Prepared: Prof. Dr. Abdul Razak Habib Lecture Notes ESEB 20 !

" ESEB 20 #: $%&NDA'(%NS (N ED&)A'(%N '%P() : 'HE PR%*(SES AND L(*('S %$ ED&)A'(%N: '%+ARDS RE$LE)'(,E PRA)'('(%NERS . '-e Pro.ises of Educatio/ Education can be defined as the growth process of the individuals and society. The promises of education means what education can do to individuals of all ages, from children to adults to senior citizens, in a particular country. The growth of individuals can be divided into four basic domains:

( ! "ognitive domain (#nowledge!, ($! %sychomotor domain (s#ills!, (&! 'ffective domain (attitudes!, and ((! )ocial domain (social interactions!. *ther domains of growth include:

(+! %roductive domain (#nowledge and s#ills for ,ob, home, citizen and member of society!, (-! %hysical domain (development . maintenance of strong . healthy body!, (/! 'esthetic domain (values and appreciation of the arts!, (0! 1oral domain (values . behaviours!, and (2! )piritual domain (recognition . belief in the divine . the view of transcendence!. Education helps young citizens so that they can function more effectively in their current and future times. These functions are determined by the aims of education. The aims of education are the general statements of the functions to be transferred to the learners through education, or simply the general purpose of education. 3alph Tyler summarized the aims of 'merican education as:

( ! 4eveloping self5realization, ($! 1a#ing individuals literate, (&! Encouraging social mobility, ((! %roviding the s#ills and understanding necessary for productive employment, (+! 6urnishing tools re7uisite for ma#ing effective choices regarding material and nonmaterial things and services, and (-! 6urnishing the tools necessary for continued8life5long learning.

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'-e Li.its of Educatio/

limits of education means the factors that become hindrance/obstacle to education. 's we are all aware, education needs
The infrastructures such as buildings, classrooms, laboratories, libraries9 others than the human capital such as administrators, teachers and supporting staff. The provisions of these facilities re7uire financial support, which may become the limitation to education. 0 Sc-ool locatio/ can be another limitation to education, with some schools are nicely located in towns and cities, while others are located in the villages or far in the mountains. The access to schools could be a problem to some children, other than lack of teaching and learning materials available at such schools. :ence, school location can be a limit of education. 0 *e/tal a/d p-1sical abilities of stude/ts differ in many ways. )ome of them are mentally retarded, or physically handicapped, blind, or deaf and dumb. These students cannot learn as much as the normal students. They need special

learning aids,

for e;ample, the <raille materials for blind students, and sign language for deaf and dumb students. 'll these become limits of education. 0 There is a lar2e a.ou/t of k/o3led2e a/d skills t-at stude/ts /eed to lear/ . =ith the limited time and resources available to students and teachers9 teachers face the problem of selecting what subjects the students should take to equip them for their future life. There are at least nine domains of growth that are important to students. "an they learn all of them> :ence, time can be another limit of education. .! 'o3ards Reflective

Practitioners

3eflective practitioners mean those who look back at what they are

doing, ma#ing evaluation as to the 7uality of the processes and think of how to

improve those processes. =ith the above promises and limits of education, teachers
as practitioners in education, should be more reflective in their profession. That is, for e;ample, they should loo# bac# at how they teach, evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching process, and thin# of how to improve this process. 0 's an e;ample of teaching process, assume that you are a teacher in a secondary school, and you are given a class with mi;ed abilities students to teach, i.e. some of them are very bright, some are moderate, and the rest are wea# students. What would you do to make sure each one of your students in your class understand what is taught to them, though they have different academic abilities, bac#ground, interest, and motivation> 0 =ould you -a4e all of t-e. i/ t-e sa.e class , and give more attention to the wea# students> *r, 0 =ould you di4ide t-e. into three groups according to their abilities and teach them differently> *r, $

0 =ould you use t-e cooperati4e0lear/i/2 strate21 such that the 2ood stude/ts 3ill teac- t-e .oderate stude/ts in groups of five, while you teach the wea# students> 0 "an we separate teac-i/2 ob5ecti4es for this different group of students> *r, 0 =ould you separate 1our stude/ts i/to t-ree classes , i.e. "lass ' for good students, "lass < for moderate students, and "lass " for wea# students, and teach them different syllabus using different approach> 0 "an you reflect bac#, as a student, by recalling what your teacher did to you when you were a student in school> ?et us share these e;periences and do some reflection on them, and suggest the better teaching approach for these students.

