Focus Questions for Forum 6 Week 6

1. What is a philosophy of education, and why should it be important to you?

It is a set of beliefs that will have an influence on you students and will show your students what is expected of them. It's important for students to learn about their teachers and have a bond so that they can work together as a team and it would be easier to help one another.

2. How do teacher-centered philosophies of education differ from student-centered philosophies of education?

Teacher-centered philosophies tend to be more conservative and authoritarian

Student-centered philosophies are focused more on individual needs

3. What are some major philosophies of education in the United States today?

Essential skills

Developing good comprehension skills from the content knowledge

Progressive Lesson plans

Developing good social skills

Shaping the future which is learning how to be responsible while having free will 

4. How are these philosophies reflected in school practices?

Out of the five that were listed above I think that the two most practiced in school are the Essential skills and Progressive lesson planning. 

5. What are some of the psychological and cultural factors influencing education?

Teachers known as Constructivists implement social skills and cultural methods into the class room activities so that students learn something different and learn how to work in groups at the same time. The punish and rewards method is also a cultural method that derives from how parents raise their young children. Students are more likely motivated to complete tasks when there is a reward involved if they were accustomed to receiving rewards as child from their parents. 

6. What were the contributions of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to Western philosophy, and how is their legacy reflected in education today?

The contributions are coming up with wiser ways of teaching and analyzing something. There is even a lesson plan model maned after Socrates which is called the Socratic method. Due to these philosophers, it helped us as people to analyze and study the physical world so that we know how to invent easier ways of living or more convenient methods to make our lives as people easier. 

7. How do metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, and logic factor into a philosophy of education?

Metaphysics deal with the nature of reality, what its origins are and how does it operate/structure

Epistemology deals with the nature and origin of human knowledge

Ethics is the study of what is considered good and what is considered bad in terms of morality 

Political Philosophy deals with how past and present societies are governed and propose ways to make it better

Aesthetics deals with the nature of beauty and what is the worth in something.