Philosophy of Workplace Education and Training - Assignment Example

PHILOSOPHY OF WORKPLACE EDUCATION AND TRAINING Philosophers and scholars have determined various ideologies and philosophies of education, which include liberal, behaviorist, progressive, humanist and radical ones. Though the basic objective of all types of educational philosophies is just to teach the learners in a broad and comprehensive way, the discipline that they are eager to learn, so that they can obtain their command over the syllabus and outline of the courses offer to them, yet all the philosophies maintain some specific methodologies in order to create some extra qualities in the learners; and adult liberal educational philosophy is the most refined learning methodology adopted and selected by a large number of educational institutions, colleges, universities and academies. The Institute for International Liberal Education New York is also among such educational organizations offering liberal education. Situated in the New York City, the institution fulfils all the requirements of liberal education methodology. Being an international organization and having the students from all corners of the globe, it lays stress upon the communicating and interacting with the students in a cultured way without displaying any prejudiced behavior on the basis of class, caste, creed, community, ethnicity, race, region, religion, gender or socioeconomic status. The institution strongly believes in liberal education methodology and views the very reality that since teaching has been one of the noblest professions, and the teachers had been the brain-developer of the greatest personalities including rulers, conquerors, generals and philosophers, there must always be character building of the students as the priority for the teachers, because the significance of this profession had been evident due to coaching and shaping the mind and character of the new generations. “The tradition in adult liberal education”, Newman holds, “that learning should be for learnings sake, that adult education should concern itself with the pursuit of truth, and that this truth can usually be found within the conventional university subject disciplines taught in a reasonably conventional academic style.” (1993 p. 45) It is teacher, as the thinkers observe, which play pivotal role in the education and training of the whole generation. “The mind is”, Jones observes, “cultivated, nurtured, and assisted primarily by teachers. And because of these essential activities, teachers and the profession of teaching have been esteemed throughout history.” (Gibbs Magazine, June 2000) The performance and standard of the Institution of International Liberal Education (IILE) can be estimated and assessed according to the six elements given in the Table 1. The Institution has devised comprehensive learning program regarding liberal art education under its sway. All the basic forms of arts and literature including drama, poetry, novel, prose, music, dance, sculpture and paintings are taught in the institution, which develop the brains of the students on the one hand, and create universal thoughtfulness in them. They acknowledge the utter need for the application of the principles of equality, freedom, ethics and morality to make the world an extremely peaceful place. The Economist (1995) also indicates the same in these words: “Historically, man has expanded the reach of his ethical calculations, as ignorance and want have receded, first beyond family and tribe, later beyond religion, race, and nation. To bring other species more fully into the range of these decisions may seem unthinkable to moderate opinion now. One day, decades or centuries hence, it may seem no more than civilized behavior requires.” (Matt Ball: quoted in Veganoutreach.Org 1995). The purpose of developing such a pleasant environment and devising comprehensive courses of study is the intellectual growth and character-building of the students. The sublime truthfulness, attributed to the classical and medieval times, is the distinction of the environment of the institution. In addition, the IILE pays more heed to ethics and morality, even than the courses of studies it offers to its students. Professional ethics refers to the rules and regulations, based on ethical values, prescribed to define the patterns of professional behavior. This behavior supports to describe and illustrate rights and obligations of individuals to some specific sort of work. “Ethics is”, according to Thomson Gale, “the branch of philosophy that defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of obligations, or duties, that people owe themselves and one another”. The ethics are among the social norms, values and mores prevailing in the contemporary society. “Ethics has developed”, the Columbia University Press views, “as people have reflected on the intentions and consequences of their acts. From this reflection on the nature of human behavior, theories of conscience have developed, giving direction to much ethical thinking.” It is therefore, the main purpose of the IILE is infusing the spirit of classical age that may turn its students into intelligent and moderate professionals on the one hand and very beneficial and useful citizens on the other. The students and learners of the IILE contain the literary and artistic educational background, which is the fundamental criterion of getting admission at the institution. Moreover, the institution takes aptitude test too before offering the students admission in it. The students of the IILE are very refined, sophisticated and well-bred individuals. The institution adds to their manners and civilized etiquettes within its environment. On the basis of morality described by the philosophers and intellectuals of ancient Greece, IILE lays stress upon the students to analyze their views and opinions in a broader way. The main objective behind analyzing ones own thinking