Maria Montessori - Personal Philosophy and Plato - Essay Example

I agree with the philosophies of Plato's education who cited education to be a factor to differentiate between the greater good of society. I believe that children should be educated as per their capabilities and the lower classes should not be left out from the gift of education. Nowadays it is seen that money has become a source for education and many of the gifted individuals are sidelined only because they do not have enough money. Plato has given philosophies on education which clearly show that people should be emphasizing the importance of education. An idealistic society always has a great educational background and thus education can be considered as the foremost factor of improvisation in this world. This essay would further revolve around the theories of Plato on education and their relation to my philosophy when it comes to education (Blackburn 2007; Mill 1867).

Education is the key to success in this world as believed by many but it is still seen that many individuals are left behind when it comes to this success factor. Many of the developing countries are still lagging in their rate of literacy only because individuals in these developing countries do not have a proper curriculum for education. The authoritative classes in these societies have been lagging behind what it requires to run a society and education is not considered a prime factor in these classes. Plato in Republic has argued on this point as he states that the authoritative classes of the society must earn relevant education so that they can raise the society as per an idealist one. In many cases, it is seen that the teachers consider themselves the supreme leader of the subject without any competition in their field of subject and this can be considered as a loss to the pillars of education.

Many teachers these days do not like being questioned about their subject as they think that they have all that is required in that subject. In other words, these teachers consider themselves the ‘God’ of the subject. But this clearly can be said to be wrong as no one in this world has all the relevant knowledge about a particular subject. Plato in his theory of education stated that teachers should always be willing to learn in their lives and they should always be willing to share their knowledge for the greater good of society. The teachers should not teach to earn but should rather make a primary goal of educating people. Educating individuals is a moral aspect of life that all teachers should fulfill concerning morality in society. I believe that teachers should teach only to educate individuals so that these individuals can make a difference in society. Secondly, the teacher should be always willing to learn more from his students, and thus cross-questioning in lectures is an important way through which the teacher can learn even more (Blackburn 2007).

Plato’s theory of education was widely based on the life stages in which he termed every life stage as a learning stage. It started from children of six years old to adults of 50 years and above. He believed that in every stage of life, individuals are striving to learn more so that they can exist in society. Similarly, I believe that one should never give up learning but should rather dedicate his life to it so that he can learn from every aspect of life until he enters his grave. Plato believed that expertise and skills are gods gifted and one should not underestimate anyone. Everyone has a right to learn regardless of his class and wealth which clearly shows differences in the field of education. An individual belonging to a lower class can also become a philosopher because of the nongenetic achievement of talent. Thus every individual should be checked for talent before judging him or her based on class and wealth. In my view wealth and class in society is a secondary option whereas talent is one thing which should be kept primary when talking about education. Every child should be given a chance as he might have the talent required to achieve his goal (Blackburn 2007).

With the right education and talent, a person can differentiate between the greater good of society as put down by Stuart Mill (Mill 1867). Plato believed in an idealistic society which can only be achieved if individuals are properly educated and then given command. I believe that every individual should be given a right to educate himself so that he can achieve the greater good of society. Children are in a stage of life where education begins and thus in my view, this is a stage of life in which education should be primarily focused. In third world countries, the first step to improvise the literacy rate is to improve the curriculums so that the children can be educated first so that they can become the guardians of the society. These children can bring a difference to society as put down by Plato only if they are provided with the right type of education (Blackburn 2007). Read More