RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY & EDUCATION
Philosophy and education are closely inter-related and inter-dependent. Philosophy points
out the ways and education follow it. Without philosophy education would be a blind effort and
without education, philosophy would be crippled. In the word of Ross, “philosophy and education
are two side of same coin; the former is the contemplative side while the latter is the active side.
Education is the process and philosophy is the product. All educational problems are questions of
philosophy. In other word we can say that the application of philosophical principle in the field of
education to solve various educational issues is regarded as educational philosophy. In fact,
educational philosophy is that philosophy which provide answer to the educational issues of why
to educate (aim), whom to educate (child), who to educate (teacher), where to educate (school),
what to educate (curriculum), how to educate (methods), when to educate (motivation) and so
on. Further, “a sound philosophy of education is based on an adequate philosophy of life”.
Philosophy and education are reconstructive; they give to and take from each other in ebb and
flow of thought and action; they are means to one another, and ends. Thus it is the application of
general philosophical positions to educational problems is known as philosophy of education. The
following are a few viewpoints that establish the relationship between philosophy and education:
View of John Dewey: John Dewey endorses the viewpoint of Ross when he says, “Philosophy is
the theory of education in its most general phase”.
Fichte’s view: “The art of education will never attain complete clearness without philosophy”.
Spencer’s view: “True education is practicable to true philosophers”.
Gentile’s view: “Education without philosophy would mean a failure to understand the precise
nature of education”.
John Adams : Education is the dynamic side of philosophy.
T.P.Nunn: Education aims are correlative to ideals of life.
Dewey: Education is the laboratory in which philosophical direction become concrete and tested.
Conner: theory (philosophy) directs practice (education) and practice directs theory.
We may define educational philosophy thus; it is the application of philosophical principle
in the educational practices which direct the process of education towards the aims of human
life. In short, educational philosophy relates philosophy of life through the medium of education.
1.5.1 DEPENDENCE OF EDUCATION ON PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy determines the real destination towards which education has to go:
Philosophy has always inspired educational theory as well as practice. It determines the
real destination towards which education has to go. In the words of Dewey: “Education is laboratory
in which philosophic distinctions become concrete, and are tested”. Philosophy is wisdom;
education transmits that wisdom from one generation to the other. Philosophy represents a system
of thought; education embraces that thought in the content of instruction. Philosophy embodies a
way of life; education is the preparation for life. Philosophy is the knowledge obtained by natural
reason; education is the development of that reason and other powers of mind.
Philosophy determines the various aspects of education: All the problems of education are the
problems of philosophy. That is why, Gentile says, “Education without philosophy would mean a
failure to understand the precise nature of education “. It is because philosophy determines both
aim of life and the aim of education. Every aspect of education has a philosophical base. There
is no aspect of education – aims, curriculum, methods, text books, discipline, teacher etc. which
is not influenced and determined by philosophy. Height and breadth of education is probed by
philosophy. It is philosophy which provides aims to education and these aims determine the
curriculum, the methods of teaching, the text books, the role of the teacher and the school discipline.
It helps to construct curriculum according to the needs of the individual and the society. J.S.Ross
remarks, “From every angle of the educational problems comes the demand for philosophical
basis of life and education.
Great Philosophers have been great educationists also: Great Philosophers have been great
educationists in the East as well in the West. We can find the clearest examples of the dependence
of education on philosophy in the lives and teachings of all the great philosophers from Yajnavalka
down to Gandhi in the East and from Socrates down to John Dewey in the West. Philosophers
like Gandhi, Tagore, Radhakrishnan, Aurobindo Gosh, Plato, Socrates, Locke, Comenius,
Rousseau, Froebel and Dewey have been great educators. They reflected their philosophical
views in their educational schemes. Socrates have given the world his “Socratic method” (Method
of questioning & cross-questioning) of teaching; Plato, the Republic, the first educational classic.
Rousseau, the great French philosopher, held that education should “follow nature”. John Dewey
of America took keen interest in solving the educational problems of his country. Gandhi ji is the
father of Basic Education. In the words of Ross “If further agreement is needed to establish the
fundamental dependence of education on philosophy, it may be found in the fact that on the whole
great philosophers have been great educationists”.
1.5.2 DEPENDENCE OF PHILOSOPHY ON EDUCATION
Education is the dynamic side of philosophy: Education can be defined as the strongest instrument
for the achievement of the ideals of life and civilized attempt to bring about the balanced and
proper development of human personality. The plant of education draws its nourishment from
the soil of philosophy.
