Philosophy

A definition of philosophy is notoriously difficult. However, it is important, for anyone writing or training about doing philosophy, first of all to spell out what they mean by it so that the reader has some idea about what kind of philosophy they will encounter and, when training people to facilitate philosophy, to provide criteria.

A study that attempts to discover the fundamental principles of the sciences, the arts, and the world that the sciences and arts deal with; the word philosophy is from the Greek for “love of wisdom.” Philosophy has many branches that explore principles of specific areas, such as knowledge (epistemology), reasoning (logic), being in general (metaphysics), beauty (aesthetics), and human conduct (ethics). Different approaches to philosophy are also called philosophies.

According to these above definitions, we can conclude about the thought of philosophy on the following points:

• Philosophy is the search for reality and truth.
• Philosophy is the holistic view of universe and nature.
• Philosophy is search for human existence in dynamic environment.
• Philosophy is an attempt to identify common solution of human complexity.
• Philosophy is an attempt to explain and understand nature.
• Philosophy is a mature reflection of human being.
• Philosophy is a process of generating, turning and synthesizing human thought.
• Philosophy is a theory of reality, science of knowledge, and system of human values.
• Philosophy is result of logical thinking.
• Philosophy is a systematic concept of all things.
• Philosophy is the scientific thinking of reality and system of values

     A. Etymological meaning of philosophy

The word philosophy is derived from Greek words – Pholos and Sophia. Philos means love and Sophia means wisdom. Thus, philosophy means love of wisdom. In this way search of wisdom or truth is called philosophy, and the man who engages himself in this search is called a philosopher. In his famous book “Republic” Plato says- He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and never satisfied may be justly termed a philosopher.”

The academic discipline concerned with making explicit the nature and significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs and investigating the intelligibility of concepts by means of rational argument concerning their presuppositions, implications, and interrelationships; in particular, the rational investigation of the nature and structure of reality (metaphysics), the resources and limits of knowledge (epistemology), the principles and import of moral judgment (ethics), and the relationship between language and reality (semantics).  b[Zot] cg]g Olt bz{g\      Upanished, the famous Hindu chronicle, has defined philosophy as that discipline which is related to the vision of ultimate reality.

 

       3.1 Concept, branches and functions of philosophy

Philosophy endeavors to understand all that comes within the bound of human experience.  It aims at fundamental understanding of things- the problem of human conduct, the assumptions that underlie religious or scientific beliefs, the tools and methods of thinking, or any issue that arises in any field of human activity. Philosophy seeks to provide a complete account of man’s world. It is reflective and critical in nature. It is concerned with critical examination of the fundamental notions and assumptions in any field that falls within human experience.

Philosophy wants to understand man in relation to the whole universe- nature and God. Philosophy deals with the nature of human mind and personality, and with the ways in which man and his institutions can be understood. Philosophy seeks to understand whether man is free or within bondage, and whether he can change the course of history.

From the above we may conclude that philosophy is a “search for a comprehensive view of nature, and attempt at universal explanation of the nature of things.” The word philosophy means “the love of wisdom”. Wisdom is not only knowledge. One may have knowledge, but he may not be wise. Wisdom constitutes knowledge plus its implications in all circumstances. Thus philosophy gives man that wisdom with the help of which he understands the whole universe and the implications of the same in relation to himself and all the people around.

It must be noted that philosophy is not anyone’s belief or point of view concerning purposes or values. On the other hand, “Philosophy is a rigorous, disciplined, guarded analysis of some of the most difficult problems which man has ever faced not just anyone’s point of view. Philosophers are men of grate intelligence and remarkable insight, who have been able to see the significance of the discrete events in human experience and, to use Plato’s term, take a synoptic view of them.” Philosophers have been mainly interested in finding answers to the following questions:

Why has man come on the earth? What is his main purpose in life? What is right and wrong for man? Why are a particular thing right and another wrong for him? How should man conduct his life in order to make it most worthwhile and satisfying? Is there any intelligent purpose behind this world and its phenomena? Is there any life for man after his death? If so, what is its nature? What kind of world is this? Is there any one substance at this basis of all materials on this earth? Or, are there two or more substances? What is the nature of the substance or substances? What is the meaning of “to be”? Can man’s mind answer these and similar other questions? How does man get the knowledge that he has? What is the validity of this so-called knowledge?

The above questions have baffled even the most eminent philosophers from time immemorial, and a philosopher of Dewey’s stature thinks that it is foolish to try to find the answers to most of these questions. So he advises philosophers to devote their attention solving social problems. Needless to say, philosophers differ in their answers to the above-quoted questions, and there is no one philosophy which all of us may follow. However, this does not imply that we cannot derive any knowledge from philosophy. It is possible to be certain about many important questions, whereas about some we cannot be so certain. As we know that search for truth is philosophy, the grate German philosopher Schopenhauer rightly remarks- “Every man is a born metaphysician.”

The above discussion shows clearly that every man is engaged in the search of truth to understand well the realities of things and occurrences. Through this thinking, he gets knowledge out of which he deduces a set of principles for his own use. He forms a set of ideals and values and begins to believe in them often implicitly. Thus according to Huxley that-“Men live in accordance with their philosophy of life, their conception of the world. This is true even of the most thoughtless. It is impossible to live without metaphysics.”

         Branches of Philosophy

           A. Etymological meaning of philosophy

The word philosophy is derived from Greek words – Pholos and Sophia. Philos means love and Sophia means wisdom. Thus, philosophy means love of wisdom. In this way search of wisdom or truth is called philosophy, and the man who engages himself in this search is called a philosopher. In his famous book “Republic” Plato says- He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and never satisfied may be justly termed a philosopher.”

The academic discipline concerned with making explicit the nature and significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs and investigating the intelligibility of concepts by means of rational argument concerning their presuppositions, implications, and interrelationships; in particular, the rational investigation of the nature and structure of reality (metaphysics), the resources and limits of knowledge (epistemology), the principles and import of moral judgment (ethics), and the relationship between language and reality (semantics).  b[Zot] cg]g Olt bz{g\      Upanished, the famous Hindu chronicle, has defined philosophy as that discipline which is related to the vision of ultimate reality.

