Philosophy of Education is a label applied to the study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education. It can be considered a branch of both philosophy and education. Education can be defined as the teaching and learning of specific skills, and the imparting of knowledge, judgment and wisdom, and is something broader than the societal institution of education we often speak of.
Many educationalists consider it a weak and woolly field, too far removed from the practical applications of the real world to be useful. But philosophers dating back to Plato and the Ancient Greeks have given the area much thought and emphasis, and there is little doubt that their work has helped shape the practice of education over the millennia.
Plato is the earliest important educational thinker, and education is an essential element in "The Republic" (his most important work on philosophy and political theory, written around 360 B. C. ). In it, he advocates some rather extreme methods: removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, and differentiating 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. He believed that education should be holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, music and art. Plato believed that talent and intelligence is not distributed genetically and thus is be found in children born to all classes, although his proposed system of selective public education for an educated minority of the population does not really follow a democratic model.
Philosophy of
Education
is a label applied to the study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of
education
. It can
be considered
a branch of both philosophy and
education
.
Education
can
be defined
as the teaching and learning of specific
skills
, and the imparting of knowledge, judgment and wisdom, and is something broader than the societal institution of
education
we
often
speak of.
Many
educationalists consider it a weak and
woolly
field, too far removed from the practical applications of the real world to be useful.
But
philosophers dating back to Plato and the Ancient Greeks have
given
the area much
thought
and emphasis, and there is
little
doubt that their work has
helped
shape the practice of
education
over the millennia.
Plato is the earliest
important
educational thinker, and
education
is an essential element in
"
The Republic
"
(his most
important
work on philosophy and political theory, written around 360 B. C.
)
. In it, he advocates
some
rather
extreme methods: removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, and differentiating 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. He believed that
education
should be holistic, including facts,
skills
, physical discipline, music and art. Plato believed that talent and intelligence is not distributed
genetically
and
thus
is
be
found in children born to all classes, although his proposed system of selective public
education
for an educated minority of the population does not
really
follow a democratic model.