Existential Education Research Articles

CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL AND VALUE-BASED EDUCATIONAL ORIENTATIONS

The article deals with the conceptual foundations of spiritual and value-based educational orientations. The methodological aspects of existential, culture-centered, religious and humanistic philosophy of education are defined, and the impact of these approaches on the educational system is analyzed. Spiritual and value-based education is aimed at developing values, ethical principles, and forming an understanding of the meaning and content of life in the individual. It is proved that spiritual and value-based educational orientations are formed both under the influence of various religious traditions that emphasize the importance of moral and spiritual development of a person, and relevant philosophical teachings, within which education is seen as a means of promoting values and human virtues. The spiritual and value potential of existential education in Ukraine is revealed in terms of its conceptualization. The role of such important human existentials as freedom, justice, responsibility, which influence the formation of spiritual and moral traits of a personality, is described. The prospects of cultural activity, basic principles and models of cultural education mare outlined. The phenomenon of education as one of the mechanisms of transmitting values through culture is analyzed. It is determined that the integral result of the cultural orientation of the content of education is the formation of a person who is ready for a humanistic choice and is able to possess multifunctional competencies. The issues of spiritual and value-based religious education, its potential as a source of spiritual experience of the individual are revealed, the role of religion as a resource for its development is proved. It is revealed that the theories of existential, culture-centered and mreligious-humanistic education as key paradigmatic orientations of the spiritual and value component of educational mactivities contribute to personal and social transformation through the cultivation of values and virtues necessary for mcreating a more just, merciful and harmonious society. The importance of a holistic approach to education, which mrecognizes the complexity of human nature and the need to promote the intellectual, emotional and ethical growth of the mindividual, is proved.

Determining the Level of Predicting Teachers' Competitive Attitudes by Educational Beliefs

In this study, determining the prediction level of competitive attitudes of teachers’ educational beliefs was aimed. For this purpose, The Teacher Competitiveness Scale was developed for teachers. In the process of developing the scale, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed on two different samples. In the analysis, it was observed that the scale consists of 4 sub-dimensions called winning by competition, approval, superiority and exclusion and 16 items. As the second scale, The Educational Beliefs Scale consisting of 40 items and 5 dimensions was used. In the second sample, independent groups t test, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were performed. Analyses showed that male teachers had significantly higher scores compared with female teachers according to the competitiveness score. According to the institution type variable, it was determined that private school teachers had significantly higher scores than public school teachers compared to the competitiveness score. According to the linear regression that is done for determining the predicted level of teachers’ competitiveness attitudes by educational beliefs, essentialism and perennialism determined positively their competitiveness attitudes; existential education belief predicts negatively and significantly.

Considering Diversity in (Special) Education: Disability, Being Someone and Existential Education

Discussions on diversity and disability in dialogue with special educationalists and philosophers of education are not often found in the research literature. Researchers within disability studies have been critical towards the enterprise of special education and vice versa, and the language they use is often different, as they draw on various subject fields. In this article, I bring these fields of research together and draw on research from the philosophy of education, special education and Disability Studies. My argument is that a language of diversity needs to be embedded in a language about educational ends and other fundamental questions discussed in the philosophy of education, and not solely in discussions within the field of inclusive education, as is often found in the research literature relating to special education. I argue that the language of diversity related to disability should be embedded in the language of the person, being someone. In order to build my argument, I sketch out three distinctions: disability and impairment, education as cultivation versus an existential education and the distinction between being someone and being something. I argue that an understanding of diversity and the case of disability within the framework of (special) education should preferably be: (1) interpreted within a social relational model of disability, drawing on an adjusted capabilities approach, (2) an existential educational paradigm and (3) seeing the person as someone, and not as something that is associated with a series of facts that happen to relate to what we call persons.

