ED 250-Foundations of Education

Ashley Swanson

ED 250-Foundations of Education

“The direction which education starts a man will determine his future in

life.”-Plato

Quote:

Educational PioneersPhilosophy vs. TheoryGroup Discussions

Today’s Topics:

Johann Comenius

Peace educator

Sensory method of teaching rather than passive memorization

Rejected the idea of child depravity

Advocate of learning readiness

Teaching a specific skill until it was thoroughly understood by students

Johann Comenius

Influence on today’s educational practices:Respect universal human rights &

children’s dignity

Recognize children’s stages of development and learning readiness

Use objects and pictures to encourage children to use their senses during the learning process

Johann Comenius

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Educating children according to nature

Wrote Emile-the story of a boys education from infancy to adulthood

Rejected the idea of child depravity

Placed crucial importance on stages of human development


Influence on today’s educational practices:Argument that curriculum should arise

from child’s interest had a profound affect on progressive educators

Children should learn from their direct interaction with the environment- influenced constructivism


Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

Schools should nurture children’s holistic nature

Emphasized the relationship between families and schools

Direct sensory learning

Dedicated to teaching students with special needs


Influence on today’s educational practices:Emphasis on having students manipulate objects in their environment: process-based learning

Emotional security is necessary for skill and subject learning


Johann Friedrich Herbart

Sought to systemize teaching

Instruction was structured into a sequence of 5 steps:Preparation: prepare students for the

information that is going to be taughtPresentation: clearly present the new conceptAssociation: new concept is compared and

contrasted to previous knowledge Generalization: principles are formed that

combine new and previous learningApplication: exams and exercises to assess

mastery


Influence on today’s educational practices:Relevant to NCLB guidelines:

Instruction should be efficient and effective

Students should be tested to assess mastery of skills


Friedrich Froebel

Created kindergarten Games, play, songs, stories, and crafts

Stressed the importance of the teachers personality

Encouraged teachers to avoid introducing academic subjects

Friedrich Froebel

Influence on today’s educational practices:Kindergarten as part of elementary school

Friedrich Froebel

Herbert Spencer

Social Darwinism

Competition within the classroom and between schools

Utilitarian education

Focus on science and technology to prepare students to be efficient producers in a competitive industrial society

Herbert Spencer

Influence on today’s educational practices:Contemporary curriculum designers use

Spencer’s rationale when designing curriculum on human needs and activities

Competition between schools introduced between standardized testing

School vouchers

Raising standards for pre-service teachers

Herbert Spencer

John Dewey

Curriculum organized into constructive, experimental, and creative activities that promoted:Development of senses and physical

coordinationOpportunities for children to make and do

things based on their interestsEncouraged students to formulate, examine,

and test their ideas by acting on them

Genuine knowledge is not inert information transmitted from teachers to students

John Dewey

Knowledge is continually reconfigured and reconstructed

Educations main purpose is to promote social growth

Three levels of curriculum:1) Making and doing2) Space and time3) Science

John Dewey

Influence on today’s educational practices:Ideas about socially expanding

children’s experiences, emphasized children’s individual interests and needs

Hands on or process oriented learning

Collaborative learning

Opening schools to social reform

John Dewey

Jane Addams

Socialized education

Hull-House

Teaching with a social justice mission- teachers need to examine issues of social justice and change in relationship to education and schooling

Jane Addams

Influence on today’s educational practices:Equal rights for women

Classroom needs to be connected to the community it serves

Jane Addams

Maria Montessori

Children possess an inner need to work at what interests them without needing external rewards and punishments

Children like to repeat actions until they master a skill

Curriculum included three major types of experiences:PracticalSensoryFormal skills and studies

Didactic devices and a prepared environment

Maria Montessori

Influence on today’s educational practices:Emphasis on the formative power of early

childhood education over a person’s adult development

Children are capable of self-directed learning of a particular skill

Emphasis on school as part of the community and importance of parent involvement

Concept of sensitive periods

Maria Montessori

Jean Piaget

Children create their concepts of reality through exploration of their environment

Stage-Learning Theory of Development: Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete-Operational Stage Formal-Operational Stage

Children’s perceptions of reality often differ from the types of curriculum and instruction adults create for them

A rich environment can stimulate children to learn, but we cannot force learning on children

Jean Piaget

Stage-Learning Theory of Development

Stage Age Description

Sensorimotor Birth-2 years old Learning by actively exploring surrounding environment. Mostly

nonverbal

Preoperational 2 years old - 7 years old Combining exploration with speech.

Reconstruct concepts by grouping and naming

objects

Concrete-Operational

7 years old – 11 years old Begin thinking mathematically and logically. Exercise reasoning skills

Formal-Operational

11 years old- Early adulthood

Learn complex processes. Use

multivariate thinking.

