Educ 401a

You, the Teacher, as a Person in

Society
 John Donne said in Meditation XVII: No man is an island...
"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies,
one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better
language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the
bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon
the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much
more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....
No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to
know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The idea that people are not isolated from one another, but
that mankind is interconnected.
No Man Is an Island
Artist(Band):Joan Baez
No man is an island,
No man stands alone, No man is an island,
Each man's joy is joy to me, Way out in the blue,
Each man's grief is my own.
We all look to the one above,
We need one another, For our strength to renew.
So I will defend,
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend. When I help my brother,
Then I know that I,
I saw the people gather,
I heard the music start, Plant the seed of friendship,
The song that they were singing, That will never die.
Is ringing in my heart.
Lesson learned…
 We don’t live in a vacuum.
 We live in a society. We are part of society. Our
thoughts, values, and actions are somehow shaped by
events and people we come in contact with.
 We, in turn, help shape society-its events, its people,
and its destiny.
 In the context of your life as a teacher, we would say:
“No teacher is an island. No teacher stands alone”
 Indeed, YOU can’t become a TEACHER alone!
It is therefore, no joke to become a
TEACHER.
 Why? Many a time the teacher is blamed for the many ills in
society. There are lot of demands and much is expected from
you.
 Your influences on your students and on other people with
whom you work and live are greater. But these influences depend
greatly on your Philosophy as a Person and as a Teacher.
 Thus, Your Philosophy of Life and your Philosophy of Education
serve as your “window” to the world and “compass” in the sea of
Life.
 Within your personal Philosophy are your Principles and Values
that will determine how you regard people, how you look at life
as a whole. They govern and direct your lifestyle, your thoughts,
decisions, actions and your relationships with people and things.
Teachers are expected to . . .
 CARE

 not to sCARE
CARE
 look straight in the eyes
 gentle touch/pat on the back
 acknowledgement
sCARE
 name calling
 ignoring one’s capacity
 belittling students
YOUR
PHILOSOPHICAL
HERITAGE
THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTION
 We are heirs to a rich philosophical heritage from the
different philosophies of great thinkers in the past.
They reflected on LIFE in this planet and search for
answers about human existence.
 What is life?
 Who am I?
 Why am I here?
 What am I living for?
 What is reality?
 Is the universe clear?
Existential Questions (in the world of teaching)
 Why do I teach?
 What should I teach?
 How should I teach?
 What is the nature of the learner?
 How do learners learn?
7 PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
6. Linguistic Philosophy (G.E Moore)
 Why Teach?
 Develop the communication skills of the learner because the
ability to articulate, to voice out the meaning and values of
things that one obtains from his/her experience of life and the
world is the very essence of man.
 What to Teach?
 Learners should be taught to communicate clearly – how to
send clear, concise messages and how to receive and correctly
understand the messages sent.
 How to teach?
 Experiential way
7. Constructivism ( David Elkind, Jean Piaget, Jerome
Bruner)
 Why Teach?
 Develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners
adequately equipped with learning skills for them to be able to
construct knowledge and make meaning of them
 What to Teach?
 Learners are taught how to learn.
 How to teach?
 Provide students with data or experiences that allow them to
hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose questions,
research, investigate, imagine, and invent.
Assignment: (encoded or written in a sheet
of yellow paper)
 Research on the following philosophies. Be able to
describe: “Why teach? What to Teach? How to
Teach?”
1. Empiricism
2. Epicureanism
3. Rousseau's Philosophy
4. Logical positivism
5. Confucianism
Formulating YOUR Philosophy of Education
 What does a philosophy of education contain or
include? It includes your concept about:
1. The human person, the learner in particular and
the educated person
2. What is true and good, and therefore must be
taught
3. How a learner must be taught in order to come
close to the truth
Example:
 Philosophy of Education of a Grade School Teacher
(The human person, the learner in particular and the educated person)
I believe that every child
 has natural interest in learning and is capable of
learning
 is an embodied spirit
 can be influenced but not totally by his/her
environment
 is unique and so comparing a child to other children has
no basis
(What is true and good, and therefore must be taught)

I believe that there are unchanging values in changing

times and these must be passed on to every child by
my modelling, value inculcation and value integration
in my lessons

(How a learner must be taught in order to come close to the truth)

I believe that may task as a teacher is to facilitate the

development of every child to the optimum and to the
maximum by
- Reaching out to all children without bias and prejudice
towards the “least” of the children
- Making every child feel good and confident about him/herself through
his/her experiences of success in the classroom
- Helping every child master the basic skills of reading, communication
in oral and written form, arithmetic and computer skills
- Teaching my subject matter with mastery so that every child will use
his/her basic skills to continue acquiring knowledge, skills and values
for him/her to go beyond basic literacy and basic numeracy
- Inculcating or integrating the unchanging values of respect, honesty,
love and care for others regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality,
appearance and economic status in my lessons
- Consistently practicing these values to serve as model for every child
- Strengthening the value formation of every child through “hand-on-
minds-on” experiences inside and outside the classroom
- Providing every child activities meant to develop the body, the mind
and the spirit
Output 2- FORMULATE your own Personal
Philosophy of Education
- to be submitted next week (FRIDAY)
- to be encoded in long bond paper
- be creative in the presentation of your
output
 THE
FOUNDATIONAL
PRINCIPLES OF
MORALITY
What is Morality?
 the quality of human acts by which we call them right
or wrong, good or evil. Your human action is RIGHT
when it conforms with the norm, rule, or law of
morality. Otherwise, it is WRONG.

