Wednesday, 29 February 2012
March 1st, 2012: National Day of Action For Education
Call for March 1 Day of Action:
We refuse to pay for the crisis created by the 1%. We refuse to accept the dismantling of our schools and universities, while the banks and corporations make record profits. We refuse to accept educational re-segregation, massive tuition increases, outrageous student debt, and increasing privatization and corporatization.
They got bailed out and we got sold out. But through nationally coordinated mass action we can and will turn back the tide of austerity.
We call on all students, teachers, workers, and parents from all levels of education —pre-K-12 through higher education in public and private institutions— and all Occupy assemblies, labor unions, and organizations of oppressed communities, to mobilize on March 1st, 2012 across the country to tell those in power: The resources exist for high-quality education for all. If we make the rich and the corporations pay we can reverse the budget cuts, tuition hikes, and attacks on job security, and fully fund public education and social services.This is a call to work together, but it is up to each school and organization to determine what local and regional actions—such as strikes, walkouts, occupations, marches, etc.—they will take to say no to business as usual.
We have the momentum, the numbers, and the determination to win. Education is not for sale. Let’s take back our schools. Let’s make history.Links:Participating Organizations Add Participating Organization
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education.
As an academic field, philosophy of education is "the philosophical study of education and its problems...its central subject matter is education, and its methods are those of philosophy".[1] "The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the process of education or the philosophy of the discipline of education. That is, it may be part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the aims, forms, methods, or results of the process of educating or being educated; or it may be metadisciplinary in the sense of being concerned with the concepts, aims, and methods of the discipline."[2] As such, it is both part of the field of education and a field of applied philosophy, drawing from fields of metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and the philosophical approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions in and about pedagogy, education policy, and curriculum, as well as the process of learning, to name a few.[3] For example, it might study what constitutes upbringing and education, the values and norms revealed through upbringing and educational practices, the limits and legitimization of education as an academic discipline, and the relation between educational theory and practice.
Instead of being taught in philosophy departments, philosophy of education is usually housed in departments or colleges of education, similar to how philosophy of law is generally taught in law schools.[1] The multiple ways of conceiving education coupled with the multiple fields and approaches of philosophy make philosophy of education not only a very diverse field but also one that is not easily defined. Although there is overlap, philosophy of education should not be conflated with educational theory, which is not defined specifically by the application of philosophy to questions in education. Philosophy of education also should not be confused with philosophy education, the practice of teaching and learning the subject of philosophy.
Philosophy of education can also be understood not as an academic discipline but as a normative educational theory that unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theory, and the purpose of education and is grounded in specific metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological assumptions. These theories are also called educational philosophies. For example, a teacher might be said to have a perennialist educational philosophy or to have a perennialist philosophy of education.
Idealism
Plato's educational philosophy was grounded in his vision of the ideal Republic, wherein the individual was best served by being subordinated to a just society. He advocated removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able. Education would be holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, and music and art, which he considered the highest form of endeavor.
Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class. He builds on this by insisting that those suitably gifted are to be trained by the state so that they may be qualified to assume the role of a ruling class. What this establishes is essentially a system of selective public education premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population are, by virtue of their education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance.
Plato's writings contain some of the following ideas: Elementary education would be confined to the guardian class till the age of 18, followed by two years of compulsory military training and then by higher education for those who qualified. While elementary education made the soul responsive to the environment, higher education helped the soul to search for truth which illuminated it. Both boys and girls receive the same kind of education. Elementary education consisted of music and gymnastics, designed to train and blend gentle and fierce qualities in the individual and create a harmonious person.
At the age of 20, a selection was made. The best one would take an advanced course in mathematics, geometry, astronomy and harmonics. The first course in the scheme of higher education would last for ten years. It would be for those who had a flair for science. At the age of 30 there would be another selection; those who qualified would study dialectics and metaphysics, logic and philosophy for the next five years. They would study the idea of good and first principles of being. After accepting junior positions in the army for 15 years, a man would have completed his theoretical and practical education by the age of 50.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Bust of Aristotle. Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Lysippos from 330 B.C.
Only fragments of Aristotle's treatise On Education are still in existence. We thus know of his philosophy of education primarily through brief passages in other works. Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education. Thus, for example, he considered repetition to be a key tool to develop good habits. The teacher was to lead the student systematically; this differs, for example, from Socrates' emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas (though the comparison is perhaps incongruous since Socrates was dealing with adults).
Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught. Subjects he explicitly mentions as being important included reading, writing and mathematics; music; physical education; literature and history; and a wide range of sciences. He also mentioned the importance of play.
One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, perhaps its most important, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis. All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.
Avicenna
In the medieval Islamic world, an elementary school was known as a maktab, which dates back to at least the 10th century. Like madrasahs (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to a mosque. In the 11th century, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), wrote a chapter dealing with the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as a guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors, and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates. Ibn Sina described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing the curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school.[5]
Ibn Sina wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote that they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic ethics, and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills).[5]
Ibn Sina refers to the secondary education stage of maktab schooling as the period of specialization, when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be given a choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine, geometry, trade and commerce, craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account.[6]
The empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' was also developed by Ibn Sina. He argued that the "human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know" and that knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" which is developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "possesses levels of development from the material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge.
