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What is the Philosophy of Education?

: The Philosophy of Education deals with how children should be educated, what they should be educated in, and what the ultimate purpose of education should be for society. This is an often neglected field of philosophy and, when it is addressed, it tends to only be in educational programs designed to train teachers in this context, it is a part of pedagogy, which is learning how to teach. For religious theists, the philosophy of education can often be tightly integrated with theology and religious indoctrination in order to instill religious values, doctrines, and commitment at a young age. Why Should Atheists Care About the Philosophy of Education?: The Philosophy of Education doesn't touch upon as many subjects relevant to atheists as other branches of philosophy, but it does involve a couple of important issues. For many religious theists, religious education is an indispensable part of the learning process because religions is necessary for instilling values and morals. Many would like to see this happen in public schools, believing that their religion should be taught as a basis for social order. Atheists typically oppose such measures, but this can be done on a firmer basis if one has a better understanding of what education is all about. Why is the Philosophy of Education Important?: How and why a society educates its children will be dispositive for the following generations and longterm political health. In other words, we define our society and the society of our future by how and why we educate the young. Do we want our children to be educated for democracy or consumerism? Should children learn by rote memorization or through creative problem solving? Does school exist to teach values or skills for use in the job market? Because these decisions will affect the course of society for decades to come, the questions asked are as important as those found in any other branch. Questions Asked in the Philosophy of Education: What should people learn? How should people learn? What is the purpose of education?

What is the purpose of education? If you are like most people you probably answer something like "to prepare children to get a job" or "to teach children the skills they need in their lives." You probably think of the purpose of education to be the teaching of the famous "3 Rs" - Reading wRiting and aRithmatic. This is not what philosophers think of an the primary goal. Neither is it the prime goal of many government officials. For many school administrators or professional educators there are other purposes more important than the 3 Rs. If this comes as a surprise to you then you are not alone. It came as a surprise to me when I first started to outline my own philosophy of education. The importance of a philosophy of education is that it defines the purpose and focus of an educational institution. It becomes a part of its mission statement which in turn defines what subjects are taught, how they are taught and, perhaps more importantly, the values that are taught both implicitly and explicitly along with the subjects being covered. The purpose of education, as described by philosophers, is generally considered to be the reproduction of a culture. This can take several forms. In a conservative

environment, it can mean the maintenance of the status quo. In a more liberal environment it means the teaching of values that are considered to be desirable. In effect, the schools serve to create a culture and mores that are not currently part of the culture but are perceived as desirable. in any case, it means that the values taught are those of the church, government, or other system that controls the schools. History tells us that totalitarian governments quickly take over the education system when they come to power. This was seen in communist countries and fascist countries alike. If revolutionaries can not control the education system they destroy it. Cambodia for example. Or the actions of the Viet Cong before their victory. There is an old proverb that says "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." While it is certainly true that most children get most of their values from their parents (the hand that rocks the cradle) they also get much from their teachers. Teachers, especially in a society that hands off much of the child raising responsibility to schools, get to do their share of cradle rocking. It is also true that what a school teaches may either support or undermine what parents teach at home. Whether intended or unintended, schools serve to reproduce a culture. Education is a critical part of a child's socialization. It is where they learn not just the obvious tools for life but the cultural mores, values and social tools for life. The question I choose to address is who is responsible for determining the sort of training students receive in school. There are two common beliefs about who should be responsible for the education of children. One is that it is the parents responsibility. The other is the it is governments responsibility. The logic behind government responsibility is that the state needs an educated population to be successful. The nature of that education depends on the governments idea of success. Naturally the education driven by government includes a set of values that serve to enhance the likelihood of the government remaining the government. Individuals who support a government, especially is support for the government is present in any substantial way, tend to be highly supportive of this philosophy. It is also a quite useful belief if one is interested in the government funding education. To say that society requires an educated population to complete in the world economy is hardly disputable. Nor can one easily dismiss the notion that it is governments responsibility to ensure that all people have equal access to a good education. This strikes to the fairy heart of most concepts of fairness. To say nothing of the desires of most people to get someone else to pay for things. Totalitarian governments have long been advocates of total government control of education. This is quite understandable as, by their nature, totalitarian governments require control of their citizens in mental as well as physical ways. Beyond that, totalitarian governments espouse a philosophy that citizens belong to the government. This implies a right to control thought and education of students.

Government control, especially over parental control, of education is also a popular philosophy among liberal democrats (small 'd' is deliberate as I refer to a philosophy not a political party). Here though we see, thankfully, the rejection of the citizen as property of the state. We do hear sentiments such as "education is too important to be left in the hands of parents." as well as a generally paternalist attitude toward education. In the United States, opponents of increased parental control of education - through the use of public funds for private education for example - often highlights social projects such as anti discrimination as being programs that parental control might diminish. Society has a right and obligation to right the wrongs that exist in a society and this is presented as a higher responsibility then parental freedom. After all, we are told, people should not be forced to pay for values that they do not believe in. This does not ignore the fact that parents who disapprove of public education are forced to pay for it none the less. Rather the argument is that in a democratic system all must fund the majority opinion. The second philosophy is that parents have the responsibility for education is based loosely on the concept that children belong to their parents. Given this philosophy parents clearly have the right to decide on their children's education. Responsibility for doing so is less clearly declared however. Most parents accept some responsibility for our children as a matter of course. Some parents take that responsibility more or less strongly then others. For me, as I was taught by my fathers example, I am responsible for providing the best education I can afford. If this means sacrifice so be it. For other parents, their responsibility, as they accept it, means doing no more or less then the law requires. This then gets to the heart of my philosophy. Shared responsibly. I believe that parents have the right to decide what values and what culture their children are raised to accept as valid. I also believe that for a states own good, the state has a responsibility to held fund the parents educational choices. However, one problem in American society is the new Golden Rule. "He who has the gold makes the rules. This is never more a problem then in education. In education what this rule means is that the government is unwilling to fund any but its own choices. This is the heart and soul behind most objections to voucher systems and other means of using public funds for private schools. I believe that in a democratic society, government run schools are inherently counter democratic. By counter democratic I mean that they work against the idea of democracy. Democracy implies freedom of thought. It implies a diversity of opinion and the competition of ideas for acceptance. Government run schools by their nature force a single way of looking at issues. While some diversity sneaks its way in from home or from the community the students live in general there is a single way that is taught, be it implicitly or explicitly. Even in areas where the schools are controlled locally, by a town or group of towns, there is a majority view which is the norm in the schools. Further, in most countries including the United States, there are some norms or values that are explicitly either required or official excluded. For example, one can not teach students

how to pray in a public school. Nor can a teacher pray with them. At best, this teaches students that prayer is not valued. At worst, it teaches that prayer is bad. Thus a government run school by its very nature restrict the number and type of opinions that are propagated in its society. The government also clearly ignores the parents rights to choice an education that they believe is appropriate. In place of the parents beliefs, the government run school teaches a common set of beliefs that reinforce its, the governments, dominance as the accepted form of government. Nothing here should be in any way taken to suggest that democracy as practiced in the United States is not a great form of government. To me it is the best form existing today. On the other hand, restricting differing views almost guaranties that it can not improve. If ideas and thought patterns are limited to those already generally acceptable where is innovation and improvement to come from? What then is the ideal? The ideal for a democratic society is that the government refrain from running schools except in cases of dire necessity. The ideal is that all schools are privately own and run. This provides the greatest opportunity for diversity of thought, teaching atmosphere, and parental choice. Parents, having brought children into the world, have a right in proportion to their responsibility to determine the nature of their children's education. On the other hand, funding of education is beyond the ability of many parents. The government has a responsibility to help provide an education for its citizens. A democratic government requires, for its success, that it citizens be educated well enough to understand what is happening. They must understand what candidates are trying to "sell", they must understand what their government is doing, and they must understand how their government works. Thus the government has a responsibility to make sure that education is available to the whole population. Beyond that, the government is dependent on its citizens taxes for its funding. An educated population is more able to compete on a global basis and to afford the taxes the government requires. Government has a financial as well as moral stake in the education of its citizens. This is where the new Golden Rule comes in to complicate matters. The government, like a person, tends to want to exercise close control over the money it expends. In a totalitarian system this is to be expected and must be accepted. In a democracy, education must be largely exempt from this control. Control must be minimal and exerted only to the extent absolutely necessary to protect children from harm and their parents from fraud.

Philosophy of Education

Educating children profoundly affects their lives and influences the life of anyone who comes into contact

with those children. Education provides a foundation for a child to base the rest of his or her life on. Without a solid education, it becomes impossible for an individual to provide for themselves and their family. Also, well-educated people can make decisions that benefit both their own interests and the interests of society as a whole. In this paper, I will address my personal opinions and philosophy about education. First, I will address the nature of the student. Next, I will examine the nature of knowledge, followed by the purpose of public education, and method. Finally, my paper will conclude with a discussion of the curriculum areas that are most important in elementary school. Additionally, I will relate my views to pragmatism and progressivism, and to Plato?s teaching, three valuable theories regarding education. No two students are exactly alike. Nevertheless, they do share one fundamental character...

Philosophy of Education Educational philosophy is no doubt a matter that has changed over the decades, and still today not everyone is in total agreement on the subject. However, one thing is certain philosophy is the foundation of educational styles. Today, four basic educational philosophies exist including idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. All four philosophies are very different, but all strive for the same goal, to better our education system. Although every teacher has a different style of teaching that can be considered their own, they all adhere to one of the four basic philosophies. However, It may take a teacher many years to master, and recognize their style as one of the philosophies. "Educational philosophy can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome"(46), where the idealist philosophy originated. Although Socrates ideals are the basis for the idealist philosophy, it was his student Plato, who is considered the founder of idealism. The philosophy "focuses on the spiritual and intellectual development of the individual".(47) "Idealist attempt to describe ideas, mind, consciousness, form, thought, energy, and other non-material concepts."(47) Aristotle, a student of Plato, developed the basis for the philosophy known as realism. Realism "holds that objects and happenings exist regardless of how we perceive them".(48) Thomas Jefferson is one of the more known realists. Teachers who are realists "focus on reason and thinking".(48)

The philosophical perspective possessed by a teacher has on affects the ability and effectiveness of their teaching methods. Therefore a teacher must be one who appreciates and respects education and formalized schooling. In the following paragraphs I will give a general description of my views on education. I will describe how I view the acquisition of knowledge, common student nature, what I believe the purpose of education is and my desired method and curriculum. Future teachers should carefully consider each of these aspects. After my graduation from Concord College I plan to be a history teacher at a local high school. If I proceed with any further schooling, it will most likely be in the field of special education. I have not yet

decided what professional groups I may join in the future but I am currently researching the Center for Civic Education and the National Geographic Society. The nature of a student is an important area of thought for a future teacher because the student is a teacher's primary focus. The typical student is natural...

Preview: Educators confront philosophical issues on a daily basis, often not recognizing them as such. They tend to deal with these issues unreflectively, perhaps overlooking alternative ways to handle them. Our concern in this article is to open up inquiry into these daily issues. The focus will be on critical philosophy to uncover criteria that support educational judgment.

