Education Philisophy Outline and Rational

Education Philosophy Outline and Rationale

Education Philosophy Outline and Rationale

Metaphysics

History
Aristotle's metaphysics included Ontology (study of existence), Natural Theology (Study of God), and Universal Science (causality, relations, interactions, etc.)

Major Branches

Theology: What is God? Is there a God, and if so, what is its purpose/
Cosmology: Where did the universe come from, and what is it comprised of?
Determinism/Free Will: To what extent are people responsible for their actions? To what extent are events predetermined by past events?
The nature of space and time: Is space defined by the objects in it (relational) or is space like a container that exists separately from the objects in it.

Educational Philosophy

Metaphysics holds the big questions: why are we here? What is the meaning of life? All learning must be filtered through questions of our relationship to the universe.   Children are inherently egocentric so must be taught to look outside themselves for context.

Relevant educational philosophies

Idealism: reality is based on ideal conceptions of the universe
Realism: Education is grounded in the "real world" but reaches out to greater questions that help structure knowledge.

Axiology

History
1902: Paul Lapie & E. von Harmann on the discipline of the nature of values

Major questions
Good vs bad: what is quality?
Right vs wrong: overlaps with ethics
Interesting vs dull: overlaps with epistemology (what is worth knowing?)

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Educational philosophy

Assessment is based in the concept of high-quality vs low-quality work and learning
Evaluation is one of the highest order learning objectives.   It asks children to determine the quality of works presented
Analytical reasoning always separates good thought from bad thought.
The Protestant Work Ethic which forms the values basis for schools (work hard and be rewarded) is based in quality of work and effort.

Relevant educational... [continues]

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