for an individual is to evaluate the knowledge one has attained on the one hand and to support his mental growth and cognitive development on the other. Furthermore, in order to make distinction between good and evil, analysis of ones own thinking maintains significant importance. If man develops a habit of analyzing his thinking, all his actions will take a positive direction, for it is mind and thinking which control all the actions and steps taken by man. The ancient Greeks, including the seven sages, Socrates, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle and others instigate the masses to seek knowledge and wisdom. IILE is imitating the foot-prints of those sages and intellectuals. Since Almighty God, the Creator, has made man out of His own image and bestowed upon him the blessings of knowledge, it is knowledge that distinguishes man from animals, beasts and even angels too elevating his position superior to all. Socrates, the great philosopher and thinker of ancient Greece, always preached for the implication of knowing oneself. If an individual looks into himself and analyzes his mind and personality, he gets acquainted with the favors of his Lord upon him. All the philosophers and theorists of the ancient times maintained almost the same views and exercised the same values. That is why most of these philosophers including Zarathustra, Anaximander, Lao-tze, Pythagoras, Gautama, Confucius and others had encouraged the learning of mathematics and gymnastics on the one hand and advocated morality, charity, love, wisdom and goodness on the other. They viewed such characteristics highly important for man and very near to human nature; thus beneficial for the whole mankind. Their study of human nature revealed before them the behavioral approach of psychology where only goodness can make balance in the equation of peace and justice in the whole world. The future philosophers i.e. Heraclitus, Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others also imitated their forerunners and gave special attention to the same values including goodness, morality and truthfulness, and taught mathematics, logic, gymnastics and philosophy. Socrates is quoted to be stated that the theme of real knowledge is that one must say that he knows nothing. He maintains that as mathematics shapes intellect and gymnastic shapes body, it is wisdom that shapes the human soul. Pure soul is necessary to make up a pure mind and heart, which consequently forms a neat, clean, sober and pure social set up. Plato and Aristotle displayed almost the same feelings regarding human psychology and contributed to the knowledge of their predecessor philosopher. The Stoic period of Rome also contained depth and universality in its fold, where the spiritual leader Zeno established new tradition of leading a secluded life in order to gain spiritual and moral satisfaction by living far from the materialistic social set up. Zenos teachings got respectable place in ancient Roman cult, culture and civilization and people imitated his ways for many decades. Liberal education wide opens countless dimensions of learning for man. It is the essence of academic learning, and particularly exploring personality and self. The zeal of learning and the enthusiasm to put that in form of learning is a stimulating factor which sets aside the academic genres from the outside environment. Liberal education is supported by the specialized groups of thinkers who learn to stimulate their own mind as well as the minds of others. This is selective world of scholars to find out originality of expression through research, analysis and introspection. The superb and magnificent world of intellectuals and writers presents transparent and crystal-clear dimensions for the exploration of wide range of diverse learning procedure with reflections and judgments of the odds and ends of life. They make the people learn how to enjoy their freedom of thought and expression, making the observation part of their intellect and selectively filtering the cream from the content, though they contain the selective number of audience. IILE is successfully meeting all the requirements of the learners of liberal education in a fabulous and glorious way. Since teacher is the fashioner of the young brains, the administration of the IILE has directed the teaching faculty the necessity of the professional ethics to identify the rights and duties in the dual relationship between teacher and students. The faculty of arts and literature consists of highly qualified, devoted and professional staff members from the divergent ethnicity and social stratum of society, which has vast experience of dealing with the individuals from various schools of thought and socialization process. Moreover, the teaching staff of the IILE vehemently declares exploration and examination of the advantageous and disadvantageous traits in the personality of the students, which is highly supportive in defining the future profession of the students. IILE maintains that as soon as an individual knows his positive points and merits hidden in his personality, he can gird up his loins to make maximum benefit out of it for himself as well as for other human beings. Furthermore, knowing oneself is helpful in overcoming ones weaknesses and drawbacks one contains in his personality. Knowing oneself is the ladder, a spiritual way of recognizing the Lord of the heavens and earth. Making ones analysis and seeking knowledge are two ways to know one’s own self. Man can know himself by thinking about the process of his birth. There are many signs in the objects of nature too in order to recognize one’s self. Man is unable to make even a bee, but he has been gifted powers to surmount high mountains, vast deserts and endless oceans. All these objects of nature teach the individuals and are a way to learn many things about him, and man learns these things by studying under the instructions and directions