Three Conceptions Of Philosophy


We should never be ashamed to approve truth or acquire it, no matter what its source might be, even if it might have come from foreign peoples and alien nations far removed from us. To him who seeks the truth, no other object is higher in value. 1 -- Rasa'il al-Kindi (810-873) Arab philosopher and physician

As a matter of daily practice, educators formulate goals, discuss values, and set priorities. Anyone who gets involved in dealing with goals, values and priorities soon realizes that in a modern society such as ours there are many competing choices. Some are incompatible with others. Hard decisions have to be made. Here, for example, are some everyday dilemmas that educators confront: How do we treat a specific student's needs, yet deal fairly with a class of students as a whole? When, if ever, should we bend the rules? Should a teacher ever emphasize good behavior over subject skills? It is in trying to resolve such questions that the discussion becomes philosophical, even though it may not be recognized as such. And it is philosophy that can help us make better choices among goals, values and priorities. But what exactly is this "philosophy?" And how does it help? In daily use the term, "philosophy," is not clear-cut. TV programs offer us the personal philosophies of various religious or political leaders. Other people talk about their philosophy in choosing a kindergarten or a college. Some people believe a difference in philosophy distinguishes between Roman Catholic and public schooling practices. Still others talk about Progressive or Back-to-Basics philosophy.

We see then, that the word "philosophy" is vague, yet, asking someone for her philosophy on something is different from asking her how she feels about it. "How do you feel about divorce?" we ask. "I don't like the idea," comes the reply; "but my philosophy on divorce is that you have to consider whether it might not be better to give up rather than stay in a bad relationship." What, then, is philosophy? To shortcut discussion we can borrow distinctions made by philosopher John Passmore 2 and separate out three common conceptions of philosophy: philosophy as wisdoms; philosophy as ideology; and philosophy as critical inquiry. These distinctions help us sort out different traditions within what is called philosophy by the man-on-the-street (although only critical philosophy is understood to be philosophy in Passmore's own academic tradition). Although three conceptions of philosophy can be distinguished, there are many common elements shared by them. A person may derive an ideology from a wisdom, and then subject it to critical philosophy. A truth discovered through critical philosophy may come to be uncritically venerated, as, for example, was the insight in America that education should center on the child. The three conceptions of philosophy, in practice, are found in a mix in the day-to-day practice of the schools. Almost every major philosopher in the critical tradition -- famed philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Kant and others-- have had much to say in the way of wisdoms about education and much in the way of ideology to say about how we should go about schooling. Our primary interest in this essay is in philosophy as critical inquiry. Wisdoms and ideologies are usually inculcated into us in a way which gives us little opportunity for reflection and criticism: we are taught them as absolute truths as children. But critical philosophy, as we will see, is characterized by an attitude of critical reflection and a practice of analysis that inculcators of wisdoms and ideologies avoid. However, wisdoms, ideologies and critical inquiry are intimately and importantly related, especially in educational practice. Let's examine more closely the difference between these three ideas of philosophy and how each relates to educational practice. Philosophy as Wisdoms Philosophy, however one conceives it, is expected to be more than a passing feeling or a kneejerk opinion. It's supposed to be a thoughtful response to a question or situation. The response may not be very extensively thought out, but it's got some element of reflection in it. Philosophy as wisdom incorporates, at the very least, this notion of reflection, of thoughtful response.

This conception of philosophy as wisdoms includes two related ideas: personal reflections on broad questions, and prophetic wisdoms. Such philosophy is generally seen as arising out of personal experience or as having sacred origins. For these reasons we tend not to challenge them with a critical question such as, "How do you know that?" For example, you have probably read or have heard people say things like a. You can't expect too much from life without being disappointed sometimes; or b. Live and let live, that's what I say; c. Don't smile until Christmas (common advice to new teachers). Such statements are thought to be philosophical. They are general, they are often offered as reasons for acting, and they have a certain air of thoughtfulness about them. We generally concede people the right to these sorts of reflective opinions and do not press them for further justification. Then there are the statements or writings of prophetic individuals many of us have been taught to consider both wise and worthy of veneration: a. Do not covet the favors by which Allah has exalted some of you above others. (Koran, Women 4:30) b. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Exodus, 20:16) c. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs, 22:6) Such wisdoms form the core of religious movements and are treated as sacred scripture. It is important to notice that when people offer philosophy in the form of sacred writings they do not welcome challenge. Indeed, a questioning or skeptical attitude is often thought to be rude or even blasphemous. Similarly, in education we frequently encounter some statements so deeply embedded in schooling culture that they are treated as religious fundamentals. For example: a Every person should be educated to his or her fullest potential. b. Always treat a child so as to bolster his or her self-esteem. c. Practice makes perfect.

Philosophy as Ideology Philosophy can also be thought of as ideology. An ideology is, by comparison with wisdoms, a more highly organized body of opinion. It usually serves programs of action and organizational needs. Philosophy as ideology is what we normally find in schools. For licensing purposes, state departments of education require schools, public and private, to have available a document that states the school's "philosophy" of education. Significantly, such school philosophies can be acquired pre-packaged. Educational accrediting agencies publish books of them that school planners and directors can use to choose among different philosophies of education like so many items on a menu.3 Here is an example of such an educational ideology: The social development of elementary school students proceeds as the child becomes aware of the various authority structures that operate throughout the school, the community, the region, and the nation. We believe the school must help the child establish a perspective on the responsibilities and opportunities inherent in the multitude of authority systems in a democratic social order.4 The point of ideology is to provide extensive suggestion as to how to structure and control an organization. This may be subject to debate. Although the example above mentions a"democratic social order," given its emphasis on authority, one could imagine that with this ideology, a school run like a miniature police-state could be rationalized. In developing an ideology, the wisdoms of individuals, prophetic or otherwise, is called on to justify policies and day-to-day procedures. But did Moses, Jesus or Mohammed ever talk or write about hall passes, or detentions? No. What philosophy as ideology requires is an imagination that stretches the original intents and statements into broader or novel applications. Sometimes this imagination goes far beyond any reasonable interpretation. Indeed, deeply pious people may complain that the ideology of a church organization violates the essential spirit of the prophetic teachings, as when they complain that teachers in their schools fail exercise forgiveness as often as they should. A key point here is that organizational demands often substantially change the spirit of the original philosophy. Deep moral concerns may be lost in service of expediency.4A Philosophy as Critical Inquiry The American Philosophical Association, which represents professional academic philosophers in the critical tradition, characterizes the activities of philosophy this way:

Properly pursued, philosophy enhances analytical, critical and interpretive capacities that are applicable to any subject-matter, and in any human context. It cultivates the capacities and appetite for self-expression and reflection, for exchange and debate of ideas, for life-long learning, and for dealing with problems for which there are no easy answers.5 The distinguishing characteristic of philosophy as critical inquiry is its focus on careful questioning and systematic appraisal, with no special respect given to the sources of the opinions examined. It doesn't matter who said or wrote what. Nor does it matter what effect critical inquiry might have on an organization. The point of the activity is not to honor individuals or to bolster organizations, but to try to get to the truth. Most importantly, in philosophy as critical inquiry, any statement purporting to be truth is challengable. But what are the rules for making such a challenge more than just an expression of dislike? What rules there are have been developed through millennia in a literature tracing back to Plato and earlier. We will look more closely at these rules for challenge and investigation later. Assumptions of the Tradition of Critical Inquiry. Early on in critical philosophy, Greek philosophers distinguished between what they saw as "received opinion" and "truth." This distinction mirrors the difference between what we are calling wisdoms -- and their derived ideologies -- on the one hand, and critical inquiry on the other. Received opinion might be true, but it was the task -- those ancient philosophers believed -- not of traditional or religious authorities but of critical analysis to determine if it was so. There is a potential here for significant conflict. It is important that a central story in the history of philosophy is that of Socrates. He was condemned to death by the Athenian Court for "impiety" and "corrupting youth" by teaching them critical inquiry. To emphasize an important point, however, critical inquiry is not confined to the irreligious. The tools of critical inquiry have long been recognized as useful by religiously committed philosophers in their struggle with the wisdoms of competing religious groups. There are recognized critical philosophers in many major religions. Islamic, Jewish and Christian philosophers have practiced in the tradition of critical inquiry. Philosophy as critical inquiry treats knowledge as tentative. For practical purposes we might accept something as true, yet later change our mind if the evidence warrants. Notice how different this is from the conceptions of philosophy as wisdoms or ideologies. Wisdoms and ideologies present what they offer as absolutes. Those who offer us such absolutes insist at some point that inquiry must stop, questioning is no

longer allowed. Critical inquiry, by contrast, will always -- in theory, at least -- allow questioning to proceed. For critical inquiry it is not acceptable to say, "This is so because I (or my prophet) says it is." Something different is required. These are reasonableness and evidence. What this specifically means, we will see later. To reiterate, just because something is commonly believed to be true, is not considered in critical philosophy to be an adequate reason for accepting it. Since it is method, not personal authority that establishes truth, critical philosophy does not encourage us to become followers, or true believers. Rather, each person is required to think for himself or herself, following certain procedures which do not prejudice the outcome. Educators are well-served by learning these procedures, especially in a pluralistic society like ours where so many wisdoms and ideologies compete. How does critical philosophy help with educational decisions? We live in a society where wisdoms and ideologies compete. Educators must be able to fairly select among them in a way which they understand to enhance their practice. Such a selection among competing wisdoms should be as reasonable and as unbiased as possible. Critical philosophy has at its disposal a wide variety of tools for analyzing and appraising educational debates. Educational disputes in our society tend to be particularly ideological. Practitioners need tools which are neutral to these disputes in order to deal with day-to-day problems in schools. Here, for example, is a list of the kinds of questions educators confront on a day-to-day basis, and, in effect, decide upon, whether thoughtfully or not 1. Should a talkative student be silenced for the sake of the class? 2. Should student infractions of the rules ever be overlooked? 3. Should grading be based purely on achievement or should effort be factored in? These first three questions bring up the issue as to how the needs of individuals should be balanced against the needs of managing a group. Philosophy as ideology provides answers here; but there are competing ideologies. Philosophy as critical inquiry enables a reasoned choice. There are many other questions of similar importance that raise other philosophical issues. Consider these, for example: 4. Should students be taught to tolerate those things their parents believe are immoral? This question comes up, for example, when sexual preference or practice is a curriculum issue.

5. Should a teacher always follow administrative policy? This may be an issue of how to handle a conflict between personal morality and school rules. The many wisdoms and ideologies of our pluralistic society offer competing, even contradictory answers to such questions. For question 5, for example, one ideology might state that a teacher's primary duty is to the school and the policies that govern it; therefore, the teacher should always follow policy. Another ideology might hold that the needs of the child come first in any educational organization, therefore, there will be occasions when policies have to be ignored. Who is to say which of these two ideologies is better and why? Critical inquiry gives us the tools to answer this question. FOCUSSING OUR PHILOSOPHY: QUESTIONS OF CRITERIA Critical philosophy is multi-faceted and always evolving. But because of its educational utility, we will focus on a major emphasis of critical philosophy: philosophy as criteriology, the study of the sources, justifications, and forms of criteria for decision-making. Educational criteriology preserves the commitments of the critical tradition in that its inquiry is not restrained by any of the absolutes recognized by traditions of wisdom or ideology. And for educators, educational criteriology provides a powerful tool for decision-making amidst a plurality of competing wisdoms and ideologies. Most, if not all, of the big educational questions can be recast as questions about the choice of criteria for decision-making. Consider the following chart which recasts vague philosophical questions into questions about criteria. Questions about what something is are replaced with questions as to how we identify, determine, recognize or know something. General Questions Recast as Questions of Criteria
1. What is the primary goal of education? 2. Should individual needs take precedence? 1. What criteria can we use to identify educational goals? What are the criteria for ranking them? Why those and not others? 2. What are the criteria of need? What are the criteria of precedence? Why those and not others?

