Chapter 3: Literature Review
2.5 Education Philosophy and Curriculum Development
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According to Weldon (2010), in South Africa history education is a part of value-driven curriculum that is focused on citizenship education. The textbooks presents the facts in an apolitical note without going deep nto the injustice of the system. Such history education system aims at creating individuals who are productive, self-sufficient, and do not demand a lot from the state. However, Staeheli and Hammett (2013) noted that social segregation continues to segregate people and constrain equal access to opportunities to all.
In contrast the history education in Rwanda upholds a false claim of ethinic unity in the country (King, 2014). Moreover, the researchers have shown that there exist discrepancies between the narratives disemminated by the Rwandan government and the actual historical records (Freedman et al., 2011; King, 2014) that questions the core purpose of history education. This is contradictory with the principles of multi-perspective approach that emphasizes open dialogue, debate, and critical thinking. Similar approach is also followed in Yemen whereby the government has published narratives that have been incorporated in the textbooks (Young, 2010). Thus, both in Rwanda and Yemen such mythical unity among the social groupings served as maintaining the authoritarian rule of the government (King, 2010).
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be stated that history education has been used positively as well as negatively. While usage of multiple-perspective provides scope to the students for an open discussion and critical analysis, in practice, they are not followed as evident from the case of Rwanda. The fact that are presented in the textbooks are often misleading and do not provide a holistic picture of the context.
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Wiles and Bondi (2011) pinpoint philosophy as the source of reflective practices, and Ralph Taylor advocates philosophy as the "screen for selecting educational objectives" (Olivia, 2009; Wiles & Bondi, 2011, p. 35). Ornstein and Hunkins (2009) emphasized the importance of philosophy in helping educators to understand the function of the school and to
determining the value of school subjects. Most importantly, educational philosophy enables educators to decide upon the best learning materials and design the best methods and practices.
Educational philosophy stems from the metaphysics of goodness, truth, and reality which underpin the new curriculum. Contents respond to these values through addressing three fundamental questions: What is real? What is good? What is true? How individuals respond to these inquiries significantly influences and shapes the type of educational philosophy (Wiles & Bondi, 2011). There are three categories of educational philosophy: axiology represents goodness, epistemology entails truth and knowledge, lastly, ontology represents the reality (Wiles & Bondi, 2011). These components have different functions when they are integrated into curriculum to inform content and practices. Axiology informs values that should be taught, epistemology informs "medium of learning", and ontology relates to
"content of study". Wiles and Bondi (2011) highlight that the abstract concepts of values, truth, and reality are transformed to the tangible substance of learning when translated in school contexts. This is not an easy process because of the enormous knowledge available in the world; hence, Wiles and Bondi (2011) introduced four questions to guide curriculum planners in selecting an appropriate educational philosophy. Curriculum developers should have a clear understanding of content, the role of the teacher, and the role of the student in the teaching and learning processes, and have a school or organization plan to implement the change.
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Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, and Reconstructionism are prominent educational philosophies (Ryan, 2008; Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Wiles & Bondi, 2011) which focus on curriculum aspects and what should be taught (Ernest et al., 2016; Ryan, 2008). These philosophies are an outgrowth from four "major" philosophies of idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009).
Perennialism
Perennialism focuses on the personal development of the learners. It is teacher-centered where knowledge is constructed by the teacher and the student role is passive. Perennialism is known as a conservative and traditional approach towards curriculum and liberal education.
Perennialism stemmed from realism (Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011). In perennialism, curriculum is subject-centered. Curriculum content is organised around discipline knowledge, strongly emphasizes literature, mathematics and science. There are no options for electives or vocational subjects (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009). This theoretical framework can be helpful in understanding theknowledge development process of the Somali students. It can also help to examine history curriculum of secondary schools in Moqadishu, Garwe, and Hargeissa.
Essentialism
Essentialism philosophy is conservative and is based on the traditional approach.
Essentialism underpins realism and idealism. Essentialists focus on facts and the fundamental principles of core knowledge as defined by three “R”s: reading, writing, and arithmetic.
These skills are emphasized in elementary school (Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009;
Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011).
Essentialists’ secondary school curriculum emphasizes a rigorous structure of subject matter such as the core subjects of English, mathematics, science, and history. As essentialism focuses first on essential skills, essentialist curricula thus tend to be much more vocational
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and fact-based, and far less liberal and principle-based (Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Ryan, 2008).
Essentialism like perennialism is a teacher-centered approach. The teacher is the person who owns knowledge and master skills to design the "lecture and practice" (Ryan, 2008). Both philosophies underestimate subjects such as physical education, music, art, and vocational courses (Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011).
Perennialism totally rejects these subjects while essentialism incorporates them into
curriculum as very limited options. Essentialists accept the idea that this core curriculum may change. Schooling should be practical, preparing students to become valuable members of society. It should focus on facts—the objective reality outside of school. This theoretical model can also help assess the history education. It can be applicable in understanding instructional method shape knowledge development of the students in Somalia.
Progressivism
Progressivism stems from pragmatism traditional philosophy and is also known as
experimentalism. Progressivism came as a counter-response to perennialism. Progressivism is a contemporary philosophy of education reform in the US in the 1900s (Olivia, 2009;
Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011). John Dewey embraced the progressivism philosophy as it focused on the relationship between education and democracy.
Dewey believed education’s role was to prepare learners to be active citizens; hence, school should enhance student learning by providing them with knowledge and skill to establish democracy societies (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009). Progressivism can help understand secondary school students’ attitudes towards national identity. This is important as the formation of national identity is crucial for a conflict-ridden society in Somalia.
131 Social Reconstructionism
Social reconstructionism is a contemporary and liberal philosophy (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009) derived from progressivism (Ryan, 2008). It came as a response to the increased influence of progressive education which mainly focused on the elite and middle class.
Scholars argue that progressivism ignored the social issues of the US during the 1920s and 1930s. Progressive education failed to address inequalities, poverty, and unemployment in the US during the 1920s and 1930s (Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Ryan, 2008; Wiles
& Bondi, 2011). For this reason, reconstructionism is known as “crisis philosophy” (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2009, p. 53).
Social reconstructionism curriculum is socio-economic oriented, encourages values of social justice, and opposes inequality and discrimination. Teachers and students are agents of social change (Olivia, 2009; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009; Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011). This is another crucial framework to understand the social construction of knowledge. Although it does not highlight social issues it can be useful to understand how social justice can be restored through history education. This can be useful in analyzing educators’ perceptions of the secondary school history curriculum.
Existentialism
Existentialists believe in individual existence, in freedom, and the ability of individuals to execute actions. Therefore, the learner is capable of defining truth, reality, and goodness.
Students demonstrate “authentic thinking" and become involved in genuine learning
experiences. Existentialism curricula focus on learners’ ability to develop to "self-direction"
and "self-actualization" (Ryan, 2008; Wiles & Bondi, 2011). Finally this model can help develop recommendations for development of a new secondary history curriculum.
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