Ibn Tufail
In the 12th century, the Andalusian-Arabian philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West) demonstrated the empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' as a thought experiment through his Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone. The Latin translation of his philosophical novel, Philosophus Autodidactus, published by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671, had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
John Locke
Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education is an outline on how to educate this mind: he expresses the belief that education maketh the man, or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an "empty cabinet", with the statement, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education."[9]
Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences."[10] He argued that the "associations of ideas" that one makes when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the self: they are, put differently, what first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay, in which is introduced both of these concepts, Locke warns against, for example, letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the night for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other."[11]
"Associationism", as this theory would come to be called, exerted a powerful influence over eighteenth-century thought, particularly educational theory, as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of psychology and other new disciplines with David Hartley's attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in his Observations on Man (1749).
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau by Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Rousseau, though he paid his respects to Plato's philosophy, rejected it as impractical due to the decayed state of society. Rousseau also had a different theory of human development; where Plato held that people are born with skills appropriate to different castes (though he did not regard these skills as being inherited), Rousseau held that there was one developmental process common to all humans. This was an intrinsic, natural process, of which the primary behavioral manifestation was curiosity. This differed from Locke's 'tabula rasa' in that it was an active process deriving from the child's nature, which drove the child to learn and adapt to its surroundings.
Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method which consisted of removing the child from society—for example, to a country home—and alternately conditioning him through changes to environment and setting traps and puzzles for him to solve or overcome.
Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potential of a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults always be truthful with children, and in particular that they never hide the fact that the basis for their authority in teaching was purely one of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason, at about 12, they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoing process of their own.
He once said that a child should grow up without adult interference and that the child must be guided to suffer from the experience of the natural consequences of his own acts or behaviour. When he experiences the consequences of his own acts, he advises himself.
Mortimer Jerome Adler
Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo, California. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children.[12] Adler was a proponent of educational perennialism.
Harry S. Broudy
Broudy's philosophical views were based on the tradition of classical realism, dealing with truth, goodness, and beauty. However he was also influenced by the modern philosophy existentialism and instrumentalism. In his textbook Building a Philosophy of Education he has two major ideas that are the main points to his philosophical outlook: The first is truth and the second is universal structures to be found in humanity's struggle for education and the good life. Broudy also studied issues on society's demands on school. He thought education would be a link to unify the diverse society and urged the society to put more trust and a commitment to the schools and a good education.
Scholasticism:
See Religious perennialism
The objective of medieval education was an overtly religious one, primarily concerned with uncovering transcendental truths that would lead a person back to God through a life of moral and religious choice (Kreeft 15). The vehicle by which these truths were uncovered was dialectic:
In Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Dewey stated that in its broadest sense education is the means of the "social continuity of life" given the "primary ineluctable facts of the birth and death of each one of the constituent members in a social group". Education is therefore a necessity, for "the life of the group goes on."[13] Dewey was a proponent of Educational Progressivism and was a relentless campaigner for reform of education, pointing out that the authoritarian, strict, pre-ordained knowledge approach of modern traditional education was too concerned with delivering knowledge, and not enough with understanding students' actual experiences
William James
William Heard Kilpatrick was a US American philosopher of education and a colleague and a successor of John Dewey. He was a major figure in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century. Kilpatrick developed the Project Method for early childhood education, which was a form of Progressive Education organized curriculum and classroom activities around a subject's central theme. He believed that the role of a teacher should be that of a "guide" as opposed to an authoritarian figure. Kilpatrick believed that children should direct their own learning according to their interests and should be allowed to explore their environment, experiencing their learning through the natural senses.[15] Proponents of Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms (desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment.
Noddings' first sole-authored book Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (1984) followed close on the 1982 publication of Carol Gilligan’s ground-breaking work in the ethics of care In a Different Voice. While her work on ethics continued, with the publication of Women and Evil (1989) and later works on moral education, most of her later publications have been on the philosophy of education and educational theory. Her most significant works in these areas have been Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief (1993) and Philosophy of Education (1995).
Analytic Philosophy
A Brazilian committed to the cause of educating the impoverished peasants of his nation and collaborating with them in the pursuit of their liberation from what he regarded as "oppression," Freire is best known for his attack on what he called the "banking concept of education," in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher. Freire also suggests that a deep reciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student; he comes close to suggesting that the teacher-student dichotomy be completely abolished, instead promoting the roles of the participants in the classroom as the teacher-student (a teacher who learns) and the student-teacher (a learner who teaches). In its early, strong form this kind of classroom has sometimes been criticized on the grounds that it can mask rather than overcome the teacher's authority.
Aspects of the Freirian philosophy have been highly influential in academic debates over "participatory development" and development more generally. Freire's emphasis on what he describes as "emancipation" through interactive participation has been used as a rationale for the participatory focus of development, as it is held that 'participation' in any form can lead to empowerment of poor or marginalised groups. Freire was a proponent of critical pedagogy.
Heidegger's philosophizing about education was primarily related to higher education. He believed that teaching and research in the university should be unified and aim towards testing and interrogating the "ontological assumptions presuppositions which implicitly guide research in each domain of knowledge."[16]
Professional organizations and associations
External links
As an academic field, philosophy of education is "the philosophical study of education and its problems...its central subject matter is education, and its methods are those of philosophy".[1] "The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the process of education or the philosophy of the discipline of education. That is, it may be part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the aims, forms, methods, or results of the process of educating or being educated; or it may be metadisciplinary in the sense of being concerned with the concepts, aims, and methods of the discipline."[2] As such, it is both part of the field of education and a field of applied philosophy, drawing from fields of metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and the philosophical approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions in and about pedagogy, education policy, and curriculum, as well as the process of learning, to name a few.[3] For example, it might study what constitutes upbringing and education, the values and norms revealed through upbringing and educational practices, the limits and legitimization of education as an academic discipline, and the relation between educational theory and practice.