         

          B. Metaphysics

The branch of philosophy is related to the search for ultimate truth. It investigates the nature of being and the world. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world. Metaphysics is made of two words “Meta” which means “beyond” and Physics” which means “existence which cannot be perceived by senses”. In this way metaphysics searches for the truth which may be beyond the natural existence.  The main questions of metaphysics are: what is truth? What is untruth? What is soul? What is God? Who is the creator of this Universe? How the universe was created? etc. It does not care about the utility of these truths. The main branches of metaphysics are ontology and cosmology. Ontology is the metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence and cosmology is the metaphysical study of the origin and nature of the universe.

Metaphysics is the study of “reality.” More specifically it is the study of reality that is beyond the scientific or mathematical realms. The term “metaphysics” itself literally means “beyond the physical.” The metaphysical issues most discussed are the existence of God, the soul, and the afterlife.

The study of nature of man, nature of universe, nature of truth, nature of existence is metaphysics. On the field of metaphysics, it is studying the following aspects.

1. Theology: Study about the existence and notions of God, study about the various types of religions that are scattered all over the world and verification is concerned in theology.
2. Metaphysics regarding soul: Study of existence of soul and life, relation of body and soul are concerned about the metaphysics regarding soul.
3. Cosmology: It studies about the evolution and creation of organism or spirit that are related to cosmology.

         

         C. Epistemology:

Epistemology is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible.  It investigates the different ways of acquiring knowledge. Epistemology is the study of “knowledge.” Epistemology deals with the process by which we can know that something is true. It addresses questions such as:

–What can I know?

–How is knowledge acquired?

–Can we be certain of anything?

Within epistemology there are two important categories—rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism stresses reason as the most important element in knowing. Rationalism holds that knowledge is gained primarily through the mind. It also asserts that we are born with innate ideas that precede any experiences we may have with our physical senses.  Empiricism, on the other hand, asserts that all our knowledge comes from our five senses. To use the terminology of the empiricist, John Locke, our minds are a “blank slate” at birth. Thus knowledge comes from our experiences. There are following types of knowledge.

1. Revealed knowledge: The knowledge that is propounded by god on the basis of belief of religion is known as revealed knowledge. For examples, Ved, Gita, Puran, Mahabharata, Kuran, Bible etc are religious epics that are assumed as main sources of knowledge but they are not either verified or rejected in it in our life.
2. Authoritative knowledge: The knowledge in which achieved through the books, specialists or scholars are known as authoritative knowledge.
3. Intuitive knowledge: It is also known as internal or logical knowledge which is achieved through high thinking level of conscious accidently is defined as intuitive knowledge.
4. Rational Knowledge: The knowledge in which acquired knowledge through the logical ways is expressed as rational knowledge.
5. Empirical Knowledge: The knowledge, which is achieved through the sense organs like touching, seeing, smelling, testing and listening are known as empirical knowledge.

 

         D.  Axiology (The theory of value):

Axiology is a branch of philosophy, which deals with the study of values and value judgments. The main function of axiology is the classification of knowledge investigated by metaphysics in ethical- unethical, just –unjust, useful-harmful category. It determines the ideals, aims and duties of human life. It prepares a code of conduct of them. It investigates the knowledge related to human welfare among the all eternal truths. The main branches of axiology are ethics and aesthetic. Ethics studies about a system of principles governing morality and acceptable conduct. Aesthetic differentiates between beautiful and not beautiful.

Ethics

Ethics is the study of moral value, right and wrong. Ethics is involved with placing value to personal actions, decisions, and relations. Important ethical issues today include abortion, sexual morality, the death penalty, euthanasia, pornography, and the environment.

 Aesthetics

Aesthetics is the study of art and beauty or analysis of Beauty and Ugliness. It attempts to address such issues as:

–What is art?

–What is the relationship between beauty and art?

–Are there objective standards by which art can be judged?

–Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

 

        E. Logic (Theory of orderly thinking):

This branch is related to make the systematic structure of knowledge. It is also known as the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. It deals with patterns of thinking that lead from true premises to true conclusions. The branch investigates logical relationship between knowledge and arranges them in a systematic manner. It also helps in their synthesis.

Logic is the study of right reasoning. It is the tool philosophers use to study other philosophical categories. Good logic includes the use of good thinking skills and the avoidance of logic fallacies.

Introduction to the Four Branches of Philosophy

Philosophy can be divided into five branches which address the following questions:

There is a hierarchical relationship between these branches as can be seen in the Concept Chart. At the root is Metaphysics, the study of existence and the nature of existence. Closely related is Epistemology, the study of knowledge and how we know about reality and existence. Dependent on Epistemology is Ethics, the study of how man should act. Ethics is dependent on Epistemology because it is impossible to make choices without knowledge. A subset of Ethics is Politics: the study of how men should interact in a proper society and what constitutes proper. Esthetics, the study of art and sense of life is slightly separate, but depends on Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics.

 

      FUNCTIONS OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

There are four functions of philosophy, which can be also explained as use of philosophy. In regarding to change meaning and definition of philosophy according to reason, ideas, thought and experience of scholars likewise the functions of philosophy are elaborated and changed in terms of situation and timing. These functions are discussed below:

1. Descriptive Function: Philosophy explains the universe investigated by it. On the materialistic world, human being felt, seen and faced the realities of knowledge that is explained through the philosophy. The philosophy explained on the basis of truth or realities whatever It were dealt about the existence of the universe. On the basis of it, investigate the general rules of mysterious world. This explanation is based on its own findings. It also gives the verification of its findings. It gives the full description of the knowledge investigated by it. For examples, we believed that the human being like Ram and Krishna were the incarnation of God according to religious traditions. We were going to explain speech or feelings about the god as real fact in this world.
2. Speculative function: Philosophers made assumption differently about the realities of objects that was investigated on the universe on regards to its truth. The assumption that was verified on the ways of thought and self-system and perceived it in regard to logical system by itself. God is everywhere on the universe and it present the notions that the world is conducted on the basis of his notions and compliance by themselves. That means there is something which handles everything. Matters create everything according to the materialism. This function is known as speculative function of Philosophy. Philosophy also presents its guess about the unknown world. This guessing is not haphazard but it is systematic. Philosophy uses logic for the function of speculation. This function is related to the predication of knowledge and also to assist the systematic investigation of knowledge. Speculation or guessing is the beginning of philosophy.
3. Prescriptive or Normative Function: Philosophy not only presents the truth, it also tells human beings about their duties. It does not tell only what is it, it also tells what should be done. It develops the value system which should be followed by human beings. It establishes ideas, standard of moral behavior, social duties etc. It is also called the normative function.

