Philosphy of education - Term Paper Example

Philosophy of Education Education plays an immensely important role in our lives. The aim of education is not limited to improve our lives in a single phase but it affects our regular activities, viewpoints, thoughts, actions and behaviors. If we think about the wider or broader purpose of education, it directs towards making the world a better place to live not only on social grounds but also on political, economic and cultural areas. It does not limit the roots of extension towards technological development but education gives us wisdom, differentiating skills of identifying right and wrong, develops our moral stance and brings just behaviors in the society.

Giroux’s educational philosophy also supports such a system where education is to educate the person wholly beyond any limits imposed on the learning scope. It helps in developing a world where justice, equality and standards of life are core principles to aid and guide humanity. The acquisition of education, however, requires a great deal of struggles form the individual. An educated person is the one who is civilized, morally enlightened and understands human dignity as a core principle which should not be compromised in any field.

An educated society hence, creates certain implied duties on the individuals to work for mutual benefits leading to technological advancements, help each other to maintain peace in the society and maintain relationships to keep the learning track going. Plato’s theory of education explained learning as an ongoing process where learning develops with the growth of a person. He proposes that an individual’s learning continues from 6 to above 50 years of age. Learning, according to Plato, is a must to thrive in the society.

In the same way I consider learning as an important and integral part of a person’s life which cannot be separated but rather a person should stay open to accept and follow new ideas, thoughts and issues. Plato is of the opinion that expertise and skills is a natural gift and no individual should undervalue any person. Every person has a right to be taught in spite of of his rank and riches which obviously shows dissimilarities in the field of learning. A person who belongs to a middle class family may also become a famous person and even a great leader as per the traits and skills he has.

Hence, it is baseless to believe that a person cannot learn well or become successful because of his social or economic class (Blackburn 2007). I believe that wealth, race and status are all secondary to the individual’s life but only education is the primary need which should be met to make his life better and comfortable. The struggles that education requires of an individual involve the willingness to learn, the struggles to find and join educational environments and contributions of the individual in that learning environment.

The schools, these days, are supposedly the best way to achieve such learning environments which form the basis of individuals’ educational beliefs. We join schools and other educational institutes to enhance our knowledge, build relationships and learn to survive in the world. Learning in schools, help in establishing the basic concepts of mutuality, unity, justice and morality. These values are further developed as we continue interacting with people in such environments. Schools are, hence, the major source of developing all these values and traits in an individual at an early age and continue to grow it as that individual moves on with the educational career in high school, college, university and so on.

In conclusion, we can say that schools are supposedly the first step that an individual takes toward learning. The philosophy of education is, in my opinion, is the complete course of action, thoughts and attitudes of a person which is formulated by a creatively design network of learnt concepts either through books or the environment of learning institutes like schools. This network of learnt concepts strikes the mind of a person as he faces certain situations and he uses the same techniques of thinking and making judgments which he adopts from the learning environment.

Hence, in my opinion, education provides the basis of opinions, thoughts and actions. References Blackburn, S. (2007). Plato's Republic: A biography. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.