Instead of being taught in philosophy departments, philosophy of education is usually housed in departments or colleges of education, similar to how philosophy of law is generally taught in law schools.[1] The multiple ways of conceiving education coupled with the multiple fields and approaches of philosophy make philosophy of education not only a very diverse field but also one that is not easily defined. Although there is overlap, philosophy of education should not be conflated with educational theory, which is not defined specifically by the application of philosophy to questions in education. Philosophy of education also should not be confused with philosophy education, the practice of teaching and learning the subject of philosophy.
Philosophy of education can also be understood not as an academic discipline but as a normative educational theory that unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theory, and the purpose of education and is grounded in specific metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological assumptions. These theories are also called educational philosophies. For example, a teacher might be said to have a perennialist educational philosophy or to have a perennialist philosophy of education.
Idealism
Plato
Main article: Plato
Date: 424/423 BC - 348/347 BCPlato's educational philosophy was grounded in his vision of the ideal Republic, wherein the individual was best served by being subordinated to a just society. He advocated removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able. Education would be holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, and music and art, which he considered the highest form of endeavor.
Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class. He builds on this by insisting that those suitably gifted are to be trained by the state so that they may be qualified to assume the role of a ruling class. What this establishes is essentially a system of selective public education premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population are, by virtue of their education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance.
Plato's writings contain some of the following ideas: Elementary education would be confined to the guardian class till the age of 18, followed by two years of compulsory military training and then by higher education for those who qualified. While elementary education made the soul responsive to the environment, higher education helped the soul to search for truth which illuminated it. Both boys and girls receive the same kind of education. Elementary education consisted of music and gymnastics, designed to train and blend gentle and fierce qualities in the individual and create a harmonious person.
At the age of 20, a selection was made. The best one would take an advanced course in mathematics, geometry, astronomy and harmonics. The first course in the scheme of higher education would last for ten years. It would be for those who had a flair for science. At the age of 30 there would be another selection; those who qualified would study dialectics and metaphysics, logic and philosophy for the next five years. They would study the idea of good and first principles of being. After accepting junior positions in the army for 15 years, a man would have completed his theoretical and practical education by the age of 50.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Main article: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Date: 1770–1831Realism
Aristotle
Main article: Aristotle
Date: 384 BC - 322 BCOnly fragments of Aristotle's treatise On Education are still in existence. We thus know of his philosophy of education primarily through brief passages in other works. Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education. Thus, for example, he considered repetition to be a key tool to develop good habits. The teacher was to lead the student systematically; this differs, for example, from Socrates' emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas (though the comparison is perhaps incongruous since Socrates was dealing with adults).
Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught. Subjects he explicitly mentions as being important included reading, writing and mathematics; music; physical education; literature and history; and a wide range of sciences. He also mentioned the importance of play.
One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, perhaps its most important, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis. All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.
Avicenna
Main article: Avicenna
Date: 980 AD - 1037 ADIn the medieval Islamic world, an elementary school was known as a maktab, which dates back to at least the 10th century. Like madrasahs (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to a mosque. In the 11th century, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), wrote a chapter dealing with the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as a guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors, and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates. Ibn Sina described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing the curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school.[5]
Ibn Sina wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote that they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic ethics, and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills).[5]
Ibn Sina refers to the secondary education stage of maktab schooling as the period of specialization, when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be given a choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine, geometry, trade and commerce, craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account.[6]
The empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' was also developed by Ibn Sina. He argued that the "human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know" and that knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" which is developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "possesses levels of development from the material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge.
Ibn Tufail
Main article: Ibn Tufail
Date: c. 1105 - 1185In the 12th century, the Andalusian-Arabian philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West) demonstrated the empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' as a thought experiment through his Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone. The Latin translation of his philosophical novel, Philosophus Autodidactus, published by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671, had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
John Locke
Main article: John Locke
See also: Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Of the Conduct of the Understanding, and Essay concerning Human Understanding
Date: 1632-1704Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education is an outline on how to educate this mind: he expresses the belief that education maketh the man, or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an "empty cabinet", with the statement, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education."[9]
Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences."[10] He argued that the "associations of ideas" that one makes when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the self: they are, put differently, what first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay, in which is introduced both of these concepts, Locke warns against, for example, letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the night for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other."[11]
"Associationism", as this theory would come to be called, exerted a powerful influence over eighteenth-century thought, particularly educational theory, as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of psychology and other new disciplines with David Hartley's attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in his Observations on Man (1749).
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
.jpg)
Main article: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Date: 1712-1778Rousseau, though he paid his respects to Plato's philosophy, rejected it as impractical due to the decayed state of society. Rousseau also had a different theory of human development; where Plato held that people are born with skills appropriate to different castes (though he did not regard these skills as being inherited), Rousseau held that there was one developmental process common to all humans. This was an intrinsic, natural process, of which the primary behavioral manifestation was curiosity. This differed from Locke's 'tabula rasa' in that it was an active process deriving from the child's nature, which drove the child to learn and adapt to its surroundings.
Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method which consisted of removing the child from society—for example, to a country home—and alternately conditioning him through changes to environment and setting traps and puzzles for him to solve or overcome.
Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potential of a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults always be truthful with children, and in particular that they never hide the fact that the basis for their authority in teaching was purely one of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason, at about 12, they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoing process of their own.
He once said that a child should grow up without adult interference and that the child must be guided to suffer from the experience of the natural consequences of his own acts or behaviour. When he experiences the consequences of his own acts, he advises himself.
Mortimer Jerome Adler
Main article: Mortimer Jerome Adler
Date: 1902-2001Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo, California. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children.[12] Adler was a proponent of educational perennialism.
