A Philosophy of Education «FR»

Education was once thought to be the proper province of the aristocracy but not of the masses. Theories of learning and types of schools that emerged in the Renaissance and even after the Reformation were in most cases directed toward the upper classes. Theories of democratic as opposed to aristocratic education appear to have emerged in the nineteenth century, particularly in democratic societies. Education in a democratic society, explains Scheffler, "precludes the conception of education as an instrument of rule . . . . The function of education in a democracy is rather to liberate the mind, strengthen its critical powers, inform it with knowledge . . . and illuminate its moral and practical choices" (Scheffler, 1985, p. 124).

Within the democratic context, there has also arisen the impulse toward the formalized administration of educational structures, not all of which have served the needs of learning (Whitehead, 1949). Specifically, Whitehead refers to th

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cultural and social goals of various segments of society. Thus the problem for the development of a useful and beneficial philosophy of education becomes how to preserve the democratic notion of the free exchange of ideas in an educational context and yet promote the social goal of an educated and capable citizenry that has a measurable level of achievement, while yet respecting individual needs and objectives. It may be inferred that the social goal of an educated citizenry in a democracy is more likely to be achieved in a learning environment that cultivates thought-based responses to the vicissitudes of experience. A focus on learning rather than teaching is one aspect of this. Learning that is an attribute of real and self-motivated understanding instead of rote memorization or the result of mere skills or techniques training seems a useful goal of the educational process. As Howard puts it, "we learn many things without explicit instruction or teaching by another; and while the concept of teaching implies the intention that something be learned, nothing guarantees the success of that effort" (1992, p. 61). A student who lacks the skills of critical thinking or analysis is unlikely to be able to abstract from (say) the succe
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Approximate Word count = 1556
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)