NATURALISM IN EDUCATION

Dr V.K.MAHESHWARI , Ph.D Dr SAROJ AGGARWAL, Ph.D

Principal Sr Lecturer

D.I.M.S. Meerut,INDIA D.I.M.S. Meerut,INDIA

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education. Jean Jacques Rousseau

RUNNING through most of the educational literature today one finds a dominant thread. The importance of this fact is for life as well as for education. The central theme of this thread is expressed in such terms as “continuous progress,” “the perfectibility of mankind,” and “perpetual betterment through scientific advances.” The underlying philosophy of this outlook is signified by the term “naturalism .As a philosophy of life (perhaps the oldest one) it maintains that nature is the only reality worthy of the serious consideration of man, and that man himself is the apex of this reality..

Naturalism is a concept that firmly believes that ultimate reality lies in the nature of the matter. Matter is considered to be supreme and mind is the functioning of the brain that is made up of matter. The whole universe is governed by laws of

nature and they are changeable. It’s through our sense that we are able to get the real knowledge. The senses works like real gateways of knowledge and exploration is he method that helps in studying nature

Basic Concept of Naturalism

The meaning of the name naturalism is strongly implied in the word itself. It is the view point which regards the world of nature as the all in all of realityNaturalism, commonly known as materialism, is a philosophical paradigm whereby everything can be explained in terms of natural causes. Physical matter is the only reality -- everything can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena. Naturalism, by definition, excludes any Supernatural Agent or activity. Thus, naturalism is atheism. Naturalism's exclusion of God necessitates moral relativism. Philosophers agree, without God there is no universe

,“Naturalism is the doctrine which separates nature from God, subordinates spirit to matter and sets up unchangeable laws as supreme”.According to this law, nature is supreme, all answers should be sought in nature and it alone can solve all the philosophical problems.

Naturalism is a term loosely applied in educational theory to systems of training that are not dependent on schools and books but on manipulation of the actual life of educand

Naturalism is an artistic movement advocating realistic description: in art or literature, a movement or school advocating factual or realistic description of life, including its less pleasant aspects. In literature,

Naturalism has strong belief in religious truth from nature: a belief that all religious truth is derived from nature and natural causes, and not from revelation.

The doctrine rejecting spiritual explanations of world: a system of thought that rejects all spiritual and supernatural explanations of the world and holds that science is the sole basis of what can be known

HISTORICAL RETOSPECT

Ancient period

Naturalism appears to have originated in early Greek philosophy. The earliest presocratic philosophers, such as Thales, Anaxagoras or most especially Democritus, were labeled by their peers and successors "the physikoi" physikos, meaning "natural philosopher," borrowing on the word physis, meaning "nature") because they sought to explain everything by reference to natural causes alone, often distinctly excluding any role for gods, spirits or magic in the creation or operation of the world..

AS for as the history of philosophy is concerned, naturalism is the oldest philosophy. The first speculations were made by the early Ionian physicists known as the "School of Miletus

Thales was born at Miletus about the year 640 B.C He was a mathematician, astronomer, and businessman. , during the early part of the sixth century B.C., observing water to be such a large constituent of many material and living forms, decided upon it as the one single substance common to all things "The principle of all things is water; all comes from water, and to water all returns."For Thales, the principle of things is water, or moisture, which should not be considered exclusively in a materialistic and empirical sense. Indeed it is considered that which has neither beginning nor end - an active, living, divine force. It seems that Thales was induced to proffer water as the first principle by the observation that all living things are sustained by moisture and perish without it.

. Anaximander and Anaximander, who lived in the same century, formed, together with Thales, the Milesian school Anaximander was born at Miletus about the year 611 B.C.. Anaximander was probably a disciple of Thales According to him"The principle of all things is infinite atmosphere, which has a perpetual vitality of its own, produces all things, and governs all things."For Anaximander, the first principle of all things is the "indeterminate" - apeiron..

The first animals were fish, which sprang from the original humidity of the earth. Fish came to shore assumed another form and thus gave origin to the various species of animals. Man thus traces his origin from the animals. Because of this, Anaximander has come to be considered the first evolutionist philosopher.

. Anaximenes

Anaximenes was born toward the end of the sixth century B.C He was probably a disciple of Anaximander.According to Anaximenes the first principle from which everything is generated is air. Air, through the two opposite processes of condensation and rarefaction, which are due to heat and cold, has generated fire, wind, clouds, water, heaven and earth.

But the ancient roots of naturalism have much fuller body in four other men who have been called atomists, only two of whom were contemporaries. Leucippus and Democritus,. Epicurus (341-270 b.c.), more than a century later, whose carrier was largely subsequent to Aristotle’s was devoted to the ideas of Democritus. And Lucretius (96-55 b.c.), though not even a Greek and born almost two and one half centuries after Epicurus, was a great admirer of Epicurus. All four are called atomists because they conceived of reality as fundamentally a matter of atoms moving in space.

Leucippus and Democritus Leucippus and Democritus explained the world in a commonsense reeducation of

Nature two simple things: empty space and atoms. They assumed that there is and can be such a thing as empty space, a vacuum or void containing nothing.. This empty space they considered to be the same as nothing, nonexistence, or nonbeing. About the substance filling empty space, giving us all the things making up the world, they reasoned that it must be constituted by small indivisible units piled one upon another. These hypothetical units they called atomsLittle was said about empty space, nor could there be; it was a void in which atoms could move. The atoms, however, were considered to be of an infinite variety of sizes, shapes, and weights. Everything in Nature as we now behold it is the result of atoms moving through space. When the atoms come together in clusters, things come into being; when they move apart, objects dissolve and fall into nonexistence. Even mind and soul are made up of atoms, evolving and dissolving in the same manner. But mind and soul are made of fine, smooth atoms which are perfectly round, similar to the atoms of which fire was supposedly composed. Mind and soul, like fire, have great mobility; and their atoms therefore must be very active.