Harry S. Broudy
Main article: Harry Broudy
Date: 1905-1998Broudy's philosophical views were based on the tradition of classical realism, dealing with truth, goodness, and beauty. However he was also influenced by the modern philosophy existentialism and instrumentalism. In his textbook Building a Philosophy of Education he has two major ideas that are the main points to his philosophical outlook: The first is truth and the second is universal structures to be found in humanity's struggle for education and the good life. Broudy also studied issues on society's demands on school. He thought education would be a link to unify the diverse society and urged the society to put more trust and a commitment to the schools and a good education.
Scholasticism:
Thomas Aquinas
Main article: Thomas Aquinas
Date: c. 1225 - 1274See Religious perennialism
John Milton
Main article: John Milton
See also: Of Education
Date: 1608-1674The objective of medieval education was an overtly religious one, primarily concerned with uncovering transcendental truths that would lead a person back to God through a life of moral and religious choice (Kreeft 15). The vehicle by which these truths were uncovered was dialectic:
To the medieval mind, debate was a fine art, a serious science, and a fascinating entertainment, much more than it is to the modern mind, because the medievals believed, like Socrates, that dialectic could uncover truth. Thus a ‘scholastic disputation’ was not a personal contest in cleverness, nor was it ‘sharing opinions’; it was a shared journey of discovery (Kreeft 14-15).Pragmatism
John Dewey
Main article: John Dewey
Date: 1859-1952In Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Dewey stated that in its broadest sense education is the means of the "social continuity of life" given the "primary ineluctable facts of the birth and death of each one of the constituent members in a social group". Education is therefore a necessity, for "the life of the group goes on."[13] Dewey was a proponent of Educational Progressivism and was a relentless campaigner for reform of education, pointing out that the authoritarian, strict, pre-ordained knowledge approach of modern traditional education was too concerned with delivering knowledge, and not enough with understanding students' actual experiences
William James
Main article: William James
Date: 1842–1910William Heard Kilpatrick
Main article: William Heard Kilpatrick
Date: 1871-1965William Heard Kilpatrick was a US American philosopher of education and a colleague and a successor of John Dewey. He was a major figure in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century. Kilpatrick developed the Project Method for early childhood education, which was a form of Progressive Education organized curriculum and classroom activities around a subject's central theme. He believed that the role of a teacher should be that of a "guide" as opposed to an authoritarian figure. Kilpatrick believed that children should direct their own learning according to their interests and should be allowed to explore their environment, experiencing their learning through the natural senses.[15] Proponents of Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms (desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment.
Nel Noddings
Main article: Nel Noddings
Date: 1929–Noddings' first sole-authored book Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (1984) followed close on the 1982 publication of Carol Gilligan’s ground-breaking work in the ethics of care In a Different Voice. While her work on ethics continued, with the publication of Women and Evil (1989) and later works on moral education, most of her later publications have been on the philosophy of education and educational theory. Her most significant works in these areas have been Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief (1993) and Philosophy of Education (1995).
Richard Rorty
Main article: Richard Rorty
Date: 1931–2007Analytic Philosophy
Richard Stanley Peters
Main article: Richard Stanley Peters
Date: 1919-Paul H. Hirst
Existentialism
Karl Jaspers
Main article: Karl Jaspers
Date: 1883-1969[ Martin Buber
Main article: Martin Buber
Date:1878-1965Maxine Greene
Main article: Maxine Greene
Date: ? -Critical Theory
Paulo Freire
Main article: Paulo Freire
Date: 1921-1997A Brazilian committed to the cause of educating the impoverished peasants of his nation and collaborating with them in the pursuit of their liberation from what he regarded as "oppression," Freire is best known for his attack on what he called the "banking concept of education," in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher. Freire also suggests that a deep reciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student; he comes close to suggesting that the teacher-student dichotomy be completely abolished, instead promoting the roles of the participants in the classroom as the teacher-student (a teacher who learns) and the student-teacher (a learner who teaches). In its early, strong form this kind of classroom has sometimes been criticized on the grounds that it can mask rather than overcome the teacher's authority.
Aspects of the Freirian philosophy have been highly influential in academic debates over "participatory development" and development more generally. Freire's emphasis on what he describes as "emancipation" through interactive participation has been used as a rationale for the participatory focus of development, as it is held that 'participation' in any form can lead to empowerment of poor or marginalised groups. Freire was a proponent of critical pedagogy.
