This study aims to investigate and analyze the educational views and implications of Benjamin Franklin. It places emphases on the analytical discussions of educational views by his socio-political philosophy and the curriculum of‘Proposals relating ...
This study aims to investigate and analyze the educational views and implications of Benjamin Franklin. It places emphases on the analytical discussions of educational views by his socio-political philosophy and the curriculum of‘Proposals relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania’.
The conclusions are as follows.
External control factors in education: First, in order to perform the function as a social unification, non-sectarian secularism in education is represented.
Second, education is a sub-means for establishing the national identity. So he underestimates the individual and psychological aspects of education.
Third, he emphasizes the bourgeoisie education instead of the gratis education of mass at the public expenses. In this respect his educational implications are negative in mass, negro, and woman education.
Internal deterministic factors in education: First, he takes a priority in the industrial and practical affairs in the hierarchy of educational value systems. In this respect he is an educational utilitarian and a non-formal disciplinist.
Second, with regard to the morality of education he accepts the educationl modification through social flexibility, so he implies the socio-cultural determinism of education.
Third, he regards the form and utility as the criteria of curriculum making. In this point he implies the harmonious development of classical trivium and quadrivium. But he overestimates the socio-economic values of educational contents without regard to the intrinsic value of a subject.