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Epicurus does go definitely beyond Democritus in considering the knowledge problem .he was at least aware that if objects are made of atoms, and the mind and soul are also made of atoms, some explanation must be found, harmonizing with the atom-space description of reality, making somewhat clear how the impression of an object gets into the mind of the man who beholds it. His solution was that objects give off a kind of film of atoms which is transmitted to the mind through the sense, anther yields a king of photographic replica of the object. This replica is not a copy pure and simple, for it is constituted by atoms given off by the object itself. It is a valid image of the object, in which the very qualities of the object are retained, having been transmitted to the mind by the particles given off by the object.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes Like the ancient naturalists, Hobbes conceived Nature as an affair of bodies moving in space. A body he defined as a thing which exists in and of itself and has no dependence what so ever upon our though about it. Bodies exist outside of us and do not depend on any relation to us. By space Hobbes meant a place outside of the mind which can be filled by an object. There yet remains one other item in Hobbes’ description of Nature, namely, motion; and motion he defined as :the privation of one place and the acquisition of another.” It is that way of behaving seen in Nature by which a body can first occupy one spot, then another, and still another, and so on. Motion is as fundamental as rest; it is not caused by something other than motion; it is its own cause. If a body is in motion, some body which is at rest will have to impeded its movement in order for it to come to rest.

Combining these definitions, we have Nature described by Hobbes as an aggregate of things existing outside of our minds, and therefore evidencing the reality of a space beyond us, but also an aggregate of things moving from one place to another in that space which is beyond us. and also that Hobbs seems to have been more aware of an observer making this description.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

. Rousseau, in his A Discourse on Inequality, an account of the historical development of the human race, distinguished between “natural man” (man as

formed by nature) and “social man” (man as shaped by society). He argued that good education should develop the nature of man. Yet Rousseau found that mankind has not one nature but several: man originally lived in a “pure state of nature” but was altered by changes beyond control and took on a different nature; this nature, in turn, was changed as man became social. The creation of the arts and sciences caused man to become “less pure,” more artificial, and egoistic, and man’s egoistic nature prevents him from regaining the simplicity of original human nature. Rousseau is pessimistic, almost fatalistic, about changing the nature of modern man.

Émile, his major work on education, describes an attempt to educate a simple and pure natural child for life in a world from which social man is estranged. Émile is removed from man’s society to a little society inhabited only by the child and his tutor. Social elements enter the little society through the tutor’s knowledge when the tutor thinks Émile can learn something from them.

The first book of Émile describes the period from birth to learning to speak. The most important thing for the healthy and natural development of the child at this age is that he learn to use his physical powers, especially the sense organs. The teacher must pay special attention to distinguishing between the real needs of the child and his whims and fancies. The second book covers the time from the child’s learning to speak to the age of 12. Games and other forms of amusement should be allowed at this age, and the child should by no means be overtaxed by scholarly instruction at too early an age. The child Émile is to learn through experience, not through words; he is to bow not to the commands of man but to necessities. The third book is devoted to the ages from 12 to 15. This is the time of learning, not from books of course but from the “book of the world.” Émile must gain knowledge in concrete situations provided by his tutor. He learns a trade, among other things. He studies science, not by receiving instruction in its facts but by making the instruments necessary to solve scientific problems of a practical sort. Not until the age of 15, described in the fourth book, does Émile study the history of man and social experience and thus encounter the world of morals and conscience. During this stage Émile is on the threshold of social maturity and the “age of reason.” Finally, he marries and, his education over, tells his tutor that the only chains he knows are those of necessity and that he will thus be free anywhere on earth.

Francis Bacon

According to Bacon, man would be able to explain all the processes in nature if he could acquire full insight into the hidden structure and the secret workings of matter. Bacon's conception of structures in nature, functioning according to its

own working method, concentrates on the question of how natural order is produced, namely by the interplay of matter and motion. In De Principiis atque Originibus, his materialistic stance with regard to his conception of natural law becomes evident. The Summary Law of Nature is a virtus (matter-cum-motion) or power in accordance with matter theory, or “the force implanted by God in these first particles, form the multiplication thereof of all the variety of things proceeds and is made up” . Similarly, in De Sapientia Veterum he attributes to this force an “appetite or instinct of primal matter; or to speak more plainly, the natural motion of the atom; which is indeed the original and unique force that constitutes and fashions all things out of matter” . Suffice it to say here that Bacon, who did not reject mathematics in science, was influenced by the early mathematical version of chemistry developed in the 16th century, so that the term “instinct” must be seen as a keyword for his theory of nature Bacon's theory of active or even vivid force in matter accounts for what he calls Cupid in De Principiis atque Originibus . Bacon's ideas concerning the quid facti of reality presuppose the distinction “between understanding how things are made up and of what they consist, …. and by what force and in what manner they come together, and how they are transformed” . This is the point in his work where it becomes obvious that he tries to develop an explanatory pattern in which his theory of matter, and thus his atomism, are related to his cosmology, magic, and alchemy.

Middle ages to modernity

With the rise and dominance of Christianity and the decline of secular philosophy in the West naturalism became heretical and eventually illegal, thus making it difficult to document the history of naturalism in the Middle Ages. When the Renaissance reintroduced numerous lost treatises by Greek and Roman natural philosophers, many of the ideas and concepts of naturalism were picked up again, contributing to a new Scientific Revolution that would greatly advance the study and understanding of natureThen a few intellectuals publicly renewed the case for l naturalism, like Baron d'Holbach in the 18th century.

In this period, naturalism finally acquired a distinct name, materialism, which became the only category of metaphysical naturalism widely defended until the 20th century.

Certain extreme varieties of politicized naturalism have arisen in the West, most notably Marxism in the 19th century and Objectivism  in the 20th century. Marxism is an expression communist deals in a naturalist framework, while Objectivism is the exact opposite, an expression of capitalist ideals in a naturalist framework. .

THEORITICAL RATIONALE OF NATURALISM.

METAPHYSICAL POSITION

Concept of God

Many naturalists do not use the term God , but surprisingly there are Naturalists who talk about God ,and although they do not advance classical arguments for His existence they go on to give some definition of His nature.

