Philosophy Of Education
The philosophy of discussion and the principles of educations bring before us a very relevant aspect that is also closely associated with education. It is the philosophy of education. It is not there does not exist anything like the philosophy of education. But it is also true at the same time that it is quite difficult to draw a demarking line between philosophy of education and philosophy of life. In his ‘Education and Society’ Ottaway says, “You can reflect upon the whole process of education, but then you are reflecting upon the whole of life from a certain point of view” (Ottaway, 2003, 16). This statement very naturally inspires that thought that there is no point of life where education does not have a role to play.
It has often been stated that philosophy happens to be the clarification of thought. If it be true, there is no doubt that there should be philosophy of education since education is no education at all if the clarity factor is missing. The philosophy of education, if it can be termed so, can be made to serve the purpose of clarifying the thought about education. It can also be made to serve as a technique to analyze and criticize. There is one problem with the philosophy of education since the very concept of philosophy is based on assumptions and presuppositions. This problem has been very interestingly clarified in ‘Education and Society’ that reads, “there might be a philosophy of the science of education, and this would be a part of the philosophy of science. Similarly there might be a philosophy of the art of education as part of the philosophy of art. Methods of learning and teaching, as we have said, have principles. There are laws of learning, theories of motivation, tests of achievement, all based on the science of psychology. Such principles can be criticized, evaluated, and their logical validity and fitness of their purpose examined. This activity, in so far as it goes beyond science, can be called a philosophy of educational method.” (Ottaway, 2003, 16).
So far as the aim of education is concerned, it seems to depend much on the philosophy of the educator about life. When the educator thinks about the aim of education, his own philosophy of life cannot but influence his thoughts. If he or she has an idealistic attitude towards life, aim of education for the educator would be much different from that of another who nourishes a materialistic attitude towards life. Again, it is also true that whether education is treated as the preparation of citizenship or as the process of the development of the individual, the ends of education are to be determined by the values as well as purposes of the society.
Processing your request, Please wait....