In the words of Adams: “Education is the dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active
aspect of philosophical belief, the practical means of realizing the ideals of life”. Philosophy is
the theory of education while education is practical thereof. Education is the best means for the
propagation of philosophy. Education cannot even be imagined without philosophical principles
likewise philosophical principles are lifeless without the help of education. Example- the
introduction of the 10+2+3 system of education and craft education are the consequence of
philosophical views. Thus philosophy equips us with thoughts and these thoughts are put into
practice by education.
Education is the means to achieve the goal: Philosophy deals with the ends and education is the
means to achieve those ends. Philosophy gives ideals, values and principles; education works out
those ideals, values and principles. In the words of Herbert, “Education has no time to make
holiday till all the philosophical questions are once for all cleared up”.
1.5.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDYING EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy deals with the most basic issues faced by human beings. The content of philosophy
is better seen as asking questions rather than providing answers. It can even be said that philosophy
is the study of questions.
1. To find out the solution for various educational issues.
2. The purpose of studying educational philosophy is to make education according to the need
based life and society.
3. To determine the aim of human life, aim of survival.
4. To produce better citizen by fostering democratic attitude in behavior.
5. To make teaching learning process more effective and attractive according to the need,
interest and ability of child.
6. To discern the different philosophies and choose any one of them to lead a fruitful life in
the society.
7. To expand our knowledge and experiences and implement them in the educational practices.
8. To bring out all round personality development in child and prepare him to stand\ on his
own feet.
9. To make education flexible in order to achieve the goals of a country-national integration,
international understanding and globalization.
10. To develop education as a powerful instrument to bring about social, cultural, political and
economical change in society.
1.5.4 SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
The scope of educational philosophy is the study of all those aspects or schools of philosophy,
which are important from the educational point of view. Thus, it is philosophy in the field of
education. The scope of philosophy of education is concerned with the problems of education.
These problems mainly include –
• interpretation of human nature, the world and the universe and their relation with man,
• interpretation of aims and ideals of education,
• the relationship of various components of the system of education,
• Relationship of education and various areas of national life [economic system, political
order, social progress, cultural reconstructions etc.],
• educational values,
• Theory of knowledge and its relationship to education.
The above mentioned problems constitute the scope of philosophy of education and explain
its nature. Thus, the scope of philosophy of education includes following.
(a) Aims and Ideals of Education Philosophy: Education critically evaluates the different
aims and ideals of education. These aims and ideals have been prorogated by various
philosophers in different times. They are character building, man making, harmonious
human development, preparation for adult life, -development of citizenship, -utilization of
leisure, training for civic life, training for international living, achieving social and national
integration, -scientific and technological development, education for all, equalizing
educational opportunities, strengthening democratic political order and human source
development.
These and other aims of education presented by educational thinkers in different times and
climes are scrutinized and evaluated. An educator is helpless in arriving at the aims of
education if he/she lacks the knowledge of related circumstances and problems. Thus,
philosophy of education critically evaluates different aims and ideals of education to arrive
at.
(b) Interpretation of Human Nature: - A philosophical picture of human nature is a result
of the synthesis of the facts borrowed from all the human science with the values discussed
in different normative sciences. The philosophical picture, therefore, is broader as
compared to the picture of man drawn by biology, sociology, psychology, economics and
anthropology and other human science.
(c) Educational Values: - Value is typically a philosophical subject since it is more abstract,
integral and universal. Philosophy-of education not only critically evaluates the values but
also systematizes them in a hierarchy. Educational values are’ determined by philosophical
values. Educational values propagated by different philosophers have been derived from
their own world, view and their outlook on the purpose of human life. Therefore, a scrutiny
of the world views, outlook, beliefs is the specific function of philosophy and it is necessary
for the philosophical treatment of the values.
(d) Theory of Knowledge: - Education is related to knowledge. It is determined by the source,
limits, criteria and means of knowledge. The discussion of all these falls within the
jurisdiction of epistemology, one of the branches of philosophy, therefore, an important
area of the functioning of philosophy of education is related to theory of knowledge.
(e) Relationship of education and various area of national life and various components of
the system of education: - One of the most important contributions of the philosophy of
education to the cause of education is the provision of criteria for deciding the relationship
of state and education, economic system and education, curriculum, school organization
and management, discipline, teacher-pupil relationship, methods of teaching, textbooks
etc. These problems have led to the evaluation of different philosophies of education. The
criteria of judgment everywhere are determined by philosophy; therefore, philosophy of
education provides the criteria for critical evaluation and judgment in these fields.