According toWiesman, the renowned Naturalist God is within Nature .He is not all nature nor more than nature .He is that particular structure of nature in nature which is sufficiently limited to be described as making possible the realization of value and as the foundation of all values

God is that process within Nature which is a kind of open door to all who would grow in richness of life and at the same time God is the stable ground in Nature which sustains and constitute the values by which life is enriched ,Because of this,God, the structure of value itself,is the greatest of all values, the most worthy in human experience to which man must adjust if he is to grow in the possession and enjoyment of value.

The Concept of Self

Bertrand Russell states the position of naturalism regarding man’s origin and nature quite categorically when he says that “man has developed out of the animals and there is no serious gap between him and the amoeba,” and that “ and that “from the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behavior. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap.”

The self seems to be an organization of experience in each individual which is constantly developing and changing. Such a description is quite far from those

which state that man is made in the image of God. The human self is seen by naturalism as an offshoot of Nature, and not as springing from beyond Nature.

Two important aspects of the query about man are whether he has a soul and whether he is good or bad. For Naturalists they are not much interested in the soul of man and his moral conditions . According to Naturalism ,man is a child of nature; yet, nevertheless, he is a most significant child .For in the evolutionary processes that have been at work in the universe so far, man is on the very crest of the wave. He has capacities and has achieved heights common to no other child of Nature

Concept of Universe

The family of naturalists becomes exceedingly large, especially in modern times, when one the label of naturalism to denote ay parson who denies (implicitly or explicitly) the existence of anything above nature, or those who disregard the supernatural. Thus Rousseau, who was a deist, fits into this category , even though he believed that God had created the world. Spencer, the agnostic, falls into the same class since he believed that even if the supernatural realm existed man could know nothing about it

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITION

. Naturalism does not necessarily claim that phenomena or hypotheses commonly labeled as supernatural do not exist or are wrong, but insists that all phenomena and hypotheses can be studied by the same methods and therefore anything considered supernatural is either nonexistent or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses.

In terms of epistemology or theory of knowledge, naturalists highlight the value of scientific knowledge. Francis Bacon emphasizes the inductive method for acquiring the scientific knowledge through specific observation, accumulation and generalization. He also lays emphasis on the empirical and experimental knowledge. Naturalists also lay stress on sensory training as senses are the gateways to learning

The naturalist rejected the role that intellect or reason play in the knowing process and put forth the claim that the only valid from of knowing process and put forth

the claim that he only valid form of knowledge is that derived from experience. For the early naturalists, “experience” chiefly meant that mode of acquiring knowledge based on direct contact of the organism with the physical world thought the senses. The more sophisticated naturalists included the refined modes of knowing used by the empirical sciences. Both, however, imply a denial of reason as a source of knowledge. In practice, both types of experience are evident in naturalistic educational theory.

. THE LOGIC OF NATURLISM

There are tow general observations to be made concerning the logic of naturalism which will help to describe the setting for its more specific discussion. The first is that, most generally considered, formal deductive logic such as was mentioned briefly in the introduction has a minor place in the methods of logic approved by naturalism.

The second observation is that is great variation in the methods of logic employed by naturalists. The logic of the earlier and more naïve naturalism is the simple material logic of induction. In modern naturalism, if the epistemology is realistic, greater place is given to deductive logic because of the confidence placed in the independence of relations by realists.

This narrows the task of the present discussion to a consideration of simple induction as the logic of naturalism. Of course, the kind of naturalism referred to is more especially the earlier naturalism such as inspired the first steps in the development of scientific method.

Simple induction involve careful observation of Nature, accurate description of what is observed, and caution in formulating generalizations. The way in which to get acquainted with Nature as it actually is, is to go directly to Nature and see what is there. This means painstaking observation in which there is a rigorous piety ruing out everything but smile recognition of facts. In order to accumulate facts for later use in large messes, or in groups or classes, or for use by other than those making the direct observations, it is necessary to record what is observed, and to do it carefully and accurately, representing the facts only as they are. True enough one of the chief values of observing and collecting facts is the discovery of generalizations about Nature; but in this stage of induction there must be much

caution. It is so easy for wishful thinking or preconceived ideas to influence the handling of the facts. Francis Bacon, the father of inductive method, even advised caution about hypotheses; he regarded them as “anticipations of Nature”. Here too, in forming conclusions, as well as in observing the facts and recording them, there must be rigorous natural piety. There must be careful and patient accumulation of the facts until the conclusion almost seems to suggest itself as the only generalization to which the facts could possibly point

AXIOLOGICAL POSITION

Naturalism believes that “A refined moral life is just as much a work of Nature as much a work of Nature as is a coarse and vulgar immortality.Nature is versatile. Thes experience is no doubt a valid one. You are being sustained in living a good life. For it is in harmony with Nature ,when it is inclusively , to do good and avoid evil”

To naturalists, values arise from the human beings' interaction with the environment .Instincts. drives and impulses need to be expressed rather than repressed. According to them, there is no absolute good or evil in the world. Values of life are created by the human needs

The first principle has to do with the general character of values. It is that Nature is the kind of order that just simply possesses values. According to naturalism, the values which people commonly enjoy, as well as others yet to be possessed, are resident in Nature; they do not transcend NatureThe second principle has to do with the way in which the most desirable values are to be realized, according to naturalism. This principle is that the way in which an individual can get the most value out of life is to harmonize his life as closely as possible with Nature. 1. Ethical Value

Ethics of naturalism is hedonistic, as long as this characterization is accompanied by the caution that in the conscious though at least of many naturalists the highest good is the most highly refined and abiding pleasure.

we may not make it such a supreme value that we will sacrifice all other possible values for it. The important thing to note about this highest moral good, first of all, is a thing to be enjoyed; it is some thing, more on the feeling side of experience, which the person who possesses it undergoes and enjoys as contentment or

satisfaction. To a person so framing his conception of moral values, the pleasure ethics of naturalism may seem weak and selfish, because private enjoyment, even though it may be in no way contrary to convention, is placed prior to all other considerations.

This may raise questions about the evil which is the counterpart of this highest good.. Evil is a fact of Nature. There just is evil in the cosmos, in the same way that there simply is good in it.The moral accidents of Nature have commonly been given the name physical evil. They are many and well known: earthquake, famine, hurricane, disease, pestilence, etc. Clearly, these are evils of Nature; man has nothing to do with producing them. There are also evils, more clearly moral, which men inflict on one another. War with its inflicted death and destruction is a notable example. .

