This paper focuses on the most abstract and most boring question of pedagogy or, as I prefer to call my field of interest, the theory of pedagogy. My aim is to try to rehash and re-pose this question – maybe even answer it? In this regard, Ottó Mihály advises us to be careful; in the preface to his notes on the philosophy of pedagogy he asserts that we do not know what educating is but we know that there exist “various valid and eligible answers” to this question.
The author of the paper tries to show that general pedagogy has its philosophical distinction, e.g., comparing to philosophy of education. Johann Friedrich Herbart’s essay On the Dark Side of Pedagogy is an important point of reference in the analysis. Starting from the essay, the author justifies the necessity of an approach to general pedagogy with its most important goal, i.e., defining the basic pedagogical thought. The thought is “basic” as it combines theoretical and practical knowledge on education and has to be defined over and over again, and not because without it education cannot be imagined. The history of philosophy is full of evidence that education can be “deduced” even from the theories that have nothing in common with education.
The author presents and analyses the issue of the interrelationship between philosophy and pedagogy. He shows the areas of connections which have already been indicated and the ones which have not been clearly indicated yet. These areas are as follows: the genetic-historic area, the institutional-structural area, evaluation, ethical and metaethical issues and others. For each of those areas there is argumentation underlying the relationship between the two mentioned disciplines. In conclusion, the author presents general characteristics of that relationship.
This article contains a report from the meeting of the Team for Educational Theory at the Committee for Pedagogical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences which was held in Cracow (Jagiellonian University) on December 13, 2014. The purposes of the meeting were to (1) discuss the condition of the educational theory within Polish educational studies; (2) identify problems connected therewith and to (3) plan some future activities of the Team for Educational Theory. The aforementioned issues were mostly related to the semantic status of the educational theory, its relations to other kinds of educational studies and some practical challenges which require solving in the nearest future. The next meeting of the group is planned to take place in the middle of 2015.
The aim of this article is to determine the status of philosophy of education among the other philosophical disciplines and to consider its place within the framework of pedagogical sciences. The relationship between pedagogy and philosophy has been analysed with emphasis on the conditions to be met by philosophy that it could be useful as an instrument helping in reflection on education. The article also discusses the way in which could be useful. Successively, the question in posed on how data obtained during the pedagogical reflection can influence philosophy itself. In conclusion, referring to the achievements of Alasdair MacIntyre, an attempt to draw philosophical procedures allowing to assess given pedagogical concepts is presented.
Wisdom might be, and quite often is, one of the most important purposes of education. At the same time, there is no clarity about the its meaning and relations to education. The goal of the article is to analyse the issue of wisdom as an educational goal, based on the classical meaning of the term ‘wisdom’ (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), which still constitutes a paradigm in philosophical and educational considerations. The article is divided into three parts. Firstly, the theoretical and semantic aspects of wisdom are indicated. Secondly, practical possibilities of application of the idea of wisdom as an aim of education are discussed. At the end, the author points out the philosophical and semantic problems which make this idea hard to apply.
Aim. The aim of the study is to analyse the basic philosophical ideas proposed by Ludwig Wittgenstein in education from the pragmatic standpoint. Methods. The article is based on an extended literature review, which involves the use of such methods as interpretation (to explain incomprehensible and incomplete aspects of philosophical theory), comparative analysis (to compare Wittgenstein’s views with the views of pragmatists) and historico-philosophical reconstruction (to build a complete pragmatico-analytic conception of Wittgenstein’s philosophy of education). Results. The study clarified the pragmatic aspect of Wittgenstein’s reasoning about education. The author reconstructed and critically comprehended the features of Wittgenstein’s pedagogical method, his views on the purpose and characteristics of learning, communication in the educational environment and the results of the pedagogical process. Conclusion. Wittgenstein developed an original pedagogical method, which was a synthesis of his theoretical and practical generalisations based on personal experience of teaching and learning. He supplemented them with pragmatic ideas, which were both his own developments and the result of improving the ideas of pragmatic theory. This made it possible to form the basis of the pragmatico-analytic philosophy of education and to reinterpret its basic principles and ideas.
This article presents the fundamental challenges facing education after the COVID-19 pandemic - technological, social, political and ecological. The author suggests that post-pandemic the most important problems will not be related to its effects, but to building civic and environmental awareness. Technological challenges, in the form of the necessity of expanding the repertoire of the technical means of education, and social challenges in the form of the need to rebuild relationships, were important in the pandemic phase, and their strongest impact was delineated at the very beginning. After a return to the new normality (however it may be defined), challenges of this type will not disappear completely, but their strength will become weaker when compared to the problems humanity has faced practically from the beginning of the 21st century.
