CHAPTER 1:

PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION

• Learning Outcomes

At the end of this Chapter, students should

be able to discuss at least six philosophical
thoughts on education.
 ACTIVITY
• Read this conversation then answer the
question in the ANALYSIS phase of this lesson.
• 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.
 ANALYSIS
• What classroom scenario is/are being
depicted by the comic strip and the teacher-
student question and answer.
 ABSTRACTION
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 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.
 ABSTRACTION
• 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 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. “What if the food is not
chewed in the mouth, what happens to food in the
stomach and to the stomach itself? What is 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…?
 A. JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704):
THE EMPIRICIST EDUCATION
• Education is not acquisition of knowledge
contained in the Classics. It is learners interacting
with concrete experience. 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. They are
of the thinking that no one person is destined to be
ruler forever. This is in keeping with the Anti-
Political Dynasty Bill.
 B. HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903):
UTILITARIAN EDUCATION
• To survive in a complex society, Spencer favors
specialized education over that of general education.
• “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 early peril of over-
specialism. Of course we do not prefer the other
extreme, the superficial person who every day knows
less and less about more and more.
• Who is fittest survives. Individual competition leads to
social progress.
 B. HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903):
UTILITARIAN EDUCATION
• The competition in class is what advocates of
whole-child approach and Socio-emotional
Learning (SEL) atmosphere approach and Socio-
emotional Learning (SEL) atmosphere and Socio-
emotional Learning (SEL) atmosphere negate. The
whole child approach, a powerful tool for SEL-
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)
 C. JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952):
LEARNING THROUGH EXPERIENCES
• 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. It 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.
 C. JOHN DEWEY (1859-1952):
LEARNING THROUGH EXPERIENCES
• Schools are for the people and by the people,
Schools are democratic institution 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
• 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.
• Problem-solving, like Dewey, should be the
dominant method for instruction.
 D. GEORGE COUNTS (1889-1974):
BUILDING A NEW SOCIAL ORDER
• “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.
• Building a new social order is very evident but
moral and ethical development seem to have
lagged behind.
E. THEODORE BRAMELD (1904-1987):
SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONISM
• Social reconstructionists critically examine
present culture and resolve inconsistencies,
controversies and conflicts to build a new
society not just change society.
• Technological era is an era of
interdependence and so education must be
international in scope for global citizenship.
 F. PAULO FREIRE (1921-1997):
CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
• Employ critical pedagogy and dialogue in
contrast to the banking system of education.
• Learners are not empty receptacles to be
filled.
 Enjoy Reading
• Read pages 15 – 91.