1. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
What is a Philosophy of Education?

2. Philosophy of Education
Philosophy centers on three major questions. What are these?
What is real?
What is true?
What is good and beautiful?
What is Philosophy?

3. Educational Philosophy
Love of wisdom; pursuit of wisdom
Offers an avenue for serious inquiry into ideas, traditions, & ways of thinking
Help develop new insights into educational problems
Role is to examine critically the intellectual disputes & suggest different ways of viewing things

4. What is Content of Philosophy?
Activites
Prescribing
Speculation
Analysis
Synthesizing
Attitudes
Self-awareness
Comprehensiveness
Penetration
Flexibility

5. Body of content of Philosophy
Metaphysics – what is real to you
Epistemology – how do we know
Axiology – values
Ethics – morality, behavior
Asthetics – beauty, comfort

6. Everyday problem vs. Philosophical analysis of problem
Philosophical conflicts
Look beyond the obvious = philosophical analysis

7. Assumption Taken as true
Example: If a student does well on the TAAS, ACT, SAT, etc., they are educated.

8. Hypothesis
A considered guess or hunch in regard to which some pertinent data are available; a trial answer to be tested.

9. Intuition Instinct – feel something Low level – gut feeling
Based on past experiences

10. Theory
“A theory is an instrument, a guide to thought, not necessarily a guide to direct practice.” Richare Pratte, Contemporary Theories of Education (1971).
Invites argument and counterargument
Organize ideas for eventual practical activity

11. Practice Provides raw materials and testing grounds.
Experiences shared, critically analyzed for improvement, taken back into practice for testing
Serves to expand theory and direct it toward new possibilities

12. Theory and Philosophy
What is the relationship between theory and philosophy?
Is theory a set of assumptions? Explain
Explain how questions such as why, what, how, etc. build a theoretical basis from which to operate.

13. Metaphysics The view that reality exists beyond the observable world
Conceived to be transcendental to humankind’s sensory experience
Beyond, independent of, superior to, & separate from the world of experience
Metaphysics Resources;

14. Areas of Metaphysics Cosmology-order in being universe? Human?
Teleology- final causes, end
Theology – study of God
Anthropology – study of humankind
Ontology-existence, nature of being

15. Cosmology Order in being
Study of the origin, nature & development of the Universe
Our picture of the order & priority of values in the structure of the Universe
More on Cosmology:

16. Teleogy Study of purpose of being Is there an end? Afterlife?
Three Views Outline
Fetus by: Leonardo da Vinci

17. Theology Theological questions
How do I answer questions I have about God?
Can God allow evil if he is good?
Examples of Theological Questions and answers if God were a computer programmer:

18. Anthropology Two views: Judeo-Christian
human beings have worth & dignity
Free will
Scientific
determined by our environment
No free will

19. Ontology Study of being Existence, nature
What are the essential qualities of the human being?
Value - priority
More on Ontology:

20. Problems of metaphysics?
What does it mean “to be”?
When does life begin?
Is this a dream or reality?
When does life end?

21. Reality vs. Appearance
Perception
Reliability of sense data

22. Referent vs. Symbol Symbol = red Referent = what you think about
Language is a catalogue of symbols

23. Static vs. Dynamic Culture
Characteristics of cultures
Universals – society agrees on these
Specialties – some people know
Alternatives – society disagrees on these
Universals > Alternatives = static
Alternatives > Universals = dynamic

24. Culture is static = subjects used for study are static
Culture is dynamic = subjects used to teach people to think

25. Epistemology What is true? The nature of truth and knowledge
The source of truth and knowledge
Quotes on Truth and Wisdom:

26. In Education Metaphysics – deals with content
Epistemology – deals with instruction, strategy used to deliver content:
direct instruction, cooperative learning, inquiry learning, etc.

27. Scientific Knowledge vs. Intuition
Knowledge - Truth – Epistemological – Is truth an absolute?
Intuition - Gut feeling; you just know; innate sense of knowing; information is immediate w/o any reasoning involved; react spontaneously w/o knowing why

28. Levels of Intuition Simple Awareness Scientific Intuition
Artistic Level
Religious Intuition

29. Problems - Epistemology
Truth vs. truth
Vicarious vs. Direct Learning
Objective vs. Subjective Knowledge
a priori vs. a posteriori

30. Truth vs. truth
Is there an absolute truth in the Universe? Are there absolutes? What are absolutes?
Something that NEVER changes
“T” Classical Phil
Truth changes - small “t”
Contemporary Phil

31. Vicarious vs. Direct Learning
Vicarious – indirectly through others
Direct – experience, by doing

32. Objective vs. Subjective Knowledge
Objective - Knowledge is out there to be discovered. How can I discover knowledge?
Subjective – Knowledge is inside everyone. How can I create knowledge?

33. a priori
Deductive knowledge based on principles that are self-evident apart from observation or experience.
Independent of sensory experience
Proposition is necessarily true or false based on purely logical or semantic (meaning in language) grounds

34. a posteriori
Knowledge gained as a result of experiences

35. How do we know? Sense data Common sense Logic Intuition Science
Syllogism
Dialectic
Intuition
Science
Choice making

36. Rationalism vs Empiricism
Rationalism – the basic source of knowledge is reason.
Adherents think that each person either is or has a mind that has the ability to know truths directly.
Things need not be perceived by the senses.
idealism, classical realism, dualistic theism

37. Rationalism vs Empiricism
Empiricism – the basic source of knowledge is experience, not reason.
Adherents emphasize that human learning centers on perceptual, sensory experience instead of being centered on the mentalistic, speculative reasoning or rational process.
behavioral experimentalism, logical empiricism, cognitive-field experimentalism

38. Axiology What is good and beautiful? A general theory of value
Primary concepts are ought, duty, right and wrong

39. Ethics
Ethics = a theory of behavior
Morality = a practice of behavior

40. Axiological problem in U.S.
Growth of mass society
Depersonalization
Alienation
Law of Interchangeable Parts
Cloning

41. What do we deal with in Ethics?
Good “G” vs. good “g”
Free choice vs. determinism on the other
Means vs. Ends
Do ends justify the means?
Conceived vs. Operative Behavior
What you believe you should do vs. what you do
Morality vs. Religion
Varied agreement of morality vs. rules

42. Aesthetics Beauty “Feeling good part” Who are you? What do you like?
Taste – good or bad

43. Aesthetic Experience Euphoric state Beauty of something overwhelms you
Transcend self
Lost in the experience

44. Two areas of Aesthetics
Art for Art’s sake – something is done for the purpose of beauty-nothing else
Art for our sake - decide what it is to be used for, then design it.
Form follows function

45. 21st Century Educational Issues
Identify major 20/21st century problems relative to education, such as:
National standards
High Stakes Testing
Vouchers
Federal dollars to religious organizations
others

47. THREE BASIC WORLDVIEWS
Dr. J. Scott Horrell Dallas Theological Seminary

48. THREE BASIC WORLDVIEWS
Dr. J. Scott Horrell Dallas Theological Seminary

50. THREE BASIC WORLDVIEWS
Dr. J. Scott Horrell Dallas Theological Seminary