MIDTERM EXAM IN PHILO-SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS

EULOGIO F. ECLEO JR. MAED-EM Semester: 1st Semester

1. Discuss briefly your own understanding of Philosophy and its

importance in teaching. Give examples or real life experiences.
Teachers are mentors and play an active role in inculcating independent
thinking in students. However, to do that as a teacher, we must have a teaching
philosophy of our own. Students always look up to their teacher and therefore, it
becomes necessary for us to have thoughts to inspire them.
Philosophy has been, defined as the map, which provides directions to move
ahead. One may feel lost without a map. In the same way, we are going to be
missed while teaching if a specific path is not decided. Hence, a map is always
needed to make informed movements.
It is not possible to make students learn something until the teacher knows
why and how he/she wants to teach. Once you know your path, you will be helping
your students to plan to reach their destinations.
Teachers are termed as the future makers of the community. People like you
are the ones who help students choose different professions and identities. A
teacher can leave a profound impact on students and help them make independent
decisions in the near future. The core values that your students learn from you today
are going to be applied and used in the society as they grow up. A solid
philosophical background will help ensure that these values are all positive. If we
believe in breaking stereotypes, there are high chances our students will follow the
same philosophical path. If our philosophy is accepting the already existing theories,
rather than questioning them, our students might follow your path.
Understanding the philosophy of education will teach them the need to know
the whys. Along with the intellectual development of the students, it will also improve
the standards of our society and make us more rational. By learning philosophy, a
teacher would be able to view and analyze from the perspective of their students.
Apart from understanding why students are behaving in a particular way,
teachers would also be able to know how students perceive their actions. This helps
them adapt better teaching strategies and guidance, eventually resulting in improved
results.
Best of all, a teacher would be able to analyze his/her actions and understand
the positives and negatives of their methods. Just as if it helps students, it helps
them as well. In other words, the educational curriculum consisting of philosophy
contributes to discovering the mind of the learner (student), thus aid him/her in
offering experiences and opportunities for cultivating his/her potential abilities.
Philosophy of education also teaches a teacher the concept of not prejudicing
the personality of each student. Remember that we need to consider all students
equal. But, this should not affect the unique potential and capabilities of each
student. As educators, we are required to teach creativity, autonomy, and curiosity to
all students without compromising with their intellectual levels. The idea is to avoid
giving up on a pupil, who is a low-level learner. Philosophy teaches you that
ideology, where you train with an unbiased attitude.
Philosophy also teaches about unifying each pupil and the teacher as one
body to ensure harmony. The idea is to work together to create a better citizen, who
diligently serves his community and keeps check on his/her morality. Through the
philosophy of education, teachers can understand how to deal with the students and
unite them as one. Even the students will then be able to confidently speak to the
teacher as if he/she is their friend.
Through philosophy, you can ensure that your student not only retains his
academic knowledge from all his completed grades but also develop a sense of
humane values and ethics. These personal values provide a better upbringing for
them to cope in the later years of their life. Thus, studying it is beneficial and
significant for teaching students to learn autonomously.
2. Discuss the 9 Traditional and Contemporary Educational Philosophies.

Educational Connection to
Philosopher Concept/Ideas Characteristics
Philosophies Education
Associates Self-insight and Focus on
Idealism Plato reality to ideas self analysis handling ideas
in the mind through lecture,
rather than to discussion, and
material socratic dialogue
objects.
There is a Intellectual and It should focus
Essentialism William common core of moral standards on facts – the
Bagley knowledge that that schools objective reality
needs to be should teach. out of there –
transmitted to and “the basics,
students in a training students
systematic to read, write,
disciplined way. speak, and
compute clearly
and logically.
To ensure that Potential for Attaining cultural
Perennialism Robert students acquire solving problems literacy,
Maynard understanding in any era. stressing
about the great students’ growth
Hutchins ideas of western in enduring
civilization. disciplines.
and
Mortimer
Adler
Education should Students should The learner is a
Progressivism John Dewey focus on the test ideas by problem solver
whole child rather active and thinker who
than on the experimentation. makes meaning
content or the Learning by doing. through his or
teacher her individual
experience in the
physical and
cultural context.
Derive from
student interest
and questions.
Emphasizes the Preparing people Reconstructionist
Reconstructionis Theodore addressing of for creating this educators focus
m Brameld social question new social order on a curriculum
and a quest to that highlights
create a better social reform as
society and the aim of
worldwide education.
democracy

