Philosophical Foundations of Education

Idealism
This is the first systematic philosophy in Western thought. Its highest aim is the search
for truth and values that will stand the test of time. This means that its focus is the truth
and the only truth that exists is in the mind not in the world of matter because
proponents of this philosophy believes that senses should not be trusted, so it gives
more importance to the mind of an individual. In short, reality is in the world of a
persons mind.
In education, it is interested in the search for truth through ideas in which it promotes
abstract thinking. With this, the role of the teacher is he is the transmitter of knowledge
or the chief source of information. So the teacher analyzes and discusses ideas with
students so that students can move to new levels of awareness. Thus, the strategy
involved in here is the lecture-discussion method and question method.
Example: This means that the teacher could give or pose questions to the pupils that
pupils should answer. MATHEMATICS.
More modern idealists: St. Augustine, Descartes, Kant, Hegel
Thinkers:

Plato

Socrates

Rene Decartes

Realism
The leading proponent of realism is Aristotle. Its aim is for people can come to know the
world through their senses and reasons. This means that reality is what we observe and
experiences only exists in the physical world. So our mind only processes what we
receive from the physical world through our senses. Realism believes in natural law in
which things happen according to purpose and in an orderly way. Thus, its primary selfevident reality is the nature or the physical world.
In education, this philosophy organizes separate subjects curriculum. For example, the
study of humankind experience becomes history subject. With this, the role of the
teacher is to teach students factual information for mastery. So it is a teacher-centered.
Thinkers:

Aristotle

Harris Broudy

John Locke

John Comenius

Johann Henrich Pestalozzi

Jean Jacques Rosseu

Pragmatism
It is primarily an American philosophy and is also referred as experimentalism in which it
is based on process and relativity. This means that it interprets knowledge as a process
and the truth is no longer absolute or universal.
It views teaching as more exploratory than explanatory which means that the teacher is
the facilitator and not the sole authority in the class. Wherein the teacher facilitates
group works and activities, so it involves student-centered activities.
Thinkers:

John Dewey

Charles Sanders Peirce

William James

Richard Rorty

Existentialism
It stress in individualism and personal self-fulfillment. This means that the learner are
exposed to different wide variety of choices and he or she is free to choose what to
study and determine what is truth. Also, school exists to discover and expand society
we live in. in which, the classroom would be rich in materials in which it offers various
experiences and subjects that focuses on the development of authentic individuals. We
make meanings of our lives.
In education, the teacher is there to provide pathways for students to explore their own
values, meaning, and choices. The teachers primary responsibility is to provide all

these things, and to maintain a learning environment where students feel encouraged to
express themselves through discussion, creative projects, and choice of study areas.
For example, In teaching history, existentialists focus on the actions of historical
individuals, who provide possible models for the students own behavior, rather than
emphasizing historical events.
In arts, existentialism encourages individual creativity and imagination more than
copying and imitating established models. Creativity is an expression of oneself.

Thinkers: Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

Jean-Paul Sartre

Perrenialism
Its aim is to educate the rational person. This means that it focuses in developing
rationality which helps the students preparation for life, and the students should be
taught of the worlds permanencies through structured studies. These structured studies
are the ideas that have lasted for centuries. In which these structures studies and the
discussions are solely guided by teachers. Teachers in this field tends to only focus on
the classical subjects such as literature, language, and mathematics. These are
constant curriculum in which its ideas are unchangeable. With this, students have no
freedom to choose and their interests are irrelevant because teachers are the center in
order to accomplish a goal or the given syllabus.
Thinkers: Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler
Essentialism
Its aim is to promote intellectual growth and educate the competent person. In which it
provide training of the fundamental skills which it emphasizes on the 3Rs; reading,
writing, and arithmetic.
Teachers are authority in the field in which it based its lessons in the book because they
believe that learning is relatively static, since there is only one way to understand the
world that is already written in the book.
Subject contents are more emphasized than the process because mastery is given
emphasis than understanding. For their goal is to Develop individual to perform justly,
skillfully and magnanimously.
Thinkers: Plato, Karl Popper, John Stuart Mill, William Bagley