 

• Analytical function or function of Criticism: Analytical function is also called the function of criticism of philosophy. It analyzes truth and untruth. It analyzes the truth into positive and negative category. It also analyzes the strength and weakness in human conduct. It also analyzes the relationship between existing knowledge. This function is categorized truth and untruth or value judgment on the basis of realities. On the above discussion, we can summarize the following points about the function of philosophy.
• Philosophy discovers knowledge.
• Philosophy discovers and presents an explanation of the universe in terms of one or more unifying principles.
• Present a guide to conduct.
• Evaluates and interprets the assumptions and findings of science.

Instead of these above mentioned points of function of philosophy, we illustrate and perform various functions of philosophy of education on the followings.

a] Determining the aims of education:

Philosophy of education provides original ideas regarding all aspects of education particularly educational aims. It is said that educational philosophy gives different views, but this situation is not harmful, rather it helps in providing education according to the need of society. The difference in view of philosophy of education reflects the multiplicity and diversities of human life. Philosophy of education guides the process of education by suggesting suitable aims from the diversities of life and selecting the means accordingly.

b] Harmonizing old and new traditions in the field of education:

In the process of social development the old traditions become outdated for the people. They are replaced by the new traditions. But this process of replacement is not always smooth. It is faced with lots of opposition from certain orthodox sections of the society. At the same time it must be kept in mind that every ‘old’ is not outdated and every ‘new’ is not perfect Therefore, there is a need of co-coordinating the two in order to maintain the harmony between both. This function can be performed by philosophy of education.

c] Providing the educational planners, administrators and educators with the progressive vision to achieve educational development:

Spencer has rightly pointed that only a true philosopher can give a practical shape to education. Philosophy of education provides the educational planners, administrators and educators with the right vision which guides them to attain the educational goals efficiently.

d] Preparing the young generation to face the challenges of the modern time:

Social commentators have given many labels to the present period of history for some it is the information age and for others it is post modernity, later modernity, high modernity or even the age of uncertainty. One more addition to this list may be that ‘present age is an age of Globalization as a phenomenon arrived on the economic scene in the 1990 in India. This watchword has had its implications in the social political, economic fabric of the country of which education is a part. Philosophy of education is a guiding, steering and liberating force that helps young people to and society at large to face the challenges of the modern time.

3.2   Relation between philosophy and education

The main aim of education and philosophy is discovering knowledge. In education, observation, experiment, description and interpretation methodology are used but speculation, intuition, and imagination methods are used in philosophy for investigation. And formal logic based on a priori principles. Philosophy broadcast reflective thinking and no space of fantastic truth. According to Fichte- “The art of education can never attain complete clearness itself without philosophy.” Similarly, Gentile says-“The process of education cannot go along right lines without the help of Philosophy”. Ross- “Philosophy and education are like two sides of a coin.”  John Adams says _” Education is dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active aspect of philosophical belief, the practical means of realizing the ideals of life.” John Dewey says-“Philosophy is the theory of education in its most general phase.” Herbert Spencer Illustrates that-“True education is practicable only by a true philosopher.”  Philosophy and education are supplemented to each other. So, Education without philosophy is like a blind whereas philosophy without education becomes lame. On the end, we can summarize the following points to show the relations between education and philosophy.

Education and philosophy, the two disciplines, are very closely related and in some areas, they overlap each other. It is quite often said that, ‘Philosophy and Education are two sides of the same coin’. ‘Education is the dynamic side of philosophy’. To elaborate further, ‘Philosophy and Education are the two flowers of one stem, the two sides of one coin. One can never be thought of without the other. The presence of one is incomplete without the other. The art of education cannot be completed without philosophy and philosophy cannot convert others to its aims and values without education. There is a close interaction between the two; one without the other is unserviceable.’ Education is practical in nature and philosophy is theory. It is not vague to say that theory and practical are identical. The educator, who has to deal with the real facts of life, is different from the armchair theorist who is busy in speculation. But a close observation of the various interpretations of philosophy will prove that these two are nothing but the one and same thing seen from different angles. Philosophy is the study of the realities, the pursuit of wisdom. It is not mere theorizing but something which comes naturally to every individual. A person who goes deep into the reason and nature of things and tries to arrive at certain general principles with a view to apply them in his daily life, is a philosopher. Philosophy is a way of life. In a wider sense philosophy is a way of looking at life, nature and truth. It sets up the ideals for an individual to achieve them in his lifetime. Education on the other hand is the dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active aspect and the practical means of realising the ideals of life. Education is a sacred necessity of life, both from the biological and sociological point of view. It is true that education works like a catalyst for a better life, a socially desirable life. As a pot is made out of clay and a finished product comes out of raw material, so also from the immature child comes out the civilized man through education. Education renews and re-builds the social structure in the pattern of philosophical ideals. Human being, who is born and grows up with inherited propensities, determines the basic trails of man, but education paves a long way for his success in life. Education according to Indian tradition is not merely a means to earn living, nor is it only a nursery of thought or a school for a citizenship. Rather, it is the initiation into the life of spirit, a training of human souls in pursuit of truth and the practice of virtue. The basic relationship between philosophy and education can be analysed as follows. It is philosophy, that provides the purpose, or the aim and it is education which makes it practical. Philosophy shows the way and education moves on in that direction. When we define education as the modification or behavior, the direction in which, modification to be carried out is determined by philosophy. Thus, philosophy deals with the end and education with the means. In fact, we can observe that the great philosophers of all times have been also great educators. For example, Socrates and Plato, the great philosophers, were also famous educators. A teacher is not a teacher, in true sense of the term, if he/she is not able to discover the relationship between philosophy and education. According to Thomson, every teacher should realize the importance of philosophy in education. Good philosophy thus would not only conceive the type of society which is needed in the society. It is philosophy which would give to the teachers a sense of adventure. A true teacher should have knowledge of the subject he/she teaches the pupils and the society. He/she should also have the moralistic sense which comes from philosophy. The choice of students must cater to the principles and purposes of philosophy. Choice of curriculum needs philosophers or leaders of thought. With the change of time and circumstances, the curricula also change, and this change can be brought out by philosophers alone. The necessary conditions should be fulfilled so that the child is allowed to go in a free atmosphere with the ultimate aim of becoming a happy and a rightly adjusted person of the society. The learning process is an active way of doing things; hence the curriculum for the child should concern itself with the realities of life. As far as the methods of teaching are concerned, it can be said that the child is influenced; to give a particular shape to his life by the way he is taught. The philosophy of the teacher is reflected in the child by his method of teaching. So the course of life of the child is definitely influenced by philosophy. Here comes the utility of philosophy. The Education- philosophy relationship may be further pointed out as given below: According to Alfred Weber “Philosophy is a search for comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at a universal explanation of the nature of things a person who searches into the reason and nature of things, who tries to arrive at a general principle, and who attempts to apply those principles to daily conduct of life, acts like a true philosopher. According to John Dewey, philosophy is “critical reviewing of just those familiar things.” Raymont argues, ‘ Philosophy is an unceasing? To discover the general truth that lies behind the particular facts, to discern also the reality that lies behind appearances. ” What is life? What is man’s origin? What is man’s destiny or goal? These are some of the questions of philosophical enquiry. Different philosophers try to answer these questions according to their own mature reflection and thinking. These different answers lead to different philosophies. The Major Branches of Philosophy are: (a) Metaphysics or the discussion about the nature of ultimate reality and the cosmos, (b) Epistemology or the theory of knowledge, (c) Ethics, the theory of morality, (d) Aesthetics or the discussion of beauty, (e) Logic or the study of ideal method of thought and reasoning. Philosophy influences even the daily life of every individual. An educator not only holds certain beliefs and ideals of life, he also tries to convert his pupils to his own views and his own way of life. The influence of a person, holding a vital belief, brought to bear upon another person with the object of making him also to hold that belief, is education. Thus education means to lead out, through the modification of the native behavior of the child. Education is a laboratory where philosophic theories and speculations are tested and made concrete. Education may, therefore, be rightly called applied philosophy. Philosophy is wisdom; education transmits that wisdom from one generation to the other. Philosophy is in reality the theory of education. In other words, education is the dynamic side of philosophy, or application of the fundamental principles of philosophy. Philosophy formulates the method, education its process. Philosophy gives ideals, values and principles, those ideals, values and principles. A philosopher tries to live in accordance with those aims and values and also wants others to be converted to his beliefs and live according to them. This he can achieve through education which is the best means for the propagation of his philosophy. Neo-Darwinism gave rise to the Prominence of the principles of struggle for existence, cut-throat competition, gradual process of adaptation of the purposiveness of life (or elanvital), intellectualism and man’s faith in reason. Emphasis on knowledge received universal acceptance. In 20th century, the two world wars, and the consequent mass destruction wrought by the application of science, gave rise to less of faith in mere intellect. Humanism, faith in higher principles and values of life, character development and emotional integration gained greater impetus.

