Philosophy of Education

Seth D. Brown
The purpose of education is to edify: not only cognitively, but
physically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and civically. Some may argue
that secondary educations purpose is to prepare youth for employment or
further academic studies. These are useful goals, and are met within a
purpose driven education, but the edification of the individual is larger in
scope, creates individuals who are more adaptable to uncertain futures, and
is focused on ennobling those who experience it. Mere training, for either
employment or university studies, is too limited a purpose, as the majority of
jobs require only a part of the content provided by secondary education and
a significant percentage of secondary students will not engage in postsecondary education. Additionally, neither students, nor parents, nor
teachers, nor administrators, nor experts can confidently predict the exact
future employment needs of current students. To declare employment
preparation as the primary purpose of education would justify denying it to
anyone who is unlikely to every gain meaningful employment, such as the
chronically or terminally ill. (A similar position could be said of a declaration
of post-secondary education as a primary goal.) Yet, our culture recognizes
everyones right to be edified to the extent of their potential, and thus the
right to be ennobled through education.

The need for edification is the most fundamental need of a student. It

is what brings students and teachers together. Whether it is the state,
parents, peers, teachers, or some intrinsic motive of the students that places
them at the school, all of the potential catalysts are driven by the recognition
that the present self of the student is incomplete. While all of the actors: the
state, parents, peers, teachers, and the student, may be at odds as to the
improvement or guidance needed, they all sense that that incompleteness
seeks a building up to fulfill it.
Edification, however, is more than an intellectual building up or
improvement, there is a moral element to it, and it implies an imperative for
both. This moral imperative, while present in many religions, exists beyond
the social boundaries of any specific practitioners of a religion, just as the
intellectual imperative is present beyond the boundaries of any particular
discipline or skill set. It is the power of this exhortation that summons people
into the education profession despite the obvious sacrifice of salary, stress
levels, and social standings that their talents and years of education would
otherwise have entitle them to within the US.
Students learn best when they encounter these teachers, teachers who
cannot conceive of education as a job, but rather as a sacred duty, teachers
who create a culture and environment where edification is the goal and the
measure of accomplishment, teachers who express an unflagging passion for

the process of and duty to edification as exemplified by the founding teacher

of Western though, Socrates as given to us by Plato.
When I say that I am given to you by the gods, the proof of my
mission is this:--if I had been like other men, I should not have
neglected all my own concerns or patiently seen the neglect of them
during all these years, and have been doing yours, coming to you
individually like a father or elder brother, exhorting you to regard
virtue; such conduct, I say, would be unlike human nature. If I had
gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would
have been some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will perceive,
not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever
exacted or sought pay of any one; of that they have no witness. And I
have a sufficient witness to the truth of what I say--my poverty. (Plato,
389 (approx)/1871)
A person employed as a teacher primarily to earn a teachers pay, will soon
abandon school and students for a salary that justifies their years of
education, or perhaps they were under qualified to be a teacher in the first
place. A person employed as a teacher who exclaims the joy of the break
each coming weekend or vacation also exclaims to the students that what
they do between those breaks is not joyful but a thing to be endured.
The schools curriculum should be designed to engage the three
domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. It should also be integrated

both vertically and horizontally, so that the schools campus emulates a

community of learners. Vertically, specific fields of content need to have
curriculum mapped so that there is a coherent progression from year to year
with review, preparatory stages for future grades, and grade specific unique
learning experiences planned out by the faculty. Horizontally, content bench
marks and subject progression should be scheduled by mutual agreement of
those teaching that grade, to ensure that any student of a given grade can
engage any other student of that grade on what they are learning, even if
they are from different teams. Additionally, interdisciplinary teams should,
when possible, identify common themes and cross discipline skills so that
they can reference them in their specific lessons, reinforcing a sense of unity
to the community of learners.
The environment and identity of the entire campus, students, faculty,
and staff, should be as a community of learners, with passion and interest in
the edification of the self and others. While a janitor needs to know which
chemicals are needed for removing various problems, the school should also
seek to hire and develop ones who can also bring to the campus a personal
interest in some field or hobby that edifies. The students must see faculty
living by the civic codes and social mores that they teach. The administration
should be aware and publicly celebrate the individual and group
achievements of students, teachers, and staff alike. Moments need to be
scheduled so that not only teachers, but administration, staff and students

may come before a class or assembly and explain what they have learned of
a skill, subject, or life.
A teacher must bring a passion for the process of learning and
development to the classroom. Regardless of content, students can rise to
the level of motivation demonstrated by the teacher, but only frustration will
result if their motivation exceeds that of their teacher. For this reason,
passion for the process of edification is a fundamental quality needed for all
teachers. In addition to this passion, fundamentally, a strong sense of duty,
responsibility, and self-discipline must be combined in a teacher. They are
more essential then depth of content knowledge, as secondary content does
not delve. Other qualities that are essential to the profession, such as
patience, clarity of communication, organization, fairness, etc., find their
anchor in those three.
References
Plato (389BC(approx)/1871). Apology. Retrieved from
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/plato/index.htm
Carjuzaa, J., & Kellough, R. (2013). Teaching in the middle and
secondary schools. (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Emmer, E., & Evertson, C. (2013). Classroom management for middle
and high school teachers. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.