Naturalism

3.3.1 Naturalism

Naturalism regards everything including objects and events as part of nature, mind is also a matter and thought is natural process of mind. It heavily emphasizes matter, it is also regarded as materialism. Naturalism believes that nothing exists beyond nature or matter. Naturalism believes that the ultimate reality lies on nature or matter. It denies the existence of sprit, and does not believe the concept, which is beyond the matter. It never accepts sentimentalism, spiritualism and supernaturalism. It believes that natural laws govern in omniscient and omnipresent manner, going against the nature does not make sense and everything comes from nature that is why all things are natural. Mind is natural so is thought. Thales, Parmenides, Bacon, Rousseau, Darwin, Comenius have contributed on the development of Naturalism.

Definitions of Naturalism

'Naturalism is the doctrine which separates nature from god, subordinates sprit to matter and sets up unchangeable laws as supreme.'                                      - James Ward

'Naturalism is metaphysics which considers nature as the whole of reality. It excludes what is supernatural or other world.'                                                                - W.F. Hocking

'Naturalism opposed to idealism; subordinates mind to matter and holds that ultimate reality is material not spiritual.'                                                                                    - Thomas and Lange

Elements of Naturalistic education

i.                     Importance of individual differences

ii.                   Opposition to bookish knowledge

iii.                  Principle of back to nature

iv.                 Emphasis on child psychology

v.                   Emphasize reproductive education

vi.                 Negative education

Objectives of education

1.       Education should make human machine as good as possible

2.       Education for self preservation and self expression

3.       Education should help to secure the need and necessities of life

4.       Nurturing children in natural way

5.       Education for autonomous development of individuality

6.       Education should improve racial gains

Educational process

1.       Learning in terms of the developmental phase

2.       Learning by doing

3.       Joyful and pleasurable learning

4.       Learning by experience, observation and through Heuristic Method

5.       Based on natural punishment and discipline

6.       Learning of Inductive method

7.       Example is better than percept

8.        Social knowledge by social participation

9.       Education making decent child

Role of Teacher

i.                     Teacher as a guide, gardener or a friend

ii.                   Teacher as a creator of natural situation

iii.                  Teacher as a motivator or initiator

iv.                 Teacher as an observer or reader of learners

v.                   Teacher as full moral virtues

Role of Students

i.                     Student is the ventral point of educational process

ii.                   Student as a free individual to learn whatever he/she prefers

iii.                  Students are required to foster creative talents

iv.                 To establish autonomous organization, rules and regulations to govern social life

v.                   To find out one's own needs

vi.                 Use teacher as a guide or pathfinder

vii.                To lead teaching-learning process

Curriculum

             'Nature' itself is the curriculum for naturalist education, and it is a learner who selects what is to learn from the entire nature. Naturalist education holds the view that education does not take place through a certain curriculum. Learning should not be confined in a certain bookish knowledge. Education is the free interplay between nature and learners.

i.                     Naturalists regard education as natural and does not prescribe any certain curriculum

ii.                   It prescribes those subjects that can develop the innate power of a child which can be practiced in practical life.

iii.                  It advocates such curriculum which enables a child to struggle for survival in each and every trouble that comes up throughout the life.

iv.                 It emphasizes human being and accepts the nature as unalienable entity.

v.                   It advocates different curriculum for different individuals because every child has individual differences, interests, needs and physical and mental conditions.

vi.                 It also includes sex education to prevent them from misleading due their acute curiosity to it.