Formal Education and Rationalism discussion

1. Presenter: KIMBERLY JOY A. PANAGA
EDUC 403 – Philosophical, Historical and Legal Foundation of
Education

2. Did you know?
Formal discipline or disciplinism and the
aristocracy of reason or rationalism were two
educational movements that dominated school
during the eighteenth century up to the middle
of the nineteenth century.

3. 1

4. Formal Discipline
Formal discipline or disciplinism is the
theory that the mind has a number of
distinct and general powers of faculties,
such as observation, memory, and will
power, which should be strengthened by
exercise.

5. JHON
LOCKE
(1632-1704)
The foremost champion of formal discipline.

6. He believed that the process of acquiring
knowledge is more important than the
knowledge acquired.
He advanced the idea that the mind of child at
birth is a blank tablet, a tabula rasa, upon
which are printed or inscribed all the
experiences of the child acquired through his
senses.
JHON LOCKE (1632-1704)

7. Aims of Formal Discipline
GOOD HABIT FORMATION
✓ Habituate pupils to
think and act in
effective and
desirable ways
FORMAL OF CHARACTER
✓ Involves the
development of the
whole man-physical,
morally, and mentally.

8. Types of Education
Physical Education – vigor of the body
Moral Education – development of wise conduct
Intellectual Education – development of mental power
1
2
3

9. Content to be studied
● The disciplinists had a limited curriculum. They
believed that the intellectual powers of memorizing
and reasoning developed by offering the proper kind
of subject matter could be used in mastering other
subjects.

10. Outstanding Contribution to Education
● Formal discipline as an educational process is
the outstanding contribution of this
educational movement to education. Even
certain subjects like mathematics, especially
geometry were offered because of their value
in formal discipline.

11. 2

12. Rationalism
Rationalism is the philosophical
doctrine, which advocated that reason
can be source of knowledge and that
truth can best be established by a process
of deduction from a priori principle
independent of experience.

13. Age of Reason
The movement believed that man
by his reason could improve himself
and his institutions . However, the
rationalists were concerned only
for the upper classes. They had no
concern at all for the masses.

14. Aims of Rationalism
Living life guided by
reason
✓ Enable the individual
to control all aspects
of his life guided by
reason
Intellectual Freedom
✓ Frees the individual
intellect from all
repression
Aristocracy of
Intelligence
✓ Create an aristicracy
of intelligence and
talent

15. Types of Education
Aristocratic– education is only for the upper class
Intellectual Training– physical, aesthetic and vocational
education were neglected
Social Education – manners, language and taste were
developed to the highest degree
1
2
3

16. Content to be studied
● All things reasonable were included in the
curriculum and all unreasonable things were
through out. Scientific and philosophical arguments
were emphasized. Content included philosophy,
science, art, literature, and social refinement,
polished manners, formal etiquette, and codes of
self-interest. There was no religion.

17. Outstanding Contribution to Education
● The outstanding contributions of rationalism to
education are the training of creative thinking
and reasoning (logic) and the use of the
inductive method in making generalizations.

18. Thank you
for listening!