Isolated Facts and the Banking Method 

In the common classroom, most lessons involve the teacher asking low-level questions and learners answering with what facts they had memorized from yesterday or previous lessons. This is also called the Banking Method, which Paulo Freire is very much against since it does not make learners reflect and connect what they were  taught to real life. There is nothing wrong with this method; it works in certain situations especially during the early parts of the school year, and with younger learners. Isolated facts make no sense but become meaningful when seen in relation to other facts. These facts when combined with other facts from further questioning by the teacher, help learners see meaning and connection to their lives. Summaries of the different thoughts of educational philosophers on what should be taught and how learners should be taught may be read in the following pages. 

John Locke = the Empiricist Educator 

He was an English philosopher and physician widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the Father of Liberalism. The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, also called the ―Century of Philosophy.‖ Empiricism = at birth the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. Locke maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is instead determined only by experience derived from sense perception. Something must be capable of being tested repeatedly and that nothing is exempt from being disproven. He is said to have established the method of introspection or the act of noting and observing one‘s own emotions and behaviors. Locke advocated that:

 Learners should acquire knowledge about the world through the senses 

= learning by doing and by interacting with the environment  Simple ideas become more complex through comparison, reflection and generalization 

= the inductive method  Questioned the long traditional view that knowledge came exclusively from literary sources, particularly the Greek and Latin classics  Opposed the ―divine right of kings‖ theory which held that the monarch had the right to be an unquestioned and absolute ruler over his subjects  Political order should be based upon a contract between the people and the government  Aristocrats are not designed by birth to be rulers. People were to establish their own government and select their own political leaders from among themselves.  Civic education is necessary. People should be educated to govern themselves intelligently and responsibly.

For John Locke, education is not acquisition of knowledge contained in the Great Books. It should be learners interacting with concrete experience, comparing and reflecting on these concrete experience. The learner is an active, not a passive, agent of his/her own learning. From the social dimension, education is seeing citizens participate actively and intelligently in establishing their government and in choosing who will govern them from among themselves because they are convinced that no one person is destined to be ruler forever. 12 Herbert Spencer = the Utilitarian Educator http://www.newfoundations.net/GALLERY/Spencer.html Spencer‘s concept of ―survival of the fittest‖ means that human development had gone through an evolutionary series of stages from the simple to the complex, and from the uniform to the more specialized kind of activity  Social development had taken place according to an evolutionary process by which simple homogenous societies had evolved to more complex societal systems characterized by humanistic and classical education.  Industrialized societies require vocational and professional education based on scientific and practical (utilitarian) objectives rather than on the very general educational goals associated with humanistic and classical education.  Curriculum should emphasize the practical, utilitarian and scientific subjects that will help mankind master the environment.  Was not incline to rote learning; schooling must be related to life and to the activities needed to earn a living.  Curriculum must be arranged according to the concepts‘ contribution to human survival and progress.  Science and other subjects that sustained human life and prosperity should have curricular priority since these aid in the performance of life activities.  Individual competition leads to social progress. He who is fittest survives. British philosopher and sociologist, Herbert Spencer was a major figure in the intellectual life of the Victorian era. He was one of the principal proponents of Evolutionary Theory in the mid-19th century, and his reputation at the time rivaled that of Charles Darwin. Spencer was initially best known for developing and applying evolutionary theory to philosophy, psychology and the study of society -- what he called his "synthetic philosophy" (see his A System of Synthetic Philosophy, 1862-93). Today, however, he is usually remembered in philosophical circles for his political thought, primarily for his defense of natural rights and for criticisms of utilitarian positivism. Utilitarian education = focuses on producing students who will be able to fit into society at an elite level and contribute as productive citizens. The utilitarian perspective of education has been used for many years around the world as a formal schooling basis, with the intention of benefiting the elite and