Education theory

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.