The Influence of existentialism on teaching methods

Existential theories and Humanistic psychology are widely used in education. According to existentialists, fundamental problem of philosophy is Valuation and choice. Making existential methods in the classroom requires a balance in which both teachers and students as human beings preserve its identity. Existentialist philosopher and humanist psychologists advocate the kind of teaching and learning methods that focus on the learner and Care about individual differences. The research objective was identifying the teaching methods and the characteristics of each one supported by this approach. This research was done using qualitative content analysis and reviewing literature on the subject was published. The method of data analysis was thematic coding by using deductive category application. The results showed that the existentialists emphasized on the relation "I - you" between teacher and student thus support the teaching methods that consider individual patterns and indirect instructions. These methods cause growth of efficient relations and positive self-concept. Such methods are dialogue; Learner-centered method and developing positive self-concept. existential education goals cannot be predetermined and cannot the teacher and the educational system impose to students. Everyone assumes responsibility for its education. So, the teaching methods which develop concepts related to individual growth or focus on the learner are supported by this sect. Keywords: existentialism, existential Education, dialogue, Learner-centered method, Positive self-concept;

THE ONTOLOGY OF EDUCATION (HERMENEUTIC, EXISTENTIAL, SYNERGETIC BASE)

Introduction: The article identifies the importance of research in the field of philosophy of education. The literature review presents a wide range of researchers in the field of humanistic philosophy of education. The system analysis of the current trends in the philosophy of education is given. Materials and methods: The methodological basis is represented by the triad of hermeneutics existentialism-synergy. The study is carried out mainly on the basis of hermeneutic positions. The prospects of existential and synergistic positions are demonstrated. Results: The results of the study: the essence of existential (understanding) of education is determined by the leading role of language. The dominance of pragmatism is not in line with the goals of human existence; therefore, it is not the basis of existential education. Education as a form of social existence of a man should not aim at superficial social problems, but at understanding the human being. The analysis of the relationship of human being and nature education allow us to conclude that existential education is focused on the act of understanding as an anthropological event. Education directs attention to the underlying meanings, based on the main events of human life: Birth, Love, Osamenost, Speech, Creativity, Freedom, Delight, Doubt, Suffering, and Death. These achievements should be represented in education. Human intentionality is considered as the human desire for openness, incompleteness. The definition of openness of human existence and the conformity of this metaphysical characteristic of its existence, the openness of education, the purpose of which is to build an understanding of the view of the world, allows to justify the conclusion about the incompleteness as a General trait of human existence and hermeneutically, existential, synergetic oriented education. Existential education is intentional. Festivity (celebration, fun, game, fixing the achievements, celebrate success) and the tragic mood (suffering, pain, sorrow, death are the important components of a fulfilling human life and they should not be evaluated unambiguously negative) in education. can be combined in art. The consistency of the experience of the fundamentals of human existence and co-presence with them in hermeneutically oriented education make it event-related, give it meaning. The article also investigates the border line of the achievements of a man and education. The conclusion about the nature of self-regeneration of education is drawn. Discussion and Conclusions: The authors stick to the humanist antiscientific position in the analysis of the revealed unity of human nature and existential education, believing that humanistically oriented education should help to find the man a tough, but the best possible place to live between the “must be” and “the existing”. Existential education aims to help a person to keep courageously the dynamics of the balance on the blade of Genesis, on which he goes from himself to himself. Education in the article is represented as institutialized environment of ongoing human evolution in hermeneutical undertaking.

THE ACTUALIZATION OF SEARCH OF SENSE-VITAL VALUES AS A PHILOSOPHICAL-EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM

The purpose of this article is determination and revelation of philosophical and educational axiostrategies of actualization of searching the special place of sense-vital values in the process of axio-sphere forming by growing the personality as a representative of the modern technocratic society which takes place in the process of his education. Methodology. In the study of the philosophic and educational constructs of actualization of the searching the sense-vital values the methods of the systematically, socio-cultural and comparative analysis were used, that allowed to define the axiostrategies of subsequent development of meaning and formative education. Scientific novelty of work consists in the philosophical constructs of development by the meaning-formative education in the conditions of the world values-view pluralism which are considered in the determining context of definition of «axiostrategу» notion and also the deep connections and synthesizing values of «the generalizing high level». They are general for most wide-spread (atheistic and religious) varieties of the existential education in the sense-vital aspect. Conclusions. The axiostrategies of searching of the life sense are formulated and exposed as an independent global personality construction which has powerful motivational nature and not only shows the certain level of philosophical culture, but also the internal change of personality brings it on the new degree of life, which is identical in its sense and ultimate aim with the adoption of own human existence. That is instrument in self-actualization, self-realization of personality in accordance with the individual possibilities, interests, aspirations, and also providing the firmness of personality in Postmodern terms and that is the urgent task of modern education, because the actualization of sense-vital problems is one of the main mission of comprehensive school.