Aesthetic Value

The principles enunciated above regarding the ethical values of naturalism hold also for aesthetic values. They, too, are rooted in nature and do not depend on any source outside nature for their validation. Nature itself provides the criterion for beauty there is no need to call upon universal principles such as unity and proportion to judge beauty. A landscape is beautiful simply because it is nature. A painting is beautiful because it reflects nature, not because it elevates man above nature.

For naturalists, as could be surmised, aesthetic experience and the values it yields are both purely natural in character and do not involve any spiritual or supernatural factors. First of all, according to naturalism, the subject who is engaged by aesthetic experience is a child of Nature. Man, the subject who has aesthetic experiences, is a sentient organism developed by Nature, which is capable of centering his meanings in such a way as to experience aesthetic values. These values, therefore, do not transcend Nature; they are events in the experience of this highly developed organism which is the result alone of evolutionary processes at work in Nature.

There is also a minor sense in which aesthetic values are natural. This is that they are not superior values which only a few select people are capable of enjoying.

They are values which touch areas where we all live; they are natural because they are “native in the ordinary experience of all men.”

. Religious value

. The chief religious value of naturalism is that aspect of Nature which makes it possible to realize values and which sustains values which are worth-while. Since all other possible values stem from this element in Nature, it is the most wrathful object that there is an the greatest value above all others. The most significant life that can be lived is the life which is committed to the achieving of values in one’s own life and in the world. So that the prime imperative of a naturalistic religion is that its adherents ally themselves with the value-realizing force in Nature and help to bring into existence values which are not actual in the present.

4. Social Value

Rousseau’s naturalism rooted man in Nature rather than society. So much did he regard man as a child of Nature, as over against society, that he proposed in his Emile to keep Emile away from society until adolescences. In his Social Contract he reveals how the problem of social organization is complicated by the importance of the freedom of man. Individual man, he contended, is not a man unless he is free; if he is in bondage, he is less than a man. Yet unbridled freedom is neither in harmony with his own welfare not the welfare of society. Evidently some social organization is needed, but one which preserves for man his freedom..

It would seem that for naturalism social values are synthetic values which result from agreements in which individual men bind themselves together. They are secondary goods, not so much preferred as individual goods, which result indirectly as a consequence of the desire to avoid the grater evils which accompany anarchy. They are not organic values which are determined in part by the very nature of society and which would never be possessed by individual men separately, even if they did not need to be saved from conflict and chaos by some kind of social organization

FORMS OF NATURALISM

Naturalism in the broad sense has been maintained in diverse forms -

Metaphysical naturalism (also known as ontological or philosophical naturalism) ,Characterizes any worldview in which reality is such that there is nothing but the natural things, forces, and causes of the kind that the natural sciences study,. More specifically metaphysical naturalism rejects the objective existence of any supernatural thing, force or cause, such as are described in humanity’s various religions and mythological accounts. In this view, all "supernatural" things are ultimately explainable purely in terms of natural things.

. ]Physicalism & pluralism.  Physicalism entails the claim that everything everyone has observed or claimed to observe is actually the product of fundamentally random arrangements or interactions of matter-energy, arrangements or interactions that follow natural laws of physics, in space-time, and therefore it is unreasonable to believe anything like a creator deity exists.Pluralism (which includes dualism) adds to this the existence of fundamentally random things besides matter-energy in space-time (such as reified abstract objects).

  Naturalism Of physical sciences. According to naturalists the material and the physical world is governed by certain laws, and man, who is the creator of the material world, must submit to it. It denies the existence of anything beyond nature, behind nature and other than nature such as supernaturalism,

Biological NaturalismFor educational philosophers, the relevant form of naturalism is Biological Naturalism. It stresses upon the process of evolution and self preservation. Our native experiences works moreover as a guide to us. So, it is advisable not to violate the laws of nature but to live by nature, for nature and through nature..

Absolute Methodical Naturalism  is the view that it is in some sense impossible for any empirical method to discover supernatural facts, even if there are some. [This is compatible with (but does not entail) the view that something other than empirical methods might be able to discover supernatural facts.]

Contingent Methodical Naturalism  entails the belief that, judging from past experience, empirical methods are far more likely to uncover natural facts than supernatural ones. It is generally an ill-advised waste of resources to pursue

supernatural hypotheses, but it would not be impossible to confirm them empirically if any were true.

Naturalism in Education

THERE is not a great wealth of literature dealing specifically with naturalism in education, even though naturalism is still commonly practiced in education

Naturalism as a philosophy of education was developed in the 18th century. It is based on the assumption that nature represents the wholeness of reality. Nature, itself, is a total system that contains and explains all existence including human beings and human nature

. THE EDUCATIVE PROCESS

The distinctive character of the process as conceived by Spencer are of inclusive significance for the whole educational process

1. Education must conform to the natural processes of growth and mental development. This root principle, already touched upon, stems from a concern to understand the nature of the child and follows from naturalism’s conception of the pupil. It is the make up of the learner that determines the character of the learning process, not the designs of teachers of the learner or there simply will be no learning.

2. Education should be pleasurable; for children have a good time when they are doing things which the present development of their physical and mental equipment makes them ready to do. This readiness for specific kinds of activity is evidenced by their interest. Consequently, interest in a subject and interest in ways of dong things are guides to parents and teachers, bot h as to subjects of study and methods of teaching for which children have a natural readiness at any given stage of development.

3. Education should engage the spontaneous self-activity of the child. As already noted, the child educates himself in great measure, most of his knowledge is base on what he discovers in his won active relations with things and people. Especially is this the case with our perceptions, developed almost completely by our own unconscious efforts in early childhood but constituting the machinery for

a high percentage of our adult experiences. Adults are foolish, therefore, if they do not use this native self-activity as an ally in their teaching. The way to do this, Spencer advised, is to tell the learner as little as possible and induce him to discover as much as possible.

