HIV/AIDS STIGMA BASIC CONCEPTS OF EDUCATION, PHILOSOPHY AND

REDUCTION UNIT 1
Unit xx, section xx: The quick brown fox, jumped over the lazy dog.
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

My dear Learner, You are most welcome to Unit 1 of the course on

Philosophical Basis for Teaching and Learning.

The whole module is divided into 6 Units. In Unit 1, you will be exposed to
the meaning and scope of the concepts of Education, Philosophy and
Philosophy of Education. This is important because a clarification of these
concepts will help you in understanding all the other parts of the module.

In going through this module you will need to equip yourself with pens and
jotters which will be required to enable you undertake the activities
embodied in the Unit.

At the end of the Unit therefore, you will be able to:

 explain satisfactorily the concept and scope of education.
 state the various forms and functions of education.
 explain the concept and scope of philosophy
 identify the main areas of philosophy and how they relate to education.
 describe the methods philosophers use in their attempt to find answers
to problems as well as the methods of indigenous education.

I assure you that the content of this unit is fundamental to understanding the
whole course and they are not difficult to understand because some of the
things are already familiar to you.

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UEW/IEDE, Dip Inservice

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PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
FOR TEACHING AND Unit 1, BASIC CONCEPTS
section 1: OF
Basic concept ofEDUCATION, PHILOSOPHY
education, philosophy AND of
and philosophy
UNIT 1 SECTION
LEARNING 1 education
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

The Concept of Education

Hi, learner. You are welcome to section 1 of Unit 1 of this course. As you
can see this section is to give you an in-depth explanation of the term
education and the various forms and functions of education as a prelude to a
discussion of the relationship between education and philosophy.

This approach is important because many people use words and concepts
which may not be clear to the listeners or the students involved. This
approach is to help you to have a basic and clear understanding of the whole
course.

After reading this section, you will be able to:

 identify at least three different definitions given to the term education
 extract the common elements and differences in these various
definitions.
 describe the main characteristics of three forms of education – formal,
informal and non-formal
 identify the main functions of education in society.

Now read on

Some definitions of Education

In your life as a student and as a teacher, I am very sure you have come
across this word education several times.

Activity 1.1
State your own definition of education
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Good, Now you may compare your definition to some of the definitions
given here by some of the great educators you will come across in this
course. But before you even look at these definitions it is important to
examine the root of the word. The word education is derived from the Latin
word “educare” meaning to bring up or to bring out. So in its original
meaning education is a process of bringing up a child. Inspite of this
original meaning writers have tended to use the term in divergent ways. For
the purpose of our course we examine two of them we look first at Burns
and Bruner’s definition.

To Burns and Bruner education refers to the process of deliberately

transmitting the arts and science and fostering contributions to them.

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Now let us briefly analyse this definition.

According to this definition there are two people involved in education.
Can you identify them?

Yes, we have the teacher who deliberately transmits the arts and sciences.

To whom? To the learner who must make contributions to them. The

teacher has the knowledge in arts and sciences and the learner as a recipient
gathers knowledge from the teacher.

What about the definition of Dewey? Dewey says education is the process
of re-arranging the environment for the learner to acquire knowledge by
himself. Now, what is the role of the teacher? The teacher is a facilitator of
knowledge and not a giver or dispenser of knowledge. The teacher helps the
learner to acquire knowledge on his own.

Activity 1.2
Write down the main difference in the role of the leaner by the two
definitions
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You have looked at two definitions of education and their implications. But
these are not all the possible definitions

Activity 1.3
Write down one classical definition of education (other than the two above)
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Forms of Education
Having looked at the definition of education, you can now move on to
discuss forms of education. When educators talk of forms of education they
are referring to the process of education and where it takes place. Three
forms of education are easily identified.

These are:
a. Formal education
b. Informal education
c. Non-formal education

Let’s take them one after the other

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LEARNING education

Formal Education
Schools are involved in formal education. In such a school, there is a
professional teacher; these are a definite structure as to the times of
meeting.

Activity 1.4
State 3 characteristics of formal education
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………

You will see the answer at the end of the unit.

Informal Education
The second form of education is informal education. Some people call this
home education. It is that type of education given us by our parents at
home. It has no structure in terms of time. It takes place at any time of the
day. There is no professional teacher. The parents, the elder brothers and
the whole extended family are the teachers.

Non-formal education
It is a system where people who have had informal education are brought up
under formal conditions to update their knowledge and skills. It is a kind of
in-service education. For example traditional birth attendants can have a
non-formal training session to learn a few things to improve their skills. So
you see we have three forms of education

Functions of Education, Now look at the reasons why governments,

societies, communities and nations want to educate their young one’s can
you state some of these reasons? These are called functions of education,
what education is expected to do for the society. Let us look at a few of
them. Why are you educating your child, whether in the school or at home?

Socialization
This is the function through which education tries to make the young
children acquire the culture, language and the norms of the society.

Can you cite some of the norms?

Let me give you an example. In the Akan society a child cannot point to
something to an adult with the left hand.

Can you continue from your own society?

