Based on the Oregon State online page, Philosophy means “love of wisdom.” It is made up of two Greek words, philo, meaning love, and sophos, meaning wisdom.
It’s necessary to know the Philosophical perspective of education because this will allows to the teacher to know the bases of what needs to be taught. If you are going to be a teacher for the first time of your life, you can ask these to yourself and this can help you to have a better perspective about what you have to teach using different techniques, applying them depending on the students age, level.
Your educational philosophy is your beliefs about what and how you teach, whom you teach and about the nature of learning. We can also add some sources that can apply in your educational philosophy as: your life experiences, your values, the environment in which you live, etc.
There are three major branches of philosophy. Each branch focuses on a different aspect and is central to your teaching.
| Branch | Metaphysics: What is the nature of reality? | Epistemology: What is the nature of knowledge? How do we come to know? | Axiology: What values should one live by? |
| Educational Examples | –Do you think human beings are basically good or evil? –What are conservative or liberal beliefs? | –How would an anthropologist look at this classroom? A political scientist? A biologist? –How do we know what a child knows? | –Is morality defined by our actions, or by what is in our hearts? –What values should be taught in character education? |
| Sub-branches | –Ontology What issues are related to nature, existence, or being? Is a child inherently evil or good? How might your view determine your classroom management? –Cosmology What is the nature and origin of the cosmos or universe? Is the world and universe orderly or is it marked by chaos? What would one or the other mean for a classroom? | Knowing based on: –Scientific Inquiry –Senses and Feelings –From authority or divinity –Empiricism (experience) –Intuition –Reasoning or Logic What reasoning processes yield valid conclusions? –Deductive: reasoning from the general to the particular All children can learn. Bret is a fifth grader. He has a learning disability. Can Bret learn? –Inductive: reasoning from the specific to the general. After experimenting with plant growth under varied conditions, students conclude plants need water and light | –Ethics What is good and evil, right and wrong? Is it ever right to take something that does not belong to you? –Aesthetics What is beautiful? How do we recognize a great piece of music? Art? Can there be beauty in destruction? |
Teachers and Students are two important things in the Teaching and Learning philosophies.
Teachers
Teachers are the base in philosophy, because from their methods and techniques will depend the student learning. By this we don’t mean that the teacher has to be the best one and the perfect one but that depending the technique that the teacher uses, the student will be able to understand their classes, so that’s why it’s important that teachers study their students since the first moment they meet each other, so a great technique can be applied and used.
The intimate element of passion and commitment is also an attribute which should be prominent in a teacher. If a teacher is committed, teaching would not be a job done by force, rather it would be an inspiration for students.
Students
Let’s remember that there are some types of students when about learning process we are talking, for example, there are some students that can learn fast, that they just need a little effort from the teacher to understand perfectly what it’s been taught, there are other students that have a slow learning rhythm, they would take a little more effort from the teacher to get to understand. The teacher must incorporate teaching learning strategies based on the students pace and level of understanding.
There are five theories that can be complete to understand better the knowledge of the teaching and leaning.
1. Behaviorism is a view in which behavior can be explained by external factors and behavioral conditioning can be used as a universal learning process. In behaviorism, the ideas of positive and negative reinforcement are effective tools of learning and behavior modification, as well as a punishment and reward system. Behaviorism Overview· Behaviorism Learning Theory
2. Cognitivism is a learning theory developed by Jean Piaget in which a child develops cognitive pathways in understanding and physical response to experiences. In this theory, students learn most effectively through reading text and lecture instruction.· Paradigms of Learning· Educational Theories of Learning
3. Constructivism is the idea that people are responsible in creating their own understanding of the world and using what they know based on previous experiences in the process of linking new information to these experiences. People use these experiences and new information to construct their own meaning.· Constructivism· Influential Theories of Learning
4. Humanism focuses on the individual as the subject and asserts that learning is a natural process that helps a person reach self-actualization. Scenarios and role modeling are important factors in humanistic learning, as are experiences, exploring and observing others.· Humanistic Approaches to Learning· Humanism Learning Theory
5. Connectivism is a relatively new learning theory, developed and based upon the idea that people process information by forming connections. This theory has developed with the digital and technology age, adapting to advances in these arenas. This new theory suggests that people no longer stop learning after formal education and continue to gain knowledge from other avenues such as job skills, networking, experience and access to information with new tools in technology.Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age.
Teaching Methods 