philosophy_existentialism

Existentialism began in the nineteenth century, but was more throughly developed in the twentieth century by philosophers such as Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers,and Jean Paul Sartre. It is often considered to be a protest type of philosophy. Most philosphers ponder the nature of knowledge, but existentialists ask how the nature of knowledge is educationally significant to the lives of individuals. The existentialist sees the individual as lonely and livng in a meaninless, absurd world. They have a sense of moral uncertainty about existence. While the idealist might say "I think therefore I am", the existentialist might respond, "Who am I?". Existentialists recognize individual differences and believe that there is no one true life style. They believe that the more tragic side of life more clearly describes human existence and human existence is filled with anxiety. Many existentialists agree with Karl Marx that religion acts as a drug that allows them to cope with the world, with the result that many people are exploited by the few who have power and wealth. According to Ozman and Cramer "existentialists call people to examine their lives and break away from superficial beliefs and uncommitted action."

The existentialist appears to believe that knowledge exists as it relates to the individual's interpretation of it. Science is not a big issue because philosophers such as Sarte saw science as a human creation. Kierkgaard thought that education should be subjective and religious. And Buber considered that there should be a sharing of knowledge used for the good of man which will only happen in a subject to subject relationship where individuals should not be treated as objects.

Because humans have created ideas that are harmful, they can also create ideas that will replace them and thus create a better world. The job of education is to help the individual examine who they are and what their purpose in life truly is. A good education emphasizes the individual and helps them to understand themselves. It should also help them understand anxiety because much of life is filled with tension. There should also be an emphasis on "possibility" as a goal in education, enabling learners to become "wide awake" to the possibilites according to Maxine Greene. By being constantly aware of all conditions and interpreting daily experiences passiveness about extremes in life conditions can be overcome. Teachers should not accept administrative hierarchies as inevitable. State mandated testing and limiting curriculums are all up for examination. Education should not be like a fish factory that produces many cans of the same product. All students should not have to come out of an education with the same information, values, and goals.

Progressive schools are what existentialists espouse. Children are individuals. No two children are alike, therefore they are going to learn differently. Education should accomodate these needs and students should be encouraged to do things because they want to do them. According to Cramer and Ozman "There should be freedom of choice, spontaneous play, open expressin of feelings, and student participation in the democratic control over community life in the school." There should be diversity in the curriculum and in the manner in which things are taught. Teachers should treat students humanely, as people, not objects. A relationship should be developed between the student and the teacher in order to promote the goals of education. Existentialist believe that the authority/control method of teaching tends to prohibit the attainment of knowledge.

The humanities play an important role in the existentialist curriculum because they help to see humankind as it really is. There are no definite rules for curriculum content because much of the content should be centered around the needs of the children. The curriculum should revolve around the standpoint of the learner rather than be a collection of "discrete" subjects. The disciplines involved in the curriculum should provide learners with opportunities to make sense of the world around them. Literature has an important role in this instance because learners can use the various genres as a way to interpret the experiences of others.

In the existentialist world the role of the teacher is to provide diversification within the curriculum to the individual learners. Each child as an individual has a unique way of learning. When discussing types of teaching methods to be used, one size does not fit all learners. The teacher needs to focus on children as individuals and interact with them as "subjects" and not "objects", personalities and not numbers. The teacher has permission to become the learner and the learner to become the teacher. But because the teacher has more experience in life perceptions, it is her job to promote an awareness of the possibilities of the world through an openess to past, present, and future possibilities. Teaching children to communicate through effective language practices becomes very important as children to learn to communicate effectively for true self expression. The teacher is an "enabler who helps the student appropriate, internalize, and make over."

Phenomenology seems to be one method used to investigate educational problems from an existentialist view point. Problems are analyzed from the view of the lived experiences of a child. The emphasis is on understanding how individuals come the be whatever they are in the world.

Existentialist Philosophers

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Kierkegaard developed a philosophy of the lonely individual against a science oriented world. He was brought up as a Christian, but went to extremes with his beliefs holding that the objectivity which science supported had adversely affected society . Kierkegaard felt that Christians should accept God on faith alone and restructure their lives so that Christian principles were the basis. All individuals face choices and they alone are responsible for the results of those choices. He described three stages in life. They were the aesthetic stage, the ethical stage, and the religious stage. He described the path to God as a long one that could only be crossed through a journey of strong faith which must be passionate in its intensity. Therefore he felt that the role of education was subjective and religious and should develop the student's relationship with God. It was his opinion that science and technology had produced instruments of destruction that ended in war and pain in the world.

