21st Century Education

Philosophy and Education 21st Century Behavior and trends within the education system are rudimentarily based upon the collective groups collective philosophy. The knowledge base that is infused with ethics combines to create a philosophy that is summarily applied within the classroom. From this aspect, it is clear that all a teacher does is based upon an adopted philosophy that he or she has learned or accepted over the course of time.

Contained within the philosophy of any teacher is that person's approach to ethics, hard work and essentially what is important in life. Philosophy guides us and creates scenarios for us to behave within the constructs of our lives. The purpose of this essay is to explore the current 21st century philosophy on education. This essay will explore the approaches, goals, objectives and means in which teacher internalize their philosophy.

This essay will also address current philosophy on education from several theories and compare and contrast their contribution to education and society. This essay will conclude with ideas on how teachers can best infuse their philosophy into practice and improve their overall environment and provide learning to their students. The Need for Philosophy The main point of this issue is to demonstrate why philosophy is important to education.

The simple answer is because philosophy provides the necessary meaning to the actions we take as a collective or even as an individual. Education is a result of a certain philosophy. Education is a means to manifesting a philosophical viewpoint and reveals the importance of the designers of our education system had in mind when the system was put into place. Collective education is a mostly a new idea and mostly the philosophy of education came in the form of independent inquiry.

The social and political changes that have occurred in recent history have determined that a collective approach is the most expedient philosophy. John Dewey John Dewey provides most of the philosophic input on today's education system. He expressed a need for education as a means for political and social control of the population. In his works he expressed the need for students to experience and programs specifically designed for education.

Rather than learn from the trials of everyday life, schools were necessary to provide obstacles and challenges to prepare them for future endeavors. Dewey (1958) wrote "the reconstruction of philosophy, of education, and of social ideals and methods thus go hand in hand.

If there is especial need of educational reconstruction at the present time, if this need makes urgent a reconsideration of the basic ideas of traditional philosophic systems, it is because of the thoroughgoing change in social life accompanying the advance of science, the industrial revolution, and the development of democracy.

Such practical changes cannot take place without demanding an educational reformation to meet them, and without leading men to ask what ideas and ideals are implicit in these social changes, and what revisions they require of the ideas and ideals which are inherited from older and unlike cultures." Dewey's ideas have had a great impression on today's educational philosophy, as many of his suggestions have taken firm hold.

"Recent trends in philosophy, however, leading to the dissolution of these rigid paradigms, have led to approaches that continue and expand on the themes of Dewey's work W.V.O. Quine's project of naturalizing epistemology works upon naturalistic presumptions anticipated in Dewey's own naturalistic theory of inquiry. The social dimension and function of belief systems, explored by Dewey and other pragmatists, has received renewed attention by such writers as Richard Rorty and Jurgen Habermas.

American phenomenologists such as Sandra Rosenthal and James Edie have considered the affinities of phenomenology and pragmatism, and Hilary Putnam, an analytically trained philosophy, has recently acknowledged the affinity of his own approach to ethics to that of Dewey's. The renewed openness and pluralism of recent philosophical discussion has meant a renewed interest in Dewey's philosophy, an interest that promises to continue for some time to come," (Field, 2005). Practical Philosophy For any philosophy to be effective it must be based in a practical approach.

When a philosophy is used as a tool it can be used very effectively or ineffectively, depending on the circumstances of the situation. Today's teachers must adopt a current philosophy that is based on current trends and social order. The use of technology and the problems that are associated with it are probably some ideas that older philosophers could not imagine. America is in need of management. Individuals are generally not equipped to navigate the dangerous waters of life without some sort of guide or tutelage to help them along.

Teachers must demonstrate a philosophy that addresses the need for management through their own classroom management. Following rules in American society is paramount. Breaking the rules results in discrimination and punishment, things to be avoided in most cases. A useful teaching philosophy in the 21st century addresses the need for control, setting boundaries and restricting more outdated impulses that do not align with society's values, ethics, and theologies, all important sub-components of philosophy. Experience once again becomes an important concept in 21st century education.

Authentic learning becomes the goal for educators in this day and age where a landscape is.