Explicating and framing Dewantara's conduct pragmatism as a pragmatist philosophy of education

Abstract

This article is an attempt to resuscitate and explicate Ki Hadjar Dewantara's pragmatist philosophy of education expressed in a famed slogan in Indonesia's local Javanese vernacular: Ing Ngarsa Sung Tuladha, Ing Madya Mangun Karso and Tut Wuri Handayani (which literally mean ‘set up a model’, ‘create an intention’ and ‘provide constructive support’, respectively). Amid the banality of prevalent experiential and lingualist pragmatisms in the pragmatist philosophy of education, this article argues that Dewantara's philosophy of education typifies a specific form of conduct pragmatism, which has been deemed underdeveloped and underexplored in the modern philosophy of education. An explication of Dewantara's pragmatist philosophy—with its strong emphasis on action rather than on rationalist and experiential thoughts—can not only fill this void but can also contribute to, and offer valuable insights into contemporary philosophical investigation in the field of education. On the face of the argument above, the article demonstrates that conduct pragmatism is alive and kicking, at least in the Indonesian context.