Economic Function Of Education

Do you know that even parents who are regarded as very poor try to
mobilise the few resources they have to send their children to school? Do

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Unit 1, section 1: Basic concept of education, philosophy and philosophy of PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
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you also know that very poor countries, like ours devote a large chunk of the
national budget each year to education? Why do individual families and
countries do this? Families and individual countries do this hoping to reap
some economic reward from the education of their wards and citizens.
Families believe that with good education their children will obtain good
jobs with good salaries. Countries believe that they will be able to get
competent workers from educated citizenry. Both constitute the economic
function of education.

Activity 1.5
State 3 characteristics of formal education
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The Political Function Of Education

You have just identified the economic function of education. You can now
look at the political function. You know, education should enable you to
know your rights and responsibilities as a citizen and to understand political
issues, what the various political parties stand for, for example. These are
some of the political functions of education. Do you know that in the 2004
General Election, a large number of ballot papers were destroyed? Yes.
This is because quite a large segment of the population lacked political
education.

Education As An Agent Of Change

One important function of education is to bring about change in the society.
As you will get to know later there is sometimes a conflict between formal
education and informal education because of this function education is
supposed to perform. Should education emphasize the change function or
the conservative function? You will discuss this fully when you come to
look at the importance of education for national development in section 3 of
this unit.

The discussion on the function of education as an agent, of social change

ends the discussion on the definition and scope of education in this section.

It is important to stress that this section dealt with:

 the various definitions of education
 common elements and differences in the definitions
 the three forms of education, and
 the functions of education

You can go on to section 2 which deals with the definition and scope of
philosophy.

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2
Unit 1, THE CONCEPT
section ANDand
2: The concept SCOPE
scope OF PHILOSOPHY
of philosophy

Hello learner. ‘Akwaaba’ (welcome) to Section 2 of Unit 1, the course

Philosophical Basis for Teaching and Learning. In section 1 you learned
about the definition of education, the scope of education and the functions
of education. I believe you found it easy and interesting.

You carry the discussion further in this section by looking at the concept
and scope of Philosophy. You will learn about what philosophy is, the
various branches of philosophy as well as the function of philosophy. This
is all part of the plan to help you to understand the relationships between
education and philosophy and the philosophical underpinnings of
educational practices and methods in the past and present.

After reading this section, you will be able to:

 explain the concept and scope of philosophy
 state the various branches of philosophy
 describe the methods philosophers use in their attempt to provide
answers to life’s problems

Definition Of Philosophy
Philosophy is one discipline that is sometimes very elusive. Indeed
philosophers all over the world, both past and present disagree as to the
exact and precise definition of their own discipline. Consequently, over the
years no succinct or universally accepted definition has been arrived at.
There are therefore several definitions attributable to different authors.
There is also the layman’s definition of the word.

Layman’s Concept Of Philosophy

I have a friend who often says “My philosophy is that at the end of the
month I should buy at least one fowl to satisfy the spirit in me”. What does
this friend mean by philosophy? Could he have used a different word from
philosophy? You can see that by philosophy, this friend is referring to
something he does everyday, something that guides his action. Some
teachers have developed personal philosophy of teaching A P.6 teacher once
remarked that his philosophy of teaching is that he must never go to school
without a cane. Another teacher said my philosophy in questioning is to put
the questions to only those children who raise their hands up in order not to
waste time.

Activity 2.1
State your own philosophy of teaching
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Towards A Disciplinary Definition Of Philosophy

Philosophy is a discipline, like Mathematics, Geography or History. To get
the disciplinary or technical meaning, you must, know the root of the word,
“Philosophy’ is derived from two Greek words “Philos” meaning loving and
“Sophia” meaning “wisdom. In this sense philosophy means love of
wisdom. This is an indication that philosophy concerns itself with the
process of knowing, and that whoever loves wisdom never stops asking
questions and attempting to provide reasonable answers to them.

From this beginning philosophy has now come to be regarded as a rational

investigation into certain fundamental questions about the world and the
nature of man. Read here a few of the questions philosophers tend to ask:

 What is man?
 who made man
 What is it that distinguishes man from other animals?
 Does man have a soul?
 Where does man go to after death?
 What is this world made of, material or spiritual things?
 Will the world one day come to an end?

The process of finding rational answers to questions like these ones is what
philosophy is all about.

You can see from the list of questions here that they are questions whose
answers are likely to differ from person to person. The issue is that
whatever answer is given should be seen to have been arrived at through
rational analysis or reasoning.

Activity 2.2
State the one major difference between the popular conception of
philosophy and the disciplined definition.
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I am sure, from the foregoing explanation and your answer to Activity 2.2,
you will have realised that philosophy as a discipline starts with
intellectually credible questions but it does not necessarily provide readily
verifiable answers to those questions. It belongs to philosophy to question
basic assumptions and beliefs underlying, human existence and human
nature. So you see, both the popular conception and the disciplined
conception of philosophy may begin with the same question, for example
“Does man have a soul?. Both the popular conception of man and
disciplined man may say Yes, man has a soul. Then a second question
follows why does man have a soul? The popular man would say “I believe

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it” and that will be the end. But the disciplined man would go further to
explain the reasons for his belief and assumptions. That is the issue of
rational analysis or reasoning. Read the next subheading on the nature of
philosophy to get the picture clearly.

