also demonstrate the aility to think critically and scientifically, using

oservation and e)perimentation. 8urriculum should e scientifically approached,

standardi@ed, and distinct-discipline ased. 8haracter is developed through training in

the rules of conduct.

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(ragmatism 6%)perientialism7

(or pragmatists, only those things that are e)perienced or oserved are real. In this

late /0th century $merican philosophy, the focus is on the reality of e)perience.

>nlike the =ealists and =ationalists, Pragmatists elieve that reality is constantly

changing and that we learn est through applying our e)periences and thoughts to

 prolems, as they arise. 3he universe is dynamic and evolving, a "ecoming" view ofthe world. 3here is no asolute and unchanging truth, ut rather, truth is what works.

Pragmatism is derived from the teaching of 8harles Sanders Peirce 6/A10-/0/<7, who

 elieved that thought must produce action, rather than linger in the mind and lead to

indecisiveness.

Bohn Cewey 6/AD0-/0D97 applied pragmatist philosophy in his progressive

approaches. 4e elieved that learners must adapt to each other and to their

environment. Schools should emphasi@e the su'ect matter of social e)perience. $ll

learning is dependent on the conte)t of place, time, and circumstance. Cifferent

cultural and ethnic groups learn to work cooperatively and contriute to a democratic

society. 3he ultimate purpose is the creation of a new social order. 8haracter

development is ased on making group decisions in light of consequences.

(or Pragmatists, teaching methods focus on hands-on prolem solving,

e)perimenting, and pro'ects, often having students work in groups. 8urriculum should

 ring the disciplines together to focus on solving prolems in an interdisciplinary way.

=ather than passing down organi@ed odies of knowledge to new learners, Pragmatists

 elieve that learners should apply their knowledge to real situations through

e)perimental inquiry. 3his prepares students for citi@enship, daily living, and future

careers.

Existentialism

3he nature of reality for %)istentialists is su'ective, and lies within the individual.

3he physical world has no inherent meaning outside of human e)istence. Individual

choice and individual standards rather than e)ternal standards are central. %)istence

comes efore any definition of what we are. !e define ourselves in relationship to

that e)istence y the choices we make. !e should not accept anyone else*s

 predetermined philosophical system rather, we must take responsiility for deciding

who we are. 3he focus is on freedom, the development of authentic individuals, as we

make meaning of our lives.

3here are several different orientations within the e)istentialist philosophy. Soren

Eierkegaard 6/A/1-/ADD7, a Canish minister and philosopher, is considered to e the

founder of e)istentialism. 4is was a 8hristian orientation. $nother group of

e)istentialists, largely %uropean, elieves that we must recogni@e the finiteness of our

lives on this small and fragile planet, rather than elieving in salvation through God.

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&ur e)istence is not guaranteed in an after life, so there is tension aout life and the

certainty of death, of hope or despair. >nlike the more austere %uropean approaches

where the universe is seen as meaningless when faced with the certainty of the end of

e)istence, $merican e)istentialists have focused more on human potential and the

quest for personal meaning. Falues clarification is an outgrowth of this movement.

(ollowing the leak period of !orld !ar II, the (rench philosopher, Bean Paul Sartre,suggested that for youth, the e)istential moment arises when young persons reali@e for 

the first time that choice is theirs, that they are responsile for themselves. 3heir

question ecomes "!ho am I and what should I do#

=elated to education, the su'ect matter of e)istentialist classrooms should e a matter 

of personal choice. 3eachers view the individual as an entity within a social conte)t in

which the learner must confront others* views to clarify his or her own. 8haracter

development emphasi@es individual responsiility for decisions. =eal answers come

from within the individual, not from outside authority. %)amining life through

authentic thinking involves students in genuine learning e)periences. %)istentialists

are opposed to thinking aout students as o'ects to e measured, tracked, or

standardi@ed. Such educators want the educational e)perience to focus on creating

opportunities for self-direction and self actuali@ation. 3hey start with the student,

rather than on curriculum content.

Think about It:

'! Which general or world view philosophy best fits with your own views of

reality? Why?

(! What have you learned from the history of education that is related to these

metaphysical philosophies?

)! It is said that an image is worth a thousand words! What might be your image

metaphor for each of these world or metaphysical philosophies?

