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Plato is one of the first philosophers to discuss what might be termed idealism.
Usually Plato was referred to as Platonic Realism. This is because of his doctrine
sense). Plato maintained that these forms had their own independent existence. Plato
believed that “full reality” it is achieved only through thought and could be describe as
Plato was an idealist philosopher who founded the first school of philosophy in
Athens. His work forms the foundation of western philosophy. His presentation of
philosophical works in the form of “Dialogues” gave the world of philosophy the
dialectic. Plato took Socrates’ maxim “virtue is knowledge” and extrapolated it into an
immediately available to the senses but accessible to reason and intellect. The
beyond the concrete world of perception and come to understand the universal “ideas”
or forms which represented a higher level of reality (Heru, 2006). Plato’s idealism
extended to the concept of an ideal state as outlined in his “Republic”. This was a state
influence on the mind of man throughout the ages. Even in modern times when people
are not inclined towards accepting any dogmatic creed or philosophy, idealism has
certain attractions which appeal to the human mind and thereby exercise a great
influence on human thinking. In education the influence of idealism has gone a long
way to restrict some of the radical thinking and establish the worth of the eternal ideals
and values of life (Louman, 2011). The word idealism is derived from two distinct
sources-the idea and the ideal. Idea means true and testified knowledge. The word
ideal stands for the perfected form of an idea or ideas. An idealist does not have
considerations for material values of life. A thinker who idolizes ‘Mind and Self’ is an
look like when renovated. I have this space in my kitchen that could be maximized. I
have an idea of putting a pond, planting minimalist flowers in the plant box and making
this space a guest-friendly area. I think I have a great idea of what I want to do…But
all this are just solid figures in my head. How can these ideas become a reality? I used
to think that ideas are just idealistic thoughts and not reality but Plato, one of the
formally, to form these ideas in our mind so as to keep in tabs with reality (Slater,
2015). Reality is where these ideas live. It where goodness, justice and beauty exist.
The idea of my maximized space becomes a reality because of its form in my head
and by adding value to the form, like the value of beautifying my place, my idea now
through their ideas. The teacher is required to communicate a clear vision of essential
forms like beauty, goodness, truth and justice (Cohen, 1999). The teacher should
teach students how not to be deceived by their senses and what is real comes from
their minds. Teachers should make students into truth seekers and must make them
go through personal transformation to the good, true and beautiful. Teachers should be
models to their students as well. Idealist teachers are considered learned masters in
the classroom. They believe that students have existing knowledge of things already,
How then do I become an effective teacher to my students now when the school
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Idealism is a philosophical belief that tells us that the only reality that is ideal
comes from the mind. This is basically seen in rituals, religions or in the nature of man
Many of the schools still use idealism in their methods of teaching and even in the
curriculum.
Philippine classrooms have tables and chairs for the students and a bigger desk
and chair in the middle of the classroom for the teacher. Usually, the teacher is tasked
to give a lecture while the students are mere passive listeners. In Philippine schools, a
teacher is seen as the master of the classroom and the students are receivers of the
information that the teacher is teaching. Moreover, the teacher dictates to a student
traditional way of teaching based on my experience. I say they are related because a
traditional school is classified as an old school and part of old school training entails
memorizations of facts and several number of quizzes and long tests as means of
assessment of one’s learning and understanding. These schools train their students
this way because they believe that they need deep knowledge on things to see the
ideal world. The teacher usually does most of the talking and probing in the classroom.
The teacher is the brain in the classroom and the source of information. Usually, the
attitudes of the students are developed according to how the teacher conducts the
class and how the teacher exhibits her good moral character. These ways of teaching
am a product of one. This is the method that I grew up with. I am happy to be who I am
now and there is no denying that I owe this to the training that my former schools have
given me. However, I also believe that the students nowadays should just not be
passive listeners but they should be active learners as well. I also feel that some of
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items in the curriculum should be revised in a way that the ones that would be included
are the ones that could be applied in real life and the ones that will allow students to
explore and discover things as part of their learning process. The curriculum should be
updated accordingly and must be appropriate to the present needs of the students
teacher for my students when I am bounded by a set of rules and limited to a certain
curriculum?”
I believe that there are still a lot of schools now that practice Idealism, however;
these schools are not purely idealists. One of the ways for me to adapt to the modern
times yet follow the set of idealist formula, if the school dictates, is by combining the
methods of modern teaching and the idealist way of teaching. I can make use of the
resources around me to present the topics in a more interesting way. Since idealists
believes that much of ideas exists in the mind, I can do my class discussion using any
place in school that resembles my current lesson like conducting the class in a garden
setting when topic is about plants and flowers. In this way, my students will see and
understand the lesson better since they are also learning visually and seeing the
beauty around them. Their ideas can also come to life. I can also use the socratic
method as means of discussion in which the students are encouraged to think and
express their ideas. With this method, I can draw out what they know and even impart
my knowledge on the topic. In this way, students will somehow look for the truth and
Even if there are limitations to the school’s curriculum, I believe that teachers
like me, who truly have passion for teaching, will always find a way to be effective and
make learning interesting and meaningful for their students. There are always ways
and means to bridge the gap between the traditional ways of teaching and modern
ways. Old ideas can be made to fit into the puzzle of the technologically advance
students of today. It just all depends on my presentation of the topic and my creative
questioning as well.
