Pragmatism

Pragmatic philosophy started by the Greek philosopher Heraclius, but the spread of this philosophy was coupled with name of the American philosopher John Dewey. It considers that everything must be experimented in order to prove it, therefore it represents a new progressive trend in philosophical thoughts.

Basic principles of pragmatic philosophy

Among the basic principles of pragmatic philosophy are those which emphasize that the individual is part of society and has a certain role in it. Adding to that, man has a neutral nature, since he is neither good nor bad but he has the willingness to be this or that, depending on the type of education reveived. Other principle is that knowing the divine self and how the universe exists is impossible.

Role of students

Regarding the role of student, pragmatist sees that students should collaborate with others, able to solve problem by self, and producing new methods for solving them. Pragmatists prefer students to have a well developed personality with the ability to communicate socially and self proof.

Role of teachers

Pragmatists ensure that teachers should suggest problems and lead students to find ways to solve them,  also teach them how to think and work. What is important that building educational attitudes on problems to better understand the surrounding.

Methods and curriculum

Pragmatists do not advocate a fixed curriculum in advance, yet it should be evolved according the requirement of situations. Thus pragmatists claim to flexible curriculum so that the nature of the learner has to be taken into consideration. Pragmatists try to include activities from daily life into the curriculum. It emphasizes only utilitarian aspect therefore, neglect subjects like poetry and art. Learning by doing is one of the basic methods of teaching in pragmatism. It is applied by encouraging students to learn through self-effort , not by reading books, but by actual doing things. Also including real life situations with topics learned in class. The learner is given a real and purposeful activity to carry out, by doing so he acquires principles, skills, and methods. Thus the learner obtain knowledge by experiences gained from tasks and activities.