Existentialism can be considered as a type of philosophical mentality which

emphasizes the individual’s uniqueness and freedom against a group, population, or

mass society and relies on the point that all people are thoroughly responsible for the
meaning and concept of their own life and they are responsible for creating the nature
or definition of their identity. They try to encourage and simplify individual’s learning and
understanding in existentialistic teaching. Creating existentialistic ways and methods in
class requires realizing an elegant balance in which the teacher preserves his/ her
identity as well as the student. This means the teacher must avoid getting pulled into a
situation where the students are simply defined based on their age, education, honor, or
being a group member. With one such view, existentialist philosophers and humanistic
psychologists appreciate teaching and learning methods which make the learner the
center of attention and consider the individual differences as important. Therefore,
teaching methods such as dialogue method, the learner in the center, and individual
growth and development view are the best educational instruments for this view.

This school became very popular in the twentieth century, especially during the
Second World War and after that. “Existentialism” was a simple title which has been
given to a set of completely different mutinies against traditional philosophies especially
against efforts which were made to create orderly and abstract thinking systems.
Existentialism could be considered as a sort of philosophical thinking which emphasizes
the individual’s uniqueness and freedom in groups, populations, or mass societies and
relies on the point that all people are thoroughly responsible for the meaning and
concept of their own life and they are responsible for creating the nature or definition of
their identity (Gutek, 2005).

The roots of this thinking system could be found in sophists. This philosophy
began in the 19th century with Kierkegaard and Nietzsche’s works and Buber, Jaspers,
and Sartre developed it in the twentieth century. Existentialism became more popular
when the books “Being and Time” by Heidegger and “Being and Nothingness” by Sartre
were published in 1927 and 1943. These books made the philosophy turn to studying
the specific human from studying an abstract existence which means human was
studied in his daily life on the one hand and regarding his relationship with others on the
other hand (Shoarinejad, 2004).

Moreover, the existentialist school led to an upheaval in psychology as well an

upheaval entitled humanistic psychology which included a set of obligations for
educational psychology and learning theory and consulting psychology. Rollo May,
Viktor Frankl, Abraham Maslow, Gordon Allport, and Carl Rogers are amongst
humanistic psychologists (Gutek, 2005).

In addition, absolute freedom and human being responsible for his decisions are
the repeated concepts of existentialism. In contrast with Aristotle’s claim which stated
that human is a rational being in nature and lives in a purposeful and meaningful world,
Jean- Paul Sartre, an existentialist philosopher, claimed that each person exists first
and then he/ she creates his/ her meaning and nature. Because there are no general
truths, absolute laws, or a final destiny which guides humans, individuals are absolutely
free to choose. This absolute freedom requires human’s thorough responsibility for his
actions and decisions (Gutek, 2005). Understanding reality is the fundamental principle
of existentialism, which is based on existence proceeding essence, explains the human
subjectivity being the priority. Man enters the world first and then begins his efforts to
understand himself. This consciousness makes human develop his essence through
individual, personal, and mental selectivity. Each person is obligated to create the goal
of his own life. Existentialists believe that the fundamental philosophical problem is the
matter of valuing and selecting (Gutek, 2005).

From this school’s view, the world is constant, unchangeable, and an impersonal
environment which human must accept and live in. while human lives in an impersonal,
constant environment he is a creature who begins his life upon his own decision. Which
means the world we are forced to live in also gives us the right to choose and it gives
this right to everyone. The power to select and mental awareness is human’s
specification and human is responsible for the decisions he makes and his freedom is
what separates him from other beings and this freedom is the product of human
awareness. From the existentialism’s viewpoint, the material world or the universe
minus human, has no meaning and no objective. This world is a probable affair, a thing
which happens to exist. This does not mean that the world is based on temptations. The
systems and rules discovered by science are original enough however, they lack direct
human meanings. They do not match any of the human tendencies or ideals if they are
understood right, except for the tendency to be safe which includes the tendency to get
rid of real freedom and real fear of human condition. Human exists in this world by
accident. There is no universal order or a natural design for objects where human has
been created in as well. Therefore, the only thing human owes nature is his existence.
Therefore, his existence proceeds his essence which means if human is to be
something, he must exist. But existence does not form human. He forms himself while
he exists. The main and fundamental motivation of each individual includes existing and
being discovered. Life finds its meaning and importance through that and the
meaningful reference for each person is his own instant understanding or intelligence
(Shoarinejad, 2004).

Further, Shoarinejad,( 2004) stated that this school considers personal

experiences and the child’s pure and direct reactions as his/ her educational axis and
the unique individuality of the child is the central point of education. The teacher and the
students have different experiences and it is the teacher’s duty to use the students’
experiences as the basis and axis of his own work. Education must awaken the
individual’s awareness and this awareness is related to awareness of one’s own
existence which is present in the world. The efforts of existentialistic education include
training the original person who is aware of freedom and that each decision contains
personal value creation (Gutek, 2005). The objectives of a socialized education include
affairs such as learning to cooperate with others, successful performance in group
situations and working as an efficient member of the team or group. According to group-
centered educational theories, the individual becomes more effective and efficient
through simulation and group cooperation. Existentialist teachers act cautiously when it
comes to glorifying groups since they believe that some group situations frustrate the
individual to an extent to which there is a fear of them sacrificing their personal
originality because of the pressure to be the same. There are still rooms for original
decision when the individual freely chooses to join a group and work in it. Despite that
many group- oriented school situations are not selected freely. In any case, the learning
situations which are organized around the axis of group must be in such a manner that
they provide opportunities for individuals to exhibit the unique aspects of their
personality (Gutek, 2005). Moris believes that education must lead to intensity of
awareness in the learner. This awareness means that the students must understand
that he constantly, freely, independently, and creatively makes decisions as a person.
This awareness includes the person’s responsibility towards the manner of his own life
and the manner of creating his own personal individuality. (Mahini, F. & Yahyaei,
D. ,2017).

During the first period, the child who is really unaware of his human conditions is
not aware of his personal identity and his destiny. The pre-existing years are
simultaneous with the primary education period. The period is where the children learn
reading, writing and counting and physical, recreational, relationship and social skills.
Children also learn a little of the program content and some problem- solving skills in
addition to that. But the existing point appears when individuals become aware of their
presence in the world as “me”. This realization commonly occurs around physical
puberty and its properties include the individual becoming aware of his presence in the
world and the appearance of insight in him regarding his awareness and responsibility
towards his actions. Therefore, existentialistic education begins from the junior high
school and continues to high school years and the four- year university period. The aim
of one such education is to awaken and intensify the individual’s self- awareness.
Existentialistic education considers elements of experience which are mental, personal,
and emotional and encourages human to face situations which guide him towards this
understanding that human’s decisions require posing a personal question about good
and bad and right and wrong (Gutek, 2005). Specialized education must progress
together with humanity education and specialty must absorb humanity aspect as much
as possible. Human must govern his specialty not be a slave to it. Education must be
about experiences which make the individual more aware of human states and
conditions such as suffering, conflict, sin, and death which provide understanding. We
cannot get away from this condition we must try to understand them and face them
wisely (Naler, 1998). Open education is in fact a reaction to overt emphasis on mental
and cognitive learning in schools. The development of the concept of “self”, personal
growth, and students’ emotions and expression are promoted and encourages in this
type of education. The students are taught to always be constructive, adapt themselves
to the environments and not to follow the rigid rules of the school (Fathi Vajargah,
2009).