4. Acquisition of knowledge is an important part of education. This was evidently assumed by Spencer in his strong advocacy of science. All of his five objectives called for the study of specific sciences as necessary to their fulfillment. Knowledge of physiology augments instinct in preserving life.

5.Education is for the body as well as the mind;and this should not be forgotten.Even if it were possible, there is no point in making a man mentally fit for life and neglecting his physical fitness . Mind and body must both be caredfor and the whole being of the student unfolded as a unit.

6.There will be correction of these mistakes by a healthy balance of mental and physical activities if education practices the art of delay, as it should be.

7. Methods of instruction should be inductive. This follows from Nature’s advice that teaching make fullest use of the self-activity of the pupil, telling him as little as possible and encouraging him to discover as much as possible for himself. To tell a child this and to show him that only make him a recipient of another’s observations. If the learning intellect is to be guided to its appropriate food, children must master the art of independent observation and direct acquaintance.

.8. Punishment should be constituted by natural consequences of wrong deeds; should be certain, but tempered with sympathy. As we should teaches in accordance with the rhythms of Nature, so we should also punish as Nature punishes.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION

In most respects the naturalistic hierarchy of educational objectives represents a complete reversal of traditional purposes of the school, chiefly, perfecting of man’s highest powers via study of literature, philosophy, and classics

. Rousseau’s aim throughout is to show how a natural education, unlike the artificial and formal education of society, enables Émile to become social, moral, and rational while remaining true to his original nature. Because Émile is educated

to be a man, not a priest, a soldier, or an attorney, he will be able to do what is needed in any situation

As “naturalism” indicates, the purposes of education are found within nature. The explicit denial of any goals outside man or the physical world in which he lives constitutes a radical departure from traditionalism, which usually had some ultimate supernatural goal.

Since the naturalist denies the validity of any aims outside the natural sphere, his concern must be with immediate or proximate aims. Perhaps these aims might be summed in the dictum that schools should develop the “whole child,” that is, the entire natural organism. Whereas traditional education had placed major emphasis upon intellectual function, the naturalist proposes that the child be given opportunity to grow physically, mentally , socially, emotionally, aesthetically, vocationally, under the auspices of the school.

According to Spencer this can be achieved by “that education which prepares for direct and indirect self-preservation; that which prepares for parenthood; that which prepares for citizenship; that which prepares for the miscellaneous refinements of life.” Thus the school’s most important job as an educational agency is to see to it that the child learns how to preserve his own physical health and well-being. Preparation for citizenship and leisure time activities appear at the end of the list and are of lesser importance.

“Complete living” is the general aim summing up the five specific ones. As this is not very explicit term, it may be made more under stand able by a parallel attempt at generalization in Spencer’s third essay, “Moral Education.” In this second statement of it he speaks of the “Business of life” and elaborates by saying that education should “produce a citizen who, ate the same time that he is well conducted, is also able to make his way in the world.” These generalizations convey the impression that moral responsibility coupled with practical self-sufficiency are virtues of the educated man. This impression is borne out by the specific objectives which are now to be discussed.

1. Self-preservation is the first of the five objectives. In order to live completely, as man has first of all to live, he has to continue his own existence. While instinct

is the chief guarantee of this objective, education may also help by acquainting the learner with the laws of health and enabling him to earn a living.

2. Securing the necessities of life. It is especially in the realm of developing economic efficiency that education helps in preserving life. Money is not life, but it is a necessity in maintaining life. Education should train directly for success in this important function.

3. Raising children. Though a bachelor, Spencer held that the most important function that most men and women have to perform is that of being parents. Therefore education should deal unashamedly both with the care of children in the nursery and the discipline of them as growing boys and girls. So much did Spencer believe this that he urged that education be elevated as a subject of study to a position of supreme importance in the curriculum.

4. Maintenance of social and political relations. Beyond the home in the far-reaching social structure, man must have some under standing and mastery of social and political processes if living is to be complete. He must be a wise citizen who is equipped for effective social and political action.

5. Enjoyment of leisure. Life is not all serious struggle, keeping physically strong, earning a living, being a responsible parent and an earnest citizen. Complete living also includes freedom from struggle some of the time for “gratification of the tastes and feelings.”

The Concept of the Teacher

The teacher’s role is to remain in background. The natural development of child should be stimulated. Since, Nature is considered to be best educator, the teacher should remove himself from the scene.

According to naturalists the teacher is the observer and facilitator of the child's development rather than a giver of information, ideas, ideals and will power or a molder of character.

In the words of Ross "teacher in a naturalistic set up is only a setter of the stage, a supplier of materials and opportunities, a provider of an ideal environment, a creator of conditions under which natural development takes place. Teacher is only a non-interfering observer".

For Rousseau, the teacher, first of all, is a person who is completely in tune with nature .He has a profound faith in the original goodness of human nature. He believes that human beings have their own time-table for learning. So Rousseau in his didactic novel "Emile organized education according to Emile's (a boy) stages of development. For each stage of development, the child, shows certain signs that he is ready to learn what is appropriate to that stage. Appreciating the educative role of the natural environment as an educative force the teacher does not interfere with nature, but rather cooperates with the ebb and flow of natural. forces. Significantly, the teacher who is aware of human nature and its stages of growth and development, does not force Emile to learn but rather encourages learning, by insulating him to explore and to grow by his interactions with the environment..Rousseau opines that teacher should not be in a hurry to make the child learn. Instead he should be patient, permissive and non-intrusive. Demonstrating great patience the teacher can not allow himself to tell the student what the truth is but rather must stand back and encourage the learner's own self discovery. According to him the teacher is an invisible guide to learning. While ever-present, he is never a taskmaster. Naturalists are of the view that teacher should not be one who stresses books, recitations and massing information in literary form, "rather he should give emphasis on activity, exploration ,learning by doing".

, Great emphasis was placed upon the study which teachers should make of the environmental background of each student, since unacceptable behavior was rooted there rather than in the pupil’s ill will. Teachers were advised to learn of the racial, national, and religious backgrounds of their students if a pupil caused trouble or lacked initiative in school, the home conditions should be studied to see whether a home broken by divorce, death, or marital conflict is responsible for the child’s difficulties. If a teacher were unable to manage a class , he was held responsible because he lacked insight into child nature. All of these innovations in pedagogy were based on the revised view of the nature of the child. He was innately good or, at worst, neutral, and one must seek the source of bad behavior in the environment rather then in the child.