The Nature Of Philosophy

Ezenwu (2001) says the discipline of philosophy is more like designing
and constructing your own house than in buying a dwelling already made.
Philosophy is a process, an activity undertaken by the individual to find the
basis of his beliefs or assumptions. The belief or assumption is not as
important as how that belief or assumption came to be accepted. Is it
useful? Now read on.

Uses Of Philosophy
Is it useful to study philosophy?

The answer is Yes.

 Philosophy can be used to locate issues in dispute and help to clarify
them. In short philosophy consists of an analysis of concepts and ideas
in an attempt to cut through slogans to genuine issues and problems.
 Philosophy can be usefully employed in the quest for wisdom.
 Philosophy helps us to understand the nature and history of our
civilization
 Philosophical ideas have a direct relevance to present – day
religious, social and political movements.

Whoever wants to understand events in the world, past and present,

must pay attention to philosophical ideas.

Activity 2.3
State one use of philosophy (not stated here) of your own
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Methods Of Philosophy
From the description of philosophy you can see that philosophy mainly
involves asking the right questions. Process of asking valid questions
involve two processes. These are logical analysis and experimentation and
logical analysis combined. What is logical analysis? It is a systematic way
of looking at a problem, the answer of which has not been ascertained
Philosophy always begins with wonder. We are curious about ourselves,
our society and our environment. Therefore whenever we think
systematically trying to find the source of our wonder, if this is done
persistently and scientifically we are philosophising.

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Experimentations combined with logical analysis helps to analyse

social problems to find solutions to them.

All too soon you have come to the end of this section. What have you
learned in this section? I am sure you have taken note of the following:
 Philosophy has no precise definition as other fields of study.
 Philosophy presents a systematic way of analysing issues to
discover the underlying assumptions and beliefs. In this way
philosophy is always present whenever men through thought
grow conscious of their existence.
 To the ordinary man, philosophy is a guide in his everyday life.

Having got these ideas you are ready for section 3 which deals with the
content of philosophy.

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UNIT 1 SECTION
LEARNING 3
Unit 1,CONTENT AND METHODS
section 3: Content and methodsOF PHILOSOPHY
of philosophy

Hello learner. You are most welcome to section 3 of Unit 1 of the course on
Educational Ideals and their Philosophical Grounding. I hope you found
section 2 on the concept of Philosophy very interesting. You have to
remember that section 3 is closely linked to Section 2 and therefore you will
have to make occasional references to Section 2 as you read section 3.

Section 3 is about the content and methodology of philosophy. Some

people describe the content as branches of philosophy. You must have
noted in section 2 that philosophers ask three main questions. These
questions relates to:

 The nature of the world

 The processes of acquiring knowledge, and
 The processes establishing the worth or goodness of a proposition or
action.

Philosophy as a discipline has developed consistent ways of answering

questions relating to these three aspects of life. Philosophers have adopted
some heavy names to describe these three aspects of life. The important
thing for you is to be able to differentiate between them in terms of what
each one tries to describe.

After reading this section, you will be able to:

 Explain the concepts of Metaphysics, Epistemology and Ethics as the
main branches of philosophy.
 Draw the relationship between the three branches
 Describe methods philosophers use in their attempt to provide answers
to problems.

Go on to read about Metaphysics.

Metaphysics
What is this animal called Metaphysics? What is this world and all the
things in it made of? What is the composition of the moon, the stars and
everything else? When people ask these questions, they are inquiring about
REALITY, the real stuff of the world.

What is your own belief? What is the real composition of the trees we see
around us? The cars, the aeroplanes. The answer given to these questions
mainly give rise to different types of philosophy. There are some people
who believe that in the final analysis, physical things we see around us, the
moon, the stars and everything we see around is spiritual. These
philosophers call themselves IDEALISTS. Please, remember we speak of
ideal woman, for example, as a perfect woman. But when we speak of
idealists in philosophy we are not saying they are perfect. We are only

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referring to those who believe that whatever we see in the world is

composed of a spiritual element. In other words everything has a soul.
Do you know that in some of our villages when a big tree like ‘Onyina’ silk
cotton tree is going to be felled, libation is poured? This is because it is
believed that inside the silk cotton tree, there exists a spirit or soul. The
libation is to pacify the spirit. As we shall see in Unit 2 most of our
indigenous beliefs are based on idealist philosophy.

Activity 3.1
State two things that your people revere as possessing spiritual essence
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………………
d. ………………………………………………………………………

What is the world stuff made of? You have noted that idealists believe in
the existence of spirits. The realists believe whatever you see is physical, no
spirit behind it. We will learn about these various schools of philosophy
and the basis of their differences in Unit 3. But you have to bear in mind
that two other questions are involved in these differences. One is related to
knowledge. It also has a high – sounding word. It is Epistemology. What
is Epistemology? Let’s see EPISTEMOLOGY.