wealthy families and individuals. It is structured around a standardized curriculum, quantifiable testing of student performance, age-related classes which leads to a certification for those who can afford the education and succeed, (Haslam. et al, 2012). The aim of this perspective of education is not to identify individual talents or interests, but to teach a set of curriculum where students learn and memorize information, so they can be tested. The utilitarian form of education provided financial security and social status for the individual and their families if they are successful. The utilitarian approach is useful in challenging students to memorize 13 information and be tested on it; however, if a learning space is required that involves class interaction, hands-on learning and successful teacher/student relationships, then an alternative perspective of education is preferred. John Dewey = Learning Through Experience Source: James S. Gouinlock, 101620 https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Dewey  Education is a social process; therefore the school is intimately related to the society that it serves.  Children are socially active human beings who want to explore their environment and gain control over it.  Education is a social process by which the immature members of the group, especially the children, are brought to participate in the society  The school is a special environment established by members of society, for the purpose of simplifying, purifying and integrating the social experience of the group so that it can be understood, examined and used by its children.  The sole purpose of education is to contribute to the personal and social growth of the individual.  The steps of the scientific or reflective method which is extremely important in Dewey‘s educational theory are as follows. -The learner has a ―genuine situation of experience‖ or involvement in an activity in which he/she is interested. -Within this experience the learner has a genuine problem that stimulates thinking. -The learner possesses the information or does research to acquire the information needed to solve the problem. -The learner develops possible and tentative solutions that may solve the problem. -The learner tests the solutions by applying them to the problem. In this way, he/she will discover its validity for him/herself. The common theme underlying Dewey‘s philosophy was his belief that a democratic society of informed and engaged inquirers was the best means of promoting human interests. He proposed that all things are subject to change and do change. There is no static being, and there is no changeless nature. Nor is experience purely subjective, because the human mind is itself part and parcel of nature. Human experiences are the outcomes of a range of interacting processes and are thus worldly events. The challenge to human life, therefore, is to determine how to live well with processes of change, not somehow to transcend them. Dewey‘s particular version of pragmatism, which he called ―instrumentalism,‖ is the view that knowledge results from the discernment (or seeing) of correlations between events, or processes of change. Inquiry requires an active participation in such processes: the inquirer introduces specific variations in them to determine what differences thereby occur in related processes and measures how a given event changes in relation to variations in associated events. For example, experimental 14 inquiry may seek to discern how malignancies in a human organism change in relation to variations in specific forms of treatment, or how students become better learners when exposed to particular methods of instruction. True to the name he gave it, and in keeping with earlier pragmatists, Dewey held that ideas are instruments, or tools, that humans use to make greater sense of the world. Specifically, ideas are plans of action and predictors of future events. A person possesses an idea when he is prepared to use a given object in a manner that will produce a predictable result. Thus, a person has an idea of a hammer when he is prepared to use such an object to drive nails into wood. Ideas predict that the undertaking of a definite line of conduct in specified conditions will produce a determinate result. Of course, ideas might be mistaken. They must be tested experimentally to see whether their predictions will happen. Experimentation itself is fallible, but the chance for error is mitigated by further, more rigorous inquiry. Instrumentalism‘s operating premise is that ideas empower people to direct natural events, including social processes and institutions, toward human benefit. Dewey saw democracy as an active process of social planning and collective action in all spheres of common life. Democracy is also a source of moral values that may guide the establishment and evolution of social institutions that promote the flourishing of humans. However, unlike other moral frameworks (e.g., great religious traditions or political ideologies), democracy as a way of life is neither absolutist nor relativistic, because its norms and procedures are fallible and experimental. It is a consciously collaborative process in which individuals consult with each other to identify and address their common problems; indeed, Dewey spoke of democracy as ―social intelligence.