Category Archives: Philosophy

Learner-Centered Instruction

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Learner-centered instruction is a term that has been used in education for several decades now. One of the challenges of extremely popular terms in a field such as learner-centered instruction is that the term loses its meaning as people throw it into a discussion without knowing exactly what the term means.

The purpose of this post is to try and explain some of the characteristics of learner-centered instruction without being exhaustive.  In addition, we will look at the challenges to this philosophy as well as ways to make it happen in the classroom.

Focus on the Students

Learner-centered instruction is focused on the students. What this means is that the teacher takes into account the learning goals and objectives of the students in establishing what to teach. This requires the teacher to conduct at least an informal needs assessment to figure out what the students want to learn.

Consultation with the students allows for the students to have some control over their learning which is empowering as viewed by those who ascribe to critical theory. Consultation also allows students to be creative and innovative. This sounds like a perfect learning situation but to be  this centered  on the learner can be difficult

Challenge of Learner-Centered Instruction

Since the learning experience is determined by the students, the teacher does not have any presupposed plan in place prior to consulting with the students. As such, not having a plan in place beforehand is extremely challenging for new teachers and difficult even for experienced ones. The teacher doesn’t know what to expect in terms of the needs of the students.

In theory, almost no class follows such a stringent approach to learner-centered instruction. Most schools have to meet government requirements, prepare students for the workplace, and or show improvements in testing. This limits the freedom of the teacher to be learner-centered in many ways. External factors cannot be ignored to adhere to the philosophy of learner-centered instruction.

Finding a Compromise

One way to be learner-centered while still having some sort of a plan prior to teaching is to rethink the level at which the students have a voice in the curriculum. For example, if it is not possible to change the objectives of a course, the teacher can have the students develop the assignments they want to do to achieve an objective.

The teacher could also allow the students to pick from several different assignments that all help to achieve the same objective(s). This gives the students some control over their learning while allowing the teacher to adhere to external requirements. It also allows the teacher to be prepared in some way prior to the teaching.

Conclusion

The average educator does not have the autonomy to give to students to allow for the full implementation of learner-centered instruction. However, there are several ways to adjust one’s approach to teaching that will allow students to have a sense of control over their learning.

Philosophical Foundations of Research: Epistemology

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Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge. It deals with questions as is there truth and or absolute truth, is there one way or many ways to see something. In research, epistemology manifest itself in several views. The two extremes are positivism and interpretivism.

Positivism

Positivism asserts that all truth can be verified and proven scientifically and can be measured and or observed. This position discounts religious revelation as a source of knowledge as this cannot be verified scientifically. The position of positivist is also derived from realism in that there is an external world out there that needs to be studied.

For researchers, positivism is the foundation of quantitative research. Quantitative researchers try to be objective in their research, they try to avoid coming into contact with whatever they are studying as they do not want to disturb the environment. One of the primary goals is to make generalizations that are applicable in all instances.

For quantitative researchers, they normally have a desire to test a theory. In other words, the develop one example of what they believe is a truth about a phenomenon (a theory) and they test the accuracy of this theory with statistical data. The data determines the accuracy of the theory and the changes that need to be made.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people were looking for alternative ways to approach research. One new approach was interpretivism.

Interpretivism

Interpretivism is the complete opposite of positivism in many ways. Interpretivism asserts that there is no absolute truth but relative truth based on context. There is no single reality but multiple realities that need to be explored and understood.

For interpretist, There is a fluidity in their methods of data collection and analysis. These two steps are often iterative in the same design. Furthermore, intrepretist see themselves not as outside the reality but a player within it. Thus, they often will share not only what the data says but their own view and stance about it.

Qualitative researchers are interpretists. They spend time in the field getting close to their participants through interviews and observations. They then interpret the meaning of these communications to explain a local context specific reality.

While quantitative researchers test theories, qualitative researchers build theories. For qualitative researchers, they gather data and interpret the data by developing a theory that explains the local reality of the context. Since the sampling is normally small in qualitative studies, the theories do not often apply to many.

Conclusion

There is little purpose in debating which view is superior. Both positivism and interpretivism have their place in research. What matters more is to understand your position and preference and to be able to articulate in a reasonable manner. It is often not what a person does and believes that is important as why they believe or do what they do.

Philosophical Foundations of Research: Ontology

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Philosophy is a term that is commonly used but hard to define. To put it simply, philosophy explains an individuals or a groups worldview in general or in a specific context. Such questions as the nature of knowledge, reality, and existence are questions that philosophy tries to answer. There are different schools of thought on these questions and these are what we commonly call philosophies

In this post, we will try to look at ontology, which is the study of the nature of reality. In particular, we will define it as well as explain its influence on research.

