Discuss the Significance of Studying Different Philosophical World Views of Teacher Education?

Education provides a foundation for a child to base the rest of his or her life on. Without a solid education, it becomes impossible for an individual to provide for themselves and their family. Also, well-educated people can make decisions that benefit both their own interests and the interests of society as a whole. In this paper, the author will address the different opinions of philosophy about education. The nature of the student will then be addressed followed by the nature of knowledge and finally the purpose of education.In conclusion, the author will compare and contrast the two main theories; that of realism and idealism. No two students are exactly alike. Nevertheless, they do share one fundamental character†¦ the character of an inquisitiveness to learn. Educational philosophy is no doubt a matter that has changed over the decades, and still today not everyone is in total agreement on the subject. However, one thing is certain- philosophy is the foundation of educati onal styles.Today, four basic educational philosophies exist including idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. All four philosophies are very different, but all strive for the same goal, to better our education system. Although every teacher has a different style of teaching that can be considered their own, they all adhere to one of the four basic philosophies. However, it may take a teacher many years to master, and recognize their style as one of the philosophies.The child centred educational approach holds that the teacher is a facilitator, a guide, an advisor and fellow traveller and therefore, the teacher must provide warmth and nurture emotions whilst continuing to function as a resource centre. Creating an appropriate learning environment where all students feel that they have the ability to learn and succeed is an essential responsibility of the teacher. As a child’s education is the most important tool that they will ever acquire throughout their lifetime , it is imperative for the teacher to find a way to relate to each and every student under their direct responsibility.The domain of education is vast, the issues it raises are almost overwhelmingly numerous and are of great complexity, and the social significance of the field is second to none. These features make the phenomena and problems of education of great interest to a wide range of socially-concerned intellectuals, who bring with them their own favoured conceptual frameworks—concepts, theories and ideologies, methods of analysis and argumentation, metaphysical and other assumptions, criteria for selecting evidence that has relevance for the problems that they consider central, and the like.It is no surprise, then, to find that the significant intellectual and social trends of the past few centuries, together with the significant developments in philosophy, all have had an impact on the content and methods of argument in philosophy of education—Marxism, psycho- analysis, existentialism, phenomenology, positivism, post-modernism, pragmatism, neo-liberalism, the several waves of feminism, analytic philosophy in both its ordinary language and more formal guises, are merely the tip of the iceberg.It is revealing to note some of the names that were heavily-cited in the field (in alphabetical order): Adorno, Aristotle, Derrida, Descartes, Dewey, Habermas, Hegel, Horkheimer, Kant, Locke, Lyotard, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Plato, Rawls, Richard Rorty, Rousseau, and Wittgenstein (Curren 2003; Blake, Smeyers, Smith, and Standish 2003). Although this list conveys something of the diversity of the field, it fails to do it complete justice, for the influence of feminist philosophers is not adequately represented.Regardless of the size of the iceberg, authoritative scholars relate and argue that most educational philosophies today are developed from the idealistic and realistic view points. Idealism and realism in education are often considered together in educational philosophy under the name essentialism. This is in part because, although they are of the universe differ radically, their view concerning the nature of truth are similar. Both of these positions, as we shall see, view truth as immutable, permanent, and unchanging.The main tenant of idealism is that ideas and knowledge are the truest reality. Many things in the world change, but ideas and knowledge are enduring. Idealism was often referred to as â€Å"idea-ism†. Idealists believe that ideas can change lives. The most important part of a person is the mind. It is to be nourished and developed. Idealism is a product of ancient Greece and Rome, mainly Socrates. Although Socrates’ ideals are the basis for the idealist philosophy, it was his student Plato, who is considered the founder of idealism.The Platonic theory that ultimate reality lies in a realm beyond the real world that the real world is a by-product of mental or supernatural states; art that rejects realism for the world of imagination. Park, Joe. (1968: 23). The philosophy â€Å"focuses on the spiritual and intellectual development of the individual†(ibid: 27). According to Chambliss, idealist attempt to describe ideas, mind, consciousness, form, thought, energy, and other non-material concepts† Chambliss, (J. J. 1996: 33). The educational approach of this philosophy is of a holistic nature.In which self-realization and character development is strongly supported. The idealist feels that with the growth of a fine moral character as well as personal reflection, wisdom is gained. The holistic approach is supported instead of a specialized concentration on a specific targeted area (ibid: 52). By combining experiences gained through critical thinking and dealing with broader topics, the idealist creates an environment in which a learner can rationalize information across curriculum. Idealism as a philosophy had its greatest impact during the nineteenth