Existentialism, Reconstructionism & Nationalism

FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION II
CRITIQUE PAPER #3

EXISTENTIALISM, RECONSTRUCTIONISM
& NATIONALISM

SUBMITTED BY:
BETHEL JADE M. MEDIONA

SUBMITTED TO:
MS. YOLANDA DEL ROSARIO, MACE The lesson is about existentialism, reconstructionism and nationalism. These are parts of Educational Philosophies, and just like the other ISMs, it has significant role in us being human and in our Education. We will know how it was taught and what the importance of this three is.
EXISTENTIALISM
Existentialism, from its root word “Existence” meaning focused only on one-self. From birth to death, existence was there in between. It is more of individual rather than social. They are more concerned on finding themselves and what is the meaning of life on their existence through free will, personal choices and other responsibilities. Existentialist need to justify their existence, “Who are you?”, “Where are you going?” and “What’s the point of living?” For them, they’re having their journey in life to know their purpose based on their own philosophy. In Education, Existentialism is very important, because as an Educator we should know each child’s life, existence and story behind their attitudes and characters, for us to become an effective educator. For example, a child has a problem and suddenly changed his/her attitude; we have to know the reason behind it for us to understand him/her. We should know also their philosophy and belief in life so that we could better adjust, know and appreciate their existence as well.

RECONSTRUCTIONALISM Reconstructionalism, is just an extension of progressivism. Just like progressivism, its educational philosophy is – the students will learn more by doing it, meaning learning through experience rather than through being told or lectured. They exposed the students by actively participating activities. Reconstructionists don’t believe in a predetermined curriculum. They would use the subject matter from any or all disciplines when needed to solve a problem. Like progressives, they do not favor any type of ability grouping. They feel students should be grouped only upon the basis of common interests. Reconstructionists differ significantly from progressives in the matter of social policy. Progressives acknowledge the rapidly changing conditions around us. But they are content to just teach students how to cope with change. It has been said that progressives seek to teach students how to reach “intellectual solution” to problems. This often culminates in writing a paper, doing a report or a project of some kind. This kind of education would tend to “mirror the contemporary society.” On the other hand, reconstructionists believe that students must learn through practical experience how to direct change and control it. They believe strongly that our culture is in crisis. They believe that things will get uncontrollably bad unless we intervene to direct change and thereby reconstruct the social order.

NATIONALISM This means more like being patriotic. As nationalist, you are showing your love for your country; respect your nation and people in it. In education or in the academe, Nationalism was taught and still up to present. For example, flag ceremony, the students are taught to sing our national anthem, put our right hand to left chest while looking to the flag and even reciting panatang makabayan. Ever since we were a pre-school, we learned those practices and even in our college, flag ceremony was always there. Schools played a significant role on how we are taught what nationalism is all about. Another example, Buwan ng wika, we are taught to use our mother tongue and we recited Filipino poems. We have many heroes who showed nationalism (love for our country) they are proud being Filipino and died with love for our country.

CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION Based on my study, I have learned that Existentialism, Reconstructionism and Nationalism are taught in our school with different approach, these are all significant when it comes to the learning of the students, how they learn or what should be learned. We can use any of these or all of these to determine the strength and weakness of a student.

REFERENCES http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/existentialism/whatis.html http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-applications-of-existentialism-in-education.htm Dialogue in the Philosophy of Education by Howard Ozman
Philosophy and the American School by Van Cleve Morris
Contemporary Theories of Education by Richard Pratte
http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=u6UQJ1sWrQoC&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=nationalism+philosophy+education&source=bl&ots=xNh_fx020J&sig=JpzKUB_2akN6RaLlYpZIJKt0d-k&hl=fil&sa=X&ei=vBaFUc29CcuaiAeY1IDoBw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nationalism%20philosophy%20education&f=false

References: http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/existentialism.htm http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/existentialism/whatis.html http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-applications-of-existentialism-in-education.htm Dialogue in the Philosophy of Education by Howard Ozman Philosophy and the American School by Van Cleve Morris Contemporary Theories of Education by Richard Pratte http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=u6UQJ1sWrQoC&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=nationalism+philosophy+education&source=bl&ots=xNh_fx020J&sig=JpzKUB_2akN6RaLlYpZIJKt0d-k&hl=fil&sa=X&ei=vBaFUc29CcuaiAeY1IDoBw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nationalism%20philosophy%20education&f=false