 Example: When Juan gets the pencil of Pedro without

the latter’s permission, Juan’s action is wrong because it
is contrary to the norm. STEALING IS WRONG.
What is Morality? (cont.)
 A man’s action, habit, or character is good when it is
NOT lacking of what is NATURAL to man, that is,
when it is in accordance to man’s nature.

 Example: It is not natural for a man to behave like

animal (beast). Man has INTELLECT AND FREE WILL,
while animals are bound by INSTINCTS.
 INTELLECT – makes man capable of thinking, judging
and reasoning
 FREE WILL – gives man the ability to choose
 MEANING OF FOUNDATIONAL
MORAL PRINCIPLE
 Principle – is from the Latin word princeps, which
means a beginning or a source.
 A principle is that on which something is based,
founded, originated, initiated.
 A FOUNDATIONAL MORAL PRINCIPLE is, therefore,
the universal norm upon which other principle on the
rightness and or wrongness of an action are based.
 It is the source of morality.
WHERE is this FOUNDATIONAL
MORAL PRINCIPLE?
 It is contained in the NATURAL LAW
 Many moralists and authors and philosophers may
have referred to the FOUNDATIONAL MORAL
PRINCIPLE in different terms but it may be
acceptable to all (believers and non-believers) to refer
to it as NATURAL LAW.
WHAT IS THE NATURAL LAW?
 The law written in the hearts of man (Romans 2:15)
 It is man’s share in the Eternal Law of God
 It is the light of natural reason, whereby we discern
what is good and what is evil… an imprint on us of the
Divine light… (St. Thomas Aquinas)
 It is the law that says “Do good and avoid evil”
 This is the fundamental or foundational moral
principle.
 All men regardless of race and belief have a sense of of
the foundational moral principle… WHY?
 It is ingrained in man’s nature and woven into the fabric
of the normal human mind.
 We are inclined to do what we recognize as good and
avoid that which we recognize as evil.
 Writings, customs, monuments of the past and present
generations point out to this conclusion: that peoples
on earth, no matter how savage and illiterate, have
recognized a supreme law of Divine origin, commanding
good and forbidding evil.
VERSIONS OF THE NATURAL LAW
1. Kung –fu-tsu
(Confucius)

“Do not do unto others

what you do not want
others to do unto you.”
2. Christianity

“Do to others what you

like others do to
you.”

-Ten Commandments and

8 Beatitudes
3. Immanuel Kant

“Act in such a way that you maxim can be the maxim

for all .”
4. Buddhist
-8 fold path
- Hatred does not cease by hatred, hatred ceases only
by love.
5. Islamic Koran
> Five Pillars of Islam
TEACHER AS A PERSON OF GOOD
MORAL CHARACTER
Duly licensed professionals who
possess dignity and reputation with
high moral values as well as technical
and professional competence. In the
practice of their noble profession, they
strictly adhere to observe, and practice
this set of ethical and moral principles,
standard and values.
(Preamble, Code of Ethics for
Professional Teachers)
When are you of good moral character?
1. Being fully human-you have realized substantially
your potential as a human person
2. Being a loving person – you are caring in an
unselfish and mature manner with yourself, other
people and God
3. Being a virtuous person- you have acquired good
habits and attitudes and you practice them
consistently in your daily life
4. Being a morally mature person – you have
reached a level of development emotionally, socially,
mentally, spiritually appropriate to your
developmental stage
 TEACHERS AS ROLE MODELS
(Teaching character and moral virtues)
 Integrity
 Teachers model integrity by choosing to do the right
thing even when no one is looking.
 Honesty
 Teachers display honesty by telling the truth and acting
in an honorable way.
 Trust
 An honest person can be trusted. Trust is the belief in
others that develops whenever people fulfill their
promises and commitments.
 Fairness
 Fairness is closely linked with trust as students quickly learn
whether or not teachers discriminate against them or treat them
disparately. Fairness requires that all students have the same
opportunity to meet the standards.
 Respect
 Real respect requires that teachers care for those students toward
whom they might not have a positive feeling. Teachers who model
respect will always appreciate each individual students, even when
the behavior of some may be less than worthy of this respect.
 Responsibility
 Responsible teachers are those who are accountable for
their actions and fulfill their duties. Responsible
teachers are always well –prepared for each class and
provide constructive feedback to students.