You learned in section 1 that philosophy is concerned with answering

questions on knowledge. What is knowledge? How do you know? Can
knowledge be traced to the gateways of the senses or to the senses plus the
activity of reasons or to reason alone? All these questions are part of
epistemology.

Schools Of Philosophy And Knowledge

How do we know? Why do we know? How can we be certain of our
knowledge? These questions are answered differently by the different
schools of philosophy as you will see in Unit 3.

Why should the teacher learn about how the different philosophies regard
knowledge? There are two main reasons. In the first place knowledge is
the principal stock in trade of teachers. You are a teacher and your
principal duty is to help others acquire knowledge. You are concerned
with the processes of making this acquisition possible. Secondly, as a
teacher you are imparting knowledge, and we have learned in section 1 that
philosophy is a guide to practice. How a teacher may impart knowledge
can be influenced greatly by the philosophy one holds. You shall see this
clearly when you learn about the different philosophers and methods of
teaching in Unit 2. For example some of the philosophers point out that
real knowledge does come so much from being told but as one finds ways
of solving a problem he faces, that is one learns by doing.

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Knowledge In Indigenous Society

Our indigenous culture values knowledge and the different ways of
acquiring such knowledge. Many wise sayings testify to this. For example
“knowledge is experience” is a way of saying that the best form of
knowledge is acquired through experience

Activity 3.2
State 3 statements involving characteristics, sources and consequences of
knowledge in the traditional society
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………………
d. ………………………………………………………………………

With this assignment completed you can now move on to learn about the
third line of philosophical inquiry. This is often referred to as Ethics.
ETHICS. What does ethics involve? Now remember this. Ethics is the
study of good and bad, right and wrong. This constitutes the third major
category in philosophy. Ethics is an attempt to answer the question “What
is good”? Ethics involves an analysis of moral concepts and judgements in
the construction of a theory of value. Ethics also extends to issues of beauty
and ugliness, as well as issues of social and economic and religious values.

Categories Of Ethics
You have just learned that ethics deals with good and bad. The question
people ask about truth or good or bad may; be how do you know what this
person is saying is the truth? On beauty, the question may be how do you
know this is beautiful? On rightness of an action or decision, the question
may be how do you know this is right or wrong decision or action?
Answers to all these questions bother on ethics.

Now let me tell you the three ways in which people answer these questions.
These are the three categories of ethical theories. Read them carefully and
slowly. They are the INTUITIVE THEORY OF ETHICS, THE
NATURALISTIC THEORY OF ETHICS and the EMOTIVE THEORY OF
ETHICS. What do all these mean? Continue to read the details.

Intuitive Theory Of Ethics

To the question what is good? How do you know this is good? The
intuitive theorists point out what is true or what is good can be seen
objectively by observing the relationships or properties in the situation.
This means the good or rightness of a situation depends on the subjects own
feelings. In other words what is good or right is obvious when you examine
the circumstances or issues objectively. Which philosophy holds this view?
You will identify this clearly when you reach Unit 2.

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Meanwhile how do the naturalists see the rightness or wrongness of an

event or situation?

Naturalistic Theory Of Ethics

According to this theory what is good or bad is determined by the society to
serve social purposes. This is sometimes referred to as INSTRUMENTAL
THEORY OF VALUE, because what society regards as good or bad is used
as instrument for solving human problems. What this means is that what is
good or bad does not have a universal application. It is the society what
determines that is good or what is bad. It is determined by the customs or
mores of the society. There are certain philosophers who believe in this
theory and allow it to influence their lives.

Activity 3.3
State the traditional value on the number of wives a man can acquire
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………………
d. ………………………………………………………………………

State the western value on the number of wives a man can have
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………………
d. ………………………………………………………………………

You can see from Activity 3.3 that what is valued in traditional marriage is
not the same as the western society. In both societies what is valuable in
marriage is determined by the society concerned to solve its own problems.
With that lets go on to the EMOTIVE THEORY OF ETHICS.

Emotive Theory Of Ethics

The emotive theory of ethics speaks of the good or badness, the rightness or
wrongness of a situation being determined by an individual’s attitude
towards the action or event. The wrongness or rightness is not a function of
the action but of one’s attitude toward. What do you notice about the
process of philosophy from an analysis of what you have learned in Section
3?. This question takes us to the process of philosophy

Process Of Ph Ilosophy
You might have noticed that philosophers try to find answers to problems in
life. These relate to what the world is, (metaphysics), how do we know
(Epistemology) and what is good or bad (Ethics)

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What have you learned in this section? I am sure you remember the follow:
 Philosophy is concerned with three main lines of inquiry, namely
 Metaphysics which concerns the problems of the nature of reality.
 Epistemology, dealing with the problem of knowledge, and
 Ethics dealing with the problems, or value or good and evil, right and
wrong.

Different philosophies discuss these issues differently.

