EDN679 Great Thinkers in Education Naazreen Angullia (30468471)

Assignment 1 : Reflective Journal

§ Key Understandings. (main ideas of the thinkers and implications on education)

§ Personal Impact. (how has your thinking or values changed? Was there anything that inspired
you? New learning? )

Module 1: Education in Prehistoric Times & Antiquity

This module introduced me to education in prehistoric times across various contexts and their
key thinkers. Gray’s article provided a useful initial overview and rationale for changes in
education through history. Despite evidence of the effectiveness of education systems which
support children’s natural ways of learning through play and exploration instead of through
‘traditional schooling’, Gray’s question, “why arent more schools like that?” and assertions of
education as a tool for inculcation prompted me to reposition my thoughts in a more critical
framework when addressing issues surrounding education such as its power and purpose. This
week, I explored and reflected upon two thinkers of this time period: Confucius and Aristotle.

Key Understandings

Confucius

Confucius’ notion of education , influenced by Lao Tzu’s Taoist philosophy, was idealistic and
spiritual. It was aimed at self-realization through the cultivation of a person’s moral character ,
observation, study and reflection in an environment of harmony. He focused on maintaining
family unity and societal norms through benevolence, filial piety and ritual. Regarded as a
progressive thinker; many of his pedagogical approaches, including his conception of lifelong
education, have important theoretical and implications for research and in classrooms today.
Confucius viewed effective teachers as role models engaged in reflection and review, positive
student-teacher rapport, differentiating instruction based on learner needs and motivations, using
a variety of strategies to stimulate learning (problem-posing, examples and metaphors) and
teaching humanistic values.

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Aristotle

Aristotle viewed intellectual and character education as essential for the complete self-realization
of man. He regarded education as a lifelong process and a vehicle through which moral and
intellectual virtues are transmitted. He shared Plato’s belief that it was the State’s responsibility
to aim for political education of its citizens to preserve its institutions; this function of education
still remains the goal of worldwide nations. Aristotle considered man as a rational animal;
teaching and learning should be both theoretical and practical as disciplined inquiry to develop
each person’s rationality. Aristotle’s statement, “the creation of a sound mind in a sound body”
encapsulates his curriculum vision which emphasized a balanced development for the cultivation
of body, mind and soul through play, physical training, music, science and philosophy. His
regard for leisure and enjoyment as the most important parts of education has impacted on play-
based curriculum, which place these at the heart of well-rounded education.

He advocated education through reason and education through habit (learning by doing). These
ideas have been developed by contemporary educationists who value connecting to theories and
experiential learning (e.g. Kolb, Dewey). Despite some of his elitist and sexist views on who had
the right to be educated, Aristotle is highly regarded as a forward thinking ‘professor’ and one of
the founders of scientific inquiry and empirical sciences. His theories and observations are
highly relevant today as he shared the same concerns with contemporary educationists about
educational policies and its role in society.

Personal Impact

I was motivated to explore Confucius as his influence is so pervasive in Singapore, where I grew
up. The government-mandated Civics and Moral Education programme, still a compulsory part
of the education system, aims to inculcate in Singaporeans ‘desirable’ attributes such as filial
piety, self-discipline and subordination to authority (teachers, bosses, etc.). The ideal family unit
is touted as being the building blocks of a good society. Singapore has a largely Chinese
population. Ancestral worship and ritual observation continue to be practiced in a modern, highly
capitalistic nation. Through education and propaganda, Singapore’s government pushes “typical”
Chinese values and practices onto its citizens; it was interesting to discover these values were
based on ancient Confucian ideologies. Additionally, I was astounded to discover Confucius
informed numerous pedagogical approaches I assumed were recent developments in best
practice, such as the importance of self-directed learning (which I had credited to Knowles), self-
regulated learning and motivation. I was intrigued by the far-reaching impact of Confucius’ ideas

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on the humanistic styles of Dewey, Rogers and Maslow (self-actualisation). Further research
yielded numerous online literature drawing strong parallels between Dewey and Confucius’
ideologies.