. Concept Of Student

Twentieth-century man is so accustomed to hearing that “there is no such thing as a bad boy” (or girl) or that parents are to blame for the delinquency of their children, that he cannot appreciate fully the furor caused by the naturalistic assertion that man is not morally evil.

True, all God’s creation was good, but man’s own free acts had ushered in sin and evil. No small wonder, then, the following statement by Rousseau fell upon Christendom like a bombshell :Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature; but everything degenerates in the hands of man…. He will leave nothing as nature made it, not even man. Like a saddle-horse that must be trained for man’s service he must be made over according to his fancy, like tree in his garden.

One of the clichés which has been current in education for some time is to the effect hat “teachers do not teach subjects, they teach pupils.” Whatever this slogan may convey in meaning, it does direct attention to the importance of the pupil, the person being taught, the educed. Though philosophies do not teach subjects, they teach pupils.” Whatever this slogan may convey in meaning, it does direct attention to the importance of the pupil, and certainly not in understanding his essential nature, he is sufficiently central that one task of each of the education chapters in this book is to understand the learner as each of the education chapters in this book is to understand the learner as each of the respective philosophies understands him.

The pupil is to the teacher what man is to the philosopher. For man who is interpreted by the philosopher also has various practical engagements, one of which is being a pupil at school in his formative years, may be a student in institutions of advanced learning during his more mature years, and we hope a learner throughout life. If a philosopher is also a teacher and at the some time is consistent in both though and practice, he will view man as a pupil in the classroom in the same way he thinks of him when philosophizing. So the doctrine of the pupil is virtually the doctrine of man in the classroom.

The naturalist, as Herbert Spencer represents him, first regards the pupil from the physical side. For the child is at bottom a little animal, whatever else he may be. He has a body, or, to be more accurate, he is a body one of his first requirements

therefore is that he be healthy, a vigorous animal, able to stand the wear an tear of living

Naturalism & Curriculum:-

I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about. Jean Jacques Rousseau

Its curriculum is usually based on the needs, interests and abilities of the child in relation to its levels of development. So, a child-centered curriculum forms an amicable answer of the Naturalist. It helps in recognizes individual differences and experiences of the child should form the core element of the curriculum

Professional courses in child and educational psychology became the center of the educational program for teachers. “Know the child and you will know what to teaches” became the slogan of the newer professional programs in education

As a doctrine, naturalism does not favor in imposing any boundary on the children. So advocates of this theory have not framed any curriculum of education. They think that each and every child has the power to and demand of his own to frame curriculum. A child will gather experience from nature according to his own demand. He is not to be forced to practice any fixed curriculum. This concept about curriculum existed till the time of Rousseau but it changed after wards. Later on naturalism was influenced by scientific development. So the thinkers think that to give natural pleasure to man, science should be utilized in life. Hence, their concept of curriculum also changed. According to neo-naturalists, curriculum will be broad and the practice of science comes first. Considering the views and needs of the children, the experiences of the curriculum should be selected. They have advised to include the following in the curriculum -

1. Science dealing with nature will include Physics, Chemistry, Botany etc. These branches of science will help children to be acquainted with nature.2. Mathematics and language will be included because these will help to

acquire the subjects of science.3. History and Social Science - in order to acquire modern knowledge, one

should practice the process of evolution. It will also help to realize the importance of those in their present life.4. Agriculture and Carpentry will offer opportunity to the children to act them

in freedom and will increase their power of observation.5. Naturalists felt the importance of Physical Education and Health Training

for self protection. But they did not form any particular curriculum for this. They

say that the children should be given opportunity for their free movement of bodies in natural environments. They will thus acquire techniques of self-protection from nature and expose themselves in nature.6. Drawing naturalists have considered drawing as the main technique of self-

expression. They have included drawing as compulsory in the curriculum. Naturalists have also commented about ethical and spiritual training in the curriculum. They were against spiritual training as according to them children should pick their own religion from experiences they acquire. They also said that ethical training should not be imposed on children. They will build their own ethical sense in natural order by receiving rewards and punishments.

. The effects of secularism on the curriculum have probably been both negative and positive. On the negative side of the ledger, secularism has succeeded in eliminating from the schools any overt traces of commitment to nay beliefs.

On the positive side, secularism has helped elevate the natural and social sciences to the same position of prestige and importance formerly held by the sacred subjects.

. Naturalism rejected the rationalistic curriculum of the Renaissance humanists because it lacked any connection with the natural world. In fact, naturalists In its place one finds studies designed to meet the personal and vocational needs and interests of the students. Modern languages replace classical ones because they are useful. Health and physical education become an integral part of the curriculum because they contribute to “self-preservation.” Household and industrial “arts” take their place in the curriculum because they meet the legitimate demands of the students. The role of humanistic studies become minor, for these studies find their reason for existing in the curriculum only insofar as they contribute to “preparation for the worthy use of leisure time.” In other words they are recreational rather than essential

METHODOLOGY OF INSTRUCTION

The education implications of the naturalistic theory of value are not difficult to discern. The most obvious one constantly appears in modern educational literature; good education is pleasurable, thus, methods of teaching should be based upon the belief that the child is not averse to learning, but enjoys it. Teaching methods and materials will appeals to students natural inclination to learn. The curriculum will

consist of those experiences which meet pupil’s needs and interests rather than a collection of subjects which adults believe children should master. Difficult tasks are not to be excluded, however, for even they can be made pleasant

It is the area of methodology, perhaps, that naturalism has had the greatest effect on education. Since this philosophy constitutes both a reaction against traditional educational methods and a proposal for substituting “natural” methods in their place, it might be well to indicate what both facets are. The natural mode of self expression is Play and learning should be done through cheerful spontaneous and creativity of play. The process of discovery is given importance. The activities like excursions, fieldtrips and practical experiments are recommended to enhance learning

Education’s methodology perhaps exemplifies this shift from traditionalism most clearly. All of Rousseau’s recommendations on “how to teach” Emile flowed from the belief that experience is the only teacher. He ranted against the teaching methods of the tome because they were not aimed at giving the student any personal, direct experience with the world; they used abstract reasoning alone as the avenue to learning. Spencer, the scientific naturalist, enthroned experimentation, the usual method of empirical sciences, as the only valid method of teaching. In like manner the curriculum of the naturalists might be classified as experience-centered

In the first place, the naturalist is opposed to the formalized teacher-centered methods of the medieval and Renaissance scholars, many of which persist to this day. In such methods the teacher was viewed as the teaching-learning process, whereas the student was presumed to be the recipient of the Knowledge presented to him. In their worst form such approaches made of the pupil’s role a very passive one, indeed. His only activity was “giving back” to the teacher that which he had learned from the teacher or from books.