3. What criteria should we use to identify possible 3. What should be taught school subjects? On what basis would we select in the schools? some over others?

Chart 1

Note that there can be several ways of formulating questions of criteria, for example: from the question, "What is academic achievement?" we can easily form "What are the criteria by which we identify academic achievement?" But rather than always using the formulation, "What are the criteria by which we identify ..." we can use such common variations as, a "What makes something an academic achievement?" or b. "How can you tell when something is an academic achievement." or c. "What are the standards that define academic achievement?" or d. "What are some conditions necessary for being an academic achievement?" e. "On what basis do we decide that something is an academic achievement?" Remember: an important reason for reformulating the questions is to help us identify not only criteria, but to enable us to ask "Why these criteria rather than some others?" Our concern is not only with criteria themselves, but with their sources and justifications. Limiting the possibly broader scope of critical philosophy to educational criteriology is a cautious way to start. However, it avoids some of the common pitfalls of a broader conception: vagueness and consequent inapplicability. When the need arises to broaden our conception, we will. But simple beginnings are, perhaps, best. For addition explanation, see Evaluating Missions Statements LOOKING AHEAD We will see that questions of criteria, their source, their form and their justification penetrate deeply into the philosophical questions that daily educational practice gives rise to, e.g. such questions as: 1. What difference does an educator's philosophy make on the job? 2. What conflicts might exist between a school's and an educator's philosophy?

3. Who should decide how to make educational decisions, and why, i.e. who has authority? Why? 4. What philosophical ideas have had an effect on school decision-making? 5. How can we justify intervening in another person's life? 6. What criteria should we use to identify learning? Teaching? Does teaching cause learning? 7. Can a school be unfair to some students without intending to? 8. What are needs? Should teachers pay attention to student needs? Which ones? 9. What makes something a test? Why are tests important? Are they fair? 10. What differences, if any, justify treating students differently? SUMMARY Within education, the term "philosophy" is casually used to cover a complex and varied group of traditions. There are at least three different traditions which are commonly called "philosophical": Wisdoms: broad pronouncements taken as authoritative. These can range from isolated statements of "crackerbarrel" philosophers, to complex and revered doctrines. Institutional philosophies or ideologies.6, i.e. rationalizations, often theoretically intricate, of practices and social institutions School and curricular philosophies tend to be of this nature. Critical philosophy, i.e. critical analysis or discussion done in any of the traditions widely accepted as Socratic. It assumes the capacity of the individual to discern truth, even when in conflict with traditions or institutions. The problem for educators in a pluralistic society is that they must deal with competing wisdoms and ideologies. Critical inquiry provides approaches and methods with enable them to do so with a minimum of bias toward any one of the competing perspectives. The practical use of critical inquiry requires some restriction of focus, initially at least, so that it moves easily from theory to application. Thus, in focussing

on education we will restrict critical inquiry to criteriology, that is, it is the study of the justifications, sources, and forms of criteria for decision-making in educational contexts. TEST YOURSELF.
See Related Article: A Method for Generating Critical & Criterial Questions

Let's leam more about critical philosophy by actually engaging in it. We will examine school ideologies and try to develop for each example critical questions and related criteria questions. Critical questions raise issues that those committed to the ideology would most likely rather not deal with. Such a critical approach might indirectly bring the ideology into question. Criteria questions recast the critical questions into questions about criteria used to make a decision. Below, an example of an ideology is given first, followed by a set of critical questions derived from it. Then criteria questions are formed from the critical questions. For example, IDEOLOGY ON DEVELOPING A CONCEPTION OF AUTHORITY: The social development of elementary school students proceeds as the child becomes aware of the various authority structures that operate throughout the school, the community, the region, and the nation. Related critical questions: Can the child's social development proceed by some other manner that by awareness of authority? What counts as becoming aware of or recognizing authority? After developing the critical questions, pick out the important concepts. In this case, let's just look at "social development," "authority," and "awareness." To make a related criteria question, ask of each of these concepts, what are its criteria? Related criteria questions: What are the criteria for social development? What are the criteria that define authority? On what basis do we decide (that is, what are the criteria) that a conflict is occurring? For the next two ideologies, develop critical and related criteria questions: IDEOLOGY ON THE LEARNER AS A SELF-ACTUALIZED KNOWER:7

The only learning which significantly influences behavior is personal, self-discovered, self-appropriated learning. This kind of learning cannot be communicated through conventional forms of teaching where the school approaches students with pre-set curricula and methods.... Although the school experiences are social, each student follows his own path in the acquisition of knowledge. Related Critical Questions: What forms of learning are not personal, self-discovered or self-appropriated? Related Criteria Questions: What are the criteria for identifying learning? Personal learning? IDEOLOGY ON AFFECTIVE EDUCATION FOR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY:8 The affectivity of our school leads to acceptance of Christ as personal savior. Our school is part of a community of faith. lt is a spiritual environment.... It is an environment which arouses a student to faith.

Philosophy of Education
Educational Philosophy / Teaching Philosophy
Truth & Reality as the Foundations for Critical Thinking, Reason and Education Quotes on Teaching Philosophy of Education from Famous Philosophers Albert Einstein, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Michel de Montaigne, Plato, Aristotle & Confucius

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. (Aristotle) Since philosophy is the art which teaches us how to live, and since children need to learn it as much as we do at other ages, why do we not instruct them in it? .. But in truth I know nothing about the philosophy of education except this: that the greatest and the most important difficulty known to human learning seems to lie in

that area which treats how to bring up children and how to educate them. (de Montaigne, On teaching Philosophy of Education) Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education. (Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, On Philosophy of Education) This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by a educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilised in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellowmen in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. (Albert Einstein, 1949, On Education)
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Introduction
(Philosophy of Education / Educational Philosophy / Teaching Philosophy)
My dear children: I rejoice to see you before me today, happy youth of a sunny and fortunate land. Bear in mind that the wonderful things that you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labour in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honour it, and add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common. If you always keep that in mind

you will find meaning in life and work and acquire the right attitude towards other nations and ages. (Albert Einstein talking to a group of school children. 1934)
This page on Educational Philosophy has some lovely intelligent philosopher's quotes on both the importance of education, and what is a good education. As a philosopher it is clear to me that teaching people how to think correctly and to use language carefully (to work out the truth for themselves) is a pretty good start for education (i.e. by teaching philosophy to students from a young age). However, I realise that this is an unfashionable view in our postmodern times of 'no absolute truths' - where all knowledge is incomplete, evolving, and relative to some cultural construction - thus teaching philosophy is seen as some abstract and largely useless exercise. If you browse around this website you will quickly realise that I do not support this current paradigm, which I see as being very destructive in both its affects on the individual and our collective society. There are clearly many problems with our current education / teaching system, an evolutionary philosophy of education has important contributions to make to improving things. Below you will find a short introduction and then an excellent collection of education quotes from many of the greatest minds in human history. And as Aristotle so astutely observed;

"All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth." (Aristotle)
Geoff Haselhurst, Email Philosopher of Science, Metaphysics, Theoretical Physics. PS - I am currently re-writing all the main philosophy / physics pages. For these education pages I hope to write a short treatise on how we can improve our educational system, founded on one simple principle. All things in the universe are interconnected and evolving (the dynamic unity of reality). The central thesis is that education should be founded on truth and reality, and in particular how this relates to the interconnection of Mind(cultural knowledge and truth), Matter (biological knowledge and how our bodies are interconnected with other matter around us) and Space(our environment, society). These three things are clearly interconnected (in physical reality), so you could call this an evolutionary / ecological approach to education, founded on a metaphysics of Space / wave structure of matter.

On Teaching, Educational Philosophy, What is a good education.


To begin, it is useful to briefly summarise my upbringing as this further explains my interest in education. I believe I learnt more in 14 months of traveling through Europe in a van when I was ten years old, than in any other year at school. (I was most impressed by the Gothic Cathedrals of Europe, and the old ruined castles.) I was a rebellious but generally kind student. I failed first Year University Physics, largely due to non-attendance of lectures. I have a Bachelor of Education (majored in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics). I taught Science for 4 years. Both my parents were teachers/lecturers. Probably the most important reason for taking education seriously though comes from my love of philosophy, which clearly realises that Education is the most important factor in the evolution of both the individual and society. I think there are some good things happening with the new Outcomes based curriculum that is currently being implemented in the West Australian state schools I was involved with this at Nyindamurra Family School. What this means is that rather than prescribing a curriculum based upon certain content that must be studied, instead we prescribe the outcomes that we want. (e.g. A child can add up numbers in their head, or appreciate the importance of Nature and the interconnected ecology of life.) Now the way to teach these skills is open. You could go down the beach and count seashells by the seashore if you wanted. And this is how I bring up my children every day I use daily things around us to educate them to all sorts of different knowledge. For example, we recently built a giant swing - and children can learn a lot by building and playing on swings (pendulums and pendulum clocks are interesting phenomena, a very great philosopher Christiaan Huygens first studied pendulums at the time of Newton and Leibniz in the late 1600s.). They have to be creative how do you get a rope over a branch ten meters off the ground? how do you build a tower using materials in the bush around you, such that you have a platform to jump onto your swing from (using gravity to push you!)? I should add that an outcomes based system also has numerous problems, as it is difficult to ensure a uniform quality of education. The real solution is to consider both the curriculum used, and the outcomes you hope to achieve - combined with intelligent use of the internet so that the best curriculums that show empirically that they work (produce desired outcomes) can be

shared / adapted by teachers from all over the world (we do not need to keep re-inventing the wheel). I certainly do not believe in just sitting in a classroom which is unnatural, unhealthy, and should be limited. It is obvious we did not evolve to learn by sitting in classrooms, in segregated age groups - but to be active, out and about doing things, talking, watching and learning from other people and other objects around us. (This is what I would call an evolutionary approach to teaching / philosophy of education - and getting kids more active at school would also greatly help to combat the obesity epidemic of the western world.) I particularly agree with Einstein, that education (and teaching students philosophy from a young age) has two central functions relating to the individual and their society. i) To educate the individual as a free individual To understand and use critical thinking skills for determining the Truth for themselves. ii) To educate the individual as a part of Society Virtually all our knowledge, our clothes, our food is produced by others in our society, thus we owe Society and have a responsibility to contribute back to Society (that everyone must give as well as take.) This is ultimately why I began to study Physics and Philosophy, and why I have now read most of the great philosophers, because I believe that Nature is being destroyed on this planet, and that the truth is that this is very foolish and dangerous to humanity. That we evolved from Nature, thus we depend upon Nature for survival. This is not just the obvious concern of global warming and climate change, but the very food we eat, the air we breath, the water we need, all these things are produced by Nature and are being forever changed. Of concern is the obvious fact that there are limits to our evolution as to how far we can change our environment before it starts to adversely affect us (we are well past that point now I think.) I also strongly agree with Einstein that education should be fun rather than forced that force and punishment play no part in a good education. Thus I detest the attitude of punishing children for not doing their homework! I think a lot of education problems could be solved by giving everyone 100 great books to read and discuss with their children - from philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, de Montaigne, Leibniz, Spinoza, Hume, Tolstoy, Einstein etc. There are many great minds through human history, and I largely agree with Nietzsche that education is often corrupted by educators that we should seek the source of great knowledge, not the corrupted interpretations

of it from lesser minds. (Read the original works!) I further agree with Friedrich Nietzsche that:

There is nothing more necessary than truth, and in comparison with it everything else has only secondary value. This absolute will to truth: what is it? Is it the will to not allow ourselves to be deceived? Is it the will not to deceive? One does not want to be deceived, under the supposition that it is injurious, dangerous, or fatal to be deceived. (Nietzsche, 1890)
The fundamental principle of education is to understand the truth for oneself. The fundamental principle of philosophy is to realise that all truth comes from reality. Thus educational philosophy must be founded on the truth of what exists. Recent discoveries of the properties of Space and the Wave Structure of Matter shows that we can understand reality in a simple and sensible way. Geoff Haselhurst
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Albert Einstein on Knowledge & Philosophy of Education


The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. (Albert Einstein)
Knowledge of the history and evolution of our ideas is absolutely vital for wise understanding. It is also important to read the original source (not a later interpretation which often leads to misrepresentation and error) and that these original quotes should give confidence to the truth of what we say. As Albert Einstein astutely remarks;

Somebody who only reads newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the

best case rather paltry and monotonous. There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind. We owe it to a few writers of antiquity (Plato, Aristotle, etc.) that the people in the Middle Ages could slowly extricate themselves from the superstitions and ignorance that had darkened life for more than half a millennium. Nothing is more needed to overcome the modernist's snobbishness. (Einstein, 1954)
As Philosophers, Scientists and Educators we have a responsibility to maintain great knowledge from the past, for as Einstein beautifully writes;

... knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. It resembles a statue of marble which stands in the desert and is continually threatened with burial by the shifting sand. The hands of service must ever be at work, in order that the marble continue to lastingly shine in the sun. To these serving hands mine shall also belong. (Einstein, On Education, 1950) When, after several hours reading, I came to myself again, I asked myself what it was that had so fascinated me. The answer is simple. The results were not presented as ready-made, but scientific curiosity was first aroused by presenting contrasting possibilities of conceiving matter. Only then the attempt was made to clarify the issue by thorough argument. The intellectual honesty of the author makes us share the inner struggle in his mind. It is this which is the mark of the born teacher. Knowledge exists in two forms - lifeless, stored in books, and alive, in the consciousness of men. The second form of existence is after all the essential one; the first, indispensable as it may be, occupies only an inferior position. (Einstein, 1954) My dear children: I rejoice to see you before me today, happy youth of a sunny and fortunate land. Bear in mind that the wonderful things that you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labour in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honour it, and add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common. If you always keep that in mind you will find meaning in life and work and acquire the right attitude towards other nations and ages. (Albert Einstein talking to a group of school children. 1934)

I believe, indeed, that overemphasis on the purely intellectual attitude, often directed solely to the practical and factual, in our education, has led directly to the impairment of ethical values. I am not thinking so much of the dangers with which technical progress has directly confronted mankind, as of the stifling of mutual human considerations by a 'matter-of-fact' habit of thought which has come to lie like a killing frost upon human relations. Without 'ethical culture' there is no salvation for humanity. (Einstein, 1953)

Albert Einstein On Academic Freedom


Numerous are the academic chairs, but rare are wise and noble teachers. Numerous and large are the lecture halls, but far from numerous the young people who genuinely thirst for truth and justice. Numerous are the wares that nature produces by the dozen, but her choice products are few. We all know that, so why complain? Was it not always thus and will it not always thus remain? Certainly, and one must take what nature gives as one finds it. But there is also such a thing as a spirit of the times, an attitude of mind characteristic of a particular generation, which is passed on from individual to individual and gives its distinctive mark to a society. Each of us has to his little bit toward transforming this spirit of the times. (Einstein, 1954)

Albert Einstein On Freedom of Thought


The development of science and of the creative activities of the spirit in general requires still another kind of freedom, which may be characterised as inward freedom. It is this freedom of spirit which consists in the independence of thought from the restrictions of authoritarian and social prejudices as well as from unphilosophical routinizing and habit in general. This inward freedom is an infrequent gift of nature and a worthy objective for the individual. ..schools may favor such freedom by encouraging independent thought. Only if outward and inner freedom are constantly and consciously pursued is there a possibility of spiritual development and perfection and thus of improving man's outward and inner life. (Einstein, 1954)

Albert Einstein on Philosophy of Education in Schools


The school has always been the most important means of transferring the wealth of tradition from one generation to the next. This applies today in an even higher

degree than in former times, for through modern development of the economic life, the family as bearer of tradition and education has been weakened. The continuance and health of human society is therefore in a still higher degree dependent on the school than formerly. Sometimes one sees in the school simply the instrument for transferring a certain maximum quantity of knowledge to the growing generation. But that is not right. Knowledge is dead; the school however, serves the living. It should develop in the young individuals those qualities and capabilities which are of value for the welfare of the commonwealth. But that does not mean that individuality should be destroyed and the individual become a mere tool of the community, like a bee or an ant. For a community of standardised individuals without personal originality and personal aims would be a poor community without possibilities for development. On the contrary, the aim must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals, who, however, see in the service of the community their highest life problem. To me the worst thing seems to be for a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sincerity, and the self-confidence of the pupil. It produces the submissive subject. it is no wonder that such schools are the rule in Germany and Russia. ..the desire for the approval of one's fellow-man certainly is one of the most important binding powers of society. In this complex of feelings, constructive and destructive forces lie closely together. Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive; but the desire to be acknowledged as better, stronger, or more intelligent than a fellow being or scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological adjustment, which may become injurious for the individual and for the community. Therefore the school and the teacher must guard against employing the easy method of creating individual ambition, in order to induce the pupils to diligent work. (Einstein) It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little planet, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. It is a grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be prompted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. On the contrary, I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if

the food handed out under such coercion were to be selected accordingly. (Albert Einstein on Education)
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Plato, Quotations on Education


..for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty. (Plato) 'And once we have given our community a good start,' I pointed out, ' the process will be cumulative. By maintaining a sound system of education you produce citizens of good character, and citizens of sound character, with the advantage of a good education, produce in turn children better than themselves and better able to produce still better children in their turn, as can be seen with animals.'(Plato) '... It is in education that bad discipline can most easily creep in unobserved,' he replied. 'Yes,' I agreed, ' because people don't treat it seriously there, and think no harm can come of it.' 'It only does harm,' he said, 'because it makes itself at home and gradually undermines morals and manners; from them it invades business dealings generally, and then spreads into the laws and constitution without any restraint, until it has made complete havoc of private and public life.' 'And when men who aren't fit to be educated get an education they don't deserve, are not the thoughts and opinions they produce fairly called sophistry, without a legitimate idea or any trace of true wisdom among them?' 'Certainly'. 'The first thing our artist must do,' I replied, ' - and it's not easy - is to take human society and human habits and wipe them clean out, to give himself a clean canvas. For our philosophic artist differs from all others in being unwilling to start

work on an individual or a city, or draw out laws, until he is given, or has made himself, a clean canvas.' 'Because a free man ought not to learn anything under duress. Compulsory physical exercise does no harm to the body, but compulsory learning never sticks to the mind.' 'True' 'Then don't use compulsion,' I said to him, ' but let your children's lessons take the form of play. You will learn more about their natural abilities that way.' (Plato)
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Jean Jacques Rousseau, On the Philosophy of Education


Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgement. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education. (Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile) I will say little of the importance of a good education; nor will I stop to prove that the current one is bad. Countless others have done so before me, and I do not like to fill a book with things everybody knows. I will note that for the longest time there has been nothing but a cry against the established practice without anyone taking it upon himself to propose a better one. The literature and the learning of our age tend much more to destruction than to edification. (Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile)
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Michel de Montaigne, Philosophy Quotes on Education


I would like to suggest that our minds are swamped by too much study and by too much matter just as plants are swamped by too much water or lamps by too much oil; that our minds, held fast and encumbered by so many diverse preoccupations, may well lose the means of struggling free, remaining bowed and bent under the load; except that it is quite otherwise: the more our souls are filled, the more they expand; examples drawn from far-off times show, on the contrary, that great soldiers ad statesmen were also great scholars. (de Montaigne) I think it better to say that the evil arises from their tackling the sciences in the wrong manner and that, from the way we have been taught, it is no wonder that neither master nor pupils become more able, even though they do know more. In truth the care and fees of our parents aim only at furnishing our heads with knowledge: nobody talks about judgement or virtue. When someone passes by, try exclaiming, Oh, what a learned man! Then, when another does, Oh, what a good man! Our people will not fail to turn their gaze respectfully towards the first. There ought to be a third man crying, Oh, what blockheads!' (de Montaigne) We readily inquire, Does he know Greek or Latin? Can he write poetry and prose? But what matters most is what we put last: Has he become better and wiser? We ought to find out not who understands most but who understands best. We work merely to fill the memory, leaving the understanding and the sense of right and wrong empty. Just as birds sometimes go in search of grain, carrying it in their beaks without tasting it to stuff it down the beaks of their young, so too do our schoolmasters go foraging for learning in their books and merely lodge it on the tip of their lips, only to spew it out and scatter it on the wind. (de Montaigne) Their pupils and their little charges are not nourished and fed by what they learn: the learning is passed from hand to hand with only one end in view: to show it off, to put into our accounts to entertain others with it, as though it were merely counters, useful for totting up and producing statements, but having no other use or currency. Apud alios loqui didicerunt, non ipsi secum [They have learned how to talk with others, not with themselves] (de Montaigne)

Whenever I ask a certain acquaintance of mine to tell me what he knows about anything, he wants to show me a book: he would not venture to tell me that he has scabs on his arse without studying his lexicon to find out the meaning of scab and arse. All we do is to look after the opinions and learning of others: we ought to make them our own. We closely resemble a man who, needing a fire, goes next door to get a light, finds a great big blaze there and stays to warm himself, forgetting to take a brand back home. What use is it to us to have a belly full of meat if we do not digest it, if we do not transmute it into ourselves, if it does not make us grow in size and strength? (de Montaigne) If our souls do not move with a better motion and if we do not have a healthier judgement, then I would just as soon that our pupil should spend his time playing tennis: at least his body would become more agile. But just look at him after he has spent some fifteen or sixteen years studying: nothing could be more unsuited for employment. The only improvement you can see is that his Latin and Greek have made him more conceited and more arrogant than when he left home. He ought to have brought back a fuller soul: he brings back a swollen one; instead of making it weightier he has merely blown wind into it. (de Montaigne) And I loathe people who find it harder to put up with a gown askew than with a soul askew and who judge a man by his bow, his bearing and his boots. (de Montaigne) Learning is a good medicine: but no medicine is powerful enough to preserve itself from taint and corruption independently of defects in the jar that it is kept in. One man sees clearly but does not see straight: consequently he sees what is good but fails to follow it; he sees knowledge and does not use it. (de Montaigne) .. since it was true that study, even when done properly, can only teach us what wisdom, right conduct and determination consist in, they wanted to put their children directly in touch with actual cases, teaching them not by hearsay but by actively assaying them, vigorously molding and forming them not merely by word and precept but chiefly by deeds and examples, so that wisdom should not be something which the soul knows but the souls very essence and temperament, not something acquired but a natural property. (de Montaigne) But in truth I know nothing about education except this: that the greatest and the most important difficulty known to human learning seems to lie in that area which treats how to bring up children and how to educate them. (de Montaigne)