Introduction: Reconnecting with Existentialism in an Age of Human Capital

At the end of the 1950s Otto Bollnow connected existential philosophy with education, and the expression existential education was later used by people such as Morris (1966), Segal (1998), and Maclaren (2008). Through this special issue we hope to contribute to the development of the concept of existential education and to an understanding of how existential education may be integrated into a general educational theory. Our point of departure when it comes to the definition of the concept of existential education is the article Kierkegaard, seduction, and existential education (Saeverot 2011, pp. 559–560). One of the key points that was stated there was that human beings do not possess an inner, objective truth. Thus existential education is not about obtaining objective truth, it is rather a matter of obtaining subjective truth. A premise of subjective truth is that one can never force upon another a meaning, persuasion or belief. The student must rather appropriate the existential communication from the teacher, make it into something subjective and personal, not only in order to think differently, but to start acting differently as well. Thus the notion of existential education, and this we are about to argue in more detail, stands in sharp contrast to the human capital theory, which is spreading in the current political and educational landscape. Take, for example, the modern knowledge society—in which knowledge is understood as a commodity that shall be converted for the best of community (Barnett 1994, p. 48). Therein, the modern employer provides, among other things, courses on motivation and well-being. The goal here is not only to improve the employee’s motivation and well-being, but also to reduce absenteeism, and—not the

Kierkegaard, Seduction, and Existential Education

This article aims at making a case for the role of seduction in existential education, that is, education that focuses on the pupil’s life choices. First, the article attempts to show that the relationship between the teacher and the pupil can be understood as a form of seduction. Secondly, the article examines how such a relationship functions in practice. Thirdly, the article warns against dangerous aspects related to seduction, and lastly, the article offers five conditions for how seduction can be used in a justifiable manner in existential education.

Education of Coexistence As Technē Tou Biou

The article deals with education of coexistence as training of life art ( technē tou biou ). The major thesis is the following: our existence has been educated in the life environment together with other agents of life world ( Lebenswelt ), while the latter are educated in the background of our existential project to be realized during our life. This major thesis presupposes the minor ones developed in the article: existential education means the change of the roles between the agents of life enwironment; existential education covers an ironic relationship between the teacher and a disciple; the teacher educates an unique combination of the disciple’s charachteristics to be nourished in his (her) existential perspective instead of forcing the equal way for everybody; every community has been educated while an individual changes life environment by realization of his (her) existential utopia; education is a kind of existential tradition’s transfer through the new communicative channels; philosophy of education based on existential phenomenology stresses the aspects of responsible coexistence in the life-world to be created; education is the training of our life’s art as responsible creation inseparable from becoming of life-world as the environment of our coexistence; education deals with a miracle of breaking educational circle while a disciple excels the teacher and changes the educational environment. By analysing the problems of existential education the author uses the approaches of both existential phenomenology and cultural regionalistics. Â

The Role of Emotion in an Existential Education

Emotion is usually conceived as playing a relatively external role in education: either it is raw material reshaped by rational practices, or it merely motivates intellectual Drawing upon the philosophy of Hegel and Plato's Socrates, I argue, however, that education is a process of existential transformation and that emotion plays an essential, internal role therein. Through an analysis of Hegel's master and slave dialectic, I argue that emotions have their own logic and that an individual can be propelled to increasingly rational emotional stances (her emotions can be educated) by the demands of the emotional situation itself, even in the absence of any intellectual reasoning or rational training. Appealing also to the structure and content of Socrates' conversations, I argue that intellectual reasoning can lead to self-overcoming only insofar as it involves a particular emotional orientation towards the emotional challenges of genuine learning, that is, insofar as it is conscientious reasoning.

Viewpoint: existential education in the era of personal cybernetics

Viewpoint: existential education in the era of personal cybernetics

Existential Education

Existential Education