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'%P() 2: &NDERS'AND(N6 ED&)A'(%N: 'HE $%&NDA'(%NS PERSPE)'(,E7 A *&L'(D(S)(PL(NAR8 AND (N'ERD(S)(PL(NAR8 APPR%A)H 2. (/troductio/ This topic will discuss the understanding of education through foundations of education perspective. The topics covered in the foundations of educations course (see )tudy @uide! are the purpose of schooling, philosophy of education, sociology of education, history of education, politics of education, curriculum and pedagogy, transmission of #nowledge, schools as organization, teacher professionalism, e7uality of opportunity, educational outcomes, educational ine7ualities, educational reforms, school improvements, current issues and trends in education, and the future of education. =hich of these topics do you thin# are multidisciplinary, and which of them are interdisciplinary> 2.2 '-e *ultidiscipli/ar1 Approac1ultidisciplinary approach in understanding of education means understanding of education through many separate disciplines of knowledge. 6or e;ample, the sociological foundations of education, and teacher professionalism. These two disciplines of #nowledge are different, with little or no overlapping contents. The theories and8or principles that made up the two disciplines come from two different disciplines of #nowledge (sociological foundations of education . teacher professionalism!. 9a: '-e Social $ou/datio/s of Educatio/ ;Sociolo21< is defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with the origin, development, organization and functioning of human society . Education develops within, not a part from, social conte;ts. )chools influence the cultures of the people that the schools serve. ?i#ewise, the surrounding cultures shape the schools and their curricula. *ther than the dynamic nature of our local cultures, we have the technology (such as internet and other electronic technologies! that e;poses global cultures to our community. "an we provide relevant education to cater for these dynamic cultures> This is actually part of the social foundations of education. =e have to study the present and perhaps future cultures to determine the direction of our present education. An trying to understand education, we need to understand the sociology of a particular country. =e than try to relate life and cultures of this country to its education system, particularly the philosophy, aims, goals and ob,ectives of education. )ince we can study sociology of a country as a separate discipline, we can study social foundations of education through a multidisciplinary approach. 9b: 'eac-er Professio/alis. ;Professio/alis.< is defined as professional character, spirit, or methods of professionals, as distinguished from an amateur. :ence, teacher

professionalism means professional character, spirit, or methods of a teacher, as distinguished from non-teachers. @ood teachers are not ,ust born with the professional character, spirit, or methods9 but they ac7uire them through trainings and e;periences. They gain their #nowledge from successful and unsuccessful e;periences. Teachers differ from others at least in five aspects of teaching and learning: ( ! they have the content #nowledge of the sub,ect5matter they teach9 ($! they have the #nowledge and s#ills of how best to deliver8teach a particular content9 (&! they can understand learnersB needs in teaching and learning9 ((! they #now how to handle students with discipline problems9 and (+! they #now various methods8techni7ues to evaluate studentsB academic achievement, s#ill performance, attitudes and social interaction. An trying to understand education of a particular country, we need to understand, partly, the teaching and learning process and teacher professionalism that are being practiced in the country. =e can also loo# at the character, spirit, or methods of other professionals9 and compare them with those for the teachers. )ince we can study teacher professionalism as a separate discipline, therefore it can be studied through a multidisciplinary approach. 2.! '-e (/terdiscipli/ar1 ApproacAnterdisciplinary approach in understanding of education through foundations perspective means understanding of education through related disciplines of #nowledge. 6or e;ample, the philosophical foundations of education and the historical foundations of education are interdisciplinary #nowledge. =e use the theories and principles from other disciplines (philosophy . history! and create theories and principles for the %hilosophical 6oundations of Education and the :istorical 6oundations of Education. 9a: '-e P-ilosop-ical $ou/datio/s of Educatio/ ;P-ilosop-1< is a combination of two @ree# words, the philBs which means love, and sophia which means wisdom. :ence, the word philosophy means love of wisdom, i.e. we need to search for wisdom. At involves searching for defensible values, clarifying our perceptions, beliefs and attitudes9 formulating principles for ma#ing decisions9 and finally implementing these decisions. %hilosophy of education focuses on the values, beliefs and attitudes related to education, i.e. the process of growth of individuals and society. These values, beliefs and attitudes determine the direction of our education, particularly the aims, goals, ob,ectives, contents, delivery and assessment of education. =e loo# at our life and problems in full perspective in deciding on our philosophy of education. 0 6or e;ample, the philosophy of perennialism, the oldest and most conservative philosophy, is based on realism. 3ealist views the world in terms of ob,ects and matter. %eople come to #now about the world through senses and reason. Everything is derived from nature and is sub,ected to its laws. 'merican education, up to the late nineteenth century, was dominated by perennialist thin#ing.

 :ence, in order for us to understand the philosophy of education, we need to #now the general philosophies first, and then relate them to the aims of education of a country. That is, we have to combine the #nowledge about philosophy and the #nowledge about the education to form the #nowledge about the %hilosophical 6oundations of Education of a particular country, which can be regarded as an interdisciplinary approach. 9b: '-e Historical $ou/datio/s of Educatio/ ;Histor1< is defined as the branch of knowledge that deals with past events. :istory involves searching for what had occurred within a particular time frame and conte;t. 'll human activities, including those in the field of education, occur within time and conte;t. The events that too# place during a particular period of time in a country had influenced the education of that country. In Malaysia,

can you recall an event that had changed our education

(/ t-e &SA, the historical foundations of education started with the colonial 1assachusetts, which settled by %uritans (members of a sect of %rotestant from England! who hold strictly to religious discipline. !he earlier schools were closely related to Puritan church. The ma"or purpose of school was to teach children to read the #criptures $passages from %ible& and notices of civil affairs. The purpose of schooling at that time was to ma#e sure children can read and understand the principles of religion and the laws of the "ommonwealth. :ence, in order for us to understand the history of education of a country, we need to #now the events that had ta#en place at a particular time, and relate them to what had happened in education of a country. That is, we have to combine the #nowledge about history and the #nowledge about the education to form the #nowledge about the :istorical 6oundations of Education of a particular country, which can be regarded as an interdisciplinary approach.