Socrates and then Archesilaus used to make their pupils speak first; they spoke afterwards. Obest plerumque iss discere volunt authoritas eorum qui docent. [For those who want to learn, the obstacle can often be the authority of those who teach] (de Montaigne) Those who follow our French practice and undertake to act as schoolmaster for several minds diverse in kind and capacity, using the same teaching and the same degree of guidance for them all, not surprisingly can scarcely find in a whole tribe of children more than one or two who bear fruit from their education. Let the tutor not merely require a verbal account of what the boy has been taught but the meaning and substance of it: let him judge how the boy has profited from it not from the evidence of his memory but from that of his life. Let him take what the boy has just learned and make him show him dozens of different aspects of it and then apply it to just as many different subjects, in order to find out whether he has really grasped it and made it part of himself, judging the boys progress by what Plato taught about education. Spewing food up exactly as you have swallows it is evidence of a failure to digest and assimilate it; the stomach has not done its job if, during concoction, it fails to change the substance and the form of what it is given. (de Montaigne) The profit we possess after study is to have become better and wiser. (de Montaigne) Nor is it enough to toughen up his soul; you must also toughen up his muscles. (de Montaigne) Teach him a certain refinement in sorting out and selecting his arguments, with an affection for relevance and so for brevity. Above all let him be taught to throw down his arms and surrender to truth as soon as he perceives it, whether the truth is born at his rivals doing or within himself from some change in his ideas. (de Montaigne) As for our pupils talk, let his virtue and his sense of right and wrong shine through it and have no guide but reason. Make him understand that confessing an error which he discovers in his own argument even when he alone has noticed it is an act of justice and integrity, which are the main qualities he pursues; stubbornness and rancour are vulgar qualities, visible in common souls whereas to think again, to change ones mind and to give up a bad case on the heat of the argument are rare qualities showing strength and wisdom. (de Montaigne)

In his commerce with men I mean him to include- and that principally- those who live only in the memory of books. By means of history he will frequent those great souls of former years. If you want it to be so, history can be a waste of time; it can also be, if you want it to be so, a study bearing fruit beyond price. (de Montaigne) The first lessons with which we should irrigate his mind should be those which teach him to know himself, and to know how to die and to live. (de Montaigne) Since philosophy is the art which teaches us how to live, and since children need to learn it as much as we do at other ages, why do we not instruct them in it? (de Montaigne) Any time and any place can be used to study: his room, a garden, is table, his bed; when alone or in company; morning and evening. His chief study will be Philosophy, that Former of good judgement and character who is privileged to be concerned with everything. (de Montaigne) For among other things he had been counseled to bring me to love knowledge and duty by my own choice, without forcing my will, and to educate my soul entirely through gentleness and freedom. (de Montaigne) Learning must not only lodge with us: we must marry her. (de Montaigne)
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Educational Quotes by Famous Philosophers


Quotations from Confucius, Aristotle, Euripides, Seneca, Cicero, Horace, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, John Fowles, George Bernard Shaw

Study the past if you would define the future. I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. (Confucius, Analects) Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these gave only life, those the art of living well. (Aristotle, In Education) The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead. (Aristotle, In Education) All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth. (Aristotle) Learned we may be with another mans learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own: [I hate a sage who is not wise for himself] (Euripides) What use is knowledge if there is no understanding? (Stobaeus) non vitae sed scholae discimus. [We are taught for the schoolroom not for life] (Seneca) Now we are not merely to stick knowledge on to the soul: we must incorporate it into her; the soul should not be sprinkled with knowledge but steeped in it. (Seneca) And if knowledge does not change her and make her imperfect state better then it is preferable just to leave it alone. Knowledge is a dangerous sword; in a weak hand which does not know how to wield it it gets in its masters way and wounds him, ut fuerit melius non didicisse [so that it would have been better not to have studied at all] (de Montaigne quoting Cicero) She (philosophy) is equally helpful to the rich and poor: neglect her, and she equally harms the young and old. (Horace) As a man who knows how to make his education into a rule of life not a means of showing off; who can control himself and obey his own principles. The true mirror of our discourse is the course of our lives. (de Montaigne quoting Cicero)

THE TEACHER AS A NECESSARY EVIL. Let us have as few people as possible between the productive minds and the hungry and recipient minds! The middlemen almost unconsciously adulterate the food which they supply. It is because of teachers that so little is learned, and that so badly. (Nietzsche, 1880) What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult. (Sigmund Freud) To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralysed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can do for those who study it. (Bertrand Russell, The History of Western Philosophy) To begin with our knowledge grows in spots. ..What you first gain, ... is probably a small amount of new information, a few new definitions, or distinctions, or points of view. But while these special ideas are being added, the rest of your knowledge stands still, and only gradually will you line up your previous opinions with the novelties I am trying to instill, and to modify to some slight degree their mass. ..Your mind in such processes is strained, and sometimes painfully so, between its older beliefs and the novelties which experience brings along. (William James, Pragmatism) Chess permits freedom of permutations within a framework of set rules and prescribed movements. Because a chess player cannot move absolutely as he likes, either in terms of the rules or in terms of the exigencies of the particular game, has he no freedom of move? The separate games of chess I play with existence has different rules from your and every other game; the only similarity is that each of our games always has rules. The gifts, inherited and acquired, that are special to me are the rules of the game; and the situation I am in at any given moment is the situation of the game. My freedom is the choice of action and the power of enactment I have within the rules and situation of the game. (Fowles, 1964. The Aristos) Our present educational systems are all paramilitary. Their aim is to produce servants or soldiers who obey without question and who accepts their training as the best possible training. Those who are most successful in the state are those who have the most interest in prolonging the state as it is; they are also those who have the most say in the educational system, and in particular by ensuring that the educational product they want is the most highly rewarded. (Fowles, 1964. The Aristos)

Every serious student of the subject knows that the stability of a civilisation depends finally on the wisdom with which it distributes its wealth and allots its burdens of labour, and on the veracity of the instruction it provides for its children. We do not distribute the wealth at all: we throw it into the streets to be scrambled for by the strongest and the greediest who will stoop to such scrambling, after handing the lions share to the professional robbers politely called owners. We cram our children with lies, and punish anyone who tries to enlighten them. Our remedies for the consequences of our folly are tariffs, inflation, wars, vivisections and inoculations vengeance, violences, black magic. (George Bernard Shaw)
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Education Links / Educational Philosophy


Philosophy: Art / Truth - The Philosophy of Art and the Art of Philosophy. The greatest Art is founded on profound Truths. Art Pictures and Quotations from Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian, Caravaggio, Reubens, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Van Gogh, Mattise, Picasso, Warhol. On the rise and fall of great Art - On the new Metaphysical foundations of Art as representation of Absolute Truth. Philosophy: Free Online IQ Test, Tests - What is a Genius? Cultivating the Mind with Philosophy, Truth and Reality, Chess, Classical Music, Reading - Test your IQ Score Online. Aristotle - On Philosopher Aristotle's Metaphysics and Physics (Motion). (Aristotle was one of the greatest of the famous philosophers and should be read by all people interested in philosophy and wisdom.) Fowles, John - Many years ago my Father gave me Fowles 'The Aristos' (The Best) which motivated me on the path of Philosophy (a lovely gift from a beautiful Father). Plato - On Plato's Republic - Plato appreciated that all Truth comes from Reality and this Truth was profoundly important to the future of Humanity. 'Till Philosophers are Kings, or Kings are Philosophers there is no Hope for Humanity' Rousseau, Jean Jacques - I have fond memories of Rousseau's Confessions

(my first philosophy book). Famous Quotes from a highly Intelligent Philosopher. 'The curses of rogues are the just man's glory'. Socrates - 'Know Thyself' - Condemned to death for educating the youth to Philosophy and arguing that people are ignorant of the Truth. Information, Biography - On the Life and Death of Socrates (The Last Days of Socrates by Plato). http://www.p4c.net/ - Philosophy for Children http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/ - Discusses introduction of philosophy into the school curriculum; by Michael Pritchard

Philosophy
The Importance Of Philosophy: An Introductory Address To Students, Educators, And Practitioners
Cathy OKeefe, M.Ed., CTRS University of South Alabama, Dept. of HPELS, Mobile, AL 36688 Phone: (251)-460-7131 A wise person once told me that the study of philosophy is much like the process of creating a painting in that it reflects the artist's perspective of the subject from the ground on which he or she stands. This "figure/ground" relationship, well known to me as an undergraduate art student in the late sixties, helped me see in later years that I must expect change in my perceptions of truth and wisdom as the ground upon which I stood, personally and professionally, changed. Students, educators, and practitioners in therapeutic recreation operate from a set of assumptions influenced by their academic preparation, experience in the field, and personal values and beliefs. We know that developmental influences over one's lifetime enter into the picture as well, creating a range of experiences that shape the process of learning and growth. These assumptions must be continually reflected upon over time so the individual, like the painter, maintains a sound perspective on practice, the needs of clients, and professional conduct. Philosophy, then, becomes a navigational tool, the pencil held at arm's length, against which the individual, like the painter, measures the subject before him and renders it with care, accuracy, and vision.

