PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION:

Meaning and Types of Philosophy: 

In the literal sense, the word ‘philosophy’ means love of wisdom, derived from two Greek words i.e. 'Philo' (love) and 'Sophia' (wisdom). Philosophy can be defined as a pursuit of wisdom whereby ground analysis, concepts expressing fundamental beliefs and attitudes of an individual or group are discussed. According to the philosophical thoughts, there are six branches of philosophy i.e. Epistemology, Metaphysics, Axiology, Philosophy of Sciences, Philosophies of Social Science and Semantics. Epistemology discusses about the nature of knowledge and its limitations. Metaphysics talks about the existence, reality and essence etc. Axiology focuses on the philosophical studies of values. Philosophy of Sciences is related to such theories from which further ideas are developed and conclusions of different sciences are formed. Philosophies of Social Science discuss about the philosophies of education, social philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of history and philosophy of economics etc. Semantics is so important branch pertaining to determination of the meanings regarding different words used in different languages.

                            Four General Philosophies:

There are four general philosophies out of which idealism and realism can be said general and world philosophies, derived from the Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle. Pragmatism and existentialism are rest of two contemporary philosophies.

 Idealism is such philosophy whereby truth, beauty and justice are searched. Plato was the father of this philosophy. Through this philosophy, recovery of educational aims is made and abilities of individuals are developed for the service of society in a good manner. 

In Realism philosophy, there is concept of reality which exists independently in the mind of human beings. In this philosophy, body and objects are focused. Aristotle, being father of this philosophy was of the view that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be understood. Through this philosophy, he also taught logic as a formal discipline. While teaching of basic skills, demonstration and recitation are focused by encouraging the students with regard to prefer observations and experiments having critical as well as scientific thinking. 

In Pragmatism, reality of experience is focused. According to pragmatists, it is continuous process to be changed reality from which we can learn to the much extent by applying our experiences and thoughts towards the problems. There is no unchanging thing in the world. Pragmatism was derived from the teaching of Charles Sanders Peirce, who was of the belief that action must be produced by thought and subject matter regarding social experience must be emphasized by the educational institutions. Pragmatists believe that students should adopt experimental approach towards any kind of situation occurred in reality. To apply knowledge in an experimental way can make the learners good citizens during their daily routine life and future careers.

 Existentialism emphasises on taking responsibility to decide who we are. It focuses on freedom and development of genuine individuals. There is subjective nature of reality in the instant philosophy, where preference is given to personal choices of learners by the Existentialists. According to the said philosophy, it is the responsibility of individuals to make decisions at their own level, as authentic answers can only be found within the individuals instead of outside persons. In view of this philosophy, creation of opportunities is lying just from the self-direction of students who apply their own experiences.

                                  Educational Philosophy:  

The Educational Philosophy is a statement or set of statements which identifies and clarifies the beliefs, values and understandings of an individual or group with regard to education. Philosophy of Education is a branch of applied or practical philosophy that addresses philosophical questions related to the nature, aims, and problems of education. Philosophy and Education have close relationship with each other. The philosophy of education is primarily concerned with the problems of education which every individual has to face during his/her constant growth and development. Education is indeed the process of development. That’s why, it is so essential to discover what is implied in this development. Development is the gradual as well as continuous progress of mind and body through which, the children acquire the knowledge of surrounded environment and linguistic abilities etc. The process of development continues throughout an individual's life, even a well-versed teacher also remains a student till the last sighs of life. As far as the scope of philosophy is concerned, it plays much role to evaluate different aims of education. Different philosophers used to prorogate these aims during different eras. Problems of education mostly consist of interpretation of aims, understanding of human nature, relationship of different components in the educational system and theories of knowledge etc.

Types of Educational Philosophies:

There are four educational philosophical approaches which are being used in classrooms throughout the world. These educational philosophies are:

1- Perennialism

2- Essentialism 

3- Progressivism 

4- Reconstructionism

  In Perennialism, teaching of everlasting ideas is focused and understanding about the great ideas is considered as the aim of education. In this educational philosophy, priority is given to the development of intellect and mental power. Several books on western civilization were written by the advocates of this educational philosophy named Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler. 

In Essentialism, there is belief that common core of knowledge is required to systematically transmit into the students, which perspective is to teach intellectual and moral standards by the schools. The purpose of curriculum is to provide necessary knowledge and skills. Schooling must be practical in accordance with the views of Essentialists which has the ability to make students as valuable citizens. This educational philosophy focuses on the basics of students i.e. reading, writing and speaking etc. Diligence, discipline and ethics are to be taught through this philosophy. In Progressivism, the child is preferred in every respect to the content and teacher. The progressivists emphasize on testing ideas experimentally by the students. According to their point of view, students should be active instead of being passive. They should have the ability to solve problems through their own experiences. They must be encouraged to learn by doing. Curriculum must be in accordance with interests of students.

 The philosophy of progressive education was primarily promoted in America by John Dewey with effect from the mid 1920s to the mid 1950s. According to his doctrine, the life style of students must be improved by the educational institutions through their experiencing freedom, democracy and decision making etc. In Reconstructionism, it is focused on addressing the social questions in order to make a society very good. 

The reconstructionists are of the view that social reforms are so indispensable as the first and foremost aim of education. The founder of this educational philosophy was Theodore Brameld. The reconstructionists emphasize that the content regarding applying of experiences and capability to take social actions must be available in the students’ curriculum, so that they may handle the problematic situations at their own level easily and courageously.

