Pragmatism

1.     Origin of Pragmatism

Pragmatism is an old philosophy; however, its role in education has come between the 19th & 20th century. Many philosophers such as William Kilpatrick, George Counts, and Boyd Bode built this philosophy's education structure; and the creative philosophers John Dewy integrated philosophy with education. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

The word "pragmatism" is of Greeks origin and it means "work". Pragmatist believes that truth is observable; thus, it may change. For it, truth is absolutely relative and can change according to the happening situations. Dewey claimed that teachers in democratic society must have diverse methods of teaching, where each method might work for a student and might not work for another one. Therefore, pragmatism believes in diversity of students, their thinking of their instruction methods. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

2.     Pragmatism and Educate Process

According to pragmatism, educative process is all about activity and experience. Pragmatism believes that education system is always going forward. It’s always in progress, and progress refers to change, and change involves more novelty. Therefore, knowledge cannot be given at once. The educative process, then, is pragmatic; which means it is gradual and experimental. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

3.     Educational Implication

There are five educational implications in pragmatism:

                       i.      Education as Life

Pragmatism believes that the traditional way of teaching became useless. Education is about reorganization, reconstruction, and combination of the race experiences. It wants to maintain the culture of the past, think of solutions to force new situations, then integrate both of them. Thus, knowledge can be only gained through experiments, activities, and life experiences. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     ii.      Education as a Growth

In pragmatism view, child is not born as a blank paper; however, he is born with abilities and tendencies that can be brought out by education. Thus, education is only a mediator between the child's mental ideas and the external world. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iii.      Education as a Social Process

For pragmatism, social relationships can teach the human being more than books. Thus, children must be educated in a social medium that develops them socially to reach happiness and satisfaction. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iv.      Education Is a Continuous Restructuring of Experience

Pragmatism believes that education is a journey, not a destination. It's a process of gaining knowledge through reconstruction and adjustment of an experiment. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     v.      Education The Responsibility of State

For Pragmatism, it's any state responsibility to make education a right for any child. Without this right, the state and its children will suffer and fail in the future. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

4.     Pragmatism and Aim of Education

Pragmatism has no aims of education. It believes that education is always in progress-always developing. Thus, its aim cannot be bounded; it’s dynamic and subjective. For pragmatism, education is about dealing with human life, so it must fulfill children’s need until they feel satisfied. Education should train children to be able to adjust themselves to the new environment when the situations change. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

5.     Pragmatism and Curriculum

Four principles have been described, by pragmatism, in this field:

                       i.      Principle of Utility

Curriculum should include subjects, activities, and experiences that children need and use in the present and future such as History, Science, Physical training, Language, Geography, Physical wellbeing, and Home science for girls. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                     ii.      Principle of Interest

Only activities and experiences that children are interest in should be in the curriculum such as Art, Craft-work, Reading, Counting, Writing, Natural science, and other simple nature practices. Dewey divided interests into four categories: interest in conversation, interest in investigation, interest in construction, and interest in creative expression. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iii.      Principle of Experience

Child’s activity, career, and experience should be integrated, according to this principle. Any curriculum should contain plenty of learning experiences that improve the child’s thinking, personality, and confidence. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

                   iv.      Principle of Integration

According to pragmatism, subjects and activities should be integrated; knowledge is one unit. An adjustable, changeable, and integrated curriculum is a must, in pragmatists view, to help the child adapt when he develops, society changes, and demands increase. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

6.     Pragmatism and Methods of Teaching

Pragmatism’s method of teaching is an activity-based method. For pragmatism, knowledge can be gained through activities and experiments. When students learn through experiments, they become creative, confident, cooperative, and prepared for practical life. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

Pragmatists depend on experimental methods of teaching where students should discover the truth by themselves. This requires the application of methods that encourage them to discover and increase their excitement toward the truth. According to pragmatism, knowledge is gained through auto-education or self-education method, where the role of teacher and book is secondary. They only support and guide the students in activities. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

7.     Teacher

Pragmatism describes teacher as philosopher, helper to help students improve and develop their talent abilities, and guide to guide them to solve the problems that he suggests. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

8.     Discipline

For pragmatism, discipline is about tracking the child’s interests. Teacher and student, both cooperate to solve a problem which shows that education is a social process. In this process, teacher suggests the problem and guides the pupil but all work is done by the pupil. Even in group work, all are equal; there are no rewards or punishments for any student. (Sharma, Devi, & Kumari, 2018)

9.     References 

o   Sharma, S., Devi, R., & Kumari, J. (2018, February 4). Pragmatism in Education. ICNFESMH-2018 (pp. 74-79). India: OM Institute of Technology & Management.