IDEALISM

What are the goals of education for the pure Idealists?

Idealists would say that students are formed to become "truth seekers and to live according to the truth". I find this a noble goal of education. It would be fantastic to form students who will search for truth, and not simply accept facts. It would be great to form students who will be living according to truth and values. I would also agree that Truth could be known through "Intellectual and Moral discipline."

However, I find it difficult to understand how complete truth can be sought if part of the truth is removed. If everything is an idea, if everything is abstract, then we do not give value to the senses, to what can be felt, to what simply is there as matter.  Are these not part of the real world?  I believe that what we see, hear, smell, touch, taste are also real.  Matter is part of the real world as much as the mental and spiritual are part of reality.  To remove the physical in the concept of a REAL WORLD would be seeking only half the truth.  From that point then, pure Idealists would already be accepting only half-truths.  

  
THE MATRIX: THERE IS NO SPOON (THERE IS NO MATTER)

I cannot seem to agree with the view of reality as being a "spiritual, mental world" and nothing else. The belief in the “spiritual and mental world” reminds me of the movie, The Matrix, where everything in their "reality" happens in the mind whenever they are in the Matrix. The truth there however is Neo of the Matrix has a life separate from that when he is inside the Matrix.  He lives in that gray, dreary world where food does not taste like anything, and where he has to create the taste in his mind to replace the taste of "cardboard".  I cannot find a video of that particular part of the movie, but I found this very well-known part -- "There is no spoon".  A child teaches Neo that there is no spoon (no matter) and that Neo only has to realize the truth. Since there is no spoon (no matter), it is only him who actually bends.

This is a movie, of course.  It's a movie from a brilliant idea of a person, with actors who played parts to portray the idea, and it was a blockbuster hit kind of idea with Matrix 1, 2, and 3. That is what is real.

I question the Idealists' concept of reality that is purely spiritual and purely mental, because I consider matter and the senses as part of reality, as part of truth. Given this, how can students seek truth when there is an important part lacking in their reality?

IT'S NOT JUST A MENTAL WORLD
I'd like to share a poem of a former fourth-grade student. I don't think she would have come up with a work of art so beautiful without the sensory experiences of matter.  Observation of matter and interpretation of what she has experienced both contributed to her work.  I’m using this literary piece to reiterate that not all of reality is a spiritual and mental state of mind. 

The author wrote this when she was ten years old.  She came from Australia and transferred to my class mid-year. This was her seatwork in my Language Arts class wherein the students were asked to make poems with AABB rhyming pattern, but I must commend her raw talent and all her previous teachers who must have guided her through the years to write remarkably. Take note that each one of her stanzas stands for a season, beginning with Summer and ending with Spring. The student has gone back to Australia.

Nature

By Dani Stephenson (at age 10)

The sun is shining in May

I feel so free because I stay

If I touch the sun I’ll grow

And when I do everything will flow

When the leaves fall down in the rain

They turn red and seem to sway

I watch as they fall to the ground

Then they stop there and make a mound

The snow is falling on my face

As it falls down my finger starts to trace

I see a light on top of me

It is the sun I can see

Everything is starting to grow

But because winter ended there’s still some snow

I see a flower and I glance

Then I start to be in a trance

Beauty. Truth. Good. These are found in her poetry.  Nature as part of truth was presented to her in the physical world, and she would not have come up with this work of art without the things she has perceived.  Her words speak of truth and beauty in nature.  She could have simply said Winter-Spring-Summer-Fall as the four seasons, but she observed nature in all the four seasons and wrote them from her experience of Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring (it was May when we wrote this activity in class). This was her literary and artistic work, preserved for the next generations. 

MODERN IDEALISTS
Modern Idealists are known to consider “materialism as an obstacle to a true vision of reality.”  I see materialism as being one end of the spectrum and idealism being the other.  I agree that materialism becomes an obstacle to a true vision of reality, but so does Idealism when it neglects to accept the material aspect of the REALLY REAL WORLD.

As part of the goals of education, I also find it ideal to have students develop fully what is inherent in them.  However, I would have to note again that for students to holistically develop, intellectual and spiritual are not the only ones we need to hone.  Would it not be important to hone physical health? Another important question is what would they do with their values? If reality is spiritual and mental, do we help others through mental and spiritual means? What is poverty in a mental and spiritual world, and how do we address it?

In modern times, I appreciate the point made by the Idealists for us to learn values and seek truth.  I believe in the importance of general education aside from vocation.  I have personally learned a lot from general education. What makes my stand different from Idealists however would be the fact that I also believe in the importance of specialization and not just simply "not oppose it", for without it, many would not be aided in becoming competent in what they do.  For instance, I would not be aided in becoming a better teacher today, or perhaps a Guidance Counselor in the future (My course is in MA Ed Guidance and Counseling) without studying further for the line of work I would like to pursue.  I would say the same for physicians, lawyers, engineers, pilots, etc. who make our society functional today. I would agree however that we need physicians, lawyers, engineers, pilots, etc who value universal values (truth, virtue, etc) aside from what they know about their vocations. 

MY EXPERIENCE OF GENERAL EDUCATION
In college, I’ve studied Philosophy and Theology, which I highly appreciate. Philosophy of the Human Person I and II were two of my favorite subjects then.  Liberation Theology was one of the eye-openers for many of us in Ateneo.  These subjects, which are highly regarded by Idealists stirred in many of us a passion to search for truth.  The truth I seek for, however, does not happen only in my mind.  I experience. I sense. I perceive. Then, I make sense of all these in my mind.  Then, I act outwardly, which others may then perceive in the physical world where we all exist.
 

I teach four major subjects to a contained 4th grade class of girls -- Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science. Each subject is given importance although there may be more units of Language Arts and Math than the other two.  When I teach these subjects, I do not always get to present the values behind each lesson. This is something I could still work on and improve as a teacher if I would like to be involved in aiming for the higher goals of education. 
 

THE IDEALS IN IDEALISM
Although I do not necessarily agree with Idealists’ view of reality, I still agree with some aspects that came about from their philosophy.  I agree that universal values are important. I agree that teachers have great roles to fulfill in the development of their students.  In connection to my question, teachers have great roles to fulfill in reaching the goals of Education. We, as teachers, must then be aware of these goals.

And so I ask again, what are the goals of Education? One of them is to empower our students to seek the truth, the complete truth, and to live in this complete truth.  As for the rest of the goals of Education, I am hoping I would realize more of them in the coming weeks of other -isms.