TASK 3.

1
Question: State and illustrate your philosophy in life as an educator.

Pupils come to our classrooms with the hope that they can learn from us. Molding the young with
different personalities, behavior, and upbringing could be quite challenging. For this, I hold 5 simple
principles in teaching that could help me be an efficient and an effective teacher.
First, Always Be at Your Best. Enter the four sides of your classroom always arm with wide knowledge
and understanding to your subject matter. Do not come unprepared. Remember, your learners look at
you as if you are the smartest man in the planet. Do not disappoint them.
Second, Leave Your Worries and Problems at Door. Do not enter your classroom burden with your
problems at home. That could affect not just your performance as a teacher but could also contribute to
behavioral and emotional problems of your leaners.
Third, Always Open to Learn New Things. The world is rapidly evolving and so with teaching. Do not let
yourself be left behind. It is essential to rise to the occasion. It is not a choice; it is a matter of being
able to remain equipped and knowledgeable to change especially now that we are into pandemic and
adapting ourselves to this new normal of education.
Fourth, Don’t be Boring. Think outside the box. Be innovative and make concerted effort to make
learning fun. Engaging our learners into different activities which they enjoy could help them develop
their creativity and innovation.
Lastly, Don’t be a Perfectionist. Do not create learners that think, speak, and act like you do. Do not
shape them like you are. I agree that being strict is discipline but should be done in moderation. Our
learners may be far greater than us, they just needed the right approach. Do not impose what you like
them to become, your strengths and weaknesses differ from them. Let them be unique, let them be
different, let them grow. Your job is to enhance it.
To sum this up. I would like to leave a short anecdote. A child grew up in a poor family. His parents
could hardly pay for his education. They work day and night just to send him to school but still, they felt
short. His math teacher helped him to continue his studies. He also teaches him patiently and chooses
the right approach that perfectly fits him.
Years went by. This kid became a famous scientist and was the first Muslim Scientist to win the
prestigious Physics Novel Peace Prize in 1979. When he won the award, he asked his government to
look for his Math Teacher. And when they found him, he said these kind words to him, “This is Your
Prize Sir. It’s not Mine.”
And that kid was Abdus Salam.
TASK 3.2
Question: Explain why man is considered a “rational being” and a “social animal”.
Men has been described in many deferent things. We are considered as the highest form of animal,
men are on top of the food pyramid, and men are the keepers of the earth to name a few. We are
described as such because we are rational being.
According to Aristotle, rationality is what separates man from all other animal, man has the ability to
reason and to think; it is what makes them unique. Men can distinguish between what is right or wrong,
good or evil and he makes a choice for the distinction made by the intellect.
Unlike other animals who act only according to their nature, men as a rational being can take
responsibility for their actions.
Aristotle define man as a rational being because of our intelligence, our capability to understand and
the ability to achieve goals through plan action are all characteristic unique to man which make them
rational.
I totally agree to Aristotle that men are rational being because who else other than man can study about
oneself since human being live according to their understanding of themselves.
We are also called as social animal because we hold practical virtues. We have emotion towards
another being/animal, we interact with them, we are courageous and generous towards other.
TASK 3.3
Question: Which Philosophy do you think is best suited to modern Philippine Education?
Studies shows that learners are all unique and different from each other. Learners differ from
knowledge, behaviour, style etc which also need different approaches and methods of teaching.
Presently, the K-12 Basic Education Program reflects Dewey’s Pragmatist and Cognitive Constructivist
ideas.
Our curriculum today is learner centered which supports the dea of pragmatism, according to Dewey
‘the nature of the child is made the center of educative process’. Pragmatism is more inclined to the
different behaviours and attitude of learners. The aim of our curriculum today is to tackle the social,
pollical, and economic aspects of the learner. In this way, education is more practical and functional.
Students will be able to associate learning to the real world thus taking in charge and being responsible
for their learning.
Today learning is more on hands-on activities, collaborative works, experiences and learners should be
involve in various activities and they should learn naturally. This gives students first-hand experiences
and lifelong learning.
TASK 4
Question: For some Philosophical thinkers, pragmatism is more inclined to attitude and method rather
than philosophical doctrine. What is your comment on this statement.
I do believe that pragmatism is more on method rather than a doctrine. Truth should be subject to
evidences and not only to satisfaction of persons involve. Truth should be accepted by all and not just
by a few.
One of the Philosiphical thinkers defined pragmatism as a method rather than a doctrine is Charles
Sander Peirce. Peirce conceived of pragmatism not as a doctrine, but as a methodology to clarify the
meaning of concepts, and contributed primarily to semantics. Means pragmatism for him is a theory of
truth.
Peirce has point in saying that pragmatism is more on a method rather than a doctrine because as a
doctrine pragmatism view beliefs as a representation of truth, and argued that beliefs are dispositions
which qualify as true or false depending on how helpful they prove in inquiry and in action. Theories
acquired meaning only in the struggle of intelligent organisms to deal with the surrounding environment,
and only became true when they were successful in this struggle. This pragmatic theory should be tied
too verification practices and should be subject to test, because after all truth is the ultimate outcome of
inquiry by a scientific investigation.