  3.3.1 Idealism and the Aims of Education

Idealism

Introduction

Idealism is the metaphysical and epistemological doctrine that ideas or thoughts make up fundamental reality. Essentially it is any philosophy which argues that the only thing actually knowable is consciousness whereas we never can be sure that matter or anything in the outside world really exists thus the only the real things are mental entities not physical things which exist only in the sense that they are perceived. A broad definition of idealism could include many religious viewpoints although an idealistic viewpoint 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 adjective to designate qualities of perfection, desirability and excellence.

Definition:

 “Idealistic philosophy takes many and varied forms but the postulate underlying all this is that mind or spirit is the essential world stuff, that the rule reality is a material character”.

Idealism in education:                          

Idealism pervades all the creation, and it is an underlying, unlimited and ultimate force which regions supreme overall mind and matter. They all advocate its great importance in education and lay more emphasis on aims and principles of education than on models, aids and devices.

Idealism and Aims of Education:

The following are the aims of education according to the philosophy of idealism:

Self-realization or Exhalation of Personality: According to the idealism man is the most creation of God. Self- realization involves full of knowledge of the self, and it is the first aim of education “The aim of education especially associated with idealism is the exhalation of personality or self-realization it is the making actual or real personalities of the self.”

To Ensure Spiritual Development: Idealistic give greater importance to spiritual values in comparison with material attainments. The second aim of education is to develop the child mentally, morally and above all spiritually. “Education must enable mankind through its culture to enter more and more fully into the spiritual realm”.

Development of Intelligences and Rationality: “In all things their regions an external law this all-pervading energetic, self-conscious and hence eternal law this all-pervading energetic. This unity is God. Education should lead and guide man to face with nature and to unity and God”.

Idealism and Curriculum: 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 humanity and its experience.

Views of Plato about curriculum: According to Plato the aim of life is to realize God. Which is possible only by pursing high ideals   namely Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. Three types of activities namely intellectual, aesthetic and moral cancan attain these high ideals.

Views of Herbart Curriculum: According to Herbart the idealistic aim of education is the promotion of moral values. He gave prime importance to subjects like Literature, History, Art, Music, and Poetry together with other humanities and secondary place to scientific subjects.

 History of Idealism

Plato is one of the first philosophers to discuss what might be termed idealism. Usually, Plato referred to as Platonic Realism. This is because of his doctrine describes forms or universals. (Which are certainly non-material “ideals” in a broad 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 a non-subjective “transcendental” idealist. The term metaphysics literally means “beyond the physical” This area of   Philosophy a focuses on the nature of reality. Metaphysics attempts to find unity across the domains of experiences thought. At the time metaphysical level there are four broad philosophical schools of thought that apply to education today. They are idealism, realism, pragmatism (sometimes called experientialism and existentialism). 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 elaborate theory of knowledge which envisaged a level of reality beyond that immediately available to the senses but accessible to reason and intellect. The students of Plato’s academy the first school of philosophy in Athens, were to go beyond the concrete world of perception and come to understand the universal “ideas” or forms which represented a higher level of reality. Plato’s idealism extended to the concept of an ideal state as outlined in his “Republic”. This was a state ruled by an intellectual elite of philosopher kings.

Naturalism (Rousseau 1712-1778)

Definition of Naturalism:

The meaning of the name “Naturalism” is strongly implied in the word itself. It is the view point which regards the world of nature as the all in all of reality naturalism commonly known as “Materialism” It is a philosophical paradigm whereby everything can be explained in terms of natural causes. Naturalism by definition excludes any super natural agent or activity. “Naturalism is not science but an assertion about science. More specifically it is the assertion that scientific knowledge is final, leaving no room for extra scientific or Philosophy knowledge.” (R. B. Perry)

Naturalism is usually defined most briefly as the philosophical concept that the only reality is nature, as gradually discovered by our intelligence using the tools of experience, reason and science.

According to naturalism:

“Man’s conscience is the voice of reason and the voice of nature.”