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It is very fortunate that we, as a democratic nation, perceive the value of
education since democracy will only work if the citizens are educated. However, there
send our youth to schools not to develop their idealism but to train them for the
This is the rationale behind vocational schools and the K-12 program – to equip
the students with enough knowledge and skills to land a job that will provide for the
family and to contribute taxes to the government. To make something clear, I am not
against these programs. I am against most Filipinos’ misplaced motivations for sending
When the K-12 program was initially announced, a lot of parents were
dismayed because they would have to wait for two more years before their children
can graduate from high school and find a job. Meanwhile, the government sold the
program to the public by saying that once students graduate from high school, it will be
easier for them to find jobs because by then, they would have acquired enough
knowledge and skills for vocational work. I am not against this, but then again, such
motivation is misplaced.
The philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote, “Although our age far surpasses all
previous ages in knowledge, there has been no correlative increase in wisdom.” Our
children may have gained more than enough knowledge in schools, but have they
Again, in order for democracy to work, the people must be educated. But
education here does not simply mean acquisition of knowledge and skills. The future
generations must be educated in ideals. What our education system should strive for
is to teach the youth how to be wise for it is only through wisdom that we can make
Knowledge can be used in the service of evil and selfish gains, but wisdom
only we protect our young from losing their ideals; if only we put the collective good
before our own personal interests, I believe that we will have a fighting chance to
transcend the culture of politicking that have been pulling us down for so long towards
Essentially idealism philosophy which argues that the only thing actually
physical things which exist only in the sense that they are perceived. A broad definition
need not necessarily include God, supernatural beings or existences after death. In
general parlance, “idealism” is also used to describe a person’s high ideals (principles
or values actively pursued as a goal) the word “ideal” is also commonly used as an
Having said the words above, here’s my reaction on the principles of idealism:
Idealists lay more emphasis on aims and principles of education than on models, aids
and devices.
attainments.
Education should lead and guide man to face with nature and to unity and God”.
Idealists give more importance to thoughts, feelings ideals and values than to the child
and his activities. They firmly hold that curriculum should be concerned with the whole
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Having been a teacher for thirteen years, I have observed and experienced that our
addressed.
• Their view of the teacher as a revered person central to the educational process.
Historically, the influence of idealism on education has been so strong that even today
it is hard to find schools that do not in some way reflect idealist principles. Many of our
earliest universities saw themselves as having a religious mission, and the first
Harvard and was a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School. When Thomas Jefferson
founded the University of Virginia in 1819, it was unique as the first secular university
not devoted to turning out ministers or promoting any one religious position as was
done at Yale, Dartmouth, and Princeton, as well as at the College of William and Mary
that Jefferson had attended. Thus, although idealism’s influence has suffered in recent
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decades, no other philosophy has affected education, both lower and higher
Beginning with Plato in the fourth century B.C.E., through Scholasticism in the
Middle Ages, to Kant and Hegel, and up to the twenty-first century, idealism has been
a strong and significant force in education. In recent years, however, several factors
technological advances have taken their toll, and developments in science have
materialist culture, and the renewed vigor of secular realism and other naturalistic
philosophies result from the increased emphasis put on the material as opposed to the
to cultural heritage and lasting values has further eroded traditional idealist positions.
Many idealists insist that certain ideas contained in traditional writings, some written
more than 2,000 years ago, are as relevant today as they were before. They maintain,
with Ecclesiastes, that “There is nothing new under the sun” because many of the
problems that we face today are problems that philosophers and others faced long
ago. Plato, for example, dealt extensively with the problems of government, society,
individuality, and language, which are still being vigorously argued today, and Aristotle,
who extolled many ideas that idealists like, was a scientist as well as a philosopher.
Idealists continue to argue that their ideas are not necessarily incompatible with
Yet, opponents of idealism react strongly against what they feel to be the unduly
premises. For example, they think that the idealist notion of a finished and absolute
universe waiting to be discovered has hindered progress in science and the creation of
new ideas and processes. If one accepts the concept of absolute ideas, it is not
This was one chief problem that modern science had in gaining acceptance, because
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science is premised on tentativeness and hypotheses rather than on absoluteness.
Werner Heisenberg’s indeterminacy principle, which holds that one cannot accurately
measure simultaneously the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle; that
is, the act of measuring one property will alter the other. In addition, Albert Einstein’s
theory of relativity has also been used to challenge the assertion of idealists of a fixed
or stable universe. Still another cause of the weakening of idealism is the historical
has been linked intimately with traditional religion, the weakening of the one has led to
the weakening of the other. Indications are, however, that the decline in religion might
interest has increased in other forms of spirituality, such as mysticism and New Age
beliefs that often incorporate classical ideas. Various Eastern religions have also been
transformed and have taken on new roles that make them more acceptable and
From the standpoint of education, several issues need further scrutiny. The
idealist influence on education has been immense historically, but some feel that
influence might not always have been beneficial. Although idealist education has
emphasized not only the spiritual but also the cognitive side of life, charges are that it
has tended toward intellectualism to the detriment of the affective and physical sides of
life. It also has often ignored the belief of many people who find its cognitive emphasis
narrow and pedantic, and this has further led to the charge that idealism leans toward
The problem of elitism goes deep into idealism’s roots. Plato advocated an
monastic life over the secular one because of the higher quality of minds and
intelligence to be found there; monks were a select group set aside for special
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treatment. Thus, idealists have tended to view formal education as not for the masses
but for a chosen few who could understand and appreciate it properly; consequently,
they have concentrated on education for the upper classes of society, particularly
This factor often has led formal education to be treated as a luxury, available only to
the privileged few. To the extent that idealist educators have tried to extend only a
small degree of intellectual studies to the public sector, the view seems to be that
vocational and technical studies are sufficient for the masses, whereas liberal studies
are suitable only for an elite class of people. Although not all idealists have thought this
References:
Watson, D. (2008). Idealism and Education. British Educational Research Journal Vol.
8 No.1. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/idealism-and-education on
April 26, 2017
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