Behavior is Behavior is Learners will

Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov shaped determined by acquire and
deliberately by others, rather than remember
forces in the by our own free responses that
environment will lead to satisfying
aftereffect.
Learners actively An events, object Focused on the
Constructivism Vygotsky construct his or or experience making of
her own must conflict with wholes from bits
understandings what the learners and pieces of
of reality through already knows. objects and
interaction with events in the
object, events, world, believing
and people in the that meaning
environment , was the
and reflecting on construction in
these interactions the brain of
patterns from
these pieces.
The essential The young should The learner
Humanism Erasmus goodness of be treated kindly should be in
children, that and that learning control of his or
humans have should not be her own destiny.
free will, moral forced or rushed, The learner
conscience, the as it is proceeds in should become a
ability to reason, stages. fully autonomous
aesthetic person, personal
sensibility to freedom, choice
reason, and and
religious instinct. responsibility are
the focus.
Based on Emphasizes a Imparts scientific
Realism Aristotle science. synthetic form of knowledge in an
Emphasizes on impressionistic essay and
behavior and and emancipator effective way.
experiment. Child discipline Gets testing
and his present according to result than can
life are the center natural and social help improve that
of education. procedure. the students are
learning the
material.
3. Among the 9 Traditional and Contemporary Educational Philosophies,
give at least 3 philosophy of education do your school adhere to. Justify
your answer.

Among the traditional and contemporary philosophies that focuses on the

nature of knowledge and how we come to know, there are four major educational
philosophies that our school adhere; they are Perennialism, Essentialism,
Progressivism, and Reconstructionism. These educational philosophies focus
heavily on WHAT we should teach, the curriculum aspect.

For Perennialists, the aim of education is to ensure that students acquire

understandings about the great ideas of Western civilization. These ideas have
the potential for solving problems in any era. The focus is to teach ideas that are
everlasting, to seek enduring truths which are constant, not changing, as the
natural and human worlds at their most essential level, do not change. Teaching
these unchanging principles is critical. Humans are rational beings, and their
minds need to be developed. Thus, cultivation of the intellect is the highest
priority in a worthwhile education. The demanding curriculum focuses on attaining
cultural literacy, stressing students' growth in enduring disciplines. The loftiest
accomplishments of humankind are emphasized– the great works of literature
and art, the laws or principles of science.

Essentialists believe that there is a common core of knowledge that needs to

be transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way. The emphasis in this
conservative perspective is on intellectual and moral standards that schools
should teach. The core of the curriculum is essential knowledge and skills and
academic rigor. Although this educational philosophy is similar in some ways to
Perennialism, Essentialists accept the idea that this core curriculum may change.
Schooling should be practical, preparing students to become valuable members
of society. It should focus on facts-the objective reality out there--and "the
basics," training students to read, write, speak, and compute clearly and logically.
Schools should not try to set or influence policies. Students should be taught hard
work, respect for authority, and discipline. Teachers are to help students keep
their non-productive instincts in check, such as aggression or mindlessness.

Progressivists believe that education should focus on the whole child, rather
than on the content or the teacher. This educational philosophy stresses that
students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the
questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world. It is active, not
passive. The learner is a problem solver and thinker who makes meaning through
his or her individual experience in the physical and cultural context. Effective
teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by doing. Curriculum
content is derived from student interests and questions. The scientific method is
used by progressivist educators so that students can study matter and events
systematically and first hand. The emphasis is on process-how one comes to
know.
Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes the addressing of
social questions and a quest to create a better society and worldwide democracy.
Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights social reform as
the aim of education. Critical theorists, like social reconstructionists, believe that
systems must be changed to overcome oppression and improve human
conditions. Paulo Freire (1921-1997) was a Brazilian whose experiences living in
poverty led him to champion education and literacy as the vehicle for social
change. In his view, humans must learn to resist oppression and not become its
victims, nor oppress others. To do so requires dialog and critical consciousness,
the development of awareness to overcome domination and oppression. Rather
than "teaching as banking," in which the educator deposits information into
students' heads, Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in
which the child must invent and reinvent the [Link] social reconstructionists
and critical theorists, curriculum focuses on student experience and taking social
action on real problems, such as violence, hunger, international terrorism,
inflation, and inequality. Strategies for dealing with controversial issues
(particularly in social studies and literature), inquiry, dialogue, and multiple
perspectives are the focus. Community-based learning and bringing the world
into the classroom are also strategies.

