Philosophical Reflections

Philosophy is sometimes construed to be negative due to its abstract, indistinct and broad nature. I would not argue with that…and being a very practical and application-oriented person, I often disregard philosophical discussions. But they are important – connected to our core values and beliefs. In education, our philosophy serves as a foundation for our teaching, thus, inextricably tied to the essence of our day-to-day career.

I’ve always been an eclectic one – not sure whether that is because I truly do interconnect the various (and some seemingly opposite) views or because I just can’t commit to one or two!?! My actions and experiences indicate that I’m definitely more in the pragmatism camp than either the idealism or realism. I draw heavily from progressivism for three tenets: 1) learner-centered approach; 2) social issues and action (for me this is reflected in continual growth and change and not as singly aggressive as reconstructionism); and 3) active experiential learning – that of experimentation and practical application. That stated, I’m not a believer that the scientific method and other systematic approaches should be the sole emphasis in schools (though I am a proponent of problem-based learning) nor that the relevance should be limited to work and society’s needs.

Existentialism (though not in our presentation) is another general philosophy from which I draw, primarily because of the elements of social interaction and the humanist concepts of developing the human potential, intuitive personal understanding and responsible choice. In addition, Paulo Freire’s work is intriguing (again I’m not congruent with all of the radical decrees) - I agree with his concept of “banking” as a negative influence on education and with the relationship of teacher-student as well as student-teacher in learning. Constructivism and social constructivist theories fit well with my beliefs, as well.

My post on Curriculum views will follow … Part 2