‖ Within a fully democratic society, Dewey suggested, people would treat each other with respect and would demonstrate a willingness to revise their views while maintaining a commitment to cooperative action and experimental inquiry. George S. Counts = Building a New Order Source: Dalton B. Curtis, Jr, 110620 https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-S-Counts  Education is not based on eternal truths but is relative to a particular society living at a given time and place.  By allying themselves with groups that want to change society, schools should cope with social changes that arise from technology  There is a cultural lag between material progress, social institutions, and ethical values.  Instruction should incorporate content of a socially useful nature and problem-solving methodology. Students are encouraged to work on problems that have social significance.  Schools become instruments for social improvement rather than an agency for preserving the status quo.  Teachers should lead society rather than follow it. Teachers are agents of change. 15  Teachers are called on to make important choices in the controversial areas of economics, politics and morality; because if they failed to do so, others would make the decisions for them.  Schools should provide an education that provides equal learning opportunities to all students. (Ornstein, 1984). An American educator and activist, George S. Counts was a leading proponent of social reconstructionism and believed that schools should bring about social change. After graduating (1911) from Baker University, Counts earned a doctorate (1916) in education with a minor in sociology at the University of Chicago, taught at various universities before joining the faculty of Teachers College, Columbia University, in 1927. Early in his career Counts studied the influence of powerful social and economic forces in American education. In his books ―The Selective Character of American Secondary Education” (1922) and ―The Social Composition of Boards of Education” (1927), he argued that the interests of upper-class elites dominated high schools and school boards, thus belying the equality of opportunity, particularly for immigrant and African-American children. After study tours in the Soviet Union in 1927 and 1929, he published ―The Soviet Challenge to America” (1931). Impressed by Soviet efforts at social planning, he attributed the social and economic devastation of the Great Depression to the lack of planning in the United States. In 1932 Counts spoke before the Progressive Education Association and criticized the organization for not having a social theory to guide education. The controversial speech was later included in the pamphlet ―Dare the School Build a New Social Order?” (1932), in which he called for schools and teachers to help foster a planned collective economy. He also argued that teachers should serve as leaders, effecting social change. Hoping to spread his ideas, Counts and several colleagues launched a journal of social and educational commentary, ―The Social Frontier”, in 1934. Under his editorship (1934–37) the journal became the voice of the educational theory called social reconstructionism, which was based on the theory that society can be reconstructed through education. By that time Counts had also come to admire the work of historian Charles A. Beard, whose progressive interpretation of history and emphasis on economics affected Counts‘s social and educational theory. Also at this time he published ―The Social Foundations of Education” (1934) and ―The Prospects for American Democracy” (1938). Counts served as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) from 1939 to 1942. By the late 1930s he had become disenchanted with the Soviet Union after the revelations of the purge trials initiated by Joseph Stalin, and he led the fight to keep communists out of the AFT. In 1942 he became the New York state chairman of the American Labor Party, but he left the group that same year. He subsequently helped form the Liberal Party, and in 1952 he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate from New York. Progressive educator, sociologist, and political activist, George S. Counts challenged teachers and teacher educators to use school as a means for critiquing and transforming the social order. Perhaps best known for his controversial pamphlet ―Dare the School Build a New Social Order?‖ (1932), Counts authored scores 16 of scholarly works that advanced the social study of education and emphasized teaching as a moral and political enterprise. His work on schooling and society continue to have relevance to contemporary dilemmas in education. Counts's importance to and impact on American education remain a matter of debate. His contributions to the evolving discourse on democracy and education are evident in a great deal of his writing, specifically in his conviction that schools could be the lever of radical social change. Highly critical of economic and social norms of selfishness, individualism, and inattention to human suffering, Counts wanted educators to "engage in the positive task of creating a new tradition in American life" (1978, p.262). He wanted teachers to go beyond abstract, philosophical conceptions of democracy and teach explicitly about power and injustice. He wanted teachers and students to count among their primary goals the building of a better social order. Theodore Brameld = Social Reconstructionism Cengage, 112820 https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and law/education-biographies/theodore-burghard-hurt-brameld  As the name implies, social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes the reformation of society. The social reconstructionists contend that: ….human kind has moved from an agricultural and rural society to an urban and technological society … there is a serious lag in cultural adaptation to the realities of a technological society. Human kind has yet to reconstruct its values in order to catch up with the changes in the technological order, and organized education systems have a major role to play in reducing the gap between cultural values and technology. (Ornstein, 1984).  