Protagonist of naturalism:

Aristotle

Comte

Hobbes

Herbert Spencer

Darwin

Samuel butler

Rousseau

The State of Nature as a Foundation for Ethics and Political Philosophy:

The scope of modern philosophy was not limited only to issues concerning science and metaphysics. Philosophers of this period also attempted to apply the same type of reasoning to ethics and politics. One approach of these philosophers was to describe human beings in the “state of nature.” That is, they attempted to strip human beings of all those attributes that they took to be the results of social conventions. In doing so, they hoped to uncover certain characteristics of human nature that were universal and unchanging. If this could be done, one could then determine the most effective and legitimate forms of government.

The two most famous accounts of the state of nature prior to Rousseau’s are those of Thomas Hobbes and John. Hobbes contends that human beings are motivated purely by self-interest, and that the state of nature, which is the state of human beings without civil society, is the war of every person against every other. Hobbes does say that while the state of nature may not have existed all over the world at one particular time, it is the condition in which humans would be if there were no sovereign. Locke’s account of the state of nature is different in that it is an intellectual exercise to illustrate people’s obligations to one another. These obligations are articulated in terms of natural rights, including rights to life, liberty and property. Rousseau was also influenced by the modern natural law tradition, which attempted to answer the challenge of skepticism through a systematic approach to human nature that, like Hobbes, emphasized self-interest. Rousseau therefore often refers to the works of Hugo Grotius, Samuel von Pufendorf, Jean Bergerac, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui. Rousseau would give his own account of the state of nature in the Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men, which will be examined below.

Biography of Rousseau:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born June 28, 1712 in Geneva and died July 2, 1778 in Ermenonville, France. He was one of the most important philosophers of the French enlightenment. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was also involved philosophically and wrote his first major philosophical work in 1750. From this work he earned a prize from the Academy of Dijon. The text, Discourse sur les sciences ET les arts, begins with a question, “The question before me is: ‘Whether the Restoration of the arts and sciences has had the effect of purifying or corrupting morals.” This first discourse represents a radical critique of civilization. According to Rousseau, civilization is to be seen as a history of decay instead of progress. He does not conceive of the world as necessarily “good” per se, but rather argues for a sense of rationalism—one must attain rational knowledge in order to be able to control nature.

Rousseau is often referred to as the philosopher of freedom because he seemed to praise the natural or primitive state of human beings over the civilized one and in nature, human beings like animals free of the pressures and corruptions of the political state.Indeed, Rousseau’s views of nature and the natural played a central role in his philosophy. He believed that “Man” was born free and good and could remain that way in some ideal state of nature.

Rousseau’s conception of education:

Rousseau’s conception of education is naturalistic. He is against a system of conventional and formal education. Conventional and formal education is man-made and hence, not desirable “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of author of nature but everything degenerates in the hand of man.”For Rousseau, education does not mean merely imparting information or storing knowledge. Education from nature does not mean one of social life or institutions. It was to prepare a natural man.”The natural man is not the savage man but man governed and directed by the laws of his own nature rather than those of social institutions. Rousseau believed that the education from man and things must be subordinates to that the natural powers, emotion ns and reactions are more trustworthy as a basis for action than reflection or experience that comes from association with society.

Rousseau’s views on the principles of teaching:

The principles of teaching as suggested implicitly by Rousseau reflect his naturalistic philosophy. He lays stress on direct experience of things and on the principle of learning by doing. He says, “Teach by doing whenever you can and only fall back on words when doing is out of the question “He observes, too much reading serves only to make us presumptuous blockheads conceited and sophisticated”. Besides these two principles, Rousseau advocates the adoption of the heuristic attitude which places the child in the position to discover. (Emile)

For example, to learn science in a practical fashion, by means of rough experiments performed with apparatus self-made and self–invented. Rousseau like a modern educators thinks less of the teacher’s own exposition, much more of the learning experiences of the pupil. He is against the telling method and the tendency to be didactic. The telling method cannot cause the child to learn.

Rousseau’s view on discipline:

Rousseau’s cry is “freedom” and “absence of restraint” for Emile, It is only in an atmosphere of freedom that Emile can develop his innate powers spontaneously. Impositions are of no use. Punishments have no value as the child has no correct conception of wrong or why punishment is given. The child’s reasoning power is not well developed. He wants children to have their own way, and to suffer the unavoidable consequences or inevitable reactions of their conduct.”Children should never receive punishment as such it should always come as natural consequences of their faults. “Rousseau advises the teacher not to intervene in matters of moral guidance’s as a means of disciplining the child. He contends that the child’s nature is essentially good, and any intervention is therefore, harmful.

Rousseau’s views on the education of woman:

In the fifth book of “Emile” Rousseau presents his views on women’s education by introducing an imaginary woman called Sophy. While Emile’s education is unconventional and natural, Sophy’s education is to be conventional and orthodox. Rousseau accounts for this difference: He says that women is an appendage of man; her aim of life is to please her husband, to obey him,” to bring him (man) up when he is a child, to tend him when he is a man, to counsel him, to render his life agreeable and pleasant.” Hence a woman, according to Rousseau does not require knowledge but taste and propriety of manners.

Rousseau’s views on social values:

Rousseau’s naturalism rooted man in nature rather than society. So much did he regard man as a child of nature, as over against society, that he proposed in his Emile to keep Emile away from society until adolescence. In his social contract he reveals how the problem of social organization is complicated by the importance of the freedom of the man. Individual man, he contented is not a man unless he is free if he is in bondage, he is less than a man. Yet unbridled freedom is neither in harmony with his own welfare not the welfare of the society. Evidently some social organization is needed, but one which preserves for man his freedom. It would seem that for naturalism social values are synthetic values which result from agreements in which individual men bind themselves together. They are second good, not so much preferred as individual goods, which result indirectly as a consequence of the desire to avoid the grater evils which accompany anarchy. They are not organic values, which are determined in part by the way nature of society and which would never be possessed by individual men separately, even if they did not need to be saved from conflict and chaos by some kind of social organization.

Conclusion:

Rousseau has exerted great influence on education in its manifold aspects. Although his main aim in life was to destroy traditionalism, yet many of the important principles in modern pedagogy can be traced back to him. He asserted that education is a natural process; its function is not to remark the nature of the child by forcing on him the traditional or customary way of thinking and doing. It is due to Rousseau that the need of sense training and physical activities in the earlier development of the child has been recognized in modern systems of education.

