PERSONAL EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Personal Educational Philosophy

Personal Educational Philosophy

Introduction

Philosophy of education is the field of study that uses philosophical methods to study education. Textbooks and courses in personal philosophy of education may be organized around the branches of philosophy—for example, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy—or around centers of educational interest such as curriculum, pedagogy, or school structure.

An organizational scheme based on Perennialist, Idealist, Realist, Experimentalist, Existentialist that is popular stressing broad philosophical schools of thought is rarely seen today. I strongly believe in the above theories and would definitely incorporate in my philosophy of education. In its place, we see some works written from the perspective of critical theory, feminist philosophy, or postmodern philosophy.

Discussion

In my personal philosophy of education changes are influenced by changes in philosophy as well as changes in the larger society. I have seen that in the second half of the twentieth century, philosophy changed its emphasis from metaphysics (the philosophical study of the cosmos and reality) to analytic philosophy, and personal philosophy of education texts abandoned their earlier concentration on realism and idealism (Noddings, 2006).

Therefore my Personal philosophy of education shall undertake the careful analysis of educational concepts such as teaching, heuristics, knowledge and knowing, discovery, readiness, slogans, and indoctrination. The 1960s and 1970s were exciting years for analytic philosophers of education, and they often joined research teams, working to clarify the concepts central to various investigations (Noddings, 2003). The strictest analytic philosophers that shall be followed with the dictum of Ludwig Wittgenstein that philosophy properly “leaves everything as it is”; its job is simply to make everything clear.

Not everyone agreed with Wittgenstein on this. In contrast, Karl Marx had insisted that the whole point is to change the world, not to leave it as it is. In agreement, some philosophers of education took a Marxist approach in their writing (Kozol, 1991). All philosophical work involves some analysis, but analytic philosophers confine themselves to analysis, whereas Marxist philosophers and many others take a particular perspective and often suggest an agenda for social change.

Therefore after the comparison I feel that Marxist theory would prove to be much better. Themes in education, like themes in most social enterprises, shift with changes in the social milieu, but some educational themes are perennial (Kohlberg, 1983). They must be addressed conscientiously by every generation of citizens.

I would definitely incorporate one such theme which is the aims of education. Until quite recently, philosophers, educators, and policy makers seemed to take the discussion of educational aims seriously, and virtually every school prefaced its description of curriculum with a statement of aims. “Aims-talk” has been almost synonymous with personal philosophy of education (Noddings, 2006).

Today, fewer teacher preparation institutions require courses in personal philosophy of education, and policy makers seem to have settled on economic success as the aim of education—a decent income for individuals and economic success for the nation, which is sad to know.

I believe that my personal philosophy of education has argued for broad aims in education (Noddings, 2003): preparation for ...