Reflective examination of the educational philosophies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania: Intricacies for curriculum development in Africa.

The central focus of this paper is to undertake a reflective examination of the educational philosophies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and these educational philosophies intricacies for curriculum development in Africa. The educational philosophies of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (Consciencism, Socialism, Africanism, Humanism, and Communism) as well as that of Julius Nyerere (Self-reliance and Liberation) were of importance to the distinct countries at the time yet, its relevance can still be felt and their foundational legacies within the educational front solidified and modified to meet current changes in education. African curriculum developers must not lose sight of the implications of these educational philosophies of these great Africanist scholars rather synchronize contemporary educational philosophies to meet the standards and vision of education of these two great Pan-Africanist.

Editorial Introduction

The articles in this special issue on “New Perspectives on Asian Educational Philosophies” offer a comparative perspective to explain the educational philosophies of notable Asian thinkers who tend to be little recognized in Europe. Arguments associated with decolonization offer one timely rationale for our work, but our purpose with this special issue is not so much about convincing readers that change is necessary, but rather to offer specific resources for diversification of higher education curricula. We assume that as years pass, educators will increasingly seek to know more about educational thought from across the world.

Underpinning the entrepreneurship educator’s toolkit: conceptualising the influence of educational philosophies and theory

Entrepreneurship educators can maximise the effectiveness of their delivery by having a firm grasp of the different educational philosophies and theories that underpin entrepreneurship education pedagogy and practice. A particular educational philosophical orientation underlies, directs, and drives educator practices and should align with what the teaching seeks to impart and achieve, and the roles the learners and educator play in the learning process. Whilst educators might not always be explicitly aware of their philosophical orientation, it will direct and drive their pedagogic practice and have implications for what they deliver, and how they deliver it. The benefits of bringing together different learning theories, philosophies, and approaches for entrepreneurship education has previously been posited in the literature. However, it has been highlighted that connections between educational theory and practice are limited, and that the field of entrepreneurship education could be advanced through providing links between education literature, theory, and learning. This paper advances the literature by linking educational philosophy and theory to entrepreneurship education and pedagogy in higher education. It discusses and highlights how behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism, and humanism can be used to underpin and support learning in entrepreneurship education. This meets calls for the conceptualisation of how educational philosophies and theories can be integrated into entrepreneurship education to support learners.

Engaging With Influential Thinkers: Educational Philosophies and Policies Enduring the Test of Time

Literature spanning from the time of the third and fourth industrial revolution mentions how modernity has, in many ways, made circumstances profoundly better for humanity than what used to be in the historic and ancient worlds. Nevertheless, extant literature also speaks of how the manifested benefits of modernity inculcated ills that stand in the way of humanity being humane and of exercising human personhood. This article puts forth a consoling and a divine virtue - wisdom and wisdom philosophy - thoughts based on wisdom to bridge the gap between getting progressive and being humane. Curiosity thereby wisdom; starts with wonder, as resonated in child and man - whereby aiming to be inculcated and embedded, at a stage, when one is mostly trainable and adaptable lies the objective of this essay - to reignite one’s mind to the philosophical values of influential thinkers, explore of its existence, relevance and its purpose for modern humanity. A qualitative methodology was employed to gather information supplemented by knowledge from archived literature. This scholarly piece of writing discusses an approach using as an analogy - the fulcrum, load and effort mechanism to embed wisdom based philosophy thoughts and practices in educational policies for the stakeholders of knowledge.

The relationship of prospective teachers' educational philosophy and life-long learning tendencies to their teaching-learning process competencies

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between prospective teachers' tendencies towards educational philosophy and lifelong learning and their teaching-learning process competencies. The study used the descriptive model to determine the current situation and adopted a predictive correlational design to find out the extent to which educational philosophy and lifelong learning tendencies predict teaching-learning process competencies. The study group consisted of 238 prospective teachers. The data were obtained using three scales, namely "Educational Philosophy Tendencies Scale", "Lifelong Learning Tendencies Scale" and "Teaching-Learning Process Competencies Scale". The study revealed that prospective teachers adopted more the philosophy of progressivism and reconstructionism, and their lifelong learning and teaching-learning process competencies were at a high level. The gender variable was effective only in the essentialism dimension in terms of the educational philosophy tendencies. While it was effective in lifelong learning tendencies, it had no effect in teaching-learning process competencies. The branch variable, on the other hand, was effective in all dimensions of educational philosophy tendencies except for perennialism. It was determined that the tendencies towards educational philosophies alone are not predictors of the teaching-learning process competencies. When, however, lifelong learning tendencies and educational philosophies are taken into account together, they predict the teaching-learning process competencies.

Republication of: Philosophy Rediscovered: Exploring the Connections Between Teaching Philosophies, Educational Philosophies, and Philosophy

Teaching philosophy statements reflect our personal values, connect us to those with shared values in the larger teaching community, and inform our classroom practices. In this article, we explore the often-overlooked foundations of teaching philosophies, specifically philosophy and historical educational philosophies. We review three elements of pure philosophy and five seminal educational philosophies to help readers ground their personal philosophies in both a theoretical and historical context. We illustrate how core elements of one’s teaching philosophy can influence course design and the classroom environment. We suggest that teachers can develop greater authenticity in the classroom by deepening their understanding of their own philosophical ideas and beliefs.

Republication of: Finding Our Roots: An Exercise For Creating a Personal Teaching Philosophy Statement

Teaching philosophy statements clarify why we do what we do in the classroom, and the process of drafting a philosophy offers an opportunity for developmental reflection. Personal teaching philosophies can be grounded in the shared foundation of historical educational philosophies. The authors offer here for facilitators a reflective card-sort exercise that helps surface the philosophical roots of personal teaching philosophies and helps teachers create or renew a teaching philosophy statement. They explain the exercise activities and typical outcomes based on their experiences facilitating the exercise. The authors conclude with insights and considerations for facilitators.