Section III - Philosophical

Perspectives in Education Part 3 

Educational Philosophies

!ithin the epistemological frame that focuses on the nature of knowledge and

how we come to know, there are four ma'or educational philosophies, each

related to one or more of the general or world philosophies 'ust discussed.

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3hese educational philosophical approaches are currently used in classrooms

the world over. 3hey are Perennialism, %ssentialism, Progressivism, and

=econstructionism. 3hese educational philosophies focus heavily on !4$3 we

should teach, the curriculum aspect.

(erennialism(or Perennialists, the aim of education is to ensure that students acquire

understandings aout the great ideas of !estern civili@ation. 3hese ideas have

the potential for solving prolems in any era. 3he focus is to teach ideas that

are everlasting, to seek enduring truths which are constant, not changing, as the

natural and human worlds at their most essential level, do not change. 3eaching

these unchanging principles is critical. 4umans are rational eings, and their

minds need to e developed. 3hus, cultivation of the intellect is the highest

 priority in a worthwhile education. 3he demanding curriculum focuses on

attaining cultural literacy, stressing students* growth in enduring disciplines.

3he loftiest accomplishments of humankind are emphasi@ed5 the great works

of literature and art, the laws or principles of science. $dvocates of this

educational philosophy are =oert :aynard 4utchins who developed a Great

ooks program in /01 and :ortimer $dler, who further developed this

curriculum ased on /22 great ooks of western civili@ation.

Essentialism

%ssentialists elieve that there is a common core of knowledge that needs to e

transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way. 3he emphasis in this

conservative perspective is on intellectual and moral standards that schools

should teach. 3he core of the curriculum is essential knowledge and skills and

academic rigor. $lthough this educational philosophy is similar in some ways

to Perennialism, %ssentialists accept the idea that this core curriculum may

change. Schooling should e practical, preparing students to ecome valuale

memers of society. It should focus on facts-the o'ective reality out there--and

"the asics," training students to read, write, speak, and compute clearly and

logically. Schools should not try to set or influence policies. Students should e

taught hard work, respect for authority, and discipline. 3eachers are to help

students keep their non-productive instincts in check, such as aggression or

mindlessness. 3his approach was in reaction to progressivist approaches prevalent in the /092s and 12s. !illiam agley, took progressivist approaches

to task in the 'ournal he formed in /01<. &ther proponents of %ssentialism are

Bames C. Eoerner 6/0D07, 4. G. =ickover 6/0D07, Paul 8opperman 6/0HA7, and

3heodore Si@er 6/0AD7.

(rogressi$ism

Progressivists elieve that education should focus on the whole child, rather

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than on the content or the teacher. 3his educational philosophy stresses that

students should test ideas y active e)perimentation. earning is rooted in the

questions of learners that arise through e)periencing the world. It is active, not

 passive. 3he learner is a prolem solver and thinker who makes meaning

through his or her individual e)perience in the physical and cultural conte)t.

%ffective teachers provide e)periences so that students can learn y doing.8urriculum content is derived from student interests and questions. 3he

scientific method is used y progressivist educators so that students can study

matter and events systematically and first hand. 3he emphasis is on process-

how one comes to know. 3he Progressive education philosophy was estalished

in $merica from the mid /092s through the mid /0D2s. Bohn Cewey was its

foremost proponent. &ne of his tenets was that the school should improve the

way of life of our citi@ens through e)periencing freedom and democracy in

schools. Shared decision making, planning of teachers with students, student-

selected topics are all aspects. ooks are tools, rather than authority.

%econstructionism)Critical *heory

Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasi@es the addressing of

social questions and a quest to create a etter society and worldwide

democracy. =econstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights

social reform as the aim of education. 3heodore rameld 6/02<-/0AH7 was the

founder of social reconstructionism, in reaction against the realities of !orld

!ar II. 4e recogni@ed the potential for either human annihilation through

technology and human cruelty or the capacity to create a eneficent society

using technology and human compassion. George 8ounts 6/AA0-/0H<7

recogni@ed that education was the means of preparing people for creating this

new social order.