I was impressed by Aristotle’s progressive ideologies and numerous contributions to

contemporary education. The importance he placed on political education for the greater good of
the state prompted me to reflect upon the controversies surrounding education today. Education
and educational policies are undoubtedly highly politicized and controlled by bureaucratic forces
concerned with meeting the needs of an increasingly globalized and capitalistic world by
producing human capital to fulfill its own agenda. The standardization of the national curriculum
and its link to power and control over its citizens- but at what cost to individuality and
humanity?- concerns me as an educator who values humanistic principles.

Module 2: Education in the Middle Ages- Europe & Middle East

Key Understandings

Averroes
Averroes was instrumental in re-introducing Aristotle into the West with his own insights. His
work marks the beginning of medieval European philosophy. His educational philosophy was
based on the theory of rationalism , philosophy and law and he justified his position with
Quranic verses. Like Aristotle, he believed philosophy and logic should be applied for the
greater good of society. Averroes organized teaching into two categories- forming concepts and
reaching formal decisions and judgements. The latter, reflecting Aristotle’s influence, relied on
demonstration, dialectics and rhetorics. The impact of these approaches on modern education can
be seen in the theory of concept or category learning (e.g. Bruner).

Averroes’ progressive ideas are seen in contemporary education which value the higher order
skills (eg. inquiry approach) such as through critical thinking, intellectual reasoning, logic and
reflection. His curriculum vision was one where learning should take place in a ‘holistic’ way.
He placed philosophy at the forefront of arts and included ethics, aesthetics, social and political
sciences. He proposed that all levels of instruction, methods of teaching and content must be
appropriate to the learner’s intellectual capabilities and circumstances under which learning takes
place. Matching pedagogical methods to learner types and differentiation of instruction are
important concerns for effective education today.

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St Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas was a theologist who based much of his work on Aristotlean philosophy within a
Christian framework. Like Averroes, he viewed philosophy and theology as complementary to
one another. He prioritized ethics and virtue in fulfilling moral and intellectual education with
the ultimate goal of self-realization. He shared Aristotle’s belief that experience was crucial in
education. Aquinas makes important contributions to contemporary education in his humanistic
conviction that each person has the right and potential to learn and through his theories of
knowledge acquisition.

Aquinas discussed knowledge extensively, distinguishing between intellectual and sense

knowledge, passive (potential) and active knowledge. Knowledge, which is active and already
exists in the learner, must result from the activity of the learner’s own mind. He discusses the
twofold manner of knowledge acquisition through discovery, which is learner-centred and
knowledge by instruction, which is teacher-directed. In relation to instruction, his view of the
teacher’s roles as facilitator and guide to knowledge are similar to the ones held by Confucius.
He identifies characteristics of good teachers as stability, clearness, and purity of intention.

Aquinas felt the most effective pedagogical strategies were demonstration and critical thinking,
intellectual and practical reasoning. With logic at its heart, his curriculum focused on methods of
the sciences, mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy and divine science. Other
contributions Aquinas made to contemporary pedagogical approaches include teaching based on
problem solving and student interest to learn, using senses to discover about the world, a respect
for freedom in educational process, use of symbols and rhetorics when learning the unfamiliar,
presentation of subject matter in a logically precise and clear manner, the importance of
reviewing learned material and motivational teaching as an important factor in successful
learning.

Personal Impact

Prior to this week, I had never heard of Averroes and was struck by this polymath’s extensive
contributions to education, particularly science and medicine. It was impressive that he sought to
harmonize faith and reason; he was able to integrate Aristotlean philosophy with the Islamic
doctrine. I was also surprised to find out he was so influential on the Jewish and Christian
scholars , particularly Thomas Aquinas. In the larger context, I was surprised to discover the
freedom given to scientific inquiry during the Golden Age of Islam. The impact of Averroes and

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other Islamic thinkers such as Avicenna and Al-Farabi from The Golden Age of Islam was
seminal in transforming Western civilization and the scholastic landscape in a multitude of ways.

Reflecting upon the life and contributions of Aquinas and Averroes, I am deeply fascinated at
how progressive and modern the ideas of these thinkers were. Their concerns about education
and pedagogical approaches are even more relevant in today’s world. While doing my Dip Ed
years ago, I came across many of Aquinas’ approaches to teaching and learning in literature on
effective teaching practices and theories yet his name was not mentioned so it was truly an eye-
opener to learn who and where these “newer” ideas originated from.