Social reconstructionists say that schools should: o critically examine present culture and resolve inconsistencies, controversies and conflicts to build a new society, not just to change society… o do more than reform the social and educational status quo. It should seek to create a new society... o human kind is in a state of profound cultural crisis. If schools reflect the dominant social values, then organized education will merely transmit the social ills that are symptoms of the pervasive problems and afflictions that beset humankind… o the only legitimate goal of a truly humane education is to create a world order in which people are in control of their own destiny. In an era of nuclear weapons, the social reconstructionists see an urgent need from society to reconstruct itself before it destroys itself (Ornstein, 1984).  Technological era is an era of interdependence, therefore education must be international in scope for global citizenship. 17  For the social reconstructionists, education is designed to awaken students‘ consciousness about social problems, and to engage them actively in problem solving (Ornstein, 1984).  Social reconstructionists are firmly committed to equality or equity in both society and education. Barriers of socio-economic class and racial discrimination should be eradicated.  They also emphasized the idea of an interdependent world. The quality of life needs to be considered and enhanced on a global basis (Ornstein, 1984). A philosopher and visionary educator who developed the reconstructionist philosophy of education, Theodore Brameld spent a lifetime working for personal and cultural transformation through education. Influenced by John Dewey's educational philosophy, Brameld urged that schools become powerful forces for social and political change. He welcomed reasoned argument and debate both inside and outside the classroom. After completing a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Chicago in 1931, Brameld taught at Long Island University and spent much of his career at New York University and Boston University. In the 1930s Brameld was drawn to a social activist group of scholars at Teachers College, Columbia University, including George Counts, Harold Rugg, Merle Curti, and William Heard Kilpatrick. Counts especially influenced him profoundly. Writing in ―The Social Frontier”, a journal of educational and political critique, Brameld argued for a radical philosophy that focused analysis on weaknesses in the social, economic, and political structure. From this analysis came constructive blueprints for a new social order that challenged social inequities like prejudice, discrimination, and economic exploitation. These issues were addressed in ―Minority Problems in Public Schools”, published in 1945. Placing abundant faith in the common person, Brameld considered democracy the core of his educational philosophy. In 1950 he asserted in ―Ends and Means in Education: A Midcentury Appraisal” that education needed a reconstructed perspective and suggested reconstructionism as an appropriate label to distinguish this philosophy. Many of Brameld's ideas grew out of his experience in applying his philosophical beliefs to a school setting in Floodwood, Minnesota. There he worked with students and teachers to develop democratic objectives. Insisting that controversial issues and problems ought to play a central role in education, he considered no issue out of bounds for discussion and critical analysis. Brameld never wavered in his conviction that philosophy must be related to real-life issues. Philosophers as well as educators must act decisively on their values, he affirmed. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s he remained defiant and courageous in the face of intimidation and harassment by the forces of McCarthyism that tried to muffle his resolute voice. Starting in 1950 with the publication of ―Patterns of Educational Philosophy: A Democratic Interpretation”, Brameld developed his cultural interpretation of four philosophies of education: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, and reconstructionism. He viewed essentialism as an educational philosophy concerned mainly with the conservation of culture; perennialism as centering on the classical 18 thought of ancient Greece and medieval Europe; progressivism as the philosophy of liberal, experimental education; and reconstructionism as a radical philosophy of education responding to the contemporary crisis. In his writings throughout the 1950s, Brameld maintained that reconstructionists – like progressivists – opposed