1.5.5 FUNCTION OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy of education performs various functions. These are discussed below:
A] Determining the aspects of education:
Aims of education
Philosophy of education provides original ideas regarding all aspects of education
particularly educational aims, method of teaching, curriculum, teacher, students etc. It is said
that educational philosophy gives different views, but this situation is not harmful, rather it helps
in providing education according to the need of society. The difference in view of philosophy of
education reflects the multiplicity and diversities of human life.( e.g- Self –expression is the aim
of education under naturalism, where as it is self-realization in idealism and social efficiency in
pragmatism) Philosophy of education guides the process of education by suggesting suitable aims
from the diversities of life and selecting the means accordingly.
Curriculum
With the help of educational philosophy, a teacher comes to know why naturalism gives
emphasis to science subjects and why idealism gives importance to religious subjects. Thus it
helps curriculum designer to construct curriculum according to the need, ability and interest of
the child.
Methods of teaching
Educational philosophy is very much helpful to adopt suitable methods of teaching and
make classroom teaching more effective and attractive. We get the knowledge of different
methods of teaching, i.e. ‘Learning by doing’ in naturalism, ‘lecture method’ in idealism and
‘experimental method’ in pragmatism. With the help of educational philosophy we able to choose
the suitable methods of teaching according to the nature of the subject and school environment.
Discipline
Concept of discipline changes with the changes in the outlook of life. In other word, discipline
reflects the philosophy of life. Idealism advocates street discipline and self control where as
naturalism emphasis freedom and natural discipline , and pragmatism stressed social discipline.
These disciplines are known from the study of different educational philosophies. Hence, the
knowledge of educational philosophy is essential to follow a desirable discipline.
Teacher & Student
It is the educational philosophy which determines the role and quality of teacher as well as
the student in diversified society. With the help of educational philosophy, we get knowledge
pertaining to the role of the teacher as well as student in the school and relationship with each
other. Students get secondary importance in idealism whereas they get primary importance in
naturalism. Similarly there is a close relationship between the teacher and students in pragmatism
and idealism whereas it is limited in naturalism.
Administration
The knowledge of what kind of school administration we should adopt is determined by
educational philosophy. Educational philosophy helps to establish a school in democratic or
totalitarian system. Now days we are following democratic principle for administering the
educational institution. This is based on educational philosophy.
B] Harmonizing old and new traditions in the field of education-
In the process of social development the old traditions become outdated for the people.
They are replaced by the new traditions. But this process of replacement is not always smooth.
It is faced with lots of opposition from certain orthodox sections of the society. At the same time
it must be kept in mind that every ‘old’ is not outdated and every ‘new’ is not perfect Therefore,
there is a need of co-coordinating the two in order to maintain the harmony between both. This
function can be performed by philosophy of education. (e.g., the crises of Indian culture –Indian
and Anglican, i.e. East and West) It tells us how the cultural tradition of the country is to be
maintained.
C] Providing the educational planners, administrators and educators with the progressive
vision to achieve educational development:-
Spencer has rightly pointed that only a true philosopher can give a practical shape to
education. Philosophy of education provides the educational planners, administrators and educators
with the right vision which guides them to attain the educational goals efficiently. It is very much
useful to educational practitioner for his work and its place in the general scheme of life.
Educational philosophy helps teacher, administrator or students to interpret his professional
experiences with that of acquired theoretical knowledge and vice versa. The function of educational
philosophy is to help the individual to fit the square peg in the square hole and round knot in the
round hole. It helps him to grasp a conceptual framework on educational principles and practices.
It further helps one to change or modify one’s activities to attained desired end or goal.
D] Preparing the young generation to face the challenges of the modern time:-
Society is not static; it changes its value, tradition, custom, culture etc. from time to time.
Social commentators have given many labels to the present period of history for some it is the
information age and for others it is post modernity, later modernity, high modernity or even the
age of uncertainty. One more addition to this list may be that ‘present age is an age of Globalization
as a phenomenon arrived on the economic scene in the 1990 in India. This watchword has had its
implications in the social political, economic fabric of the country of which education is a part.
Philosophy of education is a guiding, steering and liberating force that helps young people to and
society at large to face the challenges of the modern time. It helps the individual to understand
the relationship between his goal and day to day routine work and develop critical attitude towards
life in diverse society.
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