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PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
UNIT 1 SECTION
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LEARNING
AND 4
Unit 1,THE VALUE
section OF PHILOSOPHY
4: The value OF EDUCATION
of philosophy of education

My dear learner, you are welcome to Section 4 of Unit 1. This section is on

the value of philosophy of Education. This section is trying to bring
together strands in what you have learned in sections 1 to 3. In section 2
you learned about the concept of education, the various forms of education
and the functions of education. In sections 2 and 3 you learned about the
concept and scope of philosophy as well as the processes of philosophy.
You also learned about the content of philosophy – epistemology,
metaphysics and Ethics.

In this section you are going to analyse the relationship between education
and philosophy, especially how philosophy influences the practice and
theory of education. You can see that this section is important because the
previous three sections dealt with education and philosophy separately. But
important decisions in education are invariably influenced by the philosophy
the decision makers hold. The knowledge you acquire in this section will
go a long way in assisting you to analyse educational issues and policies.
The section will also encourage you to use your own perspective mind to
develop new educational materials and activities depending on the personal
philosophy of education you develop.

After reading this section you will be able to:

 identify the relationship between education and philosophy
 discover how educational aims are influenced by philosophy.
 identify the different forms of school curriculum
 state the uses of philosophy of education to the teacher.

Education As Expression Of Personal Philosophy

Let me begin by delving a little into your personal affairs. What do you
teach, Mathematics, English, Social Studies? How do you prepare before
going into the classroom? How do you structure your lesson notes?

I am asking you these questions because classroom situations are infinitely

individual. Lets take an example. A teacher has to teach, English
Composition. The class was much bored, but teacher decided to reverse the
order of procedure and the class was transformed. What must have caused
this transformation? There are two possible factors. It must have been due
to the teacher’s skill or art of teaching or the development of sound general
principle, that is the theory the individual teacher holds in the classroom is
influenced by some theories some of which may be philosophical in nature.

So what is the value of philosophy to the teacher?

Activity 4.1
From the description state in one sentence the value of philosophy to the
teacher?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Good. You could state that philosophy guides the teacher in the way he
organises the teaching-learning process.

We have seen the first important use of philosophy. Read the second use of
philosophy. You can also see other teachers put up certain practices also
based on some philosophy. So by learning of philosophy of education one
can understand why certain teachers do what they. In other words you will
be able to understand the underpinnings of the educational practice
especially how the philosophy of the great educators have been influence
by the philosophy they believed in, especially in early childhood education.

Activity 4.2
State one implication of philosophy to the teacher.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Activity 4.3
In your opinion should a teacher attempt to learn philosophy of education?
Why?
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

Aims Of Education
You have been looking at the value of philosophy to the individual teacher,
how it helps the teacher to reflect on his own practice and to think through
the educational practices of others.

That’s fine, so far.

But do you know that every country’s educational system in philosophically

based? The philosophy is expressed in the aims of education. The
Presidential Committee on Education (2002) has established the aims of
education for Ghana.

Activity 4.4
Quote the philosophy of education for Ghana as stated in the
Committee’s report.
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………

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PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
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…………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………

If you read page 23 of the committees report, you can identify this aim.

Education should enable the individual to develop to the best of his potential
for the society and the nation as a whole.

What does this tell you? The education system of any nation has certain
goals to achieve in the ultimate end. That is the society’s aim of education.
Does the society’s educational system give equal rights to boys and girls?
Whatever the society hopes to achieve at the tail end of education is the
ultimate aim of education. That is determined by the philosophy of
education the leaders of the society have.

Activity 4.5
State two characteristics of ultimate aims of education
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………

I am sure you were able to state that ultimate aims of education are:
 Long term
 It is social in character
 It caters for the individual at the some time

But educational aims are not only ultimate. We can have immediate and
proximate aims of education. In the classroom the teacher states the
immediate aim of education also called objective. For example the teacher
states “By the end of this lesson pupils should/will be able to read the first
paragraph of the?………. fluently. These immediate aims are things we
want the children to achieve right now.

Activity 4.5
State one immediate aim of education in any subject area.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

What are proximate aims of education? Let me explain through an example.

The ultimate aim of education defines the society’s expectation of the

educational system at the very end. Some of these aims are difficult to
achieve. Proximate aims are given to the various levels of education; that is
what is expected of the educational system say after primary education or
secondary education or tertiary education.

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 PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
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Unit 1, section 4: The value of philosophy of education LEARNING

For example in the case of Ghana the Presidential committee says, by t he

end of the primary school course, pupils should have been equipped with
skills of numeracy. This is the an example of PROXIMATE AIM OF
EDUCATION.

Proximate aims of education can also be the aims o subjects as history or

mathematics. By the end of this course pupils will be able to explain the
causes of Yaa Asantewaa War. This is PROXIMATE AIM OF
EDUCATION.

So how many levels of educational aims do we have? Let me re-state them:

 IMMEDIATE AIMS
 PROXIMATE AIMS
 ULTIMATE AIMS

The Curriculum
What do you notice about each of the aims stated here? They all express the
expectation of the school system within a period. To achieve any of these
aims certain subjects and activities are lined up for the pupils. The courses
and activities form the CURRICULUM. So what is the curriculum? Every
complete scheme of education must comprise certain courses and activities
to help achieve the educational aims. These courses and activities constitute
THE CURRICULUM of the school system.