It made me reflect upon the state of education today- theory vs practice. It seems no matter how
much research and information has been conducted into best educational practice (elements of
which Aquinas had identified clearly ages back), tensions continue to grow between traditional
and more ‘liberal’ schooling systems. I am curious why the government puts so much of its
resources into educational research when it seems to generate data already discovered about
effective education so long ago.

Module 3: Education during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment Period.

Key Understandings
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau’s ideas on education was informed by his philosophy of Naturalism. He viewed
children as very different to adults in that they were good, innocent and vulnerable while society
is inherently corrupt. He was concerned with the freedom of children and placed the child at the
centre of the curriculum. His most important educational aim was the natural development of
the child’s inner faculties and powers. He asserted that education came from nature, man and
things. Rousseau proposed education must conform to the natural processes of growth and
mental development and should be different at each stage of life, with specific aims and
pedagogical methods to correspond with four stages of development. Rousseau regarded self-
expression and the autonomous development of individuality as important goals of education. He
was also concerned with the social aims of education.

Rousseau’s view of the teacher’s role was as a protector of the child and provider of
opportunities for learning, based on children’s interests and motives. He focused on the
importance of the environment, including the importance of pleasure in learning, in determining

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educational success. Several contemporary educational approaches are influenced by
Rousseau’s methods of teachings . These include learning by doing , direct experince, method of
individualized instruction, heuristic and discovery learning, learning and exploring through
senses and moral education through example by the teacher.

Johann Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue committed to social regeneration and educational reform. His
idealistic educational ideas were influenced by Rousseau’s views on the role of education and
the nature of man. He attempted to reconcile the tension in education between the individual's
freedom and the responsibilities as a citizen. Named ‘The Father of Modern Education’, his
impact on modern pedagogy continues to be seen today in child-centred, inquiry based
approaches.

Pestalozzi viewed purposes of education as twofold: for development of the individual and for
the improvement of society. Educators should strive to educate the whole child, not just their
intellect. His pedagogy centred around respect for the child’s individuality and personal dignity,
social justice and personal liberty. The focus of Pestalozzi’s education was the on the heart and
love. He emphasized the importance of providing a loving, family-like environment in which the
child can flourish naturally.

His method of education argued for a child-centred approach based on student rather than adult
interests. Pestalozzi believed young children should learn through sense expression and direct
experience—through physical activity and through concrete experiences with objects and
situations instead of books. Education should occur progressively in steps and provide for
children’s different developmental rates. He advocated self-activity, spontaneity, discovery
learning and an inductive method, in which the child starts with simple objects and simple
observation, and builds toward more complex and abstract things. His view of teachers were as
role models who needed to be loving and kind, an extention of the child’s family.

Personal Impact
Personally, I felt it was Rousseau’s most important contributions to education are his revolt
against traditional education and re-instating the child’s rightful place in the centre of the
curriculum. We live in a world where education is used to inculcate ideas and values to serve the
interest of the state and to groom children into conforming to those ideologies. Rousseau’s
outrage at these injustices were well-placed in his context. Sadly, his sentiments are even more
warranted in today’s competitive, career-centric world where individuality and happiness are
being sacrificed in the name of education for the purpose of generating human capital.

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I was very moved by Pestalozzi’s idealistic and humanitarian ideas and work. Like Confucius, he
placed so much emphasis on the family unit in relation to the harmony and regeneration of
society. His advocacy for love and concern for emotional well-being of children reminds me of
the theories of humanistic thinkers like Maslow and Rogers. His holistic educational approach
with a need to educate the intellectual, moral, ethical and physical person is reflected in the IB
curriculum I have been a part of recently. Both Rousseau and Pestalozzi were seminal in
bringing child-centred education the attention it deserves in contemporary pedagogy. Their
preoccupation with the happiness of the child in accordance to nature is admirable and serve to
remind us of our priorities in education: the child’s needs.