 

Pragmatism in Education

Outline

• Introduction
• Pragmatism in education
• How relevant is pragmatism to the education system today
• Example of pragmatism
• Strength and advantages
• Conclusion

Pragmatism in Education was created by John Dewey. This is American pragmatism and represents form idealism. Dewey’s pragmatists views state that thinking of a person’s mind is conditioned by the group of people he or she.  Pragmatism emerged from the writings of John Dewey who believed that experimentation was the best approach for educating young minds. For example, pragmatists feel that field trips, educational excursions etc are more effective in teaching students about the world instead of audio-visual aids. Pragmatism includes such as thoughts as futurism, and educational humanism. Pragmatic education philosophy doesn’t assign a traditional role to the teachers who are only seen as guides and not exactly more knowledgeable beings. Pragmatism focuses on real life experiences as the main source of knowledge and education.(George R. Knight) They gives the example of field trips as he says that for a child to learn about dairy products, its better to take him to a barn and let him experience the whole thing himself instead of showing him a movie on the subject. (p. 75) Idealism is an important philosophy that gained greater influence over education in the 20th century and was not so popular prior to that. It has been present in the educational field for a long time emphasizing the reality of ideas, thoughts, and mind over material. American pragmatism represents an activist development of Kant and Hegel’s idealism. As a theory of mutable truth, pragmatism claims that ideas are true insofar as they are useful in a specific situation what works today in one case may not work tomorrow in another case. The standard of moral truth is expediency. Ethical ideas are accepted as long as they continue to work. According to John Dewey’s social pragmatism, what is true is that which works for a society through the promotion of the public good. Dewey advocates a relativistic, secularized form of altruism that calls for sacrificing oneself to attain the ends of the People. In this view society, rather than the individual, passes moral judgment. Social policies are measured by their consequences instead of by abstract principles of what is right or just. There are no facts, no set rules of logic, no objectivity, and no certainty. There are only policies and proposals for social actions that must be treated as working hypotheses. The experience of consequences will indicate the need to keep or alter the original hypotheses. For pragmatists knowledge of the world is impossible to separate from actions upon it. There is no reality out there both facts and values are products of men interacting with an environment and shaping it to their wills. Society, Men are free to choose their own way of thinking and to create whatever reality they want to embrace. However, a man’s mind is conditioned by the collective thinking of other people. The mind is thus a social phenomenon truth is what works for the groups. It is participation in the common life of democratic society that realizes the freedom of the individual and produces growth in him and in society. They usually do not and need not reflect before acting. The goal of thought is merely to reconstruct the situation in order to solve the problem. If the proposal, when implemented, resolves the issue, then the idea is pragmatically true. Truth cannot be known in advance of action. One must first act and then think. Only then can reality be determined. Value judgments are to be made according to desires based on feelings. The test of one’s desire is its congruity with the majority of other men’s wishes, feelings, and values at that time. These, of course, can be examined and abandoned in a future context. Value judgments are instrumental, never completed, and therefore are corrigible. In the end it is feeling, for the pragmatist that is paramount. Dewey is primarily concerned with the democratic ideal and its realization in every sphere of life. He advocates education as a way to reconstruct children according to the pragmatist vision of man. Child-centered, rather than subject-centered, education treats the student as an acting being and therefore is focused on discrete, experiential projects. Dewey dismisses as irrelevant the teaching of fundamental knowledge such as reading, writing, math, and science. Both the educator and the students are to be flexible and tentative. The purpose of a school is to foster social consciousness. The child is to be taught to transcend the assimilation of truths and facts by learning to serve and adapt to others and to comply with the directives of their representatives. A disdain for reason and knowledge is thus combined with the practice of altruism and collectivism. Like Marx, Dewey comprehended and appreciated the conflictual essence of the Hegelian dialectic. Dewey stressed the clash in the education process between the child and the curriculum and between the potential and talent of the student and the structure of an outmoded school system. The traditional curriculum, loaded down with formal subjects, was unsuited to the child’s active and immediate experience. Dewey saw children as alienated from their academic work because of a contradiction between the interests of the school and the real interests of the students. There was an incongruity between the values, goals, and means embodied in the experience of a mature adult and those of an undeveloped, immature being. The teaching of abstract, general principles, and eternal and external truths was beyond a child’s understanding and a barrier to the authentic growth and development of the child.
Dewey’s new school would become a vehicle for the de-alienation and socialization of the child. The school would be an embryonic socialist community in which the progress of the student could only be justified by his relation to the group. Dewey’s activity method and manual training

could produce a collective occupational spirit in the school. Dewey, like Marx, was convinced that thought is a collective activity in which the individual simply acts as a cell in the social body. For Dewey, cognition is an activity of the group or society as a whole and innovations are the products of collective science and technology, rather than the creations of individual thinkers and doers. John Dewey’s progressive model of active learning promoted a revolt against abstract learning and attempted to make education an effective tool for integrating culture and vocation. Dewey was responsible for developing a philosophical approach to education called “experimentalism” which saw education as the basis for democracy. His goal was to turn public schools into indoctrination centers to develop a socialized population that could adapt to an egalitarian state operated by intellectual elite. Disavowing the role of the individual mind in achieving technological and social progress, Dewey promoted the group, rather than the teacher, as the main source of social control in the schools. Denying the ideas of universal principles, natural law, and natural rights, Dewey emphasized social values and taught that life adjustment is more important than academic skills. Dewey explained that the subject matter and moral lessons in the traditional curricula were meant to teach and inspire, but were irrelevant to the students’ immediate action experiences. The contradiction between the students’ real interests and those of the traditional school alienated students from their schoolwork. School-age children were caught between the opposing forces of immature, undeveloped beings and the values, meanings, and aims of subject matter constructed by a mature adult. Dewey believed that students’ energy, talent, and potential could not be realized within the structure of an archaic school system.

 

A good example of pragmatism would be technical or career education. If you know somebody isn’t going to make it through college, there’s no point in teaching them things that won’t directly apply to a job he or she may have. In order to prepare them for the workforce, some of their school day is used to prepare them for a specific trade. E.g. why teach somebody who is going to be an auto mechanic the elements of plot since they’re never going to have a practical application for that knowledge.

When students learn how to follow procedures they more secure about their environment and what is expected of them. This security allows the student to feel relaxed in his environment because he has mastered the environment. He is not insecure about what to do next. This helps students get back on task after something such as a fire drill. It also allows for seamless teaching with a substitute teacher because procedures will stay the same. This reduces behavior problems and keeps the focus on learning and educating.