Postmodernism
[ Martin Heidegger
Main article: Martin Heidegger
Date:1889-1976Heidegger's philosophizing about education was primarily related to higher education. He believed that teaching and research in the university should be unified and aim towards testing and interrogating the "ontological assumptions presuppositions which implicitly guide research in each domain of knowledge."[16]
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Main article: Hans-Georg Gadamer
Date:1900-2002Jean-François Lyotard
Main article: Jean-François Lyotard
Date:1924-1998Michel Foucault
Main article: Michel Foucault
Date: 1926-1984Professional organizations and associations
| Organisation | Nationality | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| International Network of Philosophers of Education | Worldwide | INPE is dedicated to fostering dialogue amongst philosophers of education around the world. It sponsors an international conference every other year.[citation needed] |
| Philosophy of Education Society | USA | PES is the national society for philosophy of education in the United States of America. This site provides information about PES, its services, history, and publications, and links to online resources relevant to the philosophy of education.[citation needed] |
| Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain | UK | PESGB promotes the study, teaching and application of philosophy of education. It has an international membership. The site provides: a guide to the Society's activities and details about the Journal of Philosophy of Education and IMPACT.[citation needed] |
| Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia | Australasia | |
| Canadian Philosophy of Education Society | Canada | CPES is devoted to philosophical inquiry into educational issues and their relevance for developing educative, caring, and just teachers, schools, and communities. The society welcomes inquiries about membership from professionals and graduate students who share these interests.[citation needed] |
| The Nordic Society for Philosophy of Education | The Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden | The Nordic Society for Philosophy of Education is a society consisting of Nordic philosophers of education with the purpose of fostering dialogue among philosophers of education within and beyond the Nordic countries, and to coordinate, facilitate and support exchange of ideas, information and experiences.[citation needed] |
| Society for the Philosophical Study of Education | USA | This Society is a professional association of philosophers of education which holds annual meetings in the Midwest region of the United States of America and sponsors a discussion forum and a Graduate Student Competition. Affiliate of the American Philosophical Association.[citation needed] |
| Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society | USA, Ohio Valley | OVPES is a professional association of philosophers of education. We host an annual conference in the Ohio Valley region of the United States of America and sponsor a refereed journal: Philosophical Studies in Education.[citation needed] |
| John Dewey Society | USA | The John Dewey Society exists to keep alive John Dewey's commitment to the use of critical and reflective intelligence in the search for solutions to crucial problems in education and culture. |
| Study Space for Philosophy and Education | USA, Columbia University | This study place exists for persons who wish to engage in philosophy and education because both have value for them, quite apart from their professional responsibilities. We think networked digital information resources will enable people to reverse this ever-narrowing professionalism.[citation needed] This site is maintained at the Institute for Learning Technologies, Teachers College, Columbia University.[citation needed] |
| Center for Dewey Studies | USA, Southern Illinois University | The Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale was established in 1961 as the "Dewey Project." By virtue of its publications and research, the Center has become the international focal point for research on John Dewey's life and work. |
| International Society for Philosophy of Music Education | Unknown | the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education (ISPME) is founded on both educational and professional objectives: "devoted to the specific interests of philosophy of music education in elementary through secondary schools, colleges and universities, in private studios, places of worship, and all the other places and ways in which music is taught and learned."[23] |
| The Spencer Foundation | USA | The Spencer Foundation provides funding for investigations that promise to yield new knowledge about education in the United States or abroad. The Foundation funds research grants that range in size from smaller grants that can be completed within a year, to larger, multi-year endeavours. |
| Humanities Research Network | New Zealand | The Humanities Research Network is designed to encourage new ways of thinking about the overlapping domains of knowledge which are represented by the arts, humanities, social sciences, other related fields like law, and matauranga Māori, and new relationships among their practitioners |
References
- ^ a b Noddings, Nel (1995). Philosophy of Education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-8133-8429-X
- ^ a b Frankena, William K.; Raybeck, Nathan; Burbules, Nicholas (2002). "Philosophy of Education". In Guthrie, James W.. Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd edition. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 0-02-865594-X
- ^ Noddings 1995, pp. 1–6
- ^ Cahn, Steven M. (1997). Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. pp. 197. ISBN 0-07-009619-8.
- ^ a b M. S. Asimov, Clifford Edmund Bosworth (1999). The Age of Achievement: Vol 4. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 33–4. ISBN 8120815963
- ^ M. S. Asimov, Clifford Edmund Bosworth (1999). The Age of Achievement: Vol 4. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 34–5. ISBN 8120815963
- ^ Sajjad H. Rizvi (2006), Avicenna/Ibn Sina (CA. 980-1037), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- ^ G. A. Russell (1994), The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century England, pp. 224-262, Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004094598.
- ^ Locke, John. Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Of the Conduct of the Understanding. Eds. Ruth W. Grant and Nathan Tarcov. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., Inc. (1996), p. 10.
- ^ Locke, Some Thoughts, 10.
- ^ Locke, Essay, 357.
- ^ William Grimes, "Mortimer Adler, 98, Dies; Helped Create Study of Classics," New York Times, June 29, 2001
- ^ "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy". http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/education-philosophy/. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
- ^ Neil, J. (2005) John Dewey, the Modern Father of Experiential Education. Wilderdom.com. Retrieved 6/12/07.
- ^ Gutek, Gerald L. (2009). New Perspectives on Philosophy and Education. Pearson Education, Inc.. pp. 346. ISBN 0-205-59433-6.
- ^ Thomson, Iain (2002). "Heidegger on Ontological Education"". In Peters, Michael A.. Heidegger, Education, and Modernity. New York, NY: Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-7425-0887-0
- ^ "International Bureau of Education - Directors" <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9059885>. Munari, Alberto (1994). "JEAN PIAGET (1896–1980)". Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education XXIV (1/2): 311–327. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/ThinkersPdf/piagete.pdf.