Words can create problems! Any of you who witnessed the struggle in recent years simply over the terms therapeutic recreation and recreation(al) therapy know how terms take on a life of their own. Historical circumstances generate attitudes and perceptions that attach themselves to terms over time, leaving a trail of cognitive and affective associations that are incredibly powerful. I have learned that even philosophers are not immune to this difficulty and have trouble reaching consensus on a definition of philosophy. Additionally, philosophy carries, as a discipline, millennia of linguistic and conceptual changes not to mention cultural, political, social, and religious influences. I pass along the best advice of my own professors in philosophy in urging you to continually clarify your terms, remembering how laden they can become with associative meanings. You must also honor the feelings of your colleagues and clients while asserting your right to the same respect. In this paper, philosophy, literally "a love of wisdom," implies thoughtful examination of concepts, principles, values and practice that are both normative and consistent with personal experience. From a philosophical foundation, dogma, set structures of beliefs, may emerge, but the two are not the same. Philosophy demands a willingness to continually reflect and transform ourselves, to be open to new ways of thinking, at least, and an outright change of heart (the Greeks call it metanoia), at most. My purpose in writing this introductory article for The Philosophy of Therapeutic Recreation, Volume II, is to draw you into the subject of philosophy thoughtfully and with confidence. Exploring philosophies of therapeutic recreation should be more than an intellectual exercise done in a classroom to prepare students for a few exam questions. It should extend beyond an occasional session at association conferences where we dutifully gather to earn our continuing education units. It should take us past the reading of articles in the Therapeutic Recreation Journal or ATRA Annual to writings in the humanities, science, and the arts. My choice of writing style for this article is purposely conversational. Philosophy can sometimes intimidate people with terminology that is difficult to understand and concepts that are abstract. I want to invite you, through my own example, to personalize philosophy, reflect on your experiences, and seek new learning with confidence. Hopefully, the articles in this collection will contribute to your growth and provide food for thought in the years to come. Students are often asked to write a personal philosophy of therapeutic recreation as part of their academic course work. The exercise requires them to evaluate some of the major written works in the field and synthesize their views with lecture and discussion material. The outcome should be a well developed and written justification of the student's own belief about the meaning and value of therapeutic recreation. If done properly, the assignment can become more than an academic exercise. I recommend to both students and educators that it be regarded with great respect and given the preparation and attention that elevates it to more than a few test questions, just as one's personal journal is more than an exercise in composition. Writing one's philosophy of therapeutic recreation might be more meaningful if it grew out of an extended effort over several courses and field experiences. Ultimately, students

would create a series of reflections that would reveal changes in perspective over time. Like the artist who completes a number of renderings of his subject from a variety of points in a room, the student is able, during a number of months or years, to develop a richer, more meaningful, and probably more accurate framework of philosophical thinking. I suggest that this process of reflection over time would be made even more meaningful by the inclusion of educators, practitioners, and individuals who have received therapeutic recreation services in honest dialogue. It seems a duty as well as a privilege, in my view, to test one's own perceptions against those of others who have an equal interest in the integrity of our service. As students move beyond graduation to the professional arena, our own Code of Ethics serves as a reminder of the importance of diligence and fidelity in continuing the process started in school. Philosophy, after all, will be viewed and remodeled again and again as the years provide a more solid foundation and keener perspective on the bigger picture. There may be times when one's philosophy is expressed best in ideals, "conceptions of perfect states of affairs that we think should exist, but which may exist only in our thoughts" (Cooper, 1993, p. 7). Situations at other times might invoke an urgency to make our ideals practical by applying them to an ethical dilemma or organizational problem. In any case, philosophy springs from foundational principles that must be understood and articulated clearly. Where to Begin I would like to suggest first, that educators recognize three critical student needs: (1) the need to understand what philosophy involves and what process is required to actually develop a philosophy; (2) the need for guidance in finding writings that nurture thinking, foster understanding, and challenge assumptions; and (3) the need for frequent dialogue over the entire course of study with other students, educators, practitioners, and clients about the meaning of the service of therapeutic recreation to those who live it. That is a big order, but I can think of nothing in the long run that will better prepare students to face the questions that I hear everyday: "How do I explain my field to my family and friends? How do I know if I will fit into an agency's corporate culture? What will I say to clients when they ask me how therapeutic recreation will help them?" Understanding Philosophy I was convinced early in life of the importance of philosophy by the people who taught me. My educational formation took place in the sixties and early seventies under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy in Baltimore and the Jesuits in the South. I was forced to critically examine major social, political, and moral issues to understand the imperative to become a person of conviction and thoughtful action. Civil rights, the Vietnam War, the moral upheavals of the seventies, and social conditions of poverty, insufficient health care, and isolation impacted me. I saw peers searching for or locked into ideologies but without the philosophical ground in which to root them. When I began to teach as a graduate assistant at the ripe old age of twenty-three, I found that my students, many of whom were my own age, had never taken a philosophy course

and did not understand why philosophy was anything more than an elective they'd rather avoid. When discussion about ethics was raised, most could not see that ethical decisionmaking springs from a personal philosophy that is well thought out and committed to principles of justice, honesty, fidelity, and respect. The adage, "You can't be what you don't see" is true in the educational setting. Unless students see philosophy expressed and lived by teachers and practitioners, it will be overlooked as a value altogether. I recently returned to Mercy High School in Baltimore, my alma mater, to deliver the commencement address. I ran into my former French teacher and reminded her about her charge to us as seniors to read the works of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre on existentialism. We had to write, in French, an explanation of their philosophies with comparisons to others we studied, including Christian philosophers. We laughed at the heaviness of the assignment for seventeen year olds, but I look back gratefully for being encouraged to at least make the attempt to think philosophically at that age. Reading the philosophical writings of others can be heavy stuff. My students tell me that they sometimes have to read an article two or three times to understand the language and meaning of some writings. Don't be intimidated by vocabulary or the complexity of the phrasing. Students should ask professors for help with the terminology of philosophical discourse. The long history of philosophy as a discipline has created a unique body of terms that draw from a variety of languages, cultural, ethnic and religious traditions. I prefer to see each new word I encounter as a window to some past place and time where people just like us have tried to answer the same basic questions about the meaning of life, joy, suffering, courage, perseverance, spirituality, peace, and death. I recommend an experiential and multi-disciplinary approach to philosophy. I encourage my students to start where they are in life and examine sources that already relate to their values. I ask them, through a values clarification exercise, to write a credo, a listing of statements that begin with the phrase "I believe..." and articulate their convictions about life in general, its value, and the meaning of human relationships. Next, I try to generate excitement about the sources that are available to begin their quest. I remind them that Plato said it is the job of teachers to introduce students to the best possible circle of friends. Living or dead, once the philosophies of others are articulated to students in a way that is clear and relevant, the relationship between the student and the philosopher becomes intimate and alive. In a society that is moving away from the printed word, we must become more committed to reading. David Cooper, a modern philosopher specializing in applied ethics, social and political philosophy, likes to show his students a film called "The Death of Socrates" from an old CBS TV series called "You Are There." Actors play the roles of classical philosophers dialoguing with present day reporters. In this film, Socrates and his friends engage in philosophical discussion just prior to his execution. Cooper shows the film "so that students can see for themselves how inspiring a person's life can become when it is governed by a sophisticated philosophical theory" (Cooper, 1993, p. 2). Charles Sylvester shows his students the film "Awakenings" and follows with discussion that invites them to examine all the levels at which awakenings are occurring among staff as well as patients in a mental hospital where encephalitic clients emerge after years from a catatonic-like

stupor. I have encouraged my students to watch video tapes by the cross cultural author Joseph Campbell, and I have read to them from Joseph Pieper's Leisure, The Basis of Culture and Paul Haun's Recreation: A Medical Viewpoint. I have learned that philosophy can be found even in sports, as one of my most well received short videos comes from a speech by Jim Valvano on his philosophy of life, given as he was dying of cancer. Ultimately, we must become better observers of our world, past and present, and whatever media help with the process should be used. I recently recommended to my students that they allow computer technology to help them. I encourage you to get one disc that you can keep over a period of years to store any quotes, summaries from and reactions to what you read. Anytime you come across words that seem important to you, record them and the source. Read from philosophy, theology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, world literature, politics, or other disciplines that give you a well rounded view of life. My favorite authors are those who dig through a multitude of diverse sources and give you the best of what they have found. Above all, read! I also suggest that you compile a file of articles from our own field that relate to philosophy. You won't have to look far, as our sources are consolidated in a few journals and books. Some authors in therapeutic recreation are particular devotees of philosophy, and you will find their names repeatedly on articles relating to the topic. Sylvester, Mobily, Fain, Hemingway, Hunnicutt, Lahey, Halberg, Shank, Howe-Murphy and others will make contributions time and again in their efforts to educate our field about the relevance of philosophy. Look for stories. Joseph Campbell noted that we have lost our connectedness as a society to stories that he calls, "the literature of the spirit." Philosophy is often better understood when framed in stories. Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to news bites and the reduction of experiences to quick columns of print that we resist the hard work associated with seeking those values that have to do with the centering of our lives. Tragically, we carry this over to our practice of therapeutic recreation. What our clients really want us to know, and deserve to have us hear, is their stories. By knowing their stories we come to know their hearts and spirits, the source of their motivation and actions, their philosophies of life. Yet our assessments give little room for story and, at their worst, reduce our clients' lives to Likert scales, check sheets, and Ttests. I often tell my students that unless we are willing to invest in the stories of our clients and know the wisdom from which their actions spring, we cannot truly understand what they need and, therefore, will surely err in treating them with the individual dignity each deserves. You see, knowing your own philosophy is only part of the picture. You must also be in touch with the context in which your clients frame the meaning of their lives to understand their motivation and to anticipate how they can be aided by your service. Some of the most compelling philosophy is contained in the stories that many of us already know: the parables of the Christian scriptures, the wisdom literature of the Hebrew scriptures and the Talmud, the Platonic dialogues, the wonderful stories of the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, the

writings of Islam, and the reflections of humanist thinkers. We and our clients live in the same world, influenced by similar traditions and philosophies, and it is essential to honor and draw from the wisdom that each of our clients uses to interpret the experiences of his or her life. Unfortunately, the classical philosophers and writers of European civilizations have been lost to many of us today. This is especially problematic in educational settings. T.S. Eliott (1940) noted that there was a very high level of intelligence in American universities but "progress was impeded by the fact that one could never assume that any two individuals, unless they had been at the same school under the influence of the same master at the same moment, had studied the same subjects or read the same books" (Eliott, p. 33). He contended that understanding and beneficial discourse among educated persons was impeded by the lack of common background in academic formation. What this means for all of us in therapeutic recreation is that we are inhibited in our dialogue about our field by the lack of common philosophical preparation as students. If one student from each program in therapeutic recreation across this continent were to assemble together, I suggest that it would be difficult to discuss philosophical issues related to the field because of the lack of consistency of reading and discussion that has occurred across campuses. If advocating the good life for our clients is our purpose, and acting virtuously as professionals is our goal, we must, as students of life in general, be committed to learning what others have said about virtue, wisdom, and the good life. I find that my students who understand this have very little trouble when ethics is introduced in my courses because they have learned that making ethical decisions is most easily accomplished when action springs from an ethical life. A philosophy that is expressed in work for legislative and social change beneficial to those we serve, and advocacy for social equality, comes from a desire to use wisdom to advance the good life for everyone. This kind of life indicates that therapeutic recreation is more than a career. It is a vocation in the truest sense of that word, for it is a calling to live what one believes. A personal example of my own philosophy may be helpful here. When I read John Hemingway's article, "Building a Philosophical Defense of Therapeutic Recreation: The Case of Distributive Justice," in the first volume of Philosophy of Therapeutic Recreation, I agreed wholeheartedly with his defense of the value of a philosophy that espouses a just society for all. It made me think of my own reasons for my commitment to social justice which are largely rooted in the beatitudes and the invitation to love God in my neighbor. While my Judeo-Christian education taught me that love is an ultimate end, I understood and appreciated Hemingway's more humanistic and pragmatic approach that by elevating the quality of life of those who struggle with less, the quality of life of the society as a whole is better. Later, in the same book, I read Roxanne Howe-Murphy and James Murphy's piece on New Age consciousness and was again challenged to stop and examine my Christian consciousness and how it frames my own views on therapeutic recreation practice. Consequently, I began to write and speak about the affect that my faith, the faith of my clients, and the faith of their support systems (family, friends, and community) have on my philosophy of therapeutic recreation, and I have gained enormously from dialoguing about this with others.