Module 4: Education in the late 19th and 20th Century

Key Understandings
Maria Montessori
Dr Montessori was an Italian physician and educator. She formulated her child-centred approach
after close scientic observations and evaluations of children’s development as occurring in
predictable periods of development, each with specific opportunities for personal, intellectual
and social growth. Montessori concluded that children can reach their full potential in a carefully
prepared and supportive environment. Montessori believed in each child’s unique individuality
and innate desire to learn. Montessori’s ideas remain viable concepts which continue to impact
on early childhood education in particular. Montessori’s work has made a significant
contribution to improving the standards of early childhood education. Her methods and materials
have been adopted and adapted in public and private schools around the world.

The Montessorian approach is underpinned by five principles - respect for the child, the
absorbent mind, sensitive periods, the prepared environment and auto education. Other important
features of Montessorian classrooms are freedom of movement around the classrooms, mixed
age groupings, a discovery model of learning concepts through materials and student choice
from a range of prescribed activities. The materials Montessori developed are to educate the
senses, foster independence, encourage auto-correction and develop fine and gross motor skills.
Montessori viewed the teacher as a fundamental element of the prepared environment, trained
on the observation of children to meet their individual needs and can encourage the growth of
self-motivated, independent children.

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Loris Malaguzzi
The Reggio Emilia Method was founded by Loris Malaguzzi, whose educational philosophy was
informed by the theories of numerous pedagogists and child-development specialists.
Malaguzzi’s approach was to create an atmosphere that he felt would best support and encourage
early childhood development in a natural way and was founded on the basis of respect,
responsibility and community through an atmosphere of exploration and discovery. Malaguzzi’s
unique and progressive educational approaches and inclusive practices has gained the interest
and respect of early childhood educators, humanists and reformists worldwide.

Malaguzzi believed that the child’s culture, relationships and social setting were key components
to their learning. He utilized the concepts of the constructivist paradigm and project-based
learning in his approach. He constructed his pedagogy on the positive image of the child as filled
with resources and unrealized potential. The Reggio Emilia principles are: children must have
some control over the direction of their learning; children must be able to learn through
experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing; children have a relationship with
other children and with material items in the world for exploration; they must have endless ways
and opportunities to express themselves.

Malaguzzi placed much importance on relationships with others and collaborative communities
in his classroom, including parental involvement the program and planning of all aspects of the
school. The physical environment was considered to be the third teacher in a Reggio classroom,
designed to be aesthetically pleasing as well as engaging. The role of the teacher is to be a co-
collaborator, researcher, facilitator and guide on the learning journey. The role of pedagogical
documentation in these schools was to make education and the school transparent, to encourage
active exchange of ideas between a school and its surrounding communities in order to enable
schools to be sites of co-construction, negotiation and democratic accountability.

Personal Impact

This week’s thinkers were all united in their child-centred focus and were huge players in
‘alternative education’. The question “why are they still considered alternative?” prompted me
to critique the socio-political purposes of education today alongside my personal experiences
with such ‘alternative’ systems of schooling. I have experience in both Montessorian and Reggio
Emilia schools; both were in privatized schools catering to affluent ‘clients’. Montessori and
Malaguzzi both made extraordinary contributions to holistic education with deep respect for
children as individuals and unique beings. Montessori said that child-education was the most

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important problem of humanity and should receive the best attention of the government and the
public yet early childhood education remains largely neglected as my colleagues have observed.

Malaguzzi’s schools demonstrate there are radical, democratic alternatives to schooling which
necessitates new thinking and perspectives to education. Perhaps, the difficulties in
implementing such systems into the mainstream are due to the fact they have not been
formalized and required immense dedication and financial support. I strongly feel this is due to
such ‘alternative’ approaches being in opposition to the political agendas and teach/test mentality
which dominate educational policy. As ‘alternative approaches’ prioritize the needs of the child
over the needs of the state/government interest to churn out human capital, I anticipate they will
always remain outside the mainstream and marked with the boutique and exclusive status with
little impact on contemporary practices.