- ^ (in An Exposition of Constructivism: Why Some Like it Radical, 1990)
- ^ Maria Montessori: Her Life And Work, E.M. Standing, p. 174, Publ. Plume, 1998, http://www.penguinputnam.com
- ^ The Montessori Method, Maria Montessori, pp. 79–81, Publ. Random House, 1988, http://www.randomhouse.com
- ^ Discovery of the Child, Maria Montessori, p.46, Publ. Ballantine Books, 1972, http://www.randomhouse.com
- ^ The Old Schoolhouse Meets Up with Patrick Farenga About the Legacy of John Holt, http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/How_To_Homeschool/articles/articles.php?aid=97
- ^ "ISPME Home". http://www2.siba.fi/ispme_symposium/index.php?id=1&la=fi. Retrieved 12 November 201
External links
- "Philosophy of Education". In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education
- Thinkers of Education. UNESCO-International Bureau of Education website
- International Society for Philosophy of Music Education
- International Network of Philosophers of Education
- Philosophy of Education Society
- Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain
- Philosophy of Education Society of Australia
- Canadian Philosophy of Education Society (CPES)
- The Nordic Society for Philosophy of Education
- Society for the Philosophical Study of Education
- The Ohio Valley Philosophy of Education Society
- Humanities Research Network; Te Whatunga Rangahau Aronu
Islamic Education:
Why Should Muskims In Western Nation Should Resort To Online Quran Teaching:
Islam, Muslims, and Quran, in recent times, these have become the hot topics for debate almost all across the globe, particularly in the United States of America. It is very unfortunate that most of such discussions tend to disrespect Islam and Muslims. This becomes very troublesome for young Muslim kids living in the U.S.A as well as in other countries of Muslim minority in the west, because, in most of the cases, those young Muslim kids (or even adults, for that matter) are simply unable to answer anything of significance to those who raise such questions, either out of curiosity or out of humiliation
To all such kids and adults, who find themselves deprived of sound religious knowledge by virtue of which they can answer such questions, Online Quran Teaching can serve as the best aid one can ever think of. The best thing about it is that literally anyone can resort to it; anyone having a computer system and internet access. Don’t you think that this is an opportunity way more convenient not to take upon? Well, give it a go and feel the difference for yourself.
Quran Teachings As An Inpiration To Renaissance Of Muslims:
In the times, we are living, norms change, and change quite briskly. Today, what seems to be the most basic element of anything might turn unnecessary tomorrow? It is the case with practices followed to learn Quran by Muslim community.
Islam, Muslims, and Quran, in recent times, these have become the hot topics for debate almost all across the globe, particularly in the United States of America. It is very unfortunate that most of such discussions tend to disrespect Islam and Muslims. This becomes very troublesome for young Muslim kids living in the U.S.A as well as in other countries of Muslim minority in the west, because, in most of the cases, those young Muslim kids (or even adults, for that matter) are simply unable to answer anything of significance to those who raise such questions, either out of curiosity or out of humiliation
Quran Teachings As An Inpiration To Renaissance Of Muslims:
It is unimaginably unfortunate that majority of the world sees Islam as a religion behind promotion of illiteracy, warfare, and terrorism, more than anything else. Little do they know that Islam is the religion that set the foundations of Renaissance of Knowledge back in 14th and 15th century A.D, a time referred as the dark ages of Europe and Christianity.
There is a long list of Muslims scientists contributing in almost all the fields of science. The names and the area of expertise of some most prominent of them are mentioned in the lines below:
- Jabir-bin-Hayan (also famously known as Geber): Chemistry(attributed as the Father of Chemistry)
- Al-Asmai: Botany, Zoology, Animal Husbandry
- Amr-ibn-Bahr Al-Jahiz: Zoology, Lexicography
- Al-Khwarizmi (also known as Algorizm): Geography, Astronomy, Mathematics (Algebra, Algorithm, Calculus)
- Ibn-e-Ishaq Al-Kindi (Alkindus): Physics, Optics, Philosophy, Medicine, Metallurgy, Mathematics
These are just a few of the most prominent names putting a greatly significant contribution in almost all the fields of science, and their brilliant work shines as a star in their respective fields. This is simply because of the fact that those early people resorted to Quran and Hadith for seeking any kind of guidance they needed, following the commandment of Allah Almighty.
Quran Teaching can be the key to lead Muslims to the same exalted position among nations of the world that they enjoyed during early centuries of Islam. All we need to do is realize the true potential of guidance concealed in Quran, as indicated by many verses from Holy Quran, such as:
Al-Baqara [2:2] This is the book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear Allah.
How Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Transformed Arabian Society Being The First Quran Tutor:
A society comes into existence with the coherence and harmony among a group of people coming from different backgrounds gathered in a specific location. However, this becomes very difficult if there are not persons among a society that teach mass how to live in coherence with each other. Such people are referred as teachers or tutors.
History tells us that the role of tutors is so significant in progress and development of societies that the societies boasting of great teachers are the ones that excelled among the nations of the world.
One of the most significant examples of the role of teachers in evolution of societies is of Allah’s Last Apostle Muhammad (PBUH) as the first Quran Tutor gracing Arab nation with the glory of knowledge.
The influence of teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was so much that Arabs became the most dominant force among the nations of the world within a matter of few decades.
In yesteryear, Muslim parents resorted to conventional Quran Schools of brick and mortar. Nowadays, however, the trend is changing fast. The number of people following unconventional techniques like Online Quran Learning is increasing with every passing day, and for the very best reasons.
This innovative concept holds many benefits that the conventional means of Quran learning quite lacked. For example, it allows people from all over the world to undertake this revered task of learning more of Allah Almighty’s own words. Secondly, it relieves people from acting respective to confines of time, since Online Quran teaching is available 24/7 and 365.
The fact of the matter is that any person from around the world with basic computer literacy can uphold this task with a working computer system and internet access.
In wake of 9/11, Islam and Quran came out as the most debatable topics all around the world. Though Islam is totally a religion preaching peace, equality, tranquility, and piety, yet evil forces tried to associate the unfortunate incident of 9/11 with Islam, which is in fact, quite wrong.
This reality became even clearer to people who searched for the truth themselves after the atrocities of 9/11. That is why the number of people (particularly from the United States of America and other European nations) willing to learn the reality about Islam turned to learn Quran, the Scripture deemed as of Muslims.
In recent years, this has become quite convenient due to the innovative concept of “Learn Quran Online”, making it possible for people from various parts of the world to learn and understand Quran in order to learn more about Islam.