The problem of phenomenological grounds for hermeneutic explanation of the existential phenomenon of education is based on the assumptions according to which the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl has “hermeneutic roots,” and “hermeneutics is formed on the basis of phenomenology”. In this sense, there exists a mutual, irreducible connection between the phenomenological and hermeneutical philosophy. Among the premises of Husserl’s philosophical project that may be considered relevant in the context of hermeneutic approach to understanding the phenomenon of education we can list: the issue of intentionality of acts of consciousness, the founding (Fundierung) ontology of the part and the whole, and the philosophy of everyday life (Lebenswelt). Those elements show their indisputable importance in the context of examination of both practice and theory of education and training. From this perspective, the phenomenon of education can be considered both in terms of a thematic whole, as well as in its various separate aspects, reflecting and defining the ambiguity and multidimensionality of education and upbringing processes. Exemplification of such aspects, recognized as phenomenological instances in the hermeneutic approach to clarification of education are the following phenomena: illumination, meaning (sense), atmosphere, presence, mystery, otherness and sensitivity.
This article contains a report from the meeting of the Team for Educational Theory at the Committee for Pedagogical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences which was held in Cracow (Jagiellonian University) on December 13, 2014. The purposes of the meeting were to (1) discuss the condition of the educational theory within Polish educational studies; (2) identify problems connected therewith and to (3) plan some future activities of the Team for Educational Theory. The aforementioned issues were mostly related to the semantic status of the educational theory, its relations to other kinds of educational studies and some practical challenges which require solving in the nearest future. The next meeting of the group is planned to take place in the middle of 2015.
There has been a resurgence of Martin Heidegger’s ideas in recent years, especially within English-language philosophy of education. Yet, there have also been other developments that deserve to be taken seriously, first and foremost the indication that his anti-Semitism informs not only his personal beliefs and political stance but is already rooted in his philosophy, notably his ontology. It is these developments and the context of Heidegger’s philosophy that are examined first, before I return to the purported significance of his ideas for education towards the end of this essay.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to present the Jesuit philosophy of contemplative education as an educational system compatible with the American philosophy of contemplative education and to aim at the emergence out of the latter of the vision of a man integrally formed as “men and women for others” including the transcendent / religious dimension of life. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS:The presented research problem concerns the question of whether the system of the proposed philosophy of contemplative education allows to educate and to form a human who is integral and coherent in spiritual and physical unity in the religious optics. There has been applied the method of critical and comparative analysis as well as the analysis of the reference literature. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION:After having initially defined the aim of the study and the fundamental concepts (philosophy of contemplative education) there has been presented the history and the main assumptions of the philosophy of contemplative education from the USA (1974). Then, there has been presented the history of Ignatian spirituality (contemplativus in actione) as a source for the Jesuit philosophy of contemplative education. The essential part of the argumentation was to present the philosophy of the process of forming the student (Ratio Studiorum and the contemporary documents) based on the specific five stages. RESEARCH RESULTS:The result of this argumentation is a concrete and integral vision of a contemplative man in action who is open “for and to others”. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:This analysis confirmed the compatibility of the American and the Jesuit philosophy of contemplative education as a system that should be included in the educational programs and processes of an integral human being as a being of spiritual and bodily unity based on a contemplative reflection and action.
The paper addresses philosophical issues in educational discourse and thinking. According to the author, the role of philosophy is to question of what are thought to be agreed meanings. Referring to educational discourse, the author analyses the meaning of central but contestable concepts such as ‘academic’, ‘child-centred’ and ‘standards’. The author also considers two approaches to establishing of and giving meaning to the purpose of education. The first one is expressed in the language of performance management and attaches great importance to raising of educational standards. The second approach is based on the metaphor of conversation and views education as engagement between learner and teacher, and between learner and the products of human activity. According to the author, educational standards lie in the quality of this engagement, not in the preconceived and measurable targets to be hit. Education is therefore an engagement between minds, not a set of interventions aimed at causing preconceived behavioural outcomes. In his concluding remarks, the author claims that failure to address philosophical questions leads to defective educational policy, practice and research.
We analyse some current trends of viewing transformational changes of humankind (transhumanism, theory of androgyny, etc.). We present the key role played by philoso-phy of education in shaping an image of the future human being. We also determine the main characteristics of the personality of the planetary-cosmic type and the system of his personal, local and global interactions.
The aim of the article is to present the philosophical reasons of the pedagogical practice of Waldorf kindergartens that result from the anthroposophical anthropology of Rudolf Steiner. The author focuses on the notion of ‘envelope’ in Waldorf education. The metaphor of a protecting envelope is described in the context of space and time of Waldorf kindergarten and relationships between educator and a child. Those relationships – in the light of anthroposophical conception of human fate – are based on the trust brought by the child from the spiritual world. This trust appears by the child’s capacity to imitate. The author gives examples of pedagogical activities which help to protect and cultivate this child’s inner capacity by the envelopes of warmth, action, rhythm and word.