century Kamins ky, James S. 1993: 14). Kaminsky further states that ‘its influence in today’s world is less important than it has been in the past’ (1993: 18). Idealism is the conclusion that the universe is expression of intelligence and will, that the enduring substance of the world is the nature of the mind, that the material is explained by the mental. Idealism as a philosophy stands in contrast with all those systems of thought that centre in nature (naturalism) or in man (humanism). According to idealism to be means to be experienced by a person.Idealism holds that the order of the world is due to the manifestation in space and time of an eternal and spiritual reality. As to knowledge, idealism holds that knowledge is man thinking the thoughts and purposes of this eternal and spiritual reality as they are embodied in our world of fact. As to ethics, idealism holds that the goodness of man's individual and social life is the conformity of the human will with the moral admi nistration of the universe. In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and develop each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.The curricular emphasis is subject matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, and religion. Teaching methods focus on handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue (a method of teaching that uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge). Introspection, intuition, insight, and whole-part logic are used to bring to consciousness the forms or concepts which are latent in the mind. Character is developed through imitating examples and heroes. Idealism has been influential in education for a considerable amount of time.It is considered a conservative philosophy because of its emphasis in preserving cultural traditions. The strengths of idealism include encouraging thinking and cognition, promoting cultural learning, and providing for character development of students. T eachers are considered valuable parts of the educational process who should strive to provide a comprehensive, systematic and holistic approach to learning that stress self realisation. Scholars today have challenged idealism and brought about challenges and maybe changes to the idealistic approach. Blake, Nigel; Smeyers et al: (248).Aristotle, a student of Plato, developed the basis for the philosophy known as realism. Realism â€Å"holds that objects and happenings exist regardless of how we perceive them† Archambault, Reginald D. , ed. (1965: 103). Thomas Jefferson is one of the more known realists. Teachers who are realists â€Å"focus on reason and thinking† (ibid: 111). The philosophical perspective possessed by a teacher has on affects the ability and effectiveness of their teaching methods. Therefore a teacher must be one who appreciates and respects education and formalized schooling.In this metaphysical view, the aim is to understand objective reality through â€Å"the diligent and unsparing scrutiny of all observable data†. (ibid: 119). Aristotle believed that to understand an object, its ultimate form had to be understood, which does not change. For example, a rose exists whether or not a person is aware of it. A rose can exist in the mind without being physically present, but ultimately, the rose shares properties with all other roses and flowers (its form), although one rose may be red and another peach coloured.Aristotle also was the first to teach logic as a formal discipline in order to be able to reason about physical events and aspects Jarret, James L. , ed. (1969: 78). The exercise of rational thought is viewed as the ultimate purpose for humankind. The Realist curriculum emphasizes the subject matter of the physical world, particularly science and mathematics. The teacher organizes and presents content systematically within a discipline, demonstrating use of criteria in making decisions.Teaching methods focus on master y of facts and basic skills through demonstration and recitation. Students must also demonstrate the ability to think critically and scientifically, using observation and experimentation. Curriculum should be scientifically approached, standardized, and distinct-discipline based. Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct. The educational principles developed by Plato, Aristotle and et al, and numerous educational theorists and philosophers in the interregnum, are alive and well in the twenty-first century.Of particular contemporary interest is the evolution that has occurred of the progressive idea that each student is an active learner who is pursuing his or her own individual educational path. By incorporating elements of the classical empiricist epistemology of John Locke, this progressive principle has become transformed into the extremely popular position known as constructivism, according to which each student in a classroom constructs his or her own indi vidual body of understandings even when all in the group are given what appears to be the same stimulus or educational experience. A consequence of this is that a classroom of thirty students will have thirty individually-constructed, and possibly different, bodies of â€Å"knowledge†, in addition to that of the teacher! ). There is also a solipsistic element here, for constructivists also believe that none of us—teachers included—can directly access the bodies of understandings of anyone else; each of us is imprisoned in a world of our own making. It is an understatement to say that this poses great difficulties for the teacher.The education journals of the past two decades contain many thousands of references to discussions of this position, which elsewhere the author claimed has become a type of educational â€Å"secular religion†; for reasons that are hard to discern it is particularly influential in mathematics and science education. The teacher shou ld therefore be able to ‘mix and juggle’ through the different viewpoints to be able to relate to the disparate intellectual capacity of the students.