8ritical theorists, like social reconstructionists, elieve that systems must e

changed to overcome oppression and improve human conditions. Paulo (reire

6/09/-/00H7 was a ra@ilian whose e)periences living in poverty led him to

champion education and literacy as the vehicle for social change. In his view,

humans must learn to resist oppression and not ecome its victims, nor oppress

others. 3o do so requires dialog and critical consciousness, the development of

awareness to overcome domination and oppression. =ather than "teaching as anking," in which the educator deposits information into students* heads,

(reire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the child must

invent and reinvent the world.

(or social reconstructionists and critical theorists, curriculum focuses on

student e)perience and taking social action on real prolems, such as violence,

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hunger, international terrorism, inflation, and inequality. Strategies for dealing

with controversial issues 6particularly in social studies and literature7, inquiry,

dialogue, and multiple perspectives are the focus. 8ommunity-ased learning

and ringing the world into the classroom are also strategies.

Think about It:Which of these educational philosophies would you describe as authoritarian? Which

as non-authoritarian? Why?

Each of the educational philosophies relates to one or more of the metaphysical

world view philosophies. What connections do you see?

'! Which educational philosophy is most compatible with your beliefs?

Why?

Related to both the metaphysical worldview philosophies and the educational

philosophies are theories of learning that focus on how learning occurs, thepsychological orientations. They provide structures for the instructional aspects of

teaching, suggesting methods that are related to their perspective on learning.

 These theoretical beliefs about learning are also at the epistemic level of

philosophy, as they are concerned with the nature of learning. Each psychological

orientation is most directly related to a particular educational philosophy, but may

have other inuences as well. The rst two theoretical approaches can be thought

of as transmissive, in that information is given to learners. The second two

approaches are constructivist, in that the learner has to ma!e meaning from

e"periences in the world.

Inforation Processin!

#nformation $rocessing theorists focus on the mind and how it wor!s to e"plain how

learning occurs. The focus is on the processing of a relatively "ed body of

!nowledge and how it is attended to, received in the mind, processed, stored, and

retrieved from memory. This model is derived from analogies between how the brain

wor!s and computer processing. #nformation processing theorists focus on the

individual rather than the social aspects of thin!ing and learning. The mind is a

symbolic processor that stores information in schemas or hierarchically arranged

structures.

%nowledge may be general, applicable to many situations& for e"ample, !nowinghow to type or spell. 'ther !nowledge is domain specic, applicable to a specic

sub(ect or tas!, such as vowel sounds in )panish. %nowledge is

also declarative *content, or !nowing that & for e"ample, schools have students,

teachers, and administrators+, procedural *!nowing how to do thingsthe steps or

strategies& for e"ample, to multiply mi"ed number, change both sides to improper

fractions, then multiply numerators and denominators+,

or conditional *!nowing when and why to apply the other two types of !nowledge&

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for e"ample, when ta!ing a standardied multiple choice test, !eep trac! of time, be

strategic, and dont get bogged down on hard problems+.

 The inta!e and representation of information is called encoding. #t is sent to the

short term or wor!ing memory, acted upon, and those pieces determined as

important are sent to long term memory storage, where they must be retrieved andsent bac! to the wor!ing or short-term memory for use. )hort term memory has

very limited capacity, so it must be !ept active to be retained. /ong term memory is

organied in structures, called schemas, scripts, or propositional or hierarchical

networ!s. )omething learned can be retrieved by relating it to other aspects,

procedures, or episodes. There are many strategies that can help in both getting

information into long term memory and retrieving it from memory. The teachers (ob

is to help students to develop strategies for thin!ing and remembering.

Behavioris

0ehaviorist theorists believe that behavior is shaped deliberately by forces in the

environment and that the type of person and actions desired can be the product ofdesign. #n other words, behavior is determined by others, rather than by our own

free will. 0y carefully shaping desirable behavior, morality and information is

learned. /earners will ac1uire and remember responses that lead to satisfying

aftere2ects. Repetition of a meaningful connection results in learning. #f the student

is ready for the connection, learning is enhanced& if not, learning is inhibited.

3otivation to learn is the satisfying aftere2ect, or reinforcement.

0ehaviorism is lin!ed with empiricism, which stresses scientic information and

observation, rather than sub(ective or metaphysical realities. 0ehaviorists search for

laws that govern human behavior, li!e scientists who loo! for pattern sin empirical

events. 4hange in behavior must be observable& internal thought processes are notconsidered.