Influence on today’s educational practices:Stimulated a movement to make the

classroom less formal and more focused on how children learn

Encourage children to explore and experiment

Individualize instruction so children can learn at their own pace

Classroom learning centers stocked with hands-on activities

Jean Piaget

Paulo Freire

Liberation pedagogy

Critical consciousness-students should be conscious and critically aware of the social, political, and economic conditions that effect their lives

Opposes “teacher talk”

Banking Model

Paulo Freire

Influence on today’s educational practices:Transformed teaching and learning from limited concept of transmitting information to discovering one’s identity and meaning in the world

Teachers should help students work towards social justices by exposing them to conditions that marginalize their communities

Paulo Freire

Choose 3 pioneers that you relate to in terms of your educational philosophy & jot down what you like

about their ideals

Philosophy vs. Theory

Philosophy Theory

General Specific

Wide-ranging, systematic, complete

Focused on education, no complete system offered

Components related to metaphysics, epistemology,

axiology, and logic

Components related to specifics of education

Insights come from the general philosophical system

Insights derived from general philosophies or school contexts

Philosophy vs. Theory

Philosophies-highly generalized views of reality, knowledge, and values that include education

Theories-derived from philosophies, but focus more specifically on education, schools, curriculum, learning, and teaching

General philosophies link to more specific theories

Philosophies vs. Theories

Educational Philosophies

Metaphysics: considers questions about ultimate realityRelates to education: determining which knowledge

has the most worth when creating the curriculumEpistemology: deals with knowledge

Relates to education: influences methods of teaching and learning

Axiology: ethics and aestheticsRelates to education: classroom environment

Logic: correct and valid thinking-deductive and inductive logicRelates to education: how lessons are organized

Philosophy Terminology

What is knowledge?

What is the purpose of school?

Who should attend school?

How should we teach?

Answer the Following Questions:

What is knowledge? Knowledge is about universal ideas and education is the

intellectual process of bringing those ideas out in the consciousness of the learner

What is school? Place to explore the questions of Socrates and Plato: What is

truth?, What is beauty?, What is the good life? These questions can be answered through the study of quality books and works of art

Who should attend school? Everyone-students should have an education that will take them as

far as their intellectual abilities will allowHow should we teach?

Teaching is the process of bringing existing ideas into conscious reflection

Socratic method: teacher stimulates learners awareness of these ideas through questioning

Teachers should be good role models

Idealism

What is knowledge?Knowledge is about the world we live in and always

corresponds with objectsWhat is school?

A place to obtain knowledge that is organized into disciplines

Who should attend school?Everyone-oppose sorting students into separate

academic tracksHow should we teach?

The curriculum should be organized into separate subjects

Focus should be on cognitive learning-teaching skills (reading, writing, computation, etc.) and subjects (history, math, science, etc.)

Realism

What is knowledge?Process of constructing, using, and testing ideas

What is school?Three major functions: simplify, purify, and balance

cultural heritageLocal community of learners and their teachers

connected to the larger societyWho should attend school?

EveryoneHow should we teach?

Interdisciplinary education rather than departmentalized subject-matter curriculum

Using the scientific method

Pragmatism

What is knowledge? Knowledge is created through our own personal choices Individuals will choose the knowledge that pertains most to

his/her lifeWhat is school?

An opportunity for teachers and students to engage in discussion about their lives and their choices

Who should attend school? Everyone

How should we teach? Purpose of education is to awaken consciousness about freedom

to create own sense of self Students encouraged to participate in discussions about hopes,

fears, desires, living, loving, and dying Valuable subjects include literature, biography, drama, and film

because they reveal people making choices

Example: Summerhill School

Existentialism

What is knowledge? Constructed based on our experiences from interacting

with our environmentWhat is school?

View public schools are a contested arena-argue that public schools help reproduce a society that is patriarchal, Eurocentric, and capitalist.

Who should attend school?Everyone

How should we teach?Encourage deconstruction of texts and teaching materialsWith cultural diversity at the coreConscious of bias

Postmodernism

Educational Theories

Education needs to be universal and authentic during every period of history, throughout every culture

Believes that truth is in the classicsPrimary purpose is developing students’ intellectTruth is unchanging, so curriculum should consist

of permanent themes recurrent in human natureCurriculum includes: history, language, math,

logic, literature, humanities, and scienceEducation should develop the mind, not one’s

specific needsDisagree with tracking

Perennialism

Role of schools is to teach the basics, so students can function in democratic society

Schools should not promote specific ideologies

Skills and subjects in a curriculum should be well defined in a scope and sequence

Teacher directed instructionStudents are promoted on the basis of

academic achievement, not social considerations

Essentialism

Prolonging childhood-child should be free to develop naturally

Children’s readiness should determine curriculum

Children learn best when exploring their environment and constructing their own views of reality

Teacher facilitated, activity-based curriculum1

Importance of relationship between the school, home, and community

Resist standards set outside of school from government agencies

Progressivism

Raise consciousness about marginalization and empowerment

Knowledge is about issues of social, political, economic, and educational power and control

Dominant classes control schools and use them to reproduce and maintain their privileged position.

Formal curriculum mandated by the state and “hidden curriculum” (what students learn from the school environment)

Teachers should focus on issues of power and control in school and society

Critical Theory

Questions to consider:Do you believe that knowledge is based on universal

and eternal truths or is it relative to different times and places?

What is the purpose of education? To transmit culture, provide economic and social skills, to develop critical-thinking skills, or to criticize and reform society?

What are schools for? To teach skills and subjects, encourage personal self-definition, develop intelligence, or create patriotic and economically productive citizens?

Creating Your Own Philosophy of Education

Questions to consider:What should curriculum contain? Basic skills

and subjects? Experiences and projects, classic literature, inquiry processes, critical dialogues?

What should the relationship be between teachers and students? Transmitting the heritage, teaching and learning skills and subjects, examining great ideas, encouraging self-expression, constructing knowledge, solving problems?

Creating Your Own Philosophy of Education

Ornstein, A.C., Levine, D.U., Gutek, G.L., & Vocke, D.E. (2014). Foundations of Education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

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ED 250-Foundations of Education