any theory that viewed values as absolute or unchanging. Values must be tested by evidence and grounded in social consensus. Brameld continued to refine his philosophy in his many publications. In 1965 a small but influential book, ―Education as Power”, appeared in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Korean editions (and was reissued in 2000). This book clearly and concisely outlines many of the major tenets of reconstructionism. Education has two major roles: to transmit culture and to modify culture. When American culture is in a state of crisis, the second of these roles – that of modifying and innovating – becomes more important. Reconstructionism, Brameld affirmed, is a crisis philosophy; the reconstructionist is "very clear as to which road mankind should take, but he/she is not at all clear as to which road it will take" (2000, p. 75). Above all, reconstructionism is a philosophy of values, ends, and purposes, with a democratically empowered world civilization as the central goal of education. Social self-realization, "the realization of the capacity of the self to measure up to its fullest, most satisfying powers in cooperative relationship with other selves" (2000, p. 93), is the capstone of reconstructionist theory and practice, but Brameld also pays attention to politics, human relations, religion, and the arts in his philosophy. A commitment to existential humanism remains constant. Defensible partiality, a central concept in reconstructionism, suggests a search for answers to human problems by exploring alternative approaches and then defending the partialities that emerge from a dialectic of opposition. Brameld's abiding interest in the concept of culture led him to write a scholarly volume, ―Cultural Foundations of Education: An Interdisciplinary Exploration‖ (1957), that demonstrated his debt to influential anthropologists. Following this came application of his theoretical framework to Puerto Rican culture and education in ―The Remaking of a Culture” (1959), and application to a study of a Japanese fishing village and a segregated community in ―Japan: Culture, Education, and Change in Two Communities‖ (1968). One of Brameld's last books, ―The Teacher As World Citizen: A Scenario of the 21st Century” (1976), provides a visionary outline and culmination of many of his lifelong hopes and beliefs. Written as if looking back from the eve of the year 2001, the teacher-narrator recalls global transformations of the preceding quarter century. Radical changes have occurred, especially establishment of a World Community of Nations based on a global Declaration of Interdependence. Brameld's conception of the utopian spirit as a realizable vision of what could and should be achieved was influenced greatly by scholars like Lewis Mumford whose comprehensive organic, ecological, and humanistic philosophy had a profound influence on Brameld's reconstructionism. Some critics found Brameld's educational philosophy too goal-centered and utopian while others were disturbed by his advocacy of teachers as social change activists. Still others criticized his early interest in Marx, 19 as well as his ongoing critique of the capitalist value system. Brameld's unpopular commitment in intercultural education and education for a world community in the 1950s was more widely embraced as multicultural and global education a half century later. After becoming professor emeritus at Boston University in 1969, Brameld taught at Springfield College in Massachusetts and at the University of Hawaii where he continued to write, conduct research, and become involved in community change initiatives. As he did throughout his professional life, Brameld wrote letters to the editors of newspapers and worked on articles for scholarly journals. Brameld participated in demonstrations against nuclear power and enjoyed spending time at his home in Lyme Center, New Hampshire and traveling around the world as an instructor with World Campus Afloat (a study-abroad program now known as the Semester at Sea). Theodore Brameld died in October 1987 in Durham, North Carolina, at the age of eighty-three. The Society for Educational Reconstruction (SER), founded in the late 1960s by Brameld's former doctoral students and others inspired by his ideas, continues to sponsor conferences and symposia focusing on various dimensions of the reconstructionist philosophy of education. Paulo Freire = Critical Pedagogy https://www.pfz.at/paulo-freire/paulo-freire-eine-kurzbiographie/  A critical theorist, just like the social reconstructionists, he believed that the educational system must be changed to overcome oppression and improve human conditions.  Education and literacy are the vehicles for social change. In this view, humans must learn to resist oppression and not become its victims, nor oppress others. To do so requires dialogue and critical consciousness, the development of awareness to overcome domination and oppression.  Rather than ‖teaching as banking― in which the educator deposits information into students‘ heads, Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the child must invent and reinvent the world.  Teachers must not see themselves as the sole possessors of knowledge and their students as empty receptacles. He called this pedagogical approach the ―banking method‖ of education.  