One other article from this same publication really moved me. It was an autobiographical piece by Warren Johnson about the importance of wisdom, fun, and health in the face of a fatal disease. Had I met Warren Johnson years ago when he was a patient, I admit that I probably would have done him a great disservice by assessing his needs in our traditional, clinical way. But had I asked for his story, I would have gained a window to the real man behind the disfigurement of scleroderma, a man who really understood the value of recreation as a healing experience. I urge all of you to read his story. Becoming a Community of Philosophers Because I have lived and taught in the same place for over twenty years, I am privileged to remain in contact with many of my former students. When I see them our conversation often comes around to what each has gradually embraced about the meaning of therapeutic recreation and the philosophy of practice that has developed over years of experience and continued learning. Many will comment that as new graduates it would have been difficult to articulate a personal philosophy to undergird their fledgling careers, but as time passed, a way of seeing the field and its gifts emerged from a variety of sources. Sometimes an ethical dilemma forces practitioners to stop, think through, and formulate the purpose of therapeutic recreation for an individual client or for a program within an agency. Once, a student called me to say that she was on the verge of quitting because her administrator had established a monthly quota of generated fees for service from each therapist. It did not take long for her to come in conflict with a profit based philosophy of treatment. When she questioned the appropriateness of taking certain clients on an outing, she was told that outings were an excellent way to generate large amounts of charges and were, therefore, to be used as frequently as possible. In the wake of its effort to produce profits, the agency was losing sight of its ethical obligation to clients. As health care reform lends to experimentation with new configurations of service delivery, I believe that you will be faced with similar experiences and challenges to your own philosophy of practice. Ignorance is not bliss! I sometimes get letters or calls from students who finally leave an agency because they believe in retrospect that they have affirmed unethical approaches to patient care inadvertently by failing to speak up early on. Some have said, "I didn't realize at first what was happening. I was so new and inexperienced at practice that I allowed myself to be influenced by the actions of others that I knew intuitively were not in the best interests of the clients. Only as time went on did I realize that I had to take a stand for what I knew was just and right." That kind of personal evaluation of one's surroundings, the philosophy of an agency as it is practiced, not stated in some slick brochure or policy manual, requires wisdom and knowledge about a host of variables that interface to pose a challenge to you. I can tell you from experience that learning about philosophy during academic preparation and finding out its value in creating your own constructs and convictions will serve you well when you are faced with difficult questions about the meaning of your work. I encourage educators in our field to bring practitioners into your classrooms and to create dialogue about philosophy in action. It is imperative that students have the opportunity to hear how philosophy is played out in everyday actions before they seek

jobs on their own. In today's world of health care delivery, ethical issues will arise frequently that challenge us to interpret and act on our own philosophies of practice. Two situations that I have recently encountered are not uncommon. In long term care, for example, nursing homes are establishing in-house ethics committees made up of staff and patients or their advocates/family members. Policies and procedures for making decisions regarding a variety of quality of life issues are established by this committee, and when individual cases present difficult situations, the group attempts to arrive at a course of action that is ethical and sound. You may be asked to serve on a committee that decides when patients will be moved to other facilities, when treatment will be withheld, or how scarce resources will be best used to meet patient needs (Ross, Glaser, Rasinski-Gregory, Gibson, and Bayley, 1993). You must be ready to contribute meaningfully to discussions about the importance of giving attention to patients who may seem unable to benefit from your presence. You must be ready to justify community reintegration activities in the face of objections raised by liability conscious administrators. You must clearly understand the value of your service as competing interests vie for priority. Most recently, I have become greatly concerned about the rush to licensure that I see occuring in some areas of the country. Ethically I believe that any action should be preceded by an intense period of study and reflection. All of us share an obligation to participate, but the effort should be led by a committed and impartial group, preferably jointly represented by members of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, the National Therapeutic Recreation Society, and the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification. This is truly a community issue with a great potential impact on practitioners, educators, students and, most of all, those we serve. Our association leadership really has a challenge ahead as we face the uncertainty of health care reform. My own philosophical commitment leads me to suspect that the rush to licensure springs from a desire to carve out a territory for our practice, a legal protection for us more than for our clients. I am very open to hearing well developed arguments in favor of licensure, but I have seen none, only a frenzy of activity based on fear that if we don't act, some other discipline will take from us our right to practice. Of all the things that a thoughtful study of philosophy can do for us, the most important is to create a sound interior confidence. Then, the strength of individuals can be joined under associational umbrellas to create a collective of ethically thinking, virtuously acting professionals. I would predict that in an environment such as this, licensure would not be our choice. The issue, however, reminds me of five foundational principles outlined by Cooper (1993) that provide options for our choice of philosophy. They are: (1) Ethical Egoism: Everyone ought to act so as to promote their own best interest. (2) Utilitarianism: Everyone ought to act so as to promote the greatest amount of happiness for everyone. (3) Natural Rights Theory: Everyone ought to act in accordance with everyone's inalienable, indefeasible, natural rights.

(4) Social Contract Theory: Everyone ought to act in accordance with the principles of justice that would be chosen by free and equal rational people who come together to form a social contract. (5) Duty Ethics: Everyone ought to always treat people as ends unto themselves and never use them as a means only (p. 23). While I invite you to examine these when you consciously create your philosophy of practice, I find them ineffective without a commitment to virtue. Aristotle framed the value of virtue so well, and my own Christian background made it part of my very soul. Virtue helps us live as we "ought to." And a sense of right virtue keeps us from extreme action since it is tempered with wisdom and respect for persons and situations. I strongly encourage you read what you can on "virtue ethics" rooted in Aristotle and made popular today by a number of authors. Conclusion While we do not have to become specialists, we should all strive to be philosophers in the sense that we are open to the wonder, doubt, and thoughtfulness that accompanies the search for wisdom and truth. Carl Jung believed that making meaning of life's experiences was in itself therapeutic. Discovering and developing one's philosophy of life and professional practice makes meaning of our own experiences. I believe that it also nurtures us to be better human beings and partners with clients in their journeys to healthy living. For twenty years I have admired and been influenced by an international movement called L'Arche (The Ark), where able bodied and developmentally disabled adults live together in community. L'Arche has helped me to appreciate the great paradox that exists when, in the act of serving and helping persons with disabilities develop their potential, we caregivers find our own. Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche, believes that we are all "handicapped," and a philosophy that recognizes the mutual nature of healing and growth is most healthy (Vanier, 1995.) I encourage you to view the journey towards your own philosophy of therapeutic recreation as one of the most important in your life. Surely it will intertwine with your personal life, and I expect that, if done with thoughtful reflection, will make it richer and more meaningful than you could dream. Still the would-be artist after all these years, I see my own journey as a tapestry of woven thread creating a picture of who I really am. In the end, whether helping clients find their source of meaning, or finding our own in the process, there is no more wonderful mystery than that which happens when, as students, teachers, practitioners, and clients, we make that journey together.

Teaching Philosophy to Teachers: are ISM's Philosophy?


fundamental differences in conceptions of the basic values which are to shape and direct our educational institutions are grounded in differing and incompatible myths, stories, symbols, and rituals, that is, in differing and incompatible senses of real. -- William Vaughan

[1]

How do philosophical traditions come to bear on schooling practice? Through the professional preparation of teachers and administrators. We will see that how the

school is conceived has a lot to do with what philosophy is thought to be proper to such preparation. Because the Temple and Factory images of the school dominate in our culture, the role of philosophy in teacher preparation has been to offer prospective teachers "philosophical systems" rather than training in pertinent critical thinking skills [2] Even philosophers of education who stress the critical training aspect of philosophy tend to do so from the perspective of their particular commitments to an ideology.[3] It is important to hold open the question as to whether and to what extent the theories sketched below bear on decisions in the school context. Philosophy can bear on school decisions but it is likely that the "philosophies" commonly discussed in textbooks are not, as a researcher would say, "the relevant variables." That is, they may not be the distinctions upon which the decision is based.
Point / Counterpoint: The ISM's Philosophers of Education disagree often vehemently among themselves whether the tradition of
presenting philosophies of education, Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, Existentialism, Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, Naturalism, etc. is a legitimate pedagogical and philosophical enterprise. The ISM's approach, as it is often called, is championed as a useful introduction to a long and complex history of educational thought. The ISM's illustrate how very central a role abstract philosophical theories have played in the educational thinking of people of historical importance. Also, there are several informative books expounding these theories in a pedagogically effective way, a useful first step into philosophy. Critics rejoin that such a smorgasbord approach tends to emphasize information about philosophies rather than to develop critical thinking skills in the student. In the absence of detailed study, a "school" of philosophical thought often becomes a system of slogans. Furthermore, what is overlooked is that these philosophies have often been the foci of social conflict. The ISM's approach tends to treat it as a matter of personal taste which philosophy one chooses, if any. By treating all the ISM's on an equal footing, they overlook the fact that some of them are generally considered to be outmoded. Also, offering philosophical theories as living options obscures the powerful role of school organizations in controlling behavior despite philosophical diversity.

Textbooks and ISM's

Just as high school textbooks have been criticized in a variety of subject matter areas so, have college texts come in for criticism in the preparation of teachers. Tozer and McAninch [4], reviewing texts used for teacher preparation, criticize them for the following reasons: they fail to stimulate critical inquiry they present unexamined surface realities they fail to provide competing explanations of school and social realities

they make authoritative declarations which lack supporting evidence or argument From the perspective of the Temple, these are hardly criticisms. However, the fact that in our society there are many "Temples" makes for concern. From the standpoint of a community of critical practice, this hodgepodge can only create confusion. The next chart presents a synopsis of similar charts from a variety of sources. It shows what are conceived as philosophical schools and their proponents, together with a brief - and sloganistic - characterization of the tenets of that school. The chart demonstrates that on certain items there is lack of consensus as to a) who belongs to what school; b) what tenets are espoused by that school; c) what philosophical thought is relevant for teachers The chart was prepared from texts that ranged from general education texts, through texts on foundations of education, philosophy of education, to books and articles by philosophers and historians. The sources were the following (the chart code for each is given initially): general education and foundations texts:
HW, Hessong and Weeks, Introduction to Education [5] J, Johnson et.al., Introduction to the Foundations of American Education[6] OL, Ornstein and Levine, An Introduction to the Foundations of Education[7] RC, Ryan and Cooper, Those Who Can, Teach[8] SS, Sadker and Sadker, Teachers, Schools and Society.[9]

texts dealing specifically with philosophy of education


G, Gutek, Philosophical and Ideological Perspectives on Education[10] OC, Ozmon and Craver, Philosophical Foundations of Education[11]

general philosophical texts or articles


AK, Aiken, The Age of Ideology [12] AC, Acton, "Berkeley, George" and "Idealism" in Edwards, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy.[13]

D, Durant, "Immanuel Kant" and "Hegel" in The Story of Civilization [14] P, Price, "Philosophy of Education, History of" in Edwards.[15] T, Taylor, The Empiricists [16] W, White, The Age of Analysis [17]

In the following chart, items for which consensus exist are given without source citations. Items championed by a minority are cited by code. Items omitted by a minority are cited by code in parentheses.

