Education
theory :-
Education
theory seeks to know, understand and prescribe educational policy
and practice. The Education theory includes many topics, such
as pedagogy, andragogy, curriculum, learning, and
education policy, organization and leadership. Educational
thought is informed by many disciplines, such
as history, philosophy, sociology, and psychology.
For
example, a cultural theory of education considers how education occurs through
the totality of culture, including prisons, households, and religious
institutions as well as schools. Other examples are the behaviorist
theory of education that comes from educational psychology and
the functionalist theory of education that comes from sociology
of education.
The
earliest known attempts to understand education in Europe were
by classical Greek philosophers and sophists, but there is
also evidence of contemporary (or even preceding) discussions among Arabic,
Indian, and Chinese scholars.
Educational philosophies:-
Normative philosophies or theories of education may make use
of the results of [philosophical thought] and of factual inquiries about human
beings and the psychology of learning, but in any case they propound views
about what education should be, what dispositions it should cultivate, why it
ought to cultivate them, how and in whom it should do so, and what forms it
should take. In a full-fledged philosophical normative theory of education,
besides analysis of the sorts described, there will normally be propositions of
the following kinds:
1. Basic normative premises about what is good or right;
2. Basic factual premises about humanity and the world;
3. Conclusions, based on these two kinds of premises, about
the dispositions education should foster;
4. Further factual premises about such things as the
psychology of learning and methods of teaching;
And
5. Further conclusions about such things as the methods that
education should use.
Feminist
Educational Theory Scholars such as Robyn Wingman argue that,
“academic feminism is perhaps the most successful institutionalizing project of
its generation, with more full-time faculty positions and new doctoral degree
programs emerging each year in the field it inaugurated, Women's Studies”.
Feminist educational theory stems from four key tenets,
supported by empirical data based on surveys of feminist educators. The
first tenet of feminist educational theory is, “Creation of participatory
classroom communities”. Participatory classroom communities often are
smaller classes built around discussion and student involvement. The second
tenet is, “Validation of personal experience”. Classrooms in which
validation of personal experience occur often are focused around students
providing their own insights and experiences in group discussion, rather than
relying exclusively on the insight of the educator. The third tenant is,
“Encouragement of social understanding and activism”. This tenet is
generally actualized by classrooms discussing and reading about social and
societal aspects that students may not be aware of, along with breeding student
self-efficacy. The fourth and final tenet of feminist education is,
“Development of critical thinking skills/open-mindedness”. Classrooms
actively engaging in this tenant encourage students to think for themselves and
prompt them to move beyond their comfort zones, working outside the bounds of
the traditional lecture-based classroom. Though these tenets at times overlap,
they combine to provide the basis for modern feminist educational theory, and
are supported by a majority of feminist educators.
Opposition:-
Opposition to
feminist educational theory comes from both those who oppose feminism in
general and feminist who oppose feminist educational theory in particular.
Critics of feminist educational theory argue against the four basic tenants of
the theory, “… [Contesting] both their legitimacy and their implementation”.
Lewis Lehman particularly
describes feminist educational ideology as, ‘Therapeutic pedagogy’ that
substitutes an ‘overriding’ (and detrimental) value on participatory
interaction for the expertise of the faculty” (Hoffman). Lehman argues that the
feminist educational tenants of participatory experience and validation of
person experience hinder education by limiting and inhibiting the educator’s
ability to share his or her knowledge, learned through years of education and
experience.
Others
challenge the legitimacy of feminist educational theory, arguing that it is not
unique and is instead a sect of libratory education. Even feminist educational
scholars such as Frances Hoffmann and Jayne Stake are forced to concede that,
“feminist pedagogy shared intellectual and political roots with the movements
comprising the libratory education agenda of the past 30 years”. These libratory
attempts at the democratization of classrooms demonstrate a growth in libratory
education philosophy that some argue feminist educational theory simply
piggybacks off of.
There
are countless supporters of feminist education as well, many of whom are
educators or students. Student-turned-professor Becky Ropers-Hillman recounts
one of her positive experiences with feminist education from the student
perspective, explaining that she “… felt very ‘in charge’ of [her] own learning
experiences,” and “… was not being graded-or degraded... [while completing] the
majority of the assigned work for the class (and additional work that [she]
thought would add to class discussion),” all while “… [Regarding] the teacher’s
feedback on [her] participation as one perspective, rather than the
perspective”. Ropers experienced a working feminist classroom that
successfully motivated students to go above and beyond, succeeding in
generating self-efficacy and caring in the classroom.
When
Ropers became a teacher herself, she embraced feminist educational theory,
noting that, “[Teachers] have an obligation as the ones who are vested with an
assumed power, even if that power is easily and regularly disrupted, to assess
and address the effects that it is having in our classrooms”.
Ropers
firmly believes that educators have a duty to address feminist concepts such as
the use and flow of power within the classroom, and strongly believes in the
potential of feminist educational theory to create positive learning
experiences for students and teachers as she has personally experienced.
Leading
feminist scholar bell hooks argues for the incorporation of feminism into all
aspects of society, including education, in her book Feminism is for everybody.
Hooks
notes that, “Everything [people] know about feminism has come into their lives
third hand”. Hooks believes that education offers a counter to the, “… won
minded notion of feminist movement which implied it was anti-male”. Hooks
cites feminism’s negative connotations as major inhibitors to the spread and
adoption of feminist ideologies. However, feminist education has seen
tremendous growth in adoption in the past few decades, despite the negative
connotations of its parent movement.
Educational
anthropology:-
Educational
anthropology is a sub-field of anthropology and is associated
with the pioneering work of George Spindle. The focus of educational
anthropology is obviously on education, although an anthropological approach to
education tends to focus on the cultural aspects of education, including
informal as well as formal education. Education involves understandings of who
we are, it is not surprising that the single most recognized dictum of
educational anthropology is that the field is centrally concerned with cultural
transmission.
It is
also known as en culturation and also transfer of identity between
cultures, sometimes known as acculturation.
Accordingly,
thus it is also not surprising that educational anthropology has become
increasingly focused on ethnic identity and ethnic change.