#van $avlovs research on using the reinforcement of a bell sound when food was

presented to a dog and nding the sound alone would ma!e a dog salivate after

several presentations of the conditioned stimulus, was the beginning of behaviorist

approaches. /earning occurs as a result of responses to stimuli in the environment

that are reinforced by adults and others, as well as from feedbac! from actions on

ob(ects. The teacher can help students learn by conditioning them through

identifying the desired behaviors in measurable, observable terms, recording these

behaviors and their fre1uencies, identifying appropriate reinforcers for each desired

behavior, and providing the reinforcer as soon as the student displays the behavior.

5or e"ample, if children are supposed to raise hands to get called on, we might

reinforce a child who raises his hand by using praise, 6Than! you for raising your

hand.6 'ther inuential behaviorists include 0.5. )!inner *789:-7889+ and ;ames 0.

Watson *7<=<-78><+.

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Cogniti$ism)Constructi$ism

8ognitivists or 8onstructivists elieve that the learner actively constructs his or 

her own understandings of reality through interaction with o'ects, events, and

 people in the environment, and reflecting on these interactions. %arly

 perceptual psychologists 6Gestalt psychology7 focused on the making of wholes

from its and pieces of o'ects and events in the world, elieving that meaningwas the construction in the rain of patterns from these pieces.

(or learning to occur, an event, o'ect, or e)perience must conflict with what

the learner already knows. 3herefore, the learner*s previous e)periences

determine what can e learned. :otivation to learn is e)periencing conflict

with what one knows, which causes an imalance, which triggers a quest to

restore the equilirium. Piaget descried intelligent ehavior as adaptation. 3he

learner organi@es his or her understanding in organi@ed structures. $t the

simplest level, these are called schemes. !hen something new is presented, the

learner must modify these structures in order to deal with the new information.

3his process, called equiliration, is the alancing etween what is assimilated

6the new7 and accommodation, the change in structure. 3he child goes through

four distinct stages or levels in his or her understandings of the world.

Some constructivists 6particularly Fygotsky7 emphasi@e the shared, social

construction of knowledge, elieving that the particular social and cultural

conte)t and the interactions of novices with more e)pert thinkers 6usually

adult7 facilitate or scaffold the learning process. 3he teacher mediates etween

the new material to e learned and the learner*s level of readiness, supporting

the child*s growth through his or her "@one of pro)imal development."

+umanism

3he roots of humanism are found in the thinking of %rasmus 6/<-/D17, who

attacked the religious teaching and thought prevalent in his time to focus on

free inquiry and rediscovery of the classical roots from Greece and =ome.

%rasmus elieved in the essential goodness of children, that humans have free

will, moral conscience, the aility to reason, aesthetic sensiility, and religious

instinct. 4e advocated that the young should e treated kindly and that learning

should not e forced or rushed, as it proceeds in stages. 4umanism was

developed as an educational philosophy y =ousseau 6/H/9-/HHA7 and

Pestalo@@i, who emphasi@ed nature and the asic goodness of humans,

understanding through the senses, and education as a gradual and unhurried

 process in which the development of human character follows the unfolding of

nature. 4umanists elieve that the learner should e in control of his or her own

destiny. Since the learner should ecome a fully autonomous person, personal

freedom, choice, and responsiility are the focus. 3he learner is self-motivated

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to achieve towards the highest level possile. :otivation to learn is intrinsic in

humanism.

=ecent applications of humanist philosophy focus on the social and emotional

well-eing of the child, as well as the cognitive. Cevelopment of a healthy self-

concept, awareness of the psychological needs, helping students to strive to eall that they can are important concepts, espoused in theories of $raham

:aslow, 8arl =ogers, and $lfred $dler that are found in classrooms today.

3eachers emphasi@e freedom from threat, emotional well-eing, learning

 processes, and self-fulfillment.

+,ome theorists call -ousseau3s philosophy naturalism and consider this to be

a world or metaphysical level philosophy 4e!g! 5utek6

Think about It:

'! Which psychological orientations are most compatible with whicheducational philosophies? 7$plain!

(! 7$plain the differences in focus of the educational philosophies and

 psychological orientations! Are there also similarities?

)! 8on%western philosophies have also influenced American education

 such as "uddhism Hinduism Islam and 8ative American and African

 American philosophies! 9ind out about these and think about their

current influences in education and where they might possibly be of

value!