Though unbeknownst, but this quest of theirs turns out to be the biggest favor they can do with themselves, since Quran is the book of absolute guidance, and a person resorting to it for finding the truth ultimately benefits himself/herself. Look what Allah Almighty says about Quran in this particular verse:
Al-Araf [7:52] For We had certainly sent unto them a book, based on knowledge, which We explained in detail― a guide and a mercy to all who believe.
The Eloquence Is Quran Is Beyond Any Doubt:
Anyone doubting about the positive impact of books on a person’s inner self is surely mistaken. The power and influence of a book is beyond any doubt, especially if it is a book as special as Holy Qur’an, the Scripture Allah claims to be containing nothing else but His own wise words.
There is no need of going into finer details for seeing how exalted a Scripture Quran is, as compared to other Scriptures, let alone ordinary books. Simply, the style of narration, the eloquence of this Holy Book bestowed to Muslims as their Scripture captivates one’s mind immediately.
That is why Allah Almighty simply challenges to produce just a single verse as eloquent as any one in whole of the Qur’an:
Al-Baqara [2:23] And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Qur'ân) to Our slave (Muhammad Peace be upon him ), then produce a Sûrah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allâh, if you are truthful
Reading HolyQuran Online For Scientific Varification Of fact:
Internet has proven to be one of the greatest resources at one’s disposal as far as quenching the thirst of knowledge is concerned. It centralizes unlimited amount of information on almost any topic one may come up with in mind, only to make it extremely convenient for people to pick up the specific piece of information they need.
Muslims all around the world can take extreme benefit from this. Quran, the Scripture most sacred to Muslims is referred as the source of ultimate knowledge and wisdom. One can easily verify any of the scientific facts mentioned in Holy Quran by making relevant research.
That is why, reading and learning Holy Quran Online should be greatly promoted amongst Muslim youth all across the world, so that not only they equip themselves with some of the most contemporary scientific knowledge, but also verify it right away to strengthen their faiths and beliefs.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Education: 25 Best Movies About Education Ever Made:
Education: 25 Best Movies About Education Ever Made:: When it comes to education , it seems as though there are always interesting issues to discuss. Issues of inequality, teacher pay, and othe...
Education: Why Education is Important in our life?
Education: Why Education is Important in our life?: It is very easy to explain importance of education. No human beings are able to survive properly without education. By the means of educa...
25 Best Movies About Education Ever Made:
When it comes to education, it seems as though there are always interesting issues to discuss. Issues of inequality, teacher pay, and other hot button subjects are always being tackled. This happens in real life, of course, but it also happens in the movies. In some cases, a movie can make what goes on in real life more poignant. This is especially true if you are dealing with a documentary.
If you are interested in movies about education, you can learn a lot from the messages you find in movies. Here are 25 of the best movies about education ever made, including movies made for entertainment, and documentaries:
Hollywood Films – Entertainment
These Hollywood films about education can entertain, as well as uplift and educate. In some cases, the films are based on true stories, while in others the stories are wholly fictional. In any case, you will find that there are plenty of things to think about in terms of education — or at least remember about your own school experience
1: Dead Poets Society: This classic film about a teacher who encourages his students at a boarding school to break out of the status quo has inspired English students (and others) for years/
2:Stand and Deliver: Another in the annals of classic education films, Stand and Deliver is based on the story of Jaime Escalante, the math teacher helping kids in East Los Angeles.
3:To Sir With Love: In 1967, this movie was groundbreaking, sharing the story of a black man with training as an engineer who teaches white students in London.
4:The Breakfast Club: These kids in Saturday detention are all defined by stereotypes. However, by getting to know each other, they are able to move beyond their own cliques and get to know each other. It’s an interesting look at the interplay between students in the education system.
5:The Paper Chase: Fast-forward to college in this film from 1973. A first year law student tries to impress his professor so that he can date the professor’s daughter. Provides insights into the difficulties associated with teaching
6:Good Will Hunting: Will Hunting is a genius, but he doesn’t care to spend time in school. Instead, he hangs out with his friends and works as a janitor at MIT. However, he is discovered when he solves a difficult math problem. He eventually studies mathematics, while seeing a therapist in an attempt to get beyond some of his issues
7:Goodbye Mr. Chips: Here’s an oldie, but goodie. This educator in the 1969 musical falls for a showgirl. The two get married, and they struggle to overcome obstacles as Mr. Chips job as a staid teacher in a boys school doesn’t seem like the ideal fit for a showgirl.
8:Precious: This movie, based on a book, is about an obese and illiterate girl living in Harlem. Her family is dysfunctional, and Precious has been abused physically, mentally and sexually. However, she is inspired by a teacher in an alternative high school, and fights to improve her life — and the lives of her children.
9:Music of the Heart: Meryl Streep stars in this movie about the inspirational violin teacher, Roberta Guaspari, who encouraged children in New York City’s public school system. This uplifting story lets us see kids from East Harlem playing at Carnegie Hall.
10:Dangerous Minds: Based on the story of LouAnne Johnson, a former U.S. Marine, Dangerous Minds tells the story of a teacher trying to encourage teens from East Palo Alto, California, to take school seriously. This movie features unorthodox teaching methods, and changes to the curriculum designed to help the teacher connect with students.
11:Freedom Writers: A group of at-risk high school students is inspired to live their dreams beyond high school — while learning the value of heard work and tolerance along the way.
12:Educating Rita: This working class girl inspires her jaded professor to re-connect with his passion for teaching, while exploring issues of class in society.
13:School of Rock: A supremely entertaining movie about a washed up wanna-be rocker (Jack Black) who poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. When finds that they are talented, he helps them learn about rock — and following their dreams
Documentaries:
The state of education in America is a subject of much debate. Documentaries made about education can be a great source of information. Watch these movies about education to learn more about different sides of the debate — and make up your mind.
