realism in education realism in philosophy refers to the view that the reality of any material objects exists in the external world independently of the human mind put differently realism holds that what one perceives is real and is out there existing in concrete reality for example the maple tree that i see with my naked eyes is existing in concrete reality and is not just an abstract concept produced by the mind as the idealists would have us believe hence the fact that the maple tree exists in the external world and has properties of its own such as hardness and thickness that maple tree is independent of anyone's perception it is therefore real contrary to nominalism which holds that universals do not exist independently from particulars realism holds that both universals and particulars exist independently from each other on the one hand in metaphysics the term particulars refers to concrete spatiotemporal entities or objects such as a tree or a book oftentimes the term individuals is used interchangeably with particulars one of the most distinctive characteristics of particulars is that they cannot be in more than one place at the same time for example if a specific maple tree is existing in a specific time and place it cannot be in another time and place at the same time on the other hand the term universals refers to the properties or characteristics possessed by a particular concrete spatiotemporal object such as colour or hardness for example the whiteness of a book can also be instantiated in the whiteness of a dress or paper scholars in philosophy believed that it was aristotle who first popularized realism when he opposed plato's idealism and argued that the real exists in the sensible world which can be known through experience as we can see it was aristotle who provided the fundamental structure of the development of realism and its penetration in other disciplines such as in arts and politics the implications of realism in education first is in terms of the aims of education in realism in general the aim of education is to prepare the child for a happy and successful life in particular a realist education aims to 1. acquaint the child with nature and social environment 2. develop the physical and mental powers of the child 3. develops and trains the senses of the child 4. prepare the child for real life 5. provide the understanding of the material world through inquiry 6. transmit culture and develop human nature and seven enable the child know the world in order to ensure survival and good life second in terms of curriculum the curriculum in a realist education is developed according to utility and needs for this reason the curriculum in a realist education contains subjects concerning day-to-day activities here the main subject are natural science physical science health culture physical exercise math geography history and astronomy third is the role of the teacher in a realist education realism is in favor of training of teachers before they involve in teaching hence in a realist education teachers should have full knowledge of the subject matter psychology of learners and the scientific way of delivering education the teachers must also encourage the learners to observe and experiment the natural objects and phenomena so that learners will be able to find out new facts with respect of construction of knowledge lastly the teachers should inform learners about the scientific discoveries inventions and researchers in different fields of knowledge fourth is in terms of the methods of teaching the method of teaching according to realism is to abstract from the personality of both the teacher and the pupils and allow the facts to speak for them in the process of presenting facts the teacher is not expected to express his subjective opinion on the matter he has to present the facts as they are and he must not at anything of his own the details of contents and the principles of presentation and the emphasis to be given at places will be determined by the specific nature of facts fifth and last in terms of the classroom setup a realist education focuses on the basics of reading writing and arithmetic classroom environment is highly structured and organized and utilizes the standardized testing critique of realism in educational theory and practice some of the critiques of realism are first realism treats metaphysics as meaningless the realists make no provision for the world of the supernatural and takes an agonistic view towards it also most of the propositions of traditional metaphysics are relegated to the realm of irrelevancy second there is a stress on content much more than the methods the scientific realists except for bertrand russell stress content much more than the methods of acquiring knowledge this emphasis often leads to rote memorization which is one of the major weaknesses of the traditional school thus lip service may be paid to the goals of developing critical thinking understanding and other complex intellectual functions but little is done by the student to attain these goals third in realism there is little attention for developing an educational theory most of the philosophical realists of this school pay little or no attention to developing an educational theory consistent with their basic philosophical beliefs as dewey rudy adler and martian have done fourth there is too much emphasis on sense experience in realism the realist does not accept the existence of transcendental beings hence there is a tendency in a realist education that the spiritual needs of the students are jeopardized fifth the curriculum proposed by most realist is one-sided today the effect of realism has given rise to the wave of science it is right but there should be no indifference towards art and literature the realist supports this negligence also the curriculum proposed by most scientific realists is one-sided since empirical knowledge holds a position superior to that of the humanistic studies this neglect is evident in the absence of a well-defined theory of art education sixth there is an emphasis on the immediate reality of the physical world critics are of the opinion that realism ignores the ultimate reality of the spiritual world on account of its zeal for immediate reality of material world but the immediate reality as perceived through the senses and interpreted by intellect derives its significance only from ultimate reality and the former cannot by any logical reasoning be isolated from the latter in fact it is such an unnatural divorce of the physical from the spiritual reality that has led to the moral and spiritual backrupture of the present generation seventh no place for intuition and meditation according to realism all the knowledge is derived from observation and experimentation it does not accept the claims of intuition and meditation as a much superior source of getting knowledge eight more importance only to scientific subjects realism gives too much emphasis to science and technology and altogether ignores the importance of the non-material subjects like art culture religion and mortality etc but according to this critics science and technology do not by themselves have any value unless they serve as instruments for developing our moral and aesthetic life and lastly in a realist education there is no faith in eternal values and high ideals of life realism has no faith in eternal values and highest ideals of life it has faith only in the harsh realities of daily life