Is the curriculum related to philosophy? The answer is Yes. The

philosophy held by the society determines the educational aims. The
educational aims determine the curriculum of the school system. This is
because the society’s philosophy determines what should be taught in the
schools. That is the curriculum just as an individual’s life is influenced by
the philosophy he holds. Curriculum is designed in terms of the philosophy
of the society.

The discussion of the relationship between philosophy and curriculum

brings you to the end of this section. But before you put this section away
ensure that the following concepts and ideas are clear to you:
 The way a teacher organise his lessons, the methods he uses in the
classroom are determined largely by the philosophy he holds.
 Similarly a nation’s aims of education; ultimate proximate and
immediate are all influenced by the philosophy the society holds.
 The type and structure of the school curriculum are also influenced by
the aims and philosophy of education.

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PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
FOR TEACHING AND
UNIT 1 SECTION
LEARNING
5
Unit 1, THE PROCESS
section OFofEDUCATION
5: The process education

Hi, you are welcome to Section 5 of Unit 1 of this course on Philosophical

Basis for Teaching and Learning. Section 4 dealt with the influence of
philosophy on the processes of education. I believe you found that section
very interesting.

In this section you will continue the discussion on the relationship between
philosophy and education, but this time with the emphasis on the
relationship between philosophy and teaching. The discussion begins with a
review of the concept of teaching. The traditional view of teaching and
teaching as a bi-polar process are examined. The influence of philosophy
on the teaching learning process is also examined:

After reading this section, you will be able to:

 explain teaching in the traditional sense
 explain teaching as a bi-polar process, an interactive process between
the pupil and the teacher
 identify the role of philosophy in categorisation of teaching.

The Traditional View Of Teaching

The traditional view of teaching can be analysed by looking at the
implications of the grammar of ordinary talk about teaching. In grammar
‘teaching’ is an active verb and a transitive one. This suggests that teaching
is an active process showing that something is being taught.

What is the role of the teacher in this traditional connotation.

Activity 5.1
State one of the role of the teacher in the traditional sense of teaching.
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………

I am sure you were able to note in Activity 5.1 that teacher by this
traditional definition of teaching is concerned with imparting information,
knowledge or skill to pupils.

What will the pupils be doing in this situation?

Arnold Reid says:

“If one were to draw a picture of this simple-minded grammatical
idea of teaching it might show the pupil sitting receptively at his desk.
And the teacher standing on a platform (a raised platform for he is the
important person), one hand pointing, in the other a plate extended to
the pupil”

What is the role of the teacher in this traditional view of teaching?

It is quite obvious. In this traditional sense the teacher is a dispenser of
information, the fount of all knowledge. This suggests a picture of students

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 PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
FOR TEACHING AND
Unit 1, section 5: The process of education LEARNING

sitting in rows, in front of the teacher who is talking and passing

information to students with the aid of a blackboard with the students either
listening passively, or if the teacher is lucky, taking their own notes.

Activity 5.2
State the two major roles of students in this traditional definition of
teaching.
a. …………………………………………………………........………
…………………………………………………………........………
b. …………………………………………………………........………
…………………………………………………………........………

In this traditional view of teaching:

a. The teacher does and gives all to the pupil (student)
b. The pupil only receives, and
c. Copies notes occasionally. How do you compare these to your answer
in Activity 5.2? I hope you got the pupil’s activities right.

Problems With Traditional View Of Teaching

What problems do you see with this early conception of teaching? What
methods do teachers with such views employ? Read the following
description:
 In this approach the pupil ‘looks’ attentive and receptive. Do you know
why the word looks is put in quotation marks? Its only to tell you that
the pupil only appears to be attentive and receptive. But whether he is
actually learning is another thing altogether. Why?:
 His mind may be wandering, or
 He may be simply copying the words of the teacher or of a book.

The teacher is seen to be teaching in the ‘grammatical’ or traditional sense

and yet may be doing very little teaching in a more important sense. The
child may not be learning or if he is he may be learning only pre-digested
material which may fail to develop his growing organism. This is because
most philosophers and psychologists say that it is the pupil’s own
intellectual self activity. Which is the ‘efficient cause’ of the pupil’s
learning. You will read more about this efficient cause’ of the pupil’s
learning in the second segment of this section.

Method In Traditional View Of Teaching

What teaching technique will a teacher with this traditional view of teaching
employ in the teaching-learning process?

The lecture method, of course. You have this method of teaching in your
course General Methods of teaching.