A democratic relationship between the teacher and his/her students is necessary in order for the conscientization process to take place.  Freire‘s critical pedagogy is problem-posing education.  A central element of Freire‘s pedagogy is dialogue. o It is love and respect that allow us to engage people in dialogue and to discover in the process and learn from one another. o By its nature, dialogue is not something you cannot impose. Instead, genuine dialogue is characterized by respect between the parties involved. o We develop tolerant sensibility during the dialogue process, and it is only when we come to tolerate the points of view and ways of being of others 20 that we might be able to learn from them and about ourselves in the process. o Dialogue means the presence of equality, mutual recognition, affirmation of people, a sense of solidarity with people, and remaining open to questions.  Dialogue is the basis for critical and problem-posing pedagogy, as opposed to banking education, where there is no discussion, only the imposition of the teacher‘s ideas on the students (Ornstein, 1984). Paulo Freire was born September 19, 1921 in the provincial capital Recife in the north-east of Brazil and grew up in a middle-class family. During the Great Depression in 1929 he got to know poverty and hunger. From then on, Paulo Freire wanted to devote his life to fighting hunger, and later took up the fight against oppression. Freire graduated from the Law School of the University of Pernambuco but decided against a career in this field because he “discovered that the law he had studied was the right of the owners versus the have-nots”. Rather, his work and his interest now shifted to the areas of adult education, linguistics, upbringing and education. From 1946 to 1956 Freire worked in the Department of Education and Culture of the Industrial Social Service and began to devote himself increasingly to adult education. Freire's democratic and dialogue-oriented method called awareness raising (conscientizacao), led to disagreements with the employers' association as the sponsor and ultimately to a break: Freire rejected the charity mentality, a form of help that wants to help those affected without them as subjects and designers of the ‗to take your own life‘ seriously. They are helped, but precisely and solely according to the will of the helpers, who want to demonstrate the moral superiority they claim for themselves. The literacy method developed by Freire (Paulo Freire received his PhD in adult literacy from the University of Recife in 1959) managed to literate an adult in just 40 hours and achieved by combining learning to read and write with ―reading and writing reality‖ as a ‗process of awareness.‘ This goal of raising awareness was the focus of the institutions ―Kulturkreis‖ and ―Kulturzentrum‖ initiated by Freire, which were based on his experiences in the 1950s. While the cultural center was aimed primarily at pedagogy students, the participants in the cultural circles were adults without any school education. In 1962, the Goulart government in Brazil began a large-scale national literacy program. The basis of the program was the Paulo Freire method. The goal was to create 20,000 cultural circles to teach 2 million people to read and write. This had an essential aspect of democratic politics: being able to read and write meant being able to exercise the right to vote in the Brazilian context of the 1960s. Illiterate people were excluded from this. This political and emancipatory project was violently ended only two years later, in 1964, when the military took power with a coup. Paulo Freire was jailed for 72 days. After his release, Freire went in exile in Chile. With emigration, his work changed, he became more theoretical, reflected his experiences in adult education in several books (the best known is the ―Pedagogy of the Oppressed”, 1970) and began 21 various consulting activities. He taught at the University of Santiago until 1969, served from 1970 to 1976 in the World Council of Churches in Geneva as an advisor on educational issues in economically underdeveloped countries and advised governments in several of these peripheral countries, all with strong socialist movements: Chile, Nicaragua, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde. The different situations in these countries made him realize that his method had to be adapted to the respective circumstances of the countries. In Africa, the application of his method proved to be difficult because there was no national language in the former Portuguese colonies, as Portuguese was only spoken by the elite and the urban population. Freire sympathized with liberation movements and left governments. But his relationship was not free of tension because he vehemently opposed manipulation and sectarianism. Instead of being patronized by know-it-all elites, he put the dialogue between learners and teachers: “The teacher is no longer just the one who teaches, but one who is taught himself in dialogue with the students, who in turn, while they are being taught, also teach. In this way they become jointly responsible for a process in which everyone grows.” In the 1970s, Paulo Freire was finally noticed more in Europe and worked with various international organizations (UNESCO , ILO , FAO). He became a pioneer of a grassroots educational approach that revived the 19th century tradition of popular education