Philosophical Foundation

of Curriculum

Prepared by:Rowena M. Tivoli

MAED Student

Philosophy provides educators. teachers and curriculum makers with framework for planning, implementing and evaluating curriculum in schools. It helps in answering what schools are for, what subjects are important, how students should learn and what materials and methods should be used. In decision making, philosophy provides the starting point and will be used for the succeeding decision making.

The philosophy of curriculum planner, implementer, or evaluator reflects his

or her life experiences, common beliefs, social and economic

background and education.For example, JOHN DEWEY (1916)

looks at“education as a way of life” a

laboratory in which philosophy becomes concrete and is tested

School Purposes

Studies ofLearners

Suggestionsfrom Subject

Specialists

Studies of

Contempo-rary Life

Use of Psycho-logy of

Learning

Use of Philosophy

Perennialism Essentialism Progressivism Roconstructionism

Aim of Education

To educate the rational person ; To cultivate the intellect

To promote the intellectual growth of the individual and educate a competent person

To promote democratic and social living

To improve and reconstruct society education for change

Role of Education

Teachers help students think with reason

The teacher is the sole authority in his or her subject area or field of specializa-tion

Knowledge leads to growth and development of lifelong learners who actively learn by doing

Teachers act as agents of change and reform in various educational projects including research.

Perennialism Essentialism Progressivism Reconstructionism

Focus in the curriculum

Classical subjects, literary analysis and curriculum is constant

Essentials skills of the 3R’s and essential subjects of English, Science,History, Math,And Foreign Language

Subjects are interdiscipli-nary, integrative and interactive.Curriculum is focused on students interest, human problems and affairs

Focus on present and future trends and issues of national and international interests

Curriculum Trends

Use of great books and return to liberal arts

Excellence in education, back to basics and cultural literacy

School reforms, relevant and contextualizedCurriculum, humanistic education

Equality of educational opportunities in education, access to global education.

Philosophical Foundations of Education The most remarkable thing about

philosophy…is that the questions raisednever seem to get answered.

- The most significant philosophy…most of the world’s religions are based on idealism- Idealism as idea-ism- Plato—the Academy opened in 397 B.C., believed that material things are of littleconsequence…the everyday world of things and objects is a shadowy copy of the true idea which the soul carries within itself from heaven, reason is rooted in a spiritual soul- No discipline problems, because the teacher knows the content well, likes to teach, and knows the students- The idealist philosophy views the school as representing the community

Idealism

Idealist philosophers

- Plato, Descartes, Kant, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hegel, Schopenhauer- Students are encouraged to stretch themselves through higher-level thinking to become truth seekers- The teacher will devote considerable time and energy to the one who goes astray

Realism

- Objects exist regardless of how we perceive them- Focuses on the scientific method and personal experience- The crux of realism is science—empirical, objective, and experimental…with precisemeasurements

Realist philosophers - Aristotle, Comenius, Pestalozzi, Herbart,

Montessori, Hobbes, Bacon, Locke- Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann embraced realism- Accountability in the schools is an outgrowth of realism

Existentialism

- Focuses on the individual- Not a logical theory, but one that can be felt as an attitude or mood- Awareness, anxiety, choice take on special meaning- Revolt against the traditional philosophical stance- A way of life which involves one’s total self in complete seriousness about the self

Existentialist philosophers - Kierkegaard, Sartre, Nietzsche

- Kierkegaard—themes of passionate choice, absolute freedom, total responsibility- Life must be understood backward, but lived forward- The theory focuses on value questions

The End

Thank you for listening