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PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
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LEARNING Unit 1, section 5: The process of education

Activity 5.3
State three characteristics of the lecture method
a. …………………………………………………………………………
b. …………………………………………………………………………
c. …………………………………………………………………………

Philosophy Behind Traditional View Of Teaching

You have learned in Section 2 of this Unit that the philosophy one holds has
a vast influence on one’s behaviour. So what philosophy does the teacher in
this context hold? Simple. The pupil is a receptacle and the teacher is the
possessor of knowledge, he has knowledge about what doses of knowledge
the child needs. He makes all the decisions about the learning situation.
You will learn in Unit 3, Section 4, that such a teacher is likely to be an
idealist. Just note the word “idealist”. You will learn about the idealist
philosophy in section 4 of Unit 3. Meanwhile it is important to learn about
the modern conception of teaching as a bi-polar process, an interactive
process between the teacher and the pupil.

Teaching As A Bi-Polar Process

Many philosophers and psychologists have pointed out the teaching is not a
one way process as the traditionalist would want us to believe. These
philosophers and psychologists see the modern teacher as a facilitator, a
person who assists pupils to learn for themselves. Instead of having pupils
sitting in rows, they are likely to be in groups, all doing something
different, some doing practical tasks, some writing, some not even in the
room but in another part of the building using specialised equipment or
looking up something in the library. All of the pupils might well be at
different stages in their learning and in consequence, the learning is
individualized to suit the learners individual requirements and abilities.

Do you now see the basis of this modern approach to teaching? This model
has arisen from a realization that:

 Not all individuals learn in the same manner so that if a teacher talks to
all pupils some might benefit, but others might not.
 Everyone learns at their own pace and not necessarily at the pace set by
the teacher.

Activity 5.4
State two advantages of the modern concept of teaching
a. ……..………………………………………………………………
b. …….………………………………………………………………

Methods Involved In Modern Conception Of Teaching

You can see from the description that the modern conception of teaching is
based on three basic principles.
Can you state them? Let me assist you:

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 PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
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Unit 1, section 5: The process of education LEARNING

 The process of teaching focuses on the pupils’ current experience

 It recognises the learner’s responsibility for what is learned and how.
 The learning can take place in a variety of contexts

This process is not different from what you learned in your course on
General Methods of Teaching especially that aspect on lesson preparation.
In these modern times you start the lesson from where the child is, his
relevant previous knowledge, serving as the starting point. Using that as a
basis the teacher guides each child to acquire the new knowledge using
different teaching strategies.

Philosophy Of Modern Conception Of Teaching

Again, let me point out to you by way of a preview that this conception of
teaching has both a philosophical and psychological basis. You will learn of
these philosophical bases in Section 4 of Unit 3.

You will learn of the naturalist, pragmatist and idealist philosophies and
how they have influenced this thinking about teaching.

The Qualities Of The Modern Teacher

In view of the characteristics of modern teaching discussed above what do
you expect to see as the qualities of a modern teacher?

Activity 5.5
Qualities of a modern teacher. State 3 of such qualities
a. ……………………………………………………………….
b. ……………………………………………………………….
c. ……………………………………………………………….

Look for possible answers at the end of this course.

Activity 5.5 brings you to the end of Section 5. But before you put this
section away recap the following:

 Teaching can be looked at from the traditional or modern points of view.

 In the traditional context the teacher is seen as a dispenser of knowledge,
not taking into account the child’s experiences and conditions of
learning.
 The traditional conception reflects the philosophy of idealism
 Modern conception of teaching based mainly on naturalism, pragmatism
and idealism takes into account the child’s learning experience and the
learning situation.

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PHILOSOPHICAL
BASIS 1
UNIT FOR TEACHING
SECTION
AND LEARNING
6
Unit 1,FREEDOM ANDand
section 6: Freedom AUTHORITY IN EDUCATION
authority in education

Hello learner, you are welcome to section 6 of Unit 1 on your course on

Philosophical Basis for Teaching and Learning. In the last section you
learned about the process of education. You learned that teaching may be
seen from traditional or modern perspectives, but from which ever angle
teaching is looked at, it is seen to be influenced by one kind of philosophy
or the other.

In this current section, the discussion is on freedom and authority in

education. Freedom and authority in education to grow, to realize the best
in themselves. Freedom and authority are inter-related since freedom in its
loose meaning is equated with licence. But in the school system one has to
undergo some limitation of freedom of freedom to be able to grow. In every
society there is the need for some form of authority such as moral rules and
obedience to authority. At the same time there is need for some freedom.
How these two concepts work in the provision of education is the subject of
this section.

After reading this section, you will be able to:

 differentiate between negative and positive freedom.
 explain the concept of authority
 explain the relationship between freedom and authority
 state the main features of morality and morality as an aspect of
authority.

The Concept Of Freedom

Do you know that Ghana was fifty years old on 6th March, 2007? Why is
the country said to be fifty years on that date? It is very simple. Ghana
gained her freedom from the British colonial masters on 6th March 1957.
Ghana became free. The words ‘free’ and “freedom” are in many contexts
emotional. They are useful in making rousing slogans such as “set the
people free”, ‘Give children more freedom’.

You can see that freedom, if it is to be meaningful, is used with a

preposition – Freedom for children, freedom for oppressed people and
freedom from as in freedom from want or freedom from fear or irritating
interference. There is also freedom in as used in freedom in education or
freedom in the classroom. There is also freedom of speech or freedom of
worship.