Module 5: Education in the late 19th and 20th Century

Key Understandings
Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore was a Bengali polymath, a Renaissance man and one of the most progressive
educator of his time. His humanist aims for education were self-realization and
enlightenment of the individual. His educational principles were underpinned by freedom,
creative self-expression, physical development, love for humanity, moral and spiritual
development, social development, unity of West and East, harmony with all things, mother
tongue as a medium of expression, independence and self-reliance. Tagore was a visionary
of holistic experimental education who sought to create non-authoritarian learning systems
appropriate to their respective surroundings. He was a pioneer in education for intercultural
understanding and peace, cultural synthesis and international unity. Tagore placed much
importance on harmony in relationships and freedom- of the heart, intellect and will- in
education. He was dedicated to education as a tool for rural reconstruction and human
rights.

Tagore’s vision of was influenced by naturalism. His curriculum vision was broad-based,
child-centred, organic with focus on community service and activities to develop vocational
efficiency. He minimized book knowledge and condemned exams. Tagore's system of
education emphasizes the intellectual, physical, social, moral economic and spiritual
aspects of human life. In Tagore’s philosophy of education, the aesthetic development of

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the senses was as important as the intellectual.

B. F. Skinner

Considered as one of the most influential psychologists of all time, Skinner was an
American psychologist, philosopher, scientist and poet and an important advocate of
behaviourism. Skinner’s ideas were largely informed by Thorndike’s law of effect. Skinner
emphasizes observable behavior in the study of humans: hence, “behaviorism.” He was
focused on environmental events rather than internal states to examine how the human
mind works.

Skinner believed that behavior that is followed by reinforcement (positive or negative) has
an increased probability of reoccurrence. Behavior followed by extinction or punishment
has a decreased probability of re-occurrence. Skinner asserted learning is implied by a
change in behavior therefore a teacher must first determine what behavioral change is
desirable, then manipulate the consequences to alter the probability of the behavior
recurring. Skinner was concerned with the applications of behaviorism and operant
conditioning to educational practice. He believed that the goal of education was to train
learners in survival skills for self and society. The role of the teacher was to reinforce
behaviors that contributed to survival skills. Behaviourism continues to heavily impact on
contemporary education in children and adult learning.

Personal Impact

(As I had already covered Tagore in my presentation, I am focusing my reflection on

behaviourism as its approach to education is markedly different to others we engaged with
for this unit so far).

The contrasting ideas behind the humanist thinkers, Tagore and Dewey, and behaviourist
thinkers in this module highlights extremely different approaches to education. These
differences make explicit the tensions that exist between the pragmatic vs idealistic
purposes of education today. Despite the theoretical and practical merits of constructivism,
humanistic and child-centred approaches we have explored so far and despite heavy
criticisms of behaviourism (being overly deterministic and reductionist, superficial, one-
dimensional, etc.), behaviourism remains a huge part of education. Perhaps this is due to
contemporary education’s focus on standardisation, accountability, validity and reliability.
The Australian curriculum is not much different to ones found in other capitalist/ neo-

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liberal countries which are concerned with churning out human capital for a productive
workforce, something the government makes explicit.
“The primary means by which policy can improve workforce productivity is by enhancing
human capital and by ensuring human capital is allocated efficiently and meets the dynamic
needs of the economy.” (https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/human-
capital-and-productivity-literature-review-march-2013.pdf).

Since behaviourism views learning as demonstrations of change in behaviour and shaped

by elements in the environment, this could provide some degree of control to teachers over
the outcomes of education. The action and consequences approach does have its worth in
behaviour management. We see this enacted in classroom contracts, behaviour
management plans and positive/negative reinforcement of desirable behaviours; special
needs is another area which benefits from this. I feel some elements of behaviorism, like
Direct Instruction, modelling, drilling and reinforcements do have its merits, eg. In Physical
Education.

Having clear instructions, expectations and objectives is undoubtedly a massive part of

effective education. The quantitative, scientific and objective approaches helps to make
the processes of assessment, evaluation and reporting to relevant parties (Ed. Dept, parents,
when creating IEPs and so on) clear and transparent (did students meet learning objectives
and how was this demonstrated?) and measurable through performance indicators,
competencies and standards. In contrast to other alternative approaches, behaviourism
perhaps provides the best tools and methods to fulfill the goals of the national curriculum of
many countries, which seem quite preoccupied with statistical data and numbers.

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