Martin Buber (1878-1965)

Martin Buber proposed a definition of the kind of person that many folks would seek to have as teachers for their own children because he felt that there should be a mutal respect between students and their teacher. He made some important points about relationahips between people in his effort to describe how people identify with the world. There was the "I-It" relation where things outside of self were to be used selfishly. When this thought process was applied to human beings, and not just objects, then war and destruction were the result. He felt that this impersonal relationship also existed in some classroom settings where there were such large numbers of students who were known only as numbers to their teachers. In the "I-thou" relationship each person is treated as something special and worthy. With respect to the student teacher relationship there is a mutal respect and sharing of knowledge. Both the teacher and the learner are equally human and there should be mutal respect of the individuals for each other as the evidence of the human belief in the existence of God.

Martin Heidegger (1889 - 1976)

If you've ever had an identity crisis, Martin Heidegger would be the person to see for an understanding ear. Heidegger develped a method of phenomenology that was extended to interpret "lived experience" where the individual interprets and constructs a personal world of meaning. Within that thought there are three basic aspects. The individual in the environment, the indvidual in relation to the experience of others, and the individual becoming aware of himself to the point of asking, "Who am I?". Since this question has no answer at the level of lived experience, it causes anxiety and distress. Heidegger's writings did not focus on relationships in education. If he had, it would have been interesting to note his description of the role of the teacher.

Jean-Paul Sarte (1905-1980)

Jean Paul Sarte seems to have a theory likened in some small amount to John Locke. Locke saw the mind as a blank slate waiting to receive information. Sarte believed there was no God and as a result individuals could become whatever they wanted in life. Nothing was predetermined, nothing was written on your slate at birth. With that freedom Sarte believed also came responsibility. If choices were not determined by God's will, then the buck stopped at each indvidual's door step. If human's create war and famine, they could also choose to create peace and equality in all areas of life.

Phenomenological Philosophers
Phenomenology - the science of Being

Edmund Husseri (1859-1938)

Hursseri investigated the preconceptual level of awareness. He wanted to understand consciousness prior to previous learning. His goal was to make philosophy scientific but different from traditional science by applying phenomenological methods.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)

For Merleau-Ponty perception was primary. It has the potential for arriving at truth as it is in the process of being experienced. He noted that thinking was an abstract process that occured in a concrete world. What one perceived today may not be the same perception the day after.

Many critics believe that the existential philosophy, particularly the thinking of Jean-Paul Sarte, did not adequately deal with the social theory of institutions such as schools. Others feel that existentialism is too pessimistic by dealing with the morbidness of life rather than things that are hopeful and positive. Existentialists would argue that focusing only on the positive gives a one sided view of a situation. Many critics argue whether existentialism should even be considered as a philosophy. It is not systemic, but "has a strong claim as a philosophy in the tradition of Socrates" according to Ozman and Cramer. Existentialism is like the conscience of the world, asking society not to take anything for granted, least of all students. They ask society to examine the effects of modern technology and to question the reason for the haves and the have nots of the world.

Throughout much of the reading of the existentialist philosophy, I was completely turned off by the pessimism and negativeness of many of the thinkers. Getting through the readings was such a chore because I do tend to be accepting of many norms without questioning on many levels, more so in the past than currently however. Some of the concepts seemed to be so difficult to understand. I usually just want to breeze through the questioning part of anything, and get straight to the point or the facts. Existentialists tell me to question everything. Throughout most of my life I would never have felt the need to question who I was. I always thought I knew, especially after I focused on the decision to become a teacher. But life is not static. It changes constantly and so does our vision of who we are. So despite the fact that I immediately scoffed at the "Who am I?" question, I realized that we all ask that question at various points in our lives, not only once, but constantly. I began to realize that existentialism encourages me to look at individuals and to realize their potential through the development of their own interests. The realistic side of me questions how to do that in a classroom of twenty-eight students and how to physically have time to create specific need based curriclums for that many children. But I continue to realize that all of life is about being a work in progress and the need to continue to try to make life fair for all people, and especially fair for the little people that I work with and care so much about within the context of the school environment.