What do you notice about these prepositions? Let me t ell you. The
prepositions are interchangeable. Most freedoms of could for example be
expressed as freedom to.

This gives two kinds of freedom, FREEDOM FROM and FREEDOM TO.
One is negative while the other is positive

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 PHILOSOPHICAL
BASIS FOR TEACHING
Unit 1, section 6: Freedom and authority in education AND LEARNING

Activity 6.1
Indicate whether Negative or Positive Freedom
a. Freedom from…………………………………………………….
b. Freedom to …..……………………………………………………

I am sure in Activity 6.1 you were able to identify Freedom to as positive

freedom and Freedom from as negative freedom. Freedom from want or
fear is an example of NEGATIVE FREEDOM while FREEDOM TO SING
IS a positive freedom. But do you see that negative freedom and positive
freedom are interrelated?

Yes, they are inter-related because NEGATIVE freedom makes possible the
enjoyment of POSITIVE freedom. Let me give you an example.

FREEDOM FROM FEAR leads to FREEDOM TO LIVE. Freedom from

intimidation leads to freedom to do, to act, they are opposites. Freedom
from fear leads one to enjoy freedom to live in peace. Freedom from
colonial rule on 6th March 1957 enabled Ghana to enjoy freedom to live
independently after 6th March, 1957.

What conclusion can we draw?

The conclusion simply is that Negative freedom leads to the enjoyment of

freedom in the positive sense.

Activity 6.2
Give two examples of how freedom from leads to freedom to in the society.
a. ………………………………………………………………………
b. ………………………………………………………………………

I am sure you were able to say for example that freedom from intimidation
gives one the freedom to use his creative powers.

The Nature Of Freedom

The discussion of the relationship between freedom from and freedom to
enables us to draw some lessons from the use of the term freedom.

 Freedom is a necessary means to the end of achieving the good life, of

becoming in the highest sense, human.
 Freedom is subject to limitations. These limitations are provided by:
- our very nature as human beings
- the environment (natural environment)
- culture
- other people

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PHILOSOPHICAL
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AND LEARNING Unit 1, section 6: Freedom and authority in education

Activity 6.3
Explain how human nature limits our freedom.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Yes. Because one is free to drink for example does not mean that one can go
on drinking endlessly without falling sick. Our human nature, our capacity
to fall sick limits our freedom.

What do we call all these forms of restrictions on one’s freedom? All these
forms of restrictions can be referred to as authority.

Why is authority important? Authority is important because freedom

without authority is license and licence produces anarchy.

What does this mean? This means that freedom is sustained by willing
submission to genuine authority whether human, institutional or
administrative. The common saying is that your freedom ends where my
nose begins.

Activity 6.4
Identify 3 types of institutional authority
a. ….…………………………………………………………...
b. ………………………………………………………………
c. ………………………………………………………………

Could you identify the family, the community, the police, government etc.
as institutional authority that limit one’s freedom?

Freedom And Authority In Education

The term ‘freedom in education has a wide connotation. It calls to mind
first the freedom of children, for example from fear and unnecessary
anxiety, freedom to participate in the life of the school and classrooms,
freedom to choose and exercise personal responsibility.

What about the teacher? There is freedom for the teacher, for example on
teaching methods and curriculum, freedom from the burden of large classes
so that they can put into practice a worthy philosophy of education, freedom
to participate in policy making through the medium of professional
associations

Do parents have freedom in education? The answer is certainly Yes.

Parents have freedom to pay for education in independent schools, freedom
to choose denominational schools.

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 PHILOSOPHICAL
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Unit 1, section 6: Freedom and authority in education AND LEARNING

Activity 6.5
You have noted freedom of some specific people in education. Write
down the limitations of these personalities by completing this table.
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………...
Personality Freedom Limitation
Teacher To choose method ------------------
Teacher To decide policy ------------------
Pupil To participate in the life of school ------------------
Parent To educate child in denominational
school ------------------

You can see from activity 6.5 that there is no freedom without a limitation.

When one recognises the authority imposed on him hence the saying that
FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY GO TOGETHER.

Freedom is exercised responsibly.

Activity 6.6
From the description authority can be described as the power to compel
people to……………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
Complete this.

Morality In Education
What is authority? It is the power to compel people to conform. In
education morality is one of the powers that compel people to conform. Can
you cite examples of morality in education?

Morality deals with deciding on the rightness or wrongness of an action. In

education teachers have certain ethics, we normally refer to the code of
ethics. Any act that contravenes the code of ethics may be regarded as
immoral so what is the moral situation in education? It has been explained
already. A moral situation arises when one has the opportunity to decide on
the rightness or wrongness of one’s action in terms of some standard or
criteria.

The explanation of the moral situation brings us to the end of this section.
Note that in this section you have learned that:
 Negative and positive freedoms are related because negative freedom
leads to the enjoyment of positive freedom.
 No freedom is absolute. Every type of freedom has some limitation.
 Morality is an aspect of authority in education.

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authority in for your notes
education

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