Greek and Muslims Educational Philosophers:

  It is also relevant to briefly discuss here about the perspective of Education in respect of Greek and Muslim Philosophers as narrated below:

(i) Greek Educational Philosoperhers:

Philosophy is the creation of Greek where Socrates was the well known philosopher who influenced the philosophic tradition to the great extent. Socrates born in Athens in 469 B.C. He belonged to a very poor family. Moral aims, ideals and virtues were his basic topics. Almost all theoretical as well as practical life was surrounded by his discussions and series of knowledge. He ever emphasized on physical and moral courage. The number of his enemies was steadily increased as he ever exposed the humbugs and quacks of the society. He was great humanist, philosopher and lover of wisdom. The method of Socrates was systematic basically and founded on general principles. According to Aristotle, "There are two things which we may fairly attribute to Socrates, his inductive discourses and his universal definitions. Inductive reasoning was his method of arriving at a definition. The result attained by his method could not be regarded as satisfying the requirements of scientific exactness, but this did not disturb Socrates, for he himself continually and emphatically disclaimed the possession of any knowledge, except perhaps the knowledge of his own limitations." Knowledge was considered as the fundamental principal of Socratic education. He was of the view that knowledge is the true aim of life and virtue is nothing than knowledge. According to his point of view, "knowledge is virtue. Every man seeks happiness from good deeds and in order to do good, one must know what is good and must have the knowledge of the good.” Another Greek philosopher was Plato who born in 427 B.C. He was a pupil of Socrates. He established a school in the groves of Academus (Academy), where teaching of Mathematics and the different branches of philosophy were focused by him. He led eight years of his life in the pupil-ship of Socrates where he received much knowledge regarding different fields of human thoughts. After the death of Socrates, he travelled different countries having the thinking to observe different peoples’ ways of life and social structures. During the period of said journey, he used to work on ideas and universals. The important dialogues written while that era were Gorgias, Theatetus, Sophistes, Statesman and Parmenides. As per Plato’s aim of education, human mind always remains active. Man is attracted by all his surrounded things and he runs after them. The teacher should teach his students by taking advantage of their tendency and pay attention towards the objects surrounded them. The other Greek philosopher was Aristotle who born in 384 B.C. in Stagira. He took admission in the Academy of Plato at the age of 17 years and stayed there about 20 years being a student and a teacher. After the death of Plato, he left the academy and started travelling. According to his point of view, the virtue of a good citizen and good governor is the same being a good man and one should have first obeyed before commanding. He was of the view that there should be no education of child up-to five years for fear that it may not be hamper his growth. He ever emphasized on uniform system of education and praised those who give extreme attention to education, and make it public.

(ii) Muslim Educational Philosophers:

History shows that Muslim philosophers highly contributed in the field of education. The major topics of their services comprise of logic, reality, freedom of will and sources of knowledge etc. They tried their best with regard to define subject matters of science, religion and philosophy. They focused on fundamental questions such as the nature of reality, the functions, and the limits of human reason, truth, freedom, ethics etc. which were not surrounded satisfactorily before them. Imam Ghazali, Ibn-e-Khaldun, Ibn Miskawayh, Al- Farabi and Allama Muhammad Iqbal are the eminent Muslim philosophers who contributed a lot. Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali is the famous scholastic philosopher of Islamic thought. His philosophy of education is based upon Islamic perspective. According to his philosophy, the aim of education is to foster human beings. Society and its surrounding environment play very important role for the personality development of children. Due to the care of parents, children can become good human beings. Children should be rewarded and appreciated on doing good deeds. To merely fill the minds of child is not the purpose of education rather the main function of education is to emphasize on the religious, intellectual, physical and moral aspects of life. Ibn-e-Khaldun was a philosopher of history having the interest towards tradition, grammar, poetry, language, law, philosophy, theology, logic and other Islamic subjects. He has ever seen the education from a religious and ethical point of view. He was of the view that thinking ability is the special gift of God to human beings which distinguishes man from animals. Ahmad Ibn Muhammad ibnYa`qub, aka Miskawayh was also renowned philosopher. He served in history, philosophical disciplines and alchemy. The most noteworthy part of Miskawayh's philosophical activity is dedicated to ethics. He was of the view that the aim of life is to combine human will with the Divine Will. Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi is one of the greatest philosophers of the world. His fields of contribution were in mathematics, philosophy, metaphysics and music. In the history of Islamic philosophical thought, Al-Farabi was the true first founder of epistemology. He was of the view that the basic aim of education is the knowledge of God which helps man in finding the way to the ultimate aim of his existence. Unity of society, wisdom, thought, and religion are central thinkings of Al-Farabi. According to him, education is the most important social phenomena that concerned with the human soul and the aim of education is to lead the individuals to excellence. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was a well-known poet and philosopher. He was one of the most significant figures in Urdu and Persian literature. His philosophical aspects are recognized and are being taught throughout the world. He preferably focused on the education and educational system. According to him, the success of nation is based on education.

 

Conclusion:

In sum and substance, it can be said that education is dependent of philosophy owing to various reasons, as the philosophy determines the right destination for education. Without proper guidance and supervision of philosophy, education cannot achieve its goals. Spencer has rightly said, "true education is practicable only by a true philosophy". Separation between the philosophy and education is totally impossible, as both are firmly connected with each other. It is the philosophy that has been influencing all aspects of education since long. History shows that great philosophers have been great educationists. Here, the names of Plato, Socrates, Locke, Comenius, Rousseau, Froebel, and Dewey etc. can be quoted whose philosophical treatises have been important guide books for education particularly regarding planning and determination of educational aims for children of the world.