14:Waiting for Superman: A look at the journey of promising students through a school system that limits their academic growth potential. A review of public education.
15:Teached: This education documentary by a Teach for America alum who looks at inequality in education for urban, minority youths.
16:Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed: Ben Stein’s look at Intelligent Design, and the lack of academic freedom to teach the concept in the classroom.
17:To Be and To Have: An interesting documentary chronicling the education had in a one-room school in rural France. One teacher and students ages four to 11.
18:We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For: A look at education on global scale, and during a time of shifting paradigms. This British documentary challenges you to come up with solutions for public education today.
19:Mad Hot Ballroom: Is competition in schools too intense when it comes to extracurriculars? Follow these middle school students in New York City as they compete in a ballroom dance competition.
20:Spellbound: Enter the world of spelling bees, competition, and pushing children to excel. But is the cost too high?
21:Race to Nowhere: This documentary looks at the impact of too much homework and emphasis on standardized tests. Can education really be one size fits all?
22:Ten9Eight: This documentary looks at inner city teens across the country, from Harlem to Compton. These teens are shooting for the stars as they enter a business plan competition.
23:2 Million Minutes: This series of documentary films looks at global schools, and addresses education systems around the world.
24:Please Vote for Me: An interesting documentary opening your eyes to what kids in China are taught about democracy. An exploration of democracy, our changing world, and education.
25:Us and Our Education: This documentary explores learning disabilities and how they affect school and work.
If you are interested in movies about education, you can learn a lot from the messages you find in movies. Here are 25 of the best movies about education ever made, including movies made for entertainment, and documentaries:
Hollywood Films – Entertainment
These Hollywood films about education can entertain, as well as uplift and educate. In some cases, the films are based on true stories, while in others the stories are wholly fictional. In any case, you will find that there are plenty of things to think about in terms of education — or at least remember about your own school experience
2:Stand and Deliver: Another in the annals of classic education films, Stand and Deliver is based on the story of Jaime Escalante, the math teacher helping kids in East Los Angeles.
3:To Sir With Love: In 1967, this movie was groundbreaking, sharing the story of a black man with training as an engineer who teaches white students in London.
4:The Breakfast Club: These kids in Saturday detention are all defined by stereotypes. However, by getting to know each other, they are able to move beyond their own cliques and get to know each other. It’s an interesting look at the interplay between students in the education system.
5:The Paper Chase: Fast-forward to college in this film from 1973. A first year law student tries to impress his professor so that he can date the professor’s daughter. Provides insights into the difficulties associated with teaching
7:Goodbye Mr. Chips: Here’s an oldie, but goodie. This educator in the 1969 musical falls for a showgirl. The two get married, and they struggle to overcome obstacles as Mr. Chips job as a staid teacher in a boys school doesn’t seem like the ideal fit for a showgirl.
8:Precious: This movie, based on a book, is about an obese and illiterate girl living in Harlem. Her family is dysfunctional, and Precious has been abused physically, mentally and sexually. However, she is inspired by a teacher in an alternative high school, and fights to improve her life — and the lives of her children.
9:Music of the Heart: Meryl Streep stars in this movie about the inspirational violin teacher, Roberta Guaspari, who encouraged children in New York City’s public school system. This uplifting story lets us see kids from East Harlem playing at Carnegie Hall.
10:Dangerous Minds: Based on the story of LouAnne Johnson, a former U.S. Marine, Dangerous Minds tells the story of a teacher trying to encourage teens from East Palo Alto, California, to take school seriously. This movie features unorthodox teaching methods, and changes to the curriculum designed to help the teacher connect with students.
11:Freedom Writers: A group of at-risk high school students is inspired to live their dreams beyond high school — while learning the value of heard work and tolerance along the way.
12:Educating Rita: This working class girl inspires her jaded professor to re-connect with his passion for teaching, while exploring issues of class in society.
13:School of Rock: A supremely entertaining movie about a washed up wanna-be rocker (Jack Black) who poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. When finds that they are talented, he helps them learn about rock — and following their dreams
Documentaries:
The state of education in America is a subject of much debate. Documentaries made about education can be a great source of information. Watch these movies about education to learn more about different sides of the debate — and make up your mind.
14:Waiting for Superman: A look at the journey of promising students through a school system that limits their academic growth potential. A review of public education.
15:Teached: This education documentary by a Teach for America alum who looks at inequality in education for urban, minority youths.
16:Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed: Ben Stein’s look at Intelligent Design, and the lack of academic freedom to teach the concept in the classroom.
17:To Be and To Have: An interesting documentary chronicling the education had in a one-room school in rural France. One teacher and students ages four to 11.
18:We Are the People We’ve Been Waiting For: A look at education on global scale, and during a time of shifting paradigms. This British documentary challenges you to come up with solutions for public education today.
20:Spellbound: Enter the world of spelling bees, competition, and pushing children to excel. But is the cost too high?
21:Race to Nowhere: This documentary looks at the impact of too much homework and emphasis on standardized tests. Can education really be one size fits all?
22:Ten9Eight: This documentary looks at inner city teens across the country, from Harlem to Compton. These teens are shooting for the stars as they enter a business plan competition.
23:2 Million Minutes: This series of documentary films looks at global schools, and addresses education systems around the world.
24:Please Vote for Me: An interesting documentary opening your eyes to what kids in China are taught about democracy. An exploration of democracy, our changing world, and education.
25:Us and Our Education: This documentary explores learning disabilities and how they affect school and work.
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