Teaching Philosophy

The philosophy of education is as ancient as education itself. There have been many great thinkers, philosophers and even creators of (what they’ve considered to be) the ideal educational system. From Greece to China, India to Egypt, and eventually, here in North America, the methods of, and for, education has been varied and variable. Some of the great philosophers of education whose thoughts and impacts which we still feel and study today, either positively or negatively, were Plato, Socrates, Aristotle in Greece, Quinterian in Rome, Confucius in China, Hindu priests in India, Muslim leaders in Egypt, and other thinkers throughout the world and over the centuries.

I am not a philosopher nor am I naive enough to think I am a powerful enough, or great enough, thinker to create an entire educational system and encompassing philosophy. I do, though, stand on the shoulders of giants before me and incorporate the opinions and methods of ancient and contemporary philosophers to establish what I feel may be the ideal educational environment for my students.

Socrates wanted to understand truths and beliefs. He was never fully satisfied with answers he received and always asked a question or two after being answered. He felt that people should do their utmost to gain morality and perfection in their ethics and behaviors. He felt that a person must remember that ‘it is good to be wise and wise to be good’. He believed that a person is moral if he can logically understand the reasons involved in acting morally and properly.

Socrates’s philosophy on education was to teach people how to be moral. He felt it was necessary to use logic and explanations to instill a sense and need for morality in children. His technique in teaching was to phrase his words and beliefs in a question format. He wanted his students to think and to assume answers and ideas and then to question their assumptions, causing them and those they were engaged in a dialogue with to think critically and constantly. His method of answering a question with a question was unnerving and frustrating and led to his death as people were afraid that society would question and demand too much.

Plato was Socrates student and he established a school of, and for, philosophy, the Academy. Plato believed in the ideal, not as per ones society but for all people. Like Socrates, Plato believed that these ideals are innate in every individual but that they need to be discovered by that person. He also believed in a hierarchical system in society.

Plato’s ideal educational system was that every member in the hierarchy, the philosophers, merchants, soldiers, clerks and laborers, should receive an education as necessary and appropriate to their status. He was one of the first philosophers who believed that women should be educated as befitted their status and intellect. His school taught reading and culture, as necessary to develop individual virtues. The goal of education, according to Plato, was for all students to develop the thoughts and ideals needed to become a philosopher. He felt that the ideal education was to simply listen to philosophy and to repeat what one heard.

Aristotle felt that the human race could feel and think objectively. His theory on education was that, to teach and to learn, one must utilize all his senses, not necessarily the writings of others. He believed that everyone, infants, children, and adults should be and can be taught. He believed in the ‘tracking system’ in education. His method of education was to teach what the person needed to know to assist him in life. Those who would eventually be laborers were taught technical skills while those who would eventually be the thinkers and philosophers would receive an education which would help them think, choose wisely and be aware of their culture and society. The teachers in Aristotle’s Academy were well educated and could teach well what they knew. Aristotle said the method of teaching is important, more so than the actual lessons taught.

Confucius's idea of education was that knowledge is limited and each generation must listen and memorize what they would be taught in classical works. Only males were educated and it was in a language spoken in and shared by the upper crust of society. Confucius believed that students should be tested and if the succeeded to learn and memorize their lessons were they admitted to elite society.

Marcus F. Quintilianus developed an educational ideal. He felt that teaching and lessons should be based on a person’s growth, intellectually and developmentally. He believed that education should be appropriate to the student’s capabilities. He felt that learning should be enjoyable and stimulating. Quintilian wanted the teacher to be loving yet authoritative.

Lev Vygotsky placed emphasis on social contributions to the process of development. Vygotsky introduced the theory of Zone of Proximal Development to show how social interaction will facilitate understanding and cognition ZPD is a level of understanding that the child or student cannot master by herself but can learn with help from someone who has that skill already. This person may be an adult or a child is called a more knowledgeable other.

From all I have learned and studied regarding education and the philosophy of it, I have accepted various ideas from different philosophers and developed my own ideas of the ideal educational system. I believe like Socrates that morality is crucial to living, to a society and incorporated in education. I think, as does Aristotle, that people need to be assisted in knowing how to choose wisely and carefully. I most definitely agree with Aristotle that teachers must know and even agree with what they are teaching or their students will not appreciate what they are learning. Students are perceptive and will be able to sense when a teacher is “faking it”. Also, I feel that teaching is best taught using the senses and that providing stimulation and props, as Quintilian suggests, it is imperative in creating an ideal learning environment. As Quintilian feels, so do I, learning must be geared to a child’s chronological and cognitive level of behavior and learning. I appreciate the thinkers, such as Plato, who believed that women can and should be educated. I was impressed with Vygotsky and his deep analysis on how social interaction takes advantage of the “Zone of Proximal Development”

However you do not have to be a great and deep philosopher to understand and appreciate the necessity for equality in education. It should be obvious to any teacher that everyone, male, female, handicapped, black, white, red or blue, regardless of their age, status, mental capacity, race, creed and intelligence level can be taught and can learn and that they should be treated equally. It is imperative to have a sensitivity of where an individual is coming from, if they are a minority race, or if they have a disability, to be sensitive to it. A teacher may not intend to offend a student but not being aware of their background and place in society is negligent and will invariably lead to misunderstandings, and the victim is the student who will no longer lend his or her ear to the teacher and her lessons. Potentially beginning a ripple effect crippling their ability to conquer the hurdles our society has placed in front of them. It is imperative, to be sure and teach the student to his or her ability, recognizing that each student is an individual not one of twenty in a classroom, but one of one.