CURRICULUM AND

PHILOSOPHY
BY
TAHIRA AZIZ

CURRICULUM AND
PHILOSOPHY
primary questions
What is the purpose of education?
What kind of citizens and what kind of
society we want?
What methods of instruction or classroom
organization

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
PHILOSOPHY AND CURRICULUM
Suggest purpose in education
Clarify objectives and learning activities in
school
Suggest the format for instructional delivery
Guide the selection of learning strategies
and tactics in the classroom
Organize evaluation activities

DETERMINANTS OF AN
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Ontology
Epistemology
Axiology

EDUCATIONAL
PHILOSOPHIES AND
CURRICULUM

PERRINIALISM
Educational aims of idealists:
Development of intellect
Providing opportunities to think and reason
Character development
To preserve the heritage and transmit the
culture of society to next generation

Curriculum :
Subject matter of history, literature,
philosophy, mathematics, foreign language
and religion.
Moral and religious training
Emphasis on information which will not be
soon outdated.

Teaching methods :
Socratic method of reasoning
Handling ideas through lecture, discussion
and Socratic dialogue

Role of students:

Hardworking and obedient

Students are characterized by will to perfection.

They want to be ideal person.
Focus is on the development of intellect in order to find
the ultimate reality or truth.
Students interests and experiences are not considered.

Role of teacher:
Teacher is an ideal person.
He is a master of the subject.
He is not concerned about students
interests and experiences.
He has encyclopedic knowledge.
He tries to develop students morally and
spiritually.

ESSENTIALISM

CONT
Learning involves hard work and unwilling
application
The initiative in education lies with teacher
rather than students
The heart of educational process is learning
prescribed subject matter
The school should retain traditional
methods and discipline

CONT
Metaphysics
What is relevant hat helps an individual live well and
benefits humanity.
Epistemology
Truth exists in the classics and modern science.
Students must learn process and content.
Knowledge is gained through the interaction of experiences
and rational thought interaction.

Axiology
Determined by natural order of things
Values exist in the best of culture
Focus on inductive and deductive thinking

CONT
Teachers role
Expert of content knowledge
Teaches essential knowledge
Maintains task oriented focus

Curriculum
Strong emphasis on basic skills, disciplined
knowledge and scholastic achievement.
Traditional discipline such as maths, natural
sciences, foreign language and literature,
vocational courses.
A body of knowledge to be mastered.
Content gradually moves towards more
complex skills and knowledge.
Students have to master a level before they
are promoted to the next level.

Students role

Listen and learn

PROGRESSIVISM

CONT.

John Dewey and Kilpatrick

experience has four qualities;

It is dynamic and never static
It emerges over period of time and grows
It is not limited to a place or thing
It is vast relationship of spiritual and
material, and also intellectual and
emotional.

Basic assumptions
Change is the ultimate reality of the world
Pupils are active rather than passive
Teachers role is that of advisor, guide and fellow traveler rather
than authoritarian and class director.
Classroom activity should focus on problem solving rather than
artificial methods of teaching education should be life not the
preparation for life
Education should be associated with the interest of the
students
School should promote cooperation rather than competition.
School should function on democratic principles.
Teacher should be a counselor.
Mastery over subject should be gained through problem
solving method

Aims of education:
Overall development of the individual
enabling him to put the ideas to work.
Enabling one to interact with self and
environment.
Rejecting the doctrines over powering
forces.
Using education as the greatest culture
instrument for changing educational
process.

Student role:
The child is active and dynamic and
modifies his behavior in the light of
experiences.
The mind, intellect, feelings, habits and
bodilyresponses all are interwoven in
learning.
The learning of the child ranges from reflex
actions and impulsive responses to
reflective thinking.

Teacher:
The teacher arouses interest of students in
learning
The children are motivated for learning.
Teacher tries to direct the experiences to
yield efficiency.
The personality of self is the product of
communication with others.

Curriculum:

The skill and experimentation is expressed.

It should be child centered and community
centered.
Artificial problem solving is discouraged.
Curriculum changes with the changing needs of
the society and individual
Curriculum encompasses all social life of an
individual.
Psychological, physiological, social and spiritual
growth is stressed through strengthening his
habits.

Teaching methods:
The teaching methods have the quality of
experience based on change, development
over a period of time.
Problem solving and experimental methods
are preferred over other methods by
progressive philosophy.
Discussion method is also used where the
teacher skill is the main focus.

RECONSTRUCTIONISM

CONT

social questions and a quest to create a

society and worldwide democracy.

Theodore Brameld(1904-1987)

Basic theory:

The philosophy of reconstructionism tends

to establish a system, which is based on
person, society, senses and experiment and
which provides solution to all problems of
human life.

CONT
ONTOLOGY
Democracy is the only truth and reality
EPISTEMOLOGY
Experiments, senses and observations are
the realities of true knowledge
AXIOLOGY
Culture and society are the basic source of
values. There are no permanent values.

Educational objectives
Education should reflect social and
economic considerations.
Education should reconstruct and set a new
social system

TEACHER:
Teacher is the leader of the students.
He prepares students for social revolution.
He provides the students with opportunities
to discuss and provide the solutions to the
social problems.
He introduces new social plans after reevaluating social and cultural values.
He prepares students for new social order.

STUDENT:
Students have OPTIMISTIC VIEW POINT
Student is realistic ( observes the facts of life and
set a pattern of actions)
He has full freedom of thought
Students work and eradicate social ills
Students express and listen the objective viewpoint.
Student works for the new social order and
sacrifices personal interests over collective interest.
He is a hard worker.
He is an active learner.

CURRICULIM

student experience and taking social action

on real problems

ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION

ONTOLOGY
Almighty Allah is the ultimate reality.
This world is temporary.
Man is the best of all creatures.
EPISTEMOLOGY
sources of knowledge Quran and Sunnah
AXIOLOGY
piety (Taqwa)

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION
AIMS:
Recognition of Allah
Acquistion of Allahs consent
To prepare man as vicegerent of Allah
Developing awareness and comprehension
of Islam
Developing concern of the life hereafter.

CURRICULUM PRIORITIES
there are four types of knowledge(Imam Ghazali )
Mandatory
Beliefs and worship
Semi mandatory
Arabic grammar, Islamic history, Quranic interpretation, hadith,
principles of hadith, jurisprudence, biographies of narrators of
hadith and principles of jurisprudence.
Worldly knowledge
Chemistry, mathematics, physics, and sociology
Optional
Poetry and literature, history of nation, Islamic literature,
geography
Forbidden
Prophecy, palmistry

CONT..

TEACHING LEARNING STRATEGIES

Lecture, question and answer and demonstration
TEACHER
Teacher is the hier of the prophet.
He is central figure
He is competent and has ideal character
He focuses on both knowledge and training
STUDENT
Very respected
Angels pray when they are on the way of
knowledge