of the liberal education. Though Nature has revealed its beauties in every of its objects and many subjects are determined to acquire one thing or the other for describing natural phenomena, and few disciplines including Literature, Philosophy, Art, Psychology, Metaphysics, Astrology and Astronomy etc have made efforts to discover the secrets of human soul and mind to some extent, yet many aspects are still to get explored in order to accomplish the task of searching out vigilance and wisdom for the guidance and benefit of human beings at large. It is liberal education that is extremely helpful in respect of discovering the depth of natural and social realities on individual and collective basis. Swiss biologist Jean Piaget and Russian psychologist Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky are of the view that it is necessary for a child’s development that he must interact with other individuals of society as well as learn arts and literature for the refinement of mind and thoughts. Piaget views that the ability of doing abstract symbolic reasoning distinguishes humans from animals. Human have the abilities to symbolize the abstract things around them, which animal are unable to do. “There are”, Piaget submits, “two basic classes of explanation for why children perform better on various intellectual tasks as they get order: One is that they think better and the other is that they know better.”(Piaget: 1952, quoted in Anderson, 1990:412) IILE is well-aware of the very fact that colleges, universities and institutes have obtained sonorous place in the development, growth and progress of a nation. The students who have been coached, guided and taught properly become a very useful and creative part of the nation. The institution offers the philosophy of the modern and post modern times, including Descartes, Nietzsche, Milton, Marx, Kant, Comte, Mills, Freud, Darwin, George Bernard Shaw and Bertrand Russell, which influenced and shaped the minds of the students. There is moral lesson and intellectual message of liberty, equality and brotherhood in all the philosophies offered at IILE. These philosophies describe the sense of learning liberal arts and literature and give meaning to the whole learning phenomena. If teachers are unable to perform their role in the right way, the future of the whole country or state is in serious jeopardy. Hence, the institutions and colleges are the axis of both prosperity and adversity. “The dispositional component of reasonableness”, Splitter & Sharp opine, “helps bridge the notorious gap between thought and action. As a result of thinking in certain ways, the reasonable person arrives at decisions and judgments upon which they are prepared to act.” (1995: p 3) If there are cordial relations between teacher and students, and both intend to work for the betterment of humans and community, the society is bound to make progress by leaps and bounds. Conflict and lack of co-operation between them shakes the very foundations of institution, community and the state. Thus, it is liberal education, which erects the building of the learners’ abilities on the concrete on foundation of spiritual and broad-way education and training process. REFERENCES Anderson, J. R. (1990) Cognitive Psychology And Its Implications. Third Edition, W.H. Freeman & Company, New York. P 412 Ball, Matt (1995) A Theory of Ethics. (Quoted in http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/hypocrites.html) Columbia University Press Jones, F.A. (June 14, 2000) Teaching:  Honorable Profession But what has gone wrong? Gibbs Magazine, Edition June 2000. Merrill, Francis Ellsworth & Eldredge, H. Wentworth (1969) Society and Culture. Prentice Hall Publishers. Newman, M. (1993) The Third Contract. Theory & Practice in Trade Union Training. Stewart Victor Publishing, Sydney. p 45 Piaget, J (1952) The Origin of Intelligence in Children. International University Press, NY. P 219 Splitter, Lawrence J. & Sharp, Ann M. (1995) Teaching for Better Thinking: The Classroom Community of Inquiry. The Australian Council for Educational Research Camberwell p 3 Institution for International Liberal Education. (Quoted in http://www.bard.edu/iile/) www.tulsacc.edu/page.asp REFLECTION LETTER Zinn (1995) has identifies PAEI, which reflects the scores regarding the five philosophies of adult education. While making an analysis of the questions given, it becomes evident that I have special aptitude for Liberal Education, followed by Radical and Humanistic philosophies respectively. The basic reason for preferring Liberal adult education includes my special aptitude towards philosophy, literature, history and law since ever. It is therefore, I give priority to the six elements of these philosophies. Being a traditionalist as well as the great admirer of the ancient Greek philosophy, the methodologies adopted and encouraged by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Piaget and others particularly captures my attention. The works and thoughts of the French philosopher Rousseau had played vital role in bringing the mighty French Revolution in 1789. In addition, equality, co-ordination and constructiveness of the Radical philosophy and the experimental learning devised by Carl Rogers in Humanistic adult education are also very attractive for my teaching methodology. But I cannot neglect the significance of the elements described in Behavioral and Progressive adult education, which also concentrate on bringing behavioral change and redressing societal conflicts. Progressive education aims to bring societal well-being, which is extremely valuable for eliminating the situation of conflict prevailing in the contemporary societies, which are the amalgamation of divergent ethnic and religious groups. Yet, I do not like the burden of too much planning, organizing and management as the precautionary measures adopted and exercised before getting involved into a teaching methodology. Read More