in Europe. In 1980, with the end of the repression and the beginning of democratization, Freire returned to Brazil and taught at the University of Campinas and the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. He devoted himself increasingly to school issues such as curriculum design. He was a supporter of democratic socialism, sympathized with the PT workers' party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) and was an education councilor in Sao Paulo under Luiza Erundina from 1989 to 1991. In the 1990s, his criticism focused on neoliberalism and its application in education. He had to experience that the banking method he so vehemently criticized - the misconception that human capital can be saved in the brain - caught on again around the world. With all power “I never felt as young as I have since I turned 70. I learned to argue." - he tried to defend his ideas of popular education against the economization of education decreed by the World Bank. Paulo Freire died on May 2, 1997 in São Paulo. -0- These 6 philosophers provided herein their educational philosophies which have greatly changed education as we know it. Each one had a great impact that through the years have taught teachers how to teach and what to teach. As you go on to your professional lives, handling the learners of generations that I may no longer know about, it is hoped that you will be better able to address the challenges you will encounter with the examples given by these philosophers. You will be developing your own educational teaching and learning philosophy in time; it is my hope that this lesson will provide you with readings of models that you may emulate or adapt. 

REMEMBER THESE POINTS 22 John Locke - the Empiricist Education is not acquisition of knowledge contained in the Classics. It is learners interacting with concrete experience. The learner is an active not a passive agent of his/her own learning. From the social dimension, education is seeing citizens participate actively and intelligently in establishing their government and in choosing who will govern them from among themselves. They are of the thinking that no one person is destined to be ruler forever. This is in keeping with the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill. Spencer - the Utilitarianist To survive in a complex society, Spencer favors specialized education over that of general education, "The expert who concentrates on a limited field is useful, but if he loses sight of the interdependence of things he becomes a man who knows more and more about less and less.‖ We must be warned of the early perils of over specialism. Of course we do not prefer the other extreme, the superficial person who every day knows less and less about more and more. Only the fittest survives. Individual competition leads to social progress. The competition that advocates whole-child approach, Socio-emotional Learning (SEL) atmosphere approach, and Socio-emotional Learning (SEL) atmosphere negate. The whole child approach, a powerful tool for SEL-focused schools has as tenets that each student learns in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults, and each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified and caring adults...‖ (Frey, 2019). The words emotionally safe and caring adults point to no competition, because competition works against an emotionally safe environment. John Dewey – Experience Dewey does not disregard the accumulated wisdom of the past. These past ideas, discoveries and inventions, our cultural heritage, will be used as the material for dealing with problems and so will be tested. If they are of help, they become part of a reconstructed experience. If they are not totally accurate, they will still be part of a reconstructed experience. This means that the ideal learner for Dewey is not just one who can learn by doing, e.g., conduct an experiment, but one who can connect accumulated wisdom of the past to the present. Schools are for the people and by the people. Schools are a democratic institution where everyone regardless of age, ethnicity and social status is welcome and is encouraged to participate in the democratic process of decision-making. Learners and stakeholders practice and experience democracy in schools. George Counts - Building a New Social Order Schools and teachers should be agents of change. Schools are considered instruments for social improvement rather than just agencies for preserving the status quo. Whatever change we work for should always be change for the better not just 23 change for the sake of change. Problem solving should be the dominant method of instruction. ―There is a cultural lag between material progress and social institutions and ethical values." Material progress of humankind is very evident but moral and ethical development seem to have lagged behind. Theodore Brameld - the Social Reconstructionist Social reconstructionists critically examine present culture and resolve inconsistencies, controversies and conflicts to build a new society, not just change society. The technological era is an era of interdependence; therefore education must be international in scope for global citizenship. Paulo Freire - Critical pedagogy vs. Banking method Employ critical pedagogy and dialogue in contrast to the banking system of education. Learners are not empty receptacles to be filled.