President Ramon Magsaysay State University

Iba, Zambales
Graduate School

MAED – SOCIAL STUDIES

Course/CodeTitle: MA 201 FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

Philosophy

• Philosophy comes from a combination of two Greek words – “philos” meaning “love” and “sophi”
meaning wisdom. Etymologically, philosophy means the love of wisdom.

• To love something is to desire it. For many Greeks, the philosopher was the one who desired wisdom

• Philosophy in general sense is conceived a person’s “sum of his fundamental beliefs and conviction”.
Every person has their ideas onto something, these ideas are acquired in a variety of ways, and they may
be vague and confused.

• Philosophy is a guide for living; because the issues it addresses are basic and pervasive, determining the
course we take in life.

• Philosophers always aske these questions:

 Who are we?

 Is there a higher existence that determines our existence?

 What is the relationship between nature and human beings?

 What is the meaning of life?

 Are our senses reliable in telling us about the truth of the universe? And so on.

• So, Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence,
knowledge, truth, beauty, law, justice, validity, mind, and language. Moreover, philosophy is rationally
thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world.

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY

• Metaphysics - The study of questions concerning the nature of reality or existence.

1. What is reality?

2. Does God exist, and if so, can we prove it?

3. The problem of evil.

• Epistemology -The study of the nature of knowledge and how these are attained and evaluated.

Typical Epistemological questions:

1. What is knowledge and how does it differ from belief or opinion?

2. What is truth, and how can we know if a statement is true?

 Axiology – its comes from the Greek axios meaning worthy and logos meaning science. the study of
question of value. Deals with issues of value in the following areas:

Ethics – the study of moral people principle.

typical questions: What is good or bad? What is right or wrong?

Foundations of Education

Naturalism

• Naturalism is a doctrine which separates nature from God, Subordinates spirit to matter and sets up
unchangeable laws as supreme.

• It is also termed as materialism.

• Naturalistic philosophy defined life in terms of material and chemical laws and emphasizes the
relationship between power, speed and matter as of the nature of causal relationship. According to
naturalism only nature is everything nothing is before and beyond it.

Characteristics of Naturalism in Education

1. Back to Nature:

- Out of three essential factors of education namely nature, man, and objects Naturalism gives prime
importance to nature. Hence, its call is ‘Back of Nature’. According to naturalists, the best teacher of the child is
nature. Hence to develop the child according to his nature, education should provide natural environmental.

2. Education a natural necessity:

3. Education-development of the natural life:

-According to Naturalistic thought, education is a process of development of the natural life. As Monroe
perceives it, “Education is the process of developed into an enjoyable, rational harmoniously balanced, useful and
hence natural life”

4. Freedom of the child:

- It gives prominent place to the concept of freedom in the education of the child.

5. Child centered educational process:

- Child occupies the central and pivotal role in the Naturalism set-up. The child’s nature is in the fore front
which all other things such as education, the books, the curriculum, the school, are in background.

Methods of teaching

Discarding the old system as stagnant Naturalism prescribed by:

• Leaning by doing

• Learning by experience

• Learning by play as the basis of teaching

Aims of education

1. Self-Expression:

• It is the main aim of education. It means giving the child full opportunity to express or reveal his hidden
capabilities and qualities.

2. Perfection of Human Machine:

• Mechanical naturalism suggests that education should aim at the efficiency and perfection of human
machine.

3. Preparation for struggle of life:

• Biological Naturalists believe that life is a struggle, in which only stronger living beings are successful.
Hence the aim of education should be to prepare the individual for the struggle of life.
4. Development of Individuality:

• According to T.P. Nunn every individual possesses his individuality and Special traits. The aim of
education should be the development of his Individuality.

Realism

Just as Naturalism comes on the Educational scene as a protest against systems of education that have become
artificial. Realism appears to be a reaction against curricula consisting of studies that have become bookish,
sophisticated and an abstruse. As we have a slogan in Naturalism ‘Back to Nature’ – in Realism we have a
slogan- ‘Things rather than words’.

According to Realism the external world of objects is not imaginary. It really exists, “Our experience is not
independent but determines reaction to the external objects. Experiences are influenced by the external world
which has real existence.” It is a new outlook and this new outlook is termed as Realism.

As earlier stated, realism is a revolt against traditional education. It was born in the form of opposition to the
idealistic system of education and the development of science gave support to it. Realism is based on reality. By
realistic education is meant that education should be able to make the life of a man happy and successful.

Spencer has defined education which supports scientific realism. According to him, “Education is the preparation
of life”. Hence realistic system of education throws light on all the aspects of education which are as follows.

Realism in Education

3. Preparing the child for a happy and successful life

The first aim of realistic education is to prepare the child to lead a successful and happy life. Thus, education
should be such that the child is able to solve his problems of life successfully and lead a happy life promoting the
welfare of society as well.

4. Preparing the child for a real life

The second aim of realistic education is to prepare the child for a real and practical life. Realists believe in the
reality of knowledge of external material world gained through senses. Thus, they wish to prepare the child for
the real life of material world.

5. Developing the physical and mental powers of child

According to Realism, mind as well as the physical organs together constitute an organism composed of matter.
Hence, according to this ideology, the third aim of education is to develop the physical and mental powers of the
child so that with the help of his developed intelligence, discrimination and judgement, he is able to solve all the
problems of life successfully.

4. Developing and Training of senses

Realists believe that unless the senses of the child are developed fully well, he will not be able to have full
knowledge about the external world. Thus, the fourth aim of realistic education is to develop and train the senses
of the child through varied experiences.

5. Acquitting the child with nature and social environment

According to Realism, a child is related both to the external nature and the social environment. Hence, the fifth
aim of education is to provide the child full knowledge of both the society and the external nature so that he is
able to strike a balance between the two.

6. Imparting vocational education

According to Realism, education should be a practical utility to child. The sixth aim of education is to provide
vocational education to the child.