This pupil activity usually took the form of recitation or written and oral examinations. It might be argued that such passivity on the pupil’s part was not in harmony with the basic philosophy of traditionalism. Nevertheless, it was a characteristic of all traditional teaching methods. A second characteristic was the repression of the pupil’s natural instincts and desires. In some instances educators

such as Cotton Mather believed that education’s most important task was to “drive the devil out” of the pupil. There fore, the naturalist objected to all harsh methods of discipline; he opposed the view that “Children are to be seen and not

What, then, does the naturalist propose as substitutes for the methodology of the traditionalist? First, he maintains that all teaching methods should be based on experience. Since he relies on the inductive method, he insists that the first criterion for judging the value of a teaching method should be based on self-activity of the pupil finding the answers for himself. The pupil himself must observe nature in order to find facts and discover answer to his problems. To tell the pupil all the facts, to show him the procedures, to give this the answers, merely makes him a recipient of reports of others’ experiences. The child has not learned but merely memorized or “absorbed” what he has been told. Thus all teaching methods should be characterized by pupil activity involving direct or at least vicarious experience; the pupil must educate himself.

A second characteristic of naturalistic teaching learning methods is found in their conformity to the natural development of the pupils. A modern application of this principle is stated in terms of readiness of the organism for any given learning. Negatively stated, this principle means that it is not the teacher or society that determines what the child should learn, but his own developmental level. Positively stated, it means that when the organism is ready for a certain type of learning activity it will seek in naturally, that is, without being forced by the teacher or by adult society. Thus the pupil will learn about his physical environment when his interests and instincts lead him to such learning; boy-girl relationships will be developed when children reach the age for such relationships; pupils will learn to read when they are ready..

A third characteristic of naturalistic methodology is that all educational activities should be enjoyable to the child. The tasks assigned by traditionalist teachers were designed to discipline the student and therefore were considered unpleasant by the student, but the naturalist felt that any task that went “against the grain” for the pupil should be avoided. Note how quickly and easily children (or adults) learn what they enjoy. Number games, word games (Scrabble), reading interesting stories, studying plants or animals in their natural habitats, the skills of wood wording, household arts, dramatics, and the like, constitute real enjoyment for the

learner.. Thus any teaching-learning methods which make the material distasteful to the pupils should be avoided.

Rousseau advocates negative education - which is typical of naturalistic philosophy - the subordination of the child to natural order and his freedom from the social order. He defines negative education as one that tends to perfect the organs that are the instruments of knowledge before giving them this knowledge directly. The child should be left free to develop his body and senses. He attaches great importance to sense training as he believes senses are the gate ways of knowledge. For naturalists, genuine education is based on the laws of readiness and needs of the human being. According to them child's nature, interests ,and needs provide the basis of curriculum

CONCEPT OF DISCIPLINE

Man was born free and everywhere he is in shackles.

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Liberty and Human Rights Quotes

Naturalism emerged at a time when education was confined within the rigid rules of discipline by the influence of Idealism. Naturalism aims at making education free from the bondage of rigid discipline under which children were tortured. So according to this doctrine, education is not a formal training but a natural biological process of children. Education should be within nature

Since classroom discipline usually is associated with methodology the naturalist asserts a fourth characteristic of sound teaching, namely that all discipline should derive from the natural elements of the situation. The situation will provide a form of innate discipline that should replace that of the teacher. To illustrate, a child learns to avoid hot objects because he has experienced the discomfort and pain which follow his touching them the pupil learn to cooperate with other pupil when he finds himself ostracized by his class mates.

.. If we do this, we will be wish in determining the character of the punishment in each case and constant in administering it, yet avoiding anger.for example- Every time a child puts his finger into the candle flames he gets a burn. Always it happens; always it is a burn. Their are no harsh words, no snapping and snarling, just a burn proportionate to the size of the flame and the extent and duration of the contact. But always there is that much. By this means Nature quickly teachers the

normal child the dangers of fire, and exemplifies for parents and teachers what is desirable in corrective relations with children.

If, for example, a child is habitually slow in getting dressed and ready to go for a walk with the rest of the family, scolding, harsh words, and ruffled feeling are punishment for everyone else as well as the problem child, and may avail little. Instead, let the rest of the family go for the walk and leave the habitually late child to suffer the natural consequences of being slow, missing the enjoyment for which the other members of the family were ready. When a child begins to expect such consequences as certain to follow if he does not measure up to what is expected of him, he will act so as to enjoy the benefits which follow from appropriate conduct. Furthermore, when punishment of this sort is used, ruffled feelings do not get mixed up with discipline. It is easier for parent or teacher to hold a firm position with discipline. It is easier for parent or teacher to hold a firm position with the child and yet not lose rapport with him completely. Even the disobedient child should feel that he has not lost all the sympathy of his guardians. But in the common snapping and snarling of parents, the emotional break between parent and child is too sharp and may do more damage than the punishment does good

Naturalism, as a philosophy of education advocates maximum freedom for the child and further stresses in freeing the child from the tyranny of rigidity, interference and strict discipline.. The freedom of child disciplines him and he is naturally controlled by his own learning and experiences. There is stress given to discipline by natural consequences. There should be believers of self-government by the students and co-education has to be adopted as it is more natural means.