4. Discuss the following branches of Philosophy:

4.1 Metaphysics - is the study of the most general features of reality, such
as existence, time, objects and their properties, wholes and their parts,
events, processes and causation and the relationship
between mind and body. Metaphysics includes cosmology, the study of
the world in its entirety and ontology, the study of being.

4.2 Epistemology - the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its

methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what
distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

4.3 Logic - is the study of reasoning and argument. An argument is

"a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition."
The connected series of statements are "premises" and the proposition is
the conclusion.

4.4 Ethics - studies and considers what is good and bad conduct, right
and wrong values, and good and evil. Its primary investigations include
how to live a good life and identifying standards of morality. It also
includes meta-investigations about whether a best way to live or related
standards exists. The main branches of ethics are normative ethics, meta-
ethics and applied ethics.
4.5 Aesthetics - is the "critical reflection on art, culture and nature." It
addresses the nature of art, beauty and taste, enjoyment, emotional
values, perception and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is
more precisely defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional
values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Its major
divisions are art theory, literary theory, film theory and music theory.

4.6 Social Philosophy -the study of question about social behavior and
interpretations of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values
rather than empirical relations.

4.7 Political Philosophy - Political philosophy is the study of government and

the relationship of individuals (or families and clans) to communities
including the state. It includes questions about justice, law, property and
the rights and obligations of the citizen. Politics and ethics are traditionally
linked subjects, as both discuss the question of how people should live
together.

4.8 Theodicy – is often based on a prior natural theology, which attempts to

prove the existence of God, and seeks to demonstrate that Gods’
existence remains probable after the problem of evil is posed by giving a
justification for God is permitting evil to happen.

4.9 Philosophy of Science -  the Study of science concerned with whether

scientific knowledge can be said to be certain, how we obtain it, can
science really explain everything, does causation really exist, can every
event in the universe be described in terms of physics and so on. Also
popular in recent times, classic works include Hume's Treatise on Human
Nature, Kripke's Naming and Necessity, Kuhn's Structure of Scientific
Revolutions.

5. Discuss your own Philosophy in life.

It is the software or OS of my life. It is my worldview. It is my values. It

includes my dreams, goals, and fears. It is my approach to life.

It is part of identity and personality. This is what Socrates likely meant when
he said, “Know thyself.”

Far to frequently, we do not really understand who we are or what we are

really doing on this planet. We just go day to day on the planet showing up to work or
school or even muddling through. This, however, is a prescription for disaster. At
least as far as your life and destiny and eternity are concerned.
Honing in on our purpose and the ultimate purpose of humans on the planet
and the overall purpose of existence is a primary concern is a paramount and first
order concerns in those circumstances.

Who am I? Why am I here? How can I align my life with ultimate purpose and
meaning? What does character mean? What is leadership all about? How can I act
more wisely? These are the fundamental questions of the human life.

Being I as the maker of my future, the success of this rely on my hand and
faith with God. My philosophy of life is very simple, I am realist. As a realist, if given
an object it is the view that this object exists in reality independently of
our conceptual scheme. In philosophical terms, these objects
are ontologically independent of someone's conceptual
scheme, perceptions, linguistic practices, beliefs, etc. I believe that whatever we
believe now is only an approximation of reality but that the accuracy and fullness of
understanding can be improved. In some contexts, realism is contrasted
with idealism. Today it is more usually contrasted with anti-realism, for example in
the philosophy of science.