What is your educational philosophy? Modern and postmodern approaches to foreign language education
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Date
2012
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Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
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Abstract
The present study discusses the concepts of education and training, while also
highlighting the paradigm wars of the positivistic and naturalistic views, beginning
with the age of ancient philosophies and continuing to the latest era of
postmodernism. Additionally, language education is examined considering the
linguistic and educational fundamentals which all need to be based on and
combined by a philosophy. The research in foreign language (FL) education is
evaluated from both the teaching and learning perspectives in order to reach
conclusions concerning the current situation and the requisites of futuristic and
innovative FL education. What is my educational philosophy? is proposed as a
key question that not only FL teachers but also all educators should ask themselves;
a question that will guide teachers throughout their entire lives and illuminate
their minds throughout their teaching practice. Teacher and learner
roles are discussed in order to determine whether teachers or learners should
come first in the process of education. It is emphasised that the philosophical
perspectives of education urgently need to be built into the minds of educators
prior to asking them to convey knowledge of any kind or to apply the materials
of a specific teaching method. The study concludes with the observation that
there exists a serious discrepancy between the needs, preferences and interests
of the learners and the views held by educational decision makers, who seem to
fail to catch up with the trends in technology and globalisation.
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Keywords
philosophy of education, foreign language education, teaching versus learning, education versus training, postmodern approaches to education
Citation
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2012, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 333-348.