Figure 19.6

The chart indicates some disagreement. Note that Plato, Berkeley, Kant and Hegel are all listed as idealists. What the chart fails to note is that the term, "idealism" means different things at different times in the history of philosophy. Plato believed that universals, designated with terms like "greenness" or "goodness", were more "real" than physical objects because they did not come in and out of existence. Berkely believed that objects of sensation were real, but that we could not know via sensation that something called "material" exists. Kant - strangely missing from many of the texts reviewed above - agreed, saying that things like space, time and causation, were basic ways the human mind organized its experience, not realities as Plato thought they were. That would make Kant a "Realist." Furthermore, asserted Kant, reason is not capable of bringing us knowledge of things beyond the basic categories of human experience, e.g. space, time and causality. His theories of practical reason would allow him to be categorized as a "Pragmatist," as well. Hegel, following Kant, believed that absolutes manifested themselves within human experience, not in some other world beyond it. However, the major exponents of Existentialism saw in Hegel's Phenomenology of the Spirit, the foundations of their own philosophy. The chart above obviously oversimplifies. There are two points to be observed: criticisms of the kind offered in the previous paragraph undermine the usefulness of simple slogan-terms like, Idealist, Existentialist, etc. for supporting the authority of the Temple or Factory. The consensus such terms insinuate is illusory. The disputes between "Realists" and "Idealists", about some "ultimate reality" need not bear on school practice any more than theoretical disputes among physicists about the ultimate nature of matter need bear on bridge construction. What, then, could be the point in introducing prospective teachers to them? One explanation to consider is that some philosophies are, in fact, dangerous to some kinds of organizational authority. Introducing prospective teachers to apparently irrelevant philosophical "schools" may "inoculate" them against further philosophical inquiry and thus render them more accepting of organizational authority as it is. This does not mean that those who teach about philosophical schools intend to intellectually hamstring their students. Rather, we can understand the development of this approach to philosophical studies as most "adaptive" to the organizational structures in which it is found. Philosophers are no more likely than other people to bite the hand that feeds them. A philosophically knowledgeable person could offer similar criticism of any of the classifications in Figure 19.6. What is the use of such distinctions in the training

of teachers? It may, for example, serve to reinforce the Temple and Factory images of the school, placing authority beyond the scope of critical inquiry. Is it just coincidence that Immanuel Kant, known in his own day as the great destroyer of systems[18], who hated all "dogmatism", i.e. philosophical systems accepted without critical thought, should be absent from so many of the books purporting to deal with systems of philosophy? By having students study systems, rather than examining how and why a choice among them might be made, authority of one kind or another gets "premised" into their thinking. But accepting authority is not necessarily a philosophical activity. We believe that philosophy is well worth studying. Not for pat systems of answers, but to develop techniques and strategies for inquiry.[19] Osmond and Craver consider the conflict between those who advocate and those who spurn an "isms" approach to philosophy of education and, echoing Resnick's earlier point, comment, Perhaps, after all, the major role of philosophy in education is not to formulate some system or school of thought, but to help develop the educator's thinking capacities. [20]

[1] William Vaughan, "Fundamental Value Conflicts in Education: Towards Reconciliation" Philosophy of Education 1974, pp.127 - 136. [2] Those interested in critical thinking should see John Stuart Mill, Logic, or Charles Sanders Pierce, "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" exerpted in Morton White, The Age of Analysis, (New York: Mentor, 1955) Also, see John Dewey, How We Think (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1933) and R. Bruce Raup, George Axtelle, Kenneth Benne, and B. Othaniel Smith, The Improvement of Practical Intelligence (New York: Harper, 1950). See also Richard A. Gibboney, Toward Intellectual Excellence. Some things to look for in classrooms and schools Manuscript. (Graduate School of Education, 3700 Walnut Street, Phila. PA, 19107) Also, see D.J. O' Conner An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967) and Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret Sharp and Frederick S. Oscanyan Philosophy in the Classroom (Upper Montclair, NJ: Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children, 1977) [3] Cf. James Bowen and Peter R. Hobson Theories of Education (New York: Wiley, 1974) Steven M Cahn The Philosophical Foundations of Education (New York: Harper and Row, 1970) George F. Kneller Movements of Thought in Modern Education (New York: Wiley, 1984)

[4] Steve Tozer and Stuart McAninch, "Four Texts in Social Foundations of Education in Historical Perspective" Educational Studies (Fall 1987) [5] Robert F. Hessong, Thomas H. Weeks, Introduction to Education (New York: MacMillan, 1987) [6] James A. Johnson, Harold W. Collins, Victor L. Dupuis, John H. Johansen Introduction to the Foundations of American Education Sixth Edition (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1985) [7] Allan C. Ornstein and Daniel U. Levine An Introduction to the Foundations of Education Third Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984) [8] Kevin Ryan and James M. Cooper, Those Who Can, Teach Fourth Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984) [9] Myra Pollack Sadker and David Miller Sadker Teachers, Schools, and Society (New York: Random House, 1988) [10] Gerald L. Gutek Philosophical and Ideological Perspectives on Education (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1988) [11] Howard A. Ozmon and Samuel M. Craver Philosophical Foundations of Education (Columbus: Merrill, 1981) [12] Henry D. Aiken, The Age of Ideology, (New York: Mentor, 1956) [13] H.B. Acton, "Berkeley, George" Vol.1, pp. 295 - 304 and "Idealism", Vol.4, pp.110 - 118 of Paul Edwards (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (New York: MacMillan, 1967) [14] Will and Ariel Durant "Kant" Chapter XXI Book 10 Rousseau and Revolution, , pp.531 551 and "Hegel" in Chapter XXXII, "German Philosophy" in Book 11 The Age of Napolean pp. 645 - 658. of The Story of Civilization .(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967) [15] Kingsley Price, "Philosophy of Education, History of " Vol 6 pp.230 - 243. of Edwards, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy [16] Richard Taylor The Empiricists Locke, Berkely, Hume Dolphin Books (Garden City,NY: Doubleday, undated) [17] Morton White The Age of Analysis (New York: Mentor, 1961) [18] See Michael Harrington, The Politics at God's Funeral (New York: Penguin, 1983) pp. 15 - 25. [19] Cf. Carl Knape and Paul T. Rosewell, "The Philosophically Discerning Classroom Teacher" Educational Studies Vol 2. 1980 pp 37 - 47.

Also, John W. Friesen, Evelina Ortega y Miranda and Henry C. Lu, "Philosophy of Education: a description of the field." Philosophy of Education 1972, p.197 - 220 Also, Jerome A. Popp, "Philosophy of Education and the Education of Teachers", Philosophy of Education 1972, pp.222 - 229. [20] Osmond and Craver, p. 274.

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Importance of Philosophy of Education for Teachers
Philosophy of education is important for the teacher for the following reasons: 1. It provides the teacher with the basis for making his decision concerning his/her works; 2. It helps the teachers develop a wide range of interests, attitudes and values concomitant to his/her professional life; 3. It makes the teacher more aware of his/her own life and work and makes him/her more dynamic, discriminating, critical and mentally alert. 4. It saves time and money and effort.

I need to understand the relevance of philosophy to education and educational practices.


Posted by jindalshelly on Oct 8, 2010.

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A philosophical framework, often called your philosophy of education, is simply, what you believe about the educational process, and how you plan to approach your

clairewait Editor Debater Expert Educator Scribe

classroom/students given what you believe. I think there are two ways to approach this question: cerebrally and practically. A "philosophy of education," cerebrally speaking, is never going to remain stagnant once you enter the teaching world. As a senior in college, your level of experience with teaching likely does not exceed student teaching and internships. This is a great time for you to think about how you wish to approach the classroom, your students, the curriculum, and the entire educational process because you are the most unaffected by some of the negative sides of teaching as

you will ever be. (I often wish I could find my first "Philosophy of Education" essay. It would be interesting to see what I thought the profession was all about with my college idealistic mindset.) Personally speaking, developing your philosophy of education will at least give you a beginning goal. Then, understand, with every single year of experience, your philosophy will likely change. You will start to realize what it is really important to you in a classroom, and what things you are willing to sacrifice. If nothing else, just for you personally, this will help you keep the big picture separate

from the details. (When you experience a particularly difficult day, you might forget about the big picture and allow the details to really get you down. Refocusing depends on your ability to remember your goals.) On a practical level, however, writing your philosophy of education and keeping it updated, is a great idea. First, it will definitely come up in interview questions, in one form or another. It might even be an exact question on an application. Next, most teachers are required to obtain a number of Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or classes, each year to keep

their teaching licence current. Additionally, most public schools require individual teachers to write "growth plans" each year, with specific goals detailed within. At the end of the year (especially for new teachers) principals or supervisors will use these growth plans as a means of evaluating their teachers. I found myself, in my first 2-3 years of classroom teaching, using my philosophy of education in many of my CEU classes as well as in my growth plans.
Posted by clairewait on Oct 8, 2010.

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pohnpei397 Editor Emeritus Debater Expert Educator

To me, having a philosophy of education is important because it allows you to adjust (relatively) easily to a variety of new and unexpected situations. For example, think about how many things happen to you in class every day that you could never have planned for. A student says or does something that you haven't really experienced before. The administration decides to do something that disrupts one of your class periods. A student wants to ask questions that are interesting but not exactly on topic. How do you react to these things? If you have a clear sense of who you are as a teacher, it is easier to respond. When the student acts up, who are you? Are you a strict disciplinarian or are you more of an understanding teacher? When the other studen asks the questions, what is your goal for class -- are you going to get through that lesson no matter what, or are you going to respond. If you know these things, you can at least respond to the students in a way that is consistent with who you are trying to be. If you have no philosophy, you are aimless. You react to every situation as if it were some isolated thing with no real relationship to all the other stuff that happens. You will end up acting in very inconsistent ways and students will not know what to expect from you.
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brettd Editor Emeritus Debater Expert Educator

It's hard to imagine a teacher in a classroom without a serious sense of purpose. Being a public teacher is difficult enough from day to day, and sometimes the philosophy is the only thing to remind you why you are there. It helps us keep our eyes on the whole forest as opposed to the individual trees. For example, with difficult students, I like to remind myself of two key components of my philosophy: "No student is unteachable, and no student has reached his or her full

potential" And if I get too full of myself, or too focused on the subject: "The student is more important than the subject" Rather than focusing on every student learning everything I have to teach them about history in the span of a year or two, I try to teach them why I love the subject, in hopes they'll learn it on their own for a lifetime.

Philosophy Of Education
My Philosophy of Education I believe that every child has the ability to learn, but it takes a good teacher to be able to bring this ability out. This is a role I would like to take. I believe the purposes of education are necessary for the child to live a successful life. In my opinion, the school's goals should begin with providing students the necessary knowledge and experiences to help contribute to our society. And it will be a very important goal for me to help my students succeed any where they go. Being a teacher is something that I've thought about since the first grade. The desire to be a teacher is a different story. It is almost a powerful feeling knowing that I can change the lives of so many students. A child will learn as it grows up, that is a given. But will it learn properly is another story. I have not yet determined how I have learned because I am not yet grown up, but I believe there is a lot for me to learn, but I do know that I have a strong

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will to be an educator, and be remembered as some one who had an influence in a child's life. Everything taught in school will someday benefit the child whether he holds a job in that field, or has to figure out a real life problem that can be solved by using what he learned in school. I believe that children learn best when they are taught under certain conditions and in certain ways. Some of these are having children experiment with examples of the topic being taught. Many children learn by doing, so the child has a better understanding of what is being taught. Another way that children may learn best is working in a small group with other children. The task can be done faster and more thought out, and there is less stress on the child. By working in a small group, the children can come up with different ideas and strategies on how to solve a problem. This benefits the child because he learns to help others, as well as having others help him. Numerous extracurricular activities should...

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