Conclusion

Nature and comprehend knowledge as the product of the interaction between human being and environment, and knowledge as having practical instrumentality in the guidance and control of that interaction. This means that knowledge is not a static given but a process and that any proposition accepted as an item of knowledge has this status only provisionally, in other worlds just a coincidence that it works. It soon can be replaced by a better proposition.

Realism

Realism in Education:

For the realist, the world is as it is, and the job of schools would be to teach students about the world. Goodness, for the realist, would be found in the laws of nature and the order of the physical world. Truth would be the simple correspondences of observation. The Realist believes in a world of Things or Beings (metaphysics) and in truth as an Observable Fact. Furthermore, ethics is the law of nature or Natural Law and aesthetics is the reflection of Nature.

AIMS OF EDUCATION:

Realists do not believe in general and common aims of education. According to them aims are specific to each individual and his perspectives. And each one has different perspectives. The aim of education should be to teach truth rather than beauty, to understand the present practical life. The purpose of education, according to social realists, is to prepare the practical man of the world.

REALISM AND THE CHILD:

Realism in education recognizes the importance of the child. The child is a real unit which has real existence. He has some feelings, some desires and some powers. All these cannot be overlooked. These powers of the child shall have to be given due regarding at the time of planning education. Child can reach near reality through learning by reason. Child has to be given as much freedom as possible. The child is to be enabled to proceed on the basis of facts; the child can learn only when he follows the laws of learning.”

REALISM AND THE TEACHER:

The teacher, for the realist, is simply a guide. The real world exists, and the teacher is responsible for introducing the student to it. To do this he uses lectures, demonstrations, and sensory experiences, the teacher does not do this in a random or haphazard way; he must not only introduce the student to nature, but show him the regularities, the “rhythm” of nature so that he may come to understand natural law. Both the teacher and the student are spectators, but while the student looks at the world through innocent eyes, the teacher must explain it to him, as well as he is able, from his vantage point of increased sophistication. For this reason, the teacher’s own biases and personality should be as muted as possible. In order to give the student as much accurate information as quickly and effectively as possible, the realist may advocate the use of teaching machines to remove the teacher’s bias from factual presentation. The whole concept to teaching machines is compatible with the picture or reality as a mechanistic universe in which man is simply one of the cogs in the machine.

A teacher should be such that he himself is educated and well versed with the customs of belief and rights and duties of people, and the trends of all ages and places. He must have full mastery of the knowledge of present life. He must guide the student towards the hard realities of life. He is neither pessimist, nor    optimist. He must be able to expose children to the problems of life and the world around.

REALISM AND CURRICULAM:

 According to humanistic realism, classical literature should be studied but not for studying its form and style but for its content and ideas it contained.

Sense-realism– attached more importance to the study of natural sciences and contemporary social life. Study of languages is not so significant as the study of natural sciences and contemporary life.

Neo-realism– gives stress on the subject physics and on humanistic feelings, physics and psychology, sociology, economics, Ethics, Politics, history, Geography, agriculture varied arts, languages and so on, are the main subjects to be studied according to the Neo-realists.

REALISM AND METHODS OF TEACHING

The method of the realists involves teaching for the mastery of facts in order to develop an understanding of natural law. This can be done by teaching both the materials and their application. In fact, real knowledge comes only when the organism can organize the data of experience. The realist prefers to use inductive logic, going from the particular facts of sensory experience to the more general laws deducible from these data.

References 

Breed, F. (1942). Education and the Realistic Outlook Philosophies of Education; national society for the study of education, forty-first yearbook, Part 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Broundy,S. (1961). Building a Philosophy of Education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Butler, J., Donald, Four Philosophies and Their… Education and Religion. New York:  Harper & Row.

Herbart, J.F., The Science of Education. Boston: D.C.Heath & Company, 1902.

Locke, John. Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902. The basic statement of Locke’s epistemological position.

Singh,Y.K.,(2007). Philosophy Foundation Of Education: Ansari road: S.B.Nangia.

Shahid, S.M.,(2002). History and Philosophy of Education: Islamabad: Yousaf Mustaq.

Weber, Christian O., Basic Philosophies of Education. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1960.

 

A Comparison of Idealism and Realism in Education

Comparison of Philosophy of Idealism with Philosophy of Realism: Plato’s theory of Idealism:

Plato is an astute and important philosopher, who writes beautifully and with great power and elegance on Truth and Reality. His work is still profoundly important in today’s Post modern world, and can be easily understood due to its simplicity of language and engaging style of dialogue. – He appreciated that all Truth comes from Reality and this Truth was profoundly important to the future of Humanity. When the mind’s eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence. (Plato, 380BC

www.school-for-champions.com/education/philosophies.htm.
The idealists believe that material or physical universe is not complete expression of reality, the physical world is the manifestation of some great spirit behind it. While the physical and material world is destructible and changeable, the spirit behind it is indestructible and unchangeable
Idealism in general is the metaphysical doctrine,(metaphysics is an area of philosophy that is concerned with questions about reality. It deals with questions like: what is reality? What is existence? Is the universe rationally designed or ultimately meaningless? The basic assumption of epistemological Idealism is that we only know our own ideas (representations or mental images) metaphysics also involves questions concerning, Is human nature physical or spiritual (mind-body problem)?Does a person make free choices or do events and conditions force one into determined decisions? So “idealism” in general is, metaphysical that a world of material objects containing no thought either could not exist as it is experienced, or would not be fully “real.
Fundamental principles of Idealism:

• Idea is real
• Man is supreme creation
• God is the source of all knowledge
• Values are Absolute

1-Idea is real: It is a system of philosophy which believes that what is real is the idea of the object which is at the conscious level of our mind and not the object that we see which is a mere shadow of that idea.

2-Man is supreme creation: According to Idealism man is being spiritual is a supreme creation of God. They believe that man has spirit or mind and through this spirit or mind he controls the environment.
3- God is the source of all knowledge: Although the man is supreme creation of God and he can create values, yet he cannot find knowledge of ultimate reality from anyone, elsewhere except God, not possible through the methods of observation, experimentation, reasoning, etc., Idealists advocate the use of intuition for knowing the ultimate.