Ontology

Ontology is the study of the nature of being. It tries to understand the reality of existence. In this body of philosophy, there are two major camps, ontological realism, and ontological idealism.

Ontological realism believes that reality is objective. In other words, there is one objective reality that is external to each individual person. We are in a reality and we do not create it.

Ontological idealism is the opposite extreme. This philosophy states that there are multiple realities an each depends on the person. My reality is different from your reality and each of us builds our own reality.

Ontological realism is one of the philosophical foundations for quantitative research. Quantitative research is a search for an objective reality that accurately explains whatever is being studied.

For qualitative researchers, ontological idealism is one of their philosophical foundations. Qualitative researchers often support the idea of multiple realities. For them, since there is no objective reality it is necessary to come contact with people to explain their reality.

Something that has been alluded to but not stated specifically is the role of independence and dependence of individuals. Regardless of whether someone ascribes to ontological realism or idealis, there is the factor of whether people or independent of reality or dependent to reality. The level of independence and dependence contributes to other philosophies such as objectivism constructivism and pragmatism.

Objectivism, Constructivism and Pragmatism

Objectivism is the belief that there is a single reality that is independent of the individuals within it. Again this is the common assumption of quantitative research. At the opposite end we have constructivism which states that there are multiple realities and the are dependent on the individuals who make each respective reality.

Pragmatism supports the idea of a single reality with the caveat that it is true if it is useful and works. The application of the idea depends upon the individuals, which pushes pragmatism into the realm of dependence.

Conclusion

From this complex explanation of ontology and research comes the following implications

  • Quantitative and qualitative researchers differ in how they see reality. Quantitative researchers are searching for and attempting to explain a single reality while qualitative researchers are searching for and trying to explain multiple realities.
  • Quantitative and qualitative researchers also differ on the independence of reality. Quantitative researchers see reality as independent of people while qualitative researchers see reality as dependent on people
  • These factors of reality and its dependence shape the methodologies employed by quantitative and qualitative researchers.

Approach, Method, Procedure, and Techniques In Language Learning

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In language teaching,  in the general area of teaching methodology, people talk about approaches, methods, procedures, and techniques. This post will help to clarify the meaning of these interrelated terms and provide examples of each.

Approaches

An approach is a theory about language learning or even a philosophy of how people learn in general. They can be psychologically focused such as behaviorism or cognitivism. They can also be based on older philosophies such as idealism or realism.

Approaches are fuzzy and hard to define because they are broad in nature. An example of an approach that leads to a method would be the philosophies of scholasticism, faculty of psychology, or even perennialism. Each of these philosophies encouraged the development of the mind in the way of a muscle. Train the brain and a person would be able to do many different things. These philosophies have impacted some methods of language teaching as we will see below.

Method

A method is an application of an approach in the context of language teaching. An example of a method is the grammar-translation method. This method employs the memorization of various grammar rules and the translation of second language material to the student’s native language. Students were able to develop the intellectual capacity to understand the new language through a deductive process of acquiring the rules of the language.The purpose is not to critique this method but to show how it was derived from the approach that the mind needs to be trained through intellectual exercises to be able to accomplish something.

Procedures

Procedures are the step-by-step measures to execute a method. These step-by-step measures are called techniques and will be discussed next. Common procedures for the grammar-translation method includes the following…

The ESL / ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide

  1. The class reads a text written in the second language.
  2. Student translates the passage from the second language to their mother tongue.
  3. Student translates new words from the second language to their mother tongue.
  4. Student is given a grammar rule and derived from the example they apply the rule by using the new words.
  5. Student memorizes the vocabulary of the second language.
  6. Student memorizes grammar rules.
  7. Errors made by the student are corrected by providing the right answers.

This is the process (with variation) that is used when employing the grammar-translation method.

Techniques

A technique is a single activity that comes from a procedure. Anyone of the steps of the procedure list above qualifies as a technique. Naturally, various methods employ various techniques.

Conclusion

Language teaching involves approaches that lead to methods, methods that are broken down into procedures, and procedures that are a collection of techniques. Understanding how these concepts interrelate can help a teacher know the reasons behind their choices in how they choose to teach.

Ancient Philosophies and Education

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In research related to education and learning theories, there are two major philosophies that influence almost the entire field of education. The name of these two philosophies are rationalism and empiricism. In this post, we will take a closer look at each of these philosophies and their impact on education.