WOMEN EDUCATION

Rousseau describes the education of Sophie, the girl who marries Émile. In Rousseau’s view, the education of girls was to be similar with regard to naturalness, but it differed because of sexual differences. A girl cannot be educated to be a man. According to Rousseau, a woman should be the centre of the family, a housewife, and a mother. She should strive to please her husband, concern herself more than he with having a good reputation, and be satisfied with a simple religion of the emotions. Because her intellectual education is not of the essence, “her studies must all be on the practical side.”

AGENCIES OF EDUCATION

Man is considered the basic unit rather than a part of member of a social organism. Society is made up of individuals; are not sparks of offspring of society. The only reason for the latter’s existence flows from the need of protecting the individual from hostile forces or assisting the individual to achieve more happiness, security, and contentment by cooperation with his fellowman

It would not be at all surprising if a student were to jump to the inference that naturalism has no rationale for the existence of the school. After all, it has great confidence in Nature and less confidence in human society. In both there is very frequent reference to the guidance which is to be gained for education by following the ways of Nature as evidenced in growth and in the impromptu activates of children.

If naturalism is true, then it may follow that mothers and /or fathers are the natural teachers, and there is no firm basis for adding to institutions, as we have done making education a specialized function to be fulfilled in a formal agency of society.

. Rousseau. , proposes that formal schooling is both unnecessary and harmful to education “according to nature.” Even the tutor’s role must be subordinated to that of the home and nature. His function is a negative one: to keep the child and youth from the evil influence of corrupt institutions and society. Of these three educational agencies (home, church, and school) Rousseau would recognize only the home. The foundations of good physical and mental health are laid during infancy It the child is spoiled by faulty home training during these formative years, this tutor will have great difficulty in correcting the errors. .

Other naturalists believed that the parents role is very important in the child’s education, one should have formalized institutions ( schools) whose very existence is rooted in nature..

Naturalism, in summary, recognizes only two primary educational agencies, the home and the state (through the state-sponsored secular school). Of course, of twentieth- century naturalist undoubtedly would acknowledge the important function that secondary educational agencies serve. Mass communication media such as radio, television, movies, newspapers, all play important parts in the modern child’s education.

EVALUATION OF NATURALISM

From these philosophical limitations one can derive certain short comings in the educational theories of naturalists. Perhaps the most significant of these from the point of view of many philosophers is the absence of any permanent goals for education. Without some permanence of aims education can easily become a haphazard, day to day activity without any central focus.

By designating experience as the sole source of knowledge naturalism limits itself to one methodology and to a narrow curriculum divested of much of the knowledge acquired by past generations as well as of the many artistic production of the human race.

The somewhat naïve view that human nature is essentially good resulted in the elevation of pupil freedom to the detriment of even the mini al order and discipline essential from optimal learning. Even Dewey criticized this aspect of naturalistic education.

From this list of shortcomings one might conclude that naturalism contributed nothing to education. It must be remembered, however, that revolutionary movements are nourished by weakness or deficiencies in existing institutions. A few of the most significant contributions of naturalism to educational theory and practice should be cited.

1.0Perhaps the most significant educational reform proposed by the naturalists flows from their belief that the natural growth pattern of children should determine the content and method of education. The modern concept of “readiness,” accepted by educators of all persuasions, is a result of this principle.

2.0 A corollary of this generalization reminds the educator that content and method should be adjusted to the individual differences of the pupils. Rousseau, Pestalozzi, and the early progressives recognized the failure of traditional education in regard to this rather obvious fact and offered both theoretical and practical means for adapting content and method to individual differences.

3.0 yet another principal advocated by the naturalists and generally accepted by all modern educators stresses the pedagogical value of “learning by doing.” Much of traditional teaching was highly verbal and abstract, even when the occasion

did not call for such an approach. The naturalist reminds all educators to utilize direct experience whenever possible to insure meaningful and lasting learning.

4.0 one final contribution suggested by naturalistic theory which has been a value to all educators can be traced to the dictum that “learning is naturally pleasurable.” Too often, the traditionalists preached that learning was pleasant, but their practices belied their principles. In many traditional schools, especially at the lower levels, it was assumed that “good education” must be unpleasant because children were unwilling to learn. But the naturalist argued that if education utilized the natural interests of student as the starting point for learning even the most difficult tasks could become pleasant. If nature itself contains those ingredients necessary for the improvement of the species, it behooves the educator to formulate his aims, devise educational methods and procedures, create a curriculum, and strengthen educational agencies according to the natural tendencies found within man. Then and only then can one be assured of the continued progress of the human race. Any appeal to sources outsider nature for improvement of the educative process is miseducative since it violates the very foundations upon which education should be built. Nature must be accorded free play if there is to be improvement in the child. Nature itself seems to guarantee progress! .

REFERENCES

Breed, Frederick, “Education and the Realistic Outlook,” Philosophies of Education. National Society for the Study of Education, Forty-first Yearbook, Part 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942.

Broundy, Harry S., Building a Philosophy of Education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961..

Butler, J. Donald, Four Philosophies and Their……… Education and Religion. New York : Harper & Row.

Comenius, John Amos, The Great Didactic. London : A & C Black, 1910. The application of Comenius’ sense-realism to education.

Herbart, J.F., The Science of Education. Boston : D.C.Heath & Company, 1902.

Locke, John Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1902. The basic statement of Locke’s epistemological position.

Weber, Christian O., Basic Philosophies of Education. New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1960. This book, especially in chapters 11-14,.

Wild, John, “Education and human Society : A Realistic View,” Modern Philosophies and Education. National Society for the study of Education, Fifty-fourth Yearbook, Part I. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1955.

Broudy, Harry S., Building a Philosophy of Education. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961...Frank Thilly, “A History of philosophy”, Central Publishing House, Allahabad.

John Dewey, “Reconstruction in Philosophy,” p-38. London, University of London Press Ltd. 1921.

John Locke, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1960, Introduction.

Rusk, R.R., “Philosophical Basis of Education” p-68, footnote, London, University of London Press, 1956..

The Concise Oxford Dictionary, Sixth Edition, III. Impression, 1976, p-868.

 

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