'%P() !: 'HE P&RP%SE %$ S)H%%L(N6 !. (/troductio/ =hy did we go to school> =hy do children go to school> The answer to these 7uestions will probably help us to understand the purpose of schooling. =hat would have happen to us if we did not go to school> 'hat was the purpose of schooling ()) years ago What is the purpose of schooling now? This lecture will relate the philosophy, aims, goals and ob,ectives of education to the purpose of schooling. !.2 '-e P-ilosop-1= Ai.s= 6oals a/d %b5ecti4es of Educatio/ To understand the process of education, we need to understand curriculum development, content development, content delivery, and assessment of content learning. The curriculum (syllabus! development includes determining the philosophy, the aims, the goals and the ob,ectives of education, as shown the figure below. The content development, delivery, and assessment will not be discussed here. %hilosophy 'ims @oals *b,ectives

P-ilosop-1 of educatio/= as we #now, focuses on the values, beliefs and attitudes in relation to the growth process of individuals and society. These values, beliefs and attitudes determine the direction of our education, particularly the aims, goals, ob,ectives, contents, delivery and assessment of education. )ome of the educational philosophies will be discussed in Topic (. 's an e;ample, we will discuss pragmatism as a philosophy of education. 0Pra2.atis. defines the truth and meaning of ideas (#nowledge! according to their physical conse7uences and practical values (p. +(!. At views the world as not fi;ed, but constantly changing9 and views #nowledge as process. At suggests education should focus on e;periencing the process, for e;ample, learning occurs as pupil engages in problem solving. Cnowing is considered an interaction between the learner and environment, of which both are undergoing constant changes.

Ai. of educatio/ (=hat education e;pects students will achieve! can be defined as general statement of the functions to be transferred to learners through education, or simply the purpose of education. The earlier aims of 'merican education were to ascertain the continuation and enforcement of democratic ideals, and to save the souls (p. 2(!. These aims had been associated with the philosophy of pragmatism, which many people claimed to be the unofficial 'merican philosophy (p. +(!. 6oal of educatio/ (=hat students can do after completing education! can be defined as statement of specific purpose with some outcomes in mind. The aim

gives the purpose of education, such as *aki/2 i/di4idual literate9 while the goal gives more specific outcomes of education, such as All 8ear0 pupils s-ould be able to read a/d 3rite si.ple se/te/ces i/ E/2lis-< . :ence, the goal of education is the statement about what pupils should be able to do to achieve the aim8purpose of education. %b5ecti4e of educatio/ can be defined as statement of specific learning outcomes at various levels of learning9 e.g. at program level, course level, topic level, or lesson level. 'n e;ample of course level educational ob,ective is: At t-e e/d of t-is course= stude/ts s-ould be able to 3rite s-ort stories i/ E/2lis- . The ob,ectives are usually written in behavioural terms, such as write, read, e;plain, compare, compute, or draw and so on. The curriculum is then developed based on the various ob,ectives of a particular school sub,ect. '-e Purpose of Sc-ooli/2 There are many classifications of the purposes8aims of schooling, for e;ample those given by The Educational %olicies "ommission (D)'! and those given by the "ardinal %rinciples of )econdary )chool Education. The Educational %olicies "ommission listed four purposes of 'merican schooling: ( ! self5realization, ($! human relationships, (&! economic efficiency, and ((! civic responsibility. The purpose of self*realization is to encourage in7uiry, mental capabilities, speech, reading, writing, numbers, sight and hearing, health #nowledge, health habits, public health, recreation, intellectual interests, and character formation. The purpose of human relationships includes humanity, friendship, cooperation with others, courtesy, appreciation of the home, conservation of the home, homema#ing, and democracy in the home. The purpose of economic efficiency includes wor#, occupational appreciation, personal economic, consumer ,udgment, efficiency in buying, and consumer protection. The purpose of civic responsibility includes social ,ustice, social activity, social understanding, critical ,udgement, tolerance, observance, conserving of resources, social application of science, world citizenship, economic literacy, political citizenship, and devotion to democracy. The "ardinal %rinciples of )econdary )chool Education listed seven ma,or areas of purposes of secondary schooling: ( ! health, ($! command of fundamental processes (living s#ills!, (&! worthy home membership, ((! vocational education, (+! civic education, (-! worthy used of leisure, and (/! ethical character.

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