Rationalism

Rationalism is a form of epistemology that states that knowledge grows from the process of reasoning without reliance on the senses. In this philosophy, there is a strong distinction between knowledge acquired by the senses and by reason. According to Plato, a major proponent of this philosophy, things a.k.a matter are revealed by the senses. Ideas, on the other hand, are revealed by reasoning. This reasoning process is a systematic reflection upon the ideas of the world, which leads to further ideas being developed.

Rene Descartes was a French philosopher of the 17th century. He extended the work of Plato by stating that the primary difference between man and beast was the former’s ability to reason. For Descartes, the external world was mechanical. In many ways, this idea paved the way for naturalism and materialism of the 19th century.

In summary, rationalism is focused upon the development of the mind through thinking processes. This philosophy is at the heart of such learning theories that related specifically to information processing. Rationalism has also influence educational philosophies such as perennialism and to a lesser extent essentialism.

Empiricism

On the opposite end of the spectrum of epistemology is empiricism. Empiricism states that experience through the senses is the only source of knowledge. Aristotle was the developer of this position. He stated that ideas cannot exist independent of the external world. It is the information one gathers not from thinking but from one’s senses that leads to knowledge.

This idea was taken a step further by John Locke in the 17th century. Locke is famous for proposing what he called the tabla rasa. This was a phrase for stating that a person is born a blank slate. As the grow and take in information through the senses does the person acquire ideas about their environment and self.

Empiricism is one of the dominating philosophies of modern time. The scientific method, various learning theories on associational learning, and educational philosophies focused on experiential learning are based on empiricism.

Conclusion

More could be said about these two philosophies. The point that is being made is that they have had a strong influence on education. Most major debates in education share positions stated by one of these philosophies. When people speak of critical thinking and the development of the mind they are pulling concepts from rationalism. When people speak of job skills and hands on training they are deriving arguments from empiricism. In reality, a combination of both will lead to well-rounded individuals.

Constructivism & Curriculum

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For some people, there is confusion over constructivism. For starters, constructivism is not considered a theory by many educators. Rather, constructivism is a philosophy that addresses the nature of knowledge and learning.

Constructivist see knowledge as always changing and being developed by the learner and is built upon the work of Piaget, Vygotsky, and even Dewey. In this philosophy, the learner develops knowledge by building upon what they already know. The learner is actively involved in their learning as they interact with their environment and with other people.  In behaviorism, it is an external force that acts upon the learner but in constructivism, it is the learner who is acting upon the external environment. The student transforms the knowledge as the internalize it.

A curriculum that is heavily influenced by the philosophy of constructivism has students who are actively engaged in learning in a social environment. This includes such strategies as project-based learning, cooperative learning, and opportunities for problem-solving. For many, including opportunities for reflecting on learning experiences helps students to build knowledge is another aspect of constructivism.

Progressivism & Curriculum

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Progressivism is derived from the older philosophy of pragmatism. It grew out of the larger progressivist movement of the earlier 20th century in the United States.

Believers of progressivism believe that since reality is always changing truth is relative and not absolute. There is no reason to focus on a fixed, established body of knowledge. This is in contrast to perennialism and essentialism.  Supporters of progressivism also are against a transmission style of teaching where the student passively receives information from a teacher, which is also known as rote learning. Instead, students should be involved in problem-solving and the use of the scientific method. This active forms of learning engaged students and prepare them for the real world

John Dewey was probably one of the biggest supporters of progressivism. He believed that a curriculum should be interdisciplinary. This allows students to make connections between subjects rather than learn in isolation. He also stressed the role of democracy in the classroom. Students and teachers need to plan what will be learned together. This was radical at the time and still highly uncommon in the 21st century.

In many ways, progressivists were the first to champion student-centered learning. However, one criticism of this movement was that it was too student-centered and neglected the subject matter. With time, progressivism splinter into several radical groups and eventually its influence in education declined considerably.

Essentialism & Curriculum

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Essentialism is another prominent educational philosophy. This philosophy is grounded in idealism and realism of the ancient Greeks. The heart of essentialism is the the “essentials” which includes the 3Rs.

A major difference between essentialism and perennialism is essentialism is focused on what is necessary foundational knowledge that students currently need. Perennialism’s curriculum tends to be unchanging since it is focused on absolute truth.

The arts are not a major component of existentialism since art is not deemed necessary. Instead, there is an emphasis on mastering skills and presenting a subject-centered curriculum to students who are not consulted about what they want to learn. The teacher is the center of the learning and the student is to respect the authority of the teacher.

