Philosophy Of Adult Education

2 Pages 602 Words

My Philosophy of Adult Education

For the ancient Greeks, philosophy was “the search for what is truly real in a world of appearances (Elias and Merriam 2).” Another definition offered by Elias and Merriam is, “Philosophy is interested in the general principles of any phenonmenon, object, process, or subject matter (3).” If this is true of philosophy in general, than the philosoper of adult education would be interested in the underlying principles and overall process of education. Philosophy of adult education is different from traditional education because the needs and interests of adult learners are different from traditional students. And with any philosophy, if results are wanted, it must be accompanied with action. The reason that I am writing this paper today is to discuss what my philosophy of education is after reviewing Elias and Merriam’s six phiolosopies of adult education. Of the philosophies; liberal, progressive, behaviorist, humanistic, radical, and analyitic, I believe that my personal choice would be a combination of the behaviorist and humanistic philosophies.
Just as any ideas that have been around for so many years, good points and qualities can be found in all of the adult educational philosophies. For example, who can argue with the many traditions passed down with liberal education. No matter what our personal philosophy is, we will never be void of some of these foundations and practices. The same goes for the progressive philosophy; who would ever make changes unless society moved forward and new means were needed to reach the same goals? In analytic philosophy we can admire the amount of thought and complexity used to come back to out basic underlying beliefs, and no one can argue with the emphasis on literacy in the radical philosophy. However, in part because of the education I have recievd, and in part because of my life experiences, the behaviorist and humanist philosophies make ...