4- Values are Absolute: Idealists believes in three spritual values, they are the Truth, the Beauty and the Goodness. The Truth is an intellectual value, the beauty is an aesthetic value and the good is a moral values. For Plato these three values are identical to each other.
Epistemology:
Things that are abstract super natural or out of human mind are not the facts. Idealist’s point of view about knowledge is that the good knowledge is useful for the society. Idealists believe that ideas are the only true reality. It is not that all idealists reject matter (the material world), but rather they hold that the material world is characterized by change, instability and uncertainty. While some ideas are enduring. Thus idealism might be more correct descriptive term for this philosophy. Idealism believes that what is real is the idea of the object which is at the conscious level of our mind and not the object that we see which is a mere shadow of that idea. Material or physical world is not complete expression of reality. To him the physical world is the manifestation of some great spirit behind it. (Shahid, 2006) Idealism believes in refined wisdom. It is based on the view that reality is a world within a person’s mind. It believes that truth is in the consistency of ideas and that goodness is an ideal state to strive to attain. As a result, schools exist to sharpen the mind and intellectual processes. Students are taught the wisdom of past heroes. Aristotle’s theory of Realism: Realism believes in the world as it is. It is based on the view that reality is what we observe. It believes that truth is what we sense and observe and that goodness is found in the order of the laws of nature. Realistic believe that the fact is something that is made an image in the human mind (Shahid, 2006.)

As a result, schools exist to reveal the order of the world and universe. Students are taught factual information. Realism is the classical philosophy of education. Like other aspects of life the Realism also searches in education for the fact and reality in education. Realism discuses the three basic questions of philosophy that is: 1) what is good? 2) What is fact? 3) What is reality? In the first question realism discuses with the nature of knowledge known as “Entomology”. The second question is about the nature of value, known as “Epistemology”. At the third question the educational philosophy discusses about the nature of beauty, known as “Axiology”(Shahid, 2006).
Realistic educators say that knowledge is that what is good. Virtue. The fact is in the supernatural. The physical world is just an image of the reality. Reality is that what is never changing (permanent). So if it is like that then there should be uniform education in everywhere. Realistic philosophy says that they have a treasury of literature in their literature that is a good source of knowledge. One has to get knowledge from this treasury of literature. Aristotle is known as the father of the realistic approach. Comparison of idealism and realism in Education
Comparatively idealism and realism both are classic but two different doctrines of education. One is symbolist (Idealis) and the other is materialistic (realism) The source of knowledge in idealism is taken from the past literature that is usually abstract type of knowledge stressing the concept of supernatural (Metaphysical) phenomenon where the idealists focus upon the picture of an object in one’s ideas. The teacher in the idealistic approach is autocratic who has more knowledge and pedagogical strength then the pupil. He/she has to select the content and learning experiences for the what ever he/she thinks is suitable and in effective for the students.
. On the other hand the idealism has fully stressed upon the objects and their ideas on the human mind. Both the philosophies have to well furnish the students’ cognitive strength that is useful to prepare him for the life and its challenges. The teacher in idealism has to face the pupil and to engage him in the discussion in his/her selected topic. The student learns by the discussion. This method is known as ‘Debate’ or Socratic Method.

While Realists place enormous emphasis upon critical reason aided by observation and experimentation. Realists support the lecture method and other formal ways of teaching. The teacher lectures and the learner have a role of passive and obedient listener. The learning experiences or content in the idealism is chosen situational regarding the need of the learner where in the idealism these learning experiences are chosen from the literature that have been written by the great philosophers in the past. The learner in the realistic approach is a passive factor that has to follow the teacher whatever the teacher says. He/she is a gentle and obedient in front of the teacher. The learner has to inculcate as much as he/she can and also can express his inculcated knowledge. He is a hardworking pupil. The same in idealism but here the learner is comparatively more active than that of the realism. The pupil can take participation in the discussion and debates. (Shahid, 2006).

Reference list
Shahid, M.S., (2001) prospective of education. Lahore: Majeed Book Depot.
Students and researchers. Retrived on 20-05-08 from:

3.4 Implications of schools of philosophy for classroom teachers

         A. Educational Implication of Idealism

There followings are the major implications of idealism in the field of education for classroom teaching:

1. Idealistic philosophy is only such types of philosophy that present the objectives of education in descriptive manner as regarding to assist the life of students. This ideology has provided the particular guidance for achieving the objective of life to the individual.
2. The students has achieved the highest values of Truth, Goodness and Beauty through the idealism through which virtues are being developed in Childs and also help to conserve and transfer the traditions and cultures in new generations by idealistic education.
3. According to idealistic philosophy, the roles of teachers are more important in education. If providing highest position to the teacher and accepted as a developer of society and as a motivator of education system both also helps welfare to the child and society as possible.
4. In the field of education, the theory of self-discipline and self-control are implemented in the life of children through the idealistic philosophy. So, it is taken as a most important contribution of education of idealism because acquiring the educational values and all round development of self is possible only through the discipline of students.

 

      B. Educational Implication of Naturalism:

1. Naturalism has not provided the concrete basis for the life of children but to study the philosophy of naturalism, it helps to study the child’s nature and behaviors that implemented whatever that needed in field of education.
2. Naturalistic philosophy accepted and emphasized the child at first in the field of education on behaves of feelings, freedom and activities are enforced in the field of education.
3. Child is not borned for achieved knowledge but education is acquired for his life is made happier and pretty.
4. Education should manage for the child’s need, capacity, and attitude and career development.
5. 5, Naturalism give more emphasizes to the scientific attitude and progressive ideology for developing different methods like learning experiences, uses of senses, learning by doing various activities etc.

 

C. Educational Implication of Pragmatism:

1. Pragmatism focuses on child to centre of education and established the important of child.
2. Pragmatism emphasizes the action rather than ideas and it make education is more creative at present.
3. Through the pragmatic education, children are being prepared for their practical life.
4. Pragmatism emphasizes the project method as well as practicable teaching methods by which have been taken unique importance in education.
5. Pragmatism integrated the knowledge and correlated the different subject for teaching and it makes education system be modernized in present.
6. It emphasized the psychological methods in teaching for developing individual and personal development of child that are selecting the education to the need and interest of Childs.
7. Pragmatist education process have social and democratic in nature so it affects the education system at most of countries all over the world.

     D. Educational Implication of Realism:

1. It emphasizes the education should be practicable.
2. It initiated the scientific education system that helps them to develop practical knowledge in learners.
3. It established importance of individual and give more emphasizes the individual education.
4. Realism is taken as a socialization process in education.
5. It gives more importance of present human life makes pleasant and happier for emphasizing vocational and technical subject has been setup in education.
6. To inspires and develop the love, affection, sympathy and human virtues in the child’s minds instead of coerces, fear and punishment in school environment.
7. Realist accepts the contextual ways of learning via inductive, deductive, practical, Heuristic and co-related teaching methods in the field of education.