More on essentialism and the role of the teacher can be found here

Perennialism and Curriculum

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Perennialism is a specific educational philosophy and is derived from ancient Greek philosophies such as idealism and realism. One of the major tenets of perennialism is that knowledge that has withstood the test of time is what is needed to be taught. The goals of education have been the same throughout time. Human nature is constant and mankind has the ability to understand the truths of nature.

Common characteristics of a perennialist curriculum is a subject centered lessons, organized body of knowledge, and a focuses on developing the thinking skills of students. Lecture, question, and answer are common instructional methods. There is no difference among students and everyone learns the same thing at the same speed.  The “three Rs” are one form of this type of curriculum.

A more recent view of perennialism and the teacher is available here

Existentialism & Curriculum

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Existentialism is a post-WWII philosophy that has had influence in curriculum. This philosophy’s tenets include people choices define who they are. For example, I am choose to teach this makes me a teacher. Other tenets of this philosophy is individualism, freedom of choice, and personal fulfillment. Choice is what often leads to self-fulfillment.  Lastly, there is a somewhat strong anti-authority streak in existentialism in which proponents of this philosophy are against group conformity as they are seen as stripping people of choice.

In education, existentialism can be seen in curriculum’s that emphasize study choice in what they study. The arts are a strong component as well as other forms of the humanities. Self-expression is also important and experiences that contribute to individual choice are highly valued.

There are many supports of this philosophy. Among them includes Maxine Greene, George Kneller, and Van Cleve Morris. Interestingly, this philosophy is unpopular with traditional educators because it is sometimes seen anti-group and establishment beliefs.

Pragmatism

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Pragmatism a.k.a experientialism is in many ways a daughter of realism. This view holds that knowledge changes and are relative. This is in contrast to the tenet of idealism that truth is absolute.  In pragmatism, the learners in their environment are constantly changing and the learner develops knowledge through problem-solving. Everything must be tested to be tentatively accepted.  This concern for testing ideas is derived from the scientific method. Critical thinking is important for people who support pragmatism. In addition, the teaching focuses more on exploring ideas rather than explaining them. The focus of the curriculum is upon the learner’s experiences with an interdisciplinary approach. As they inquire and discover students are having experiences that prepare them for life. The biggest proponent of this philosophy of learning was John Dewey.

There is more to learn about pragmatism here

Curriculum & Realism

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Aristotle is credited with the development of realism. Realism is about viewing the world in terms of what a person experiences through their senses. This is almost the opposite of idealism and its focus on the mind. Realist focus on experiencing things through as you may have guessed, experiences. Experiments in many ways are really just experiences people have had that were conducted in a scientific manner.

Within education, realism can be seen through proponents of experimentalism which emphasizes students have various experiences as part of their education. These experiences can be something as simple as a field trip. Hands on activities in the classroom is another outgrowth of realist thinking.  Science is above the liberal arts because of its engagement with the real world in a concrete manner. The goal of realism in education is to encourage active learning through engaging as many senses as possible. Through the avenues of the senses learning takes place.

You can read more about realism at this link

Idealism & Curriculum

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Idealism is a philosophy developed by Plato.  One of the many tenets of idealism is that truth can be found through reasoning, intuition, and divine revelation. There is such as thing as absolute truth and the world is composed of ideas primarily.

For curriculum, idealist concepts come through when people believe that learning is mostly an intellectual process. Teaching connects ideas together when teaching the students. The education is highly structured and one of the best examples of this is the liberal arts education. The humanities are viewed as the most important subjects because these fields deal with ideas. The sciences are lower on the scale because they deal with observation.

Many famous educators supported idealism. Among them includes William Harris, Fredrich Froebel, and William Bennett. A more detailed analysis of idealism and teaching is available here.

Curriculum Development & Philosophy

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Philosophy is the collection of attitudes, beliefs, experiences, and worldview that people have. These perceptions of reality are summarized and defined as a personal philosophy.  A person’s philosophy influences their thinking and actions. Within curriculum,  a teacher’s philosophy impacts how they design and implement curriculum.

For example, a teacher who believes that general knowledge is most important will emphasize this in their curriculum. Their philosophy or belief is that general knowledge will prepare students to handle many different problems in life. Where these beliefs come from is the teacher’s own experiences and the values that were passed down to them from their parents and teachers.

There are several different philosophies that we are going to look at over the next few post. Each of these philosophies continues to impact curriculum not only in the US but worldwide.