PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: REALISM

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY OF REALISM?

From Encarta.msn

 Theory that things exist objectively: the theory that things such as
universals, moral facts, and theoretical scientific entities exist
independently of people’s thoughts and perceptions.
 Theory of objectively existing world: the theory that there is an
objectively existing world, not dependent on our minds, and that
people are able to understand aspects of that world through
perception.

From Books:

 The ultimate reality is the world of physical objects.

 The focus is on the body/objects.
 The Realist curriculum emphasizes the subject matter of the physical
world, particularly science and mathematics.
 Teaching methods focus on mastery of facts and basic skills through
demonstration and recitation.
 Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct.

Realism is the notion that the world exists in terms of matter, separate from the world of
ideas and independent of it.

PROPONENTS/ PHILOSOPHER OF REALISM

1. ARISTOTLE: Realism suggests that matter is real and that it is separate from our
perceptions. You may not see it, hear it, or feel it, but it nevertheless exists.
 Senses are the source of knowledge- Understanding the objective reality
through the “diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data”.
 Human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be
cultivated in education- (example: repetition; to be a key to develop good
habits. The teacher was to lead the students systematically.
Education cultivates the capacity to reason, which allows for proper
choices. Aristotle asserted that ideas can exist without matter, but
matter cannot exist without ideas. If one understands the matter,
then one will be led to understanding the idea.
 Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical
aspects of subjects taught. – Reading, writing, mathematics, music, physical
education, literature and history and wide range of sciences. He also
emphasizes the importance the integration of play or activities in education.
 One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, was to produce good and
virtuous citizens for the polis.
  Aristotle also theorized the idea of free will. He realized that some people
choose not to reason but encouraged humanity to seek the Golden
Mean by acquiring knowledge. He warned that failure to think might result
in extremes of excess or extremes of restraint.
 The knowledge of a thing, beyond its classification and description, requires
an explanation of causality or FOUR CAUSES- These explain how things come
into existence and provide lines of investigation to be followed in studying
into the nature of a thing.
 Material cause- the material out of which something is
composed.
 Formal cause- tells us what a thing is, that anything is
determined by the definition, form, pattern, essence, whole,
synthesis.
 Efficient cause-is that from which the change or the ending
of the change first starts.
 Final cause- is that for the sake of which a thing exists or is
done, including both purposeful and instrumental actions
and activities.

The efficient cause, the formal cause, and the final cause coincide in the
concept of “form”. Hence Form is the propelling, organizing, and final
principle of becoming.

2. JOHN LOCKE- The first philosopher to define the self through a continuity of
“consciousness”.
 He also postulated that the mind was a Blank slate or Tabula rasa- Locke
conjectured that everything we know comes from experience and from
reflecting on that experience.
 We are not born with any innate or preconceived ideas, but rather are a blank
slate- All our knowledge comes to us by way of experience. The mind is for
the most part passive in experiencing the natural world and is either
impresses upon us by sensation or arrived at the logical demonstration.

EXPERIENCE is the source of knowledge; sensation and reason are the 2 avenues
through which this knowledge comes to us.

 Primary qualities exist in the external world just as we experience them.

 Secondary qualities are different in our experience from what they are in
their potential forms in the object; they are yet caused in us by the external
world.
 The external world makes its impression upon our minds by somehow setting
impulses in motion which reach our minds through the gateway of the senses.
 Our experiences provided us with what he termed “simple and complex “.
 JOHN LOCKE’S CONSIDERED 3 MAIN TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE
a. INTUITIVE- most certain and most obvious
b. DEMONSTRATIVE- when we put simple ideas together to create
complex ones.
c. SENSITIVE- The most uncertain because it relies on evidence of the
senses.

HIS ISSUES ON KNOWLEDGE:

 Locke believed that we gain knowledge by experience this
is called EMPIRICISM.
 Locke agreed with Aristotle that we are not born with
innate ideas, and that we learn through experience.
 Locke’s theory was that the only way we learn is by
tasting, smelling, touching and hearing the external world.
 Locke believed that there were two types of ideas: SIMPLE
and COMPLEX.
SIMPLE IDEAS- are easy sensations like feeling a hot stove.
COMPLEX IDEAS- are grouping of simple ideas like when
you look at a banana you see it is yellow in color, has a
mushy texture, and it is sweet in taste; these ideas form
the idea of a banana.

3. JEAN -JACQUE ROUSSEAU – “Correct education disposes the child to take the
path that will lead him to truth when he has reached the age to understand it,
and to goodness when he has acquired the faculty of recognizing and loving it.
– Rousseau” (Cunningham 21)
 Philosophy of education concerns itself not with particular
techniques of imparting information and concepts, but rather
with developing the pupil's character and moral sense so that
he may learn to practice self-mastery and remain virtuous
even in the unnatural and imperfect society in which he will
have to live.
 His novel Émile was the most significant book on education
after Plato’s Republic. (all children are perfectly designed
organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to
grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of
corrupt society, they often fail to do so).- ROUSSEAU
advocated an educational method which consisted of
removing the child from society.
 The hypothetical boy, Émile, is to be raised in the
countryside, which, Rousseau believes, is a more natural and
healthy environment than the city, under the guardianship of
a tutor who will guide him through various learning
experiences arranged by the tutor.
 The disciplinary method of "natural consequences“.
(experiencing the consequences of his own acts, he advises
himself).- Rousseau felt that children learn right and wrong
 through experiencing the consequences of their acts rather
than through physical punishment. The tutor will make sure
that no harm results to Émile through his learning
experiences.