The problem of phenomenological grounds for hermeneutic explanation of the existential phenomenon of education is based on the assumptions according to which the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl has “hermeneutic roots,” and “hermeneutics is formed on the basis of phenomenology”. In this sense, there exists a mutual, irreducible connection between the phenomenological and hermeneutical philosophy. Among the premises of Husserl’s philosophical project that may be considered relevant in the context of hermeneutic approach to understanding the phenomenon of education we can list: the issue of intentionality of acts of consciousness, the founding (Fundierung) ontology of the part and the whole, and the philosophy of everyday life (Lebenswelt). Those elements show their indisputable importance in the context of examination of both practice and theory of education and training. From this perspective, the phenomenon of education can be considered both in terms of a thematic whole, as well as in its various separate aspects, reflecting and defining the ambiguity and multidimensionality of education and upbringing processes. Exemplification of such aspects, recognized as phenomenological instances in the hermeneutic approach to clarification of education are the following phenomena: illumination, meaning (sense), atmosphere, presence, mystery, otherness and sensitivity.
The author tackles the problem of the new quality of pedagogy in postmodern Poland. It is expressed in the absence of “one” theory, one meta-language which is used to describe and explain basic concepts and processes. Moreover, it creates theoretical foundations for the development of detailed pedagogical sciences. Each attempt to set up a universal project or meta-narration becomes an unreasonable interpretation of phenomena or theories and the will to gain power. None of individual interpretations can be superior to any others. There are not any “better” or “worse” theories. I reveal new approaches to pedagogy as: – science of pedagogical sciences (metapedagogy); – comparative pedagogical thoughts; – meta-science, or the science of all sciences about upbringing and education.
Aim. The aim of the article is to analyse Bernard Bolzano’s philosophico-educational approach, given the importance of his pedagogical legacy for further progress in the field of education and training. Methods. The research uses methods of historico-philosophical reconstruction (to determine the foundations and features of Bolzano’s pedagogico-philosophical work), interpretation (to characterise the still relevant ideas of the thinker in the field of education) and critical analysis (to assess the significance of Bolzano’s legacy from the standpoint of modern educational theory and to point out what remained out of the researchers’ attention). Results. The study showed that Bolzano’s pedagogical ideas were not only in demand in the context of European culture of the early XIX century, but also proved relevant today, especially given the need for harmonious personal development, finding sources of intrinsic motivation in students and improving their logical thinking skills, the importance of the spiritual qualities of the teacher and – in general – the assistance of the state in the direction of the progress of education as the most effective means of qualitative change in society. Conclusion. Bernardo Bolzano’s philosophical conception of education was strongly influenced by religion, the ideas of the late Enlightenment and the late Josefinist. This conception was an integral part of his socio-political theory. Bolzano attached great importance to the study of philosophy and the acquisition of logical skills in education. He considered writing textbooks to be one of the cornerstones of the educational process. This made it possible to intensify communication between teachers and students, to gradually involve everyone in education, and thus to promote social progress in general.
The text poses the question about the possibility and the way of practising today’s philosophical pedagogy. For this purpose it refers to its 19th century example elaborated for pedagogy by the philosopher Bronisław F. Trentowski in his work Chowanna. In the discussion of this concept, the author of the text reflects on the renewed formula of philosophical pedagogy. She argues that scientific development of pedagogy is conducive to conducting a philosophical reflection within it and with its own initiative. In other words, the reflection on the sense of education and on the justification of methods of pedagogical impact, based on philosophical resources and on the research methods of humanities, performed in parallel to the empirical studies, helps pedagogy as a whole to fulfil its purpose. Also it protects pedagogy against politicisation, indoctrination and instrumentalisation of its subject. Philosophically reinforced pedagogy can also strengthen philosophy by providing it with in-depth knowledge of education taken from the rich educational thought of philosophers.
Nowadays, the problem of indoctrination at schools seems to be quite distant and invalid in the sphere of the pedagogical research. It appears that manipulating students and inculcating certain attitudes and beliefs to them may often be conducted unconsciously, which suppresses students’ remarkable capacities such as critical thinking, frank expression of their own opinions and much broader view on the varied subjects at the same time. The method of M. Lipman appears to be an effective solution for eliminating indoctrination at schools and adopting above mentioned attitudes by the students. After defining and analyzing certain notions concerning indoctrination and education, I present strong and weak points of the method of M. Lipman in excluding the idea of indoctrination at schools. The following writing presents the meaning and the significance of “The Philosophy for Children” in the struggle against the indoctrination.
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