MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL
GENERAL SANTOS CITY

REACTION PAPER
(EDUC 201 C-PHILOSOPHICAL/ PSCYHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION)

Name: Charmaine P. Celeste Teacher: Lito S. Adanza, Ph.D.

The Place of Analytical Philosophy of Education

The author of the, Evila Orteza presented different views on Analytical Philosophy.
I will state some of her insights and recommendations. First is the importance of analytical
philosophy in education and training of school teachers, she believed that a Traditional
Philosophy has its limitations. Such as, raised questions that are difficult to answer.
According to her Traditional Philosophy does not make any recommendation as to what
ought to be done or should be done in educational practice. Orteza emphasized that
philosophizing in the traditional manner enhance one’s understanding of the basic
categories of philosophy but not necessarily concepts central to the educational
enterprise. In contrast, she believed that by the use of Analytical Philosophy of Education,
teaching, learning, caring and many other terms will be extracted their central
uses/meanings without appealing to assumptions of philosophy of education.

One of my reactions to the article was the enthusiasm of the author to discuss the
functions of analytical philosophy wherein she defines it as the meaning of words or
expressions that is also knowns as conceptual or linguistic analysis. I believe that by using
this philosophy, clarity and precision of talk will be develop, which is significant in teaching
in a classroom. This philosophy is not just focus on linguistic alone but it was also
mentioned that it helps teachers to recognize that “not all problems in life can be
comprehended and solved by empirical warrants alone.” All of us are having unique
problems, but it depends on how we face it, or how we engaged in appropriate ways of
reasoning, observing logical and differentiations in different kinds of talk. I agree that
analytical philosophy concentrates on language or medium in which teaching activities is
conducted and not what is taught that is its concern but the language employed by the
teacher when he or she teaches.

I think that Orteza’s statement that has the most important force in teachers is, “the
role of philosophy of education is not to make school teachers philosophers but enable
them to become good teachers, by this they must be capable of engaging in analytical
and conceptual activities and capable of arriving at conclusion which they judge logically
and morally because they are true to educational aims.” As a teacher in an elementary
school, it is a must to have an educational aim that can be contributed by the students,
parents and as a professional teacher, by using analytical philosophy it gives me the
ability to inspire and impart my knowledge and learning with analytic and conceptual
learnings. It was also mentioned in the article that teachers who use forcing or
conditioning could be judged as immoral and ignorant, I totally disagree with this, positive
reinforcement can be use in conditioning the children and I believe that it’s not wicked.
Motivating students in order to learn can have a good impact s you can develop their self-
esteem as well as their higher order thinking skills.

I have also found that she quoted about, that in teaching and educating, some
learn, some don’t, some learn much later and some never learn at all. I believe that this
is not applicable to everybody. Each of us has its own learning pace, we cannot tell a
person that he/she haven’t learn at all. Even in a classroom setting where there are
diverse learners, all of them are smart in different ways, they have multiple intelligences
which they are developing each and every day, and to quote that “some never learn at
all” is quite insulting. We should adapt to the learning styles of the students to maximize
their learning experience. This statement reminds me of the movie “The Ron Clark Story”
where students boost their self confidence and discovered what they are good at by
having a teacher who knows how to handle kids with the ability to change their lives in
remarkable ways. It takes a big heart to help shape little minds.
 In addition, I believe that a teacher must recognize the weight of her accountability
in educating the young ones. My teaching experience started way back 2015 as an
assistant teacher in pre-school where I have seen how challenging it is to teach children
and treat them as your own. You are not just in a classroom to teach but also set yourself
as a mother to every kid that is under you. I was also assigned in Grade 1, where I teach
children with special needs, it was the most unforgettable part of my teaching experience
where I really grew as a teacher and as a person. There were times that I cried because
I struggled on how to handle such situations but with faith, hope and passion in what I do,
I’ve learned how to manage and be patient with everything. I am aware of the philosophies
that I have learned from college, which I set as a guide in teaching little kids. There where
times that I often forget to apply the philosophies that I have learned that it pushed me to
believe other opinions and suggestions on how to handle my class. I admit that there are
times, I am becoming mediocre, asking other people on what to do instead of setting my
educational aim with the help of philosophy of education. I further agree with the author
that philosophy of education aims to make teachers, good teachers that are capable of
engaging analytical and conceptually. As a teacher, I realize that I should know how to
justify what it is that I am doing, for myself as well as for my students.

In conclusion, I would recommend some of the good statements of Evily Orteza, such as
analytical philosophy serves as a tool to clarify and define which word means what.
Teachers should maximize the benefits of analytical philosophy such as clarity and
understanding. Analytical Philosophy serves as an engaging tool to base one’s analysis.
Philosophy of Education and Analytical Philosophy balance each other, as one’s
existence makes the other valuable.