Rousseau became an early advocate of developmentally appropriate

education; his description of the stages of child development mirrors his conception of the
evolution of culture. He divides childhood into 5 stages. In his book of EMIL he divided into
five parts, four of which deal with Emile’s education in the stages of infancy, childhood,
boyhood and youth respectively. The fifth part deals with the training of the girl who is to
become his wife. Thus, through an imaginary student, Emile, Rousseau projects how a child
should be educated and trained. The education of children of children is determined by the
various periods of development. Each stage has its own dominant faculty, which emerges and
becomes the mainspring in organizing life.

 Infant Education -We are born with a capacity for learning,

but know nothing and distinguish nothing. Children's first
sensations are wholly in the realm of feeling. They are only
aware of pleasure and pain. With walking and grasp
undeveloped, it takes a long time for them to construct the
representative sensations which acquaint them with external
objects; but even as these objects reach up and depart from
their eyes, if one may put it so, the recurrence of the
sensations begins to subject them on the bondage of habit.
(Cahn 158)
Moral and social life are absolutely alien to the infants mind.
However, the interval between birth and the age of twelve is
the most dangerous period in human life. The reason being
that at this time mistakes and vices begin to germinate. All
vices are implanted by unwise coddling or pampering of
infants. By allowing this to happen, one germinates in their
little hearts, the spirit of caprice and an insatiable appetite
for self exaggeration.
 Childhood Education-Keep the child in sole dependence on
things and you will follow the natural order in the course of
his education. Put only physical obstacles in the way of
indiscreet wishes and let his punishments spring from his
own actions. Without forbidding of wrongdoing, be content
to prevent it. Experience, apart from anything else should
take the place of law for him. Satisfy his desires, not because
of his demands but because of his own needs. He should
have no consciousness of obedience when he acts, nor of
mastery when someone acts for him. Let him experience
liberty equally in his actions and yours. (Cahn 160)
 Boyhood Education- The Age Of Reason At twelve or thirteen
the child’s powers develop much more rapidly than his needs.
The sex passions, the most violent and terrible of all, have not
yet awakened. He is indifferent to the rigors of weathers and
seasons, and braves them light heartedly. His growing body
 heat takes the place of clothing. Appetite is his sauce, and
everything nourishing tastes good. When he is tired, he
stretches himself out on the ground, and goes to sleep. He is
not troubled by imaginary wants. What people think does
not trouble him. Not only is he self-sufficient, but his strength
goes beyond his requirements. It is not a question of teaching
him the sciences, but giving him a taste for them, and
methods of acquiring them when this taste is better
developed. This is certainly the fundamental principle in all
good education. (Cahn 165)

 PUBERTY AND SOCIAL PERIOD- But man is not meant to be a

child forever. At the time prescribed by nature, he passes out
of his childhood. With the moral signs of changing mood go
patent physical changes. Now he must be educated for a life
with others and is to be educated in social relationships. Love
for others, now becomes the controlling motive. Emotional
development and moral perfection become the goal.
 Adulthood (Education Of Woman)- Rousseau believed
females were to be educated to be governed by their
husbands.
 They were to be weak and passive, brought up in
ignorance and meant to do housework.
 Males were to be educated to be self-governed, and
the philosophies in Emile essentially only pertained
to males in society.
 He believed that the private sphere depended on the
naturalized subordination of women for both it and
the public political sphere to function.
 The whole education of women ought to be relative
to men. To please them, to be useful to them, to
make themselves honored and loved by them, to
educate them when young, to care for them when
grown, to console them, to make life agreeable and
sweet to them – these are the duties of women at all
times, and what should taught them from infancy.
(Graves 96).

4. Avicenna/ Ibn Sina- Islamic philosopher

 Wrote a chapter dealing with the Maktab elementary
pupils; “The role of the Teacher in the Training and
Upbringing of Children”, as a guide to teachers
working at maktab schools.
 He wrote that children can learn better if taught in
classes instead of individual tuition from private
tutors, citing the value of competition and rivalry
among pupils as well as the usefulness of group
discussions and debates.
  Also developed the empiricist theory of “tabula
rasa”. A pure potentiality can be actualized through
education and comes to know, and that knowledge is
attained through empirical familiarity with objects .

2 STAGES OF CURRICULUM EDUCATION (FROM MAKTAB SCHOOL)

A. PRIMARY EDUCATION STAGE (6-14 years old)- Should be taught

the Qur’an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic
ethics, and manual skills (practical skills).
B. SECONDARY EDUCATION STAGE (15- ONWARDS)- as the period
of specialization: when pupils should begin to acquire manual
skills, regardless of their social status.
 Children choses freely their specialized
subjects they were interested of whether on
any subjects or profession in pursuing for
future career.
 According to Avicenna, this was a transitional
stage for flexibility as emotional
development and chosen subjects should be
a priority.
5. Ibn Tufayl/ Tufail- An Andalusian- Arabian Philosopher and novelist.
 Known as Abubacer in the West.
 Demonstrated the empiricist theory of ‘tabula rasa’
as a thought experiment through his Arabic
philosophical novel, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan.
 In which he portrayed the development of the mind
of a feral child from ‘’tabula rasa to that of an adult,
in complete isolation from a society” on a dessert
island, through experience alone.

Based from the above theories of the realist philosophers, it could be concluded that Realism
has probably had the greatest impact on educational philosophy, because it is the foundation
of scientific reasoning. Realist educators encourage students to draw their observations and
conclusions from the world around them, rather than confining themselves to an analysis of
their own ideas. The modern role of a teacher : an organizer, systematizer, and promoter of
critical thinking—is largely founded on realist principles. Realist educators are objective,
believing in a systematic approach to order and classified knowledge, building on previously
learned information. They are less likely to encourage their students to seek the truth in
literature and ideas, instead encouraging them to seek the truth by testing learned principles
on the world around them.