Discuss R. S. Peters criteria for Education and its implications to Technical and Vocational Education at Secondary School level. Education is a process which involves many dimensions of learning and teaching therefore in this essay, the writer is going to analyse the criterions of education highlighted by R. S. Peters . The writer will look at the Value criterion, The knowledge criterion and the Procedural criterion. The writer will also analyse how these criterions affects the Technical and Vocational Education at Secondary School Level. Definition of Terms
Education, Gwarinda . T. C. The Practice of Teaching 2000: 167, Education is the process of developing someone’s skills and attributes in all aspects that is mentally, technically, physically and socially. This means education is a process of liberating human potentialities leading to self fulfilment In Ethics and Education, Peters asserts that the word “educ” has normative implications. It has a criterion built into it that something worthwhile must be achieved. Criteria, Oxford dictionary defines criteria as a standard in which a judgement or a decision may be based.
Professor Peters’ treatment of educational criteria is spread throughout his work. He looked at what is an educational process? , What is an educated person? , What are the aims of education?. He used these questions to come up with a clear analysis of the educational criterion. Peters asserts that an educated person is one whose form of life is exhibited in his conduct, the activities to which he is committed, his judgements and feelings which ought to be desirable. The educators [Teachers and Parents], must take note that the general state of developing the person is moving in desirable lines.
It must be remembered that one’s general state, one’s feelings and one’s commitments are considered to be learned. Educators must ensure that what is learned functions adequately in the general context of what ever the pupil has learned, that means it must influence the pupil’s general view of the world and what he does in it. Peters refers to this learning as the developing of cognitive perspective. (Ethics and Education page 45). Indeed if the worthwhile development is to be assured, the learning of new things must have these things. R. S.
Peters summarises the definition of an educated person as one who is critical in thought, creative in thought and autonomous, able to stand on their own feet. R. S. Peters’ criteria for pursuing education for its intrinsic values, pursuing some kind of conceptual scheme to organise and develop information, containing a body of information on various topics and transforming that information into some valuable outcome. Peters provides some amplifications for the educated person. Education has to be described as initiation into activities or modes of thoughts and content that is worthwhile.
An educated person must have achieved some desirable state of mind. There must be a desirable state in a person involving knowledge and understanding. The educated person must have breadth and depth and must not be narrowly specialised. He must have an all round type of development. This concept is more relevant in technical and vocational education at secondary school level because once a pupil acquires knowledge or a skill, the pupil must not be narrowly specialised but must know all concepts in the working of a process. The pupil must have his/her outlook transformed by what the pupil has leant so that living becomes the quality of life.
It is emphasised that the educational development is mental development involving a general introduction into broad classes of experiences and methods of thinking. Initiation is a social process and education gives approval to certain processes which involve the transmission of what is considered by a particular community. Occupation specific education is the education that is provided to Technical and Vocational Secondary schools. It is surely the case that in the course of being educated, a pupil is in some sense transformed or changed.
The transformation being related to the concept of knowledge and understanding. In terms of educators, one is educating when one gets children to find out things for themselves. In Ethics and Education he asserts that more has to be done/said about the requirements built into the concept of being educated. We do not call the person “educated”, who has simply mastered a skill such as pottery. For a man to be educated he must have some body of knowledge. Therefore, Peters’ ultimate aim is to initiate man into a reflective form of life. On the Value criterion , R.
S. Peters states that to be “educated” is a desirable thing to achieve that is better than being ignorant I would expect all politicians espousing the values of a democratic society to want its citizens to have a grasp on the world they live in. It is not good for young people who attend school because it is good for them .Put simply ,education is a value laden concept. Pupils at secondary schools should learn technical subjects so that the values of their life is transformed and quality of life is improved and this knowledge is reflected in their ways of living.
Since technical and vocational education is occupational specific education, pupils should be transformed by acquiring this form of education. Therefore there should be value added in anything that a pupil is taught. On the knowledge criterion ,Peters asserts that this involves the acquisition of knowledge and understanding in breadth and depth. A person might have knowledge about birds but the knowledge about birds should be accompanied by other knowledge in other spheres. So as to engender a broad cognitive perspective. That cognitive perspective would include having appropriate emotions and attitudes about what has been learnt.
There would be very little value in learning unless the learner has appropriate emotions and attitudes. Therefore, what is the type of knowledge that is taught at secondary schools? , Does it change the attitudes of learners and that can only be assured if the pupils acquire the knowledge as well as understanding. In this regard Peters introduces the concept of what is to be learned which stipulates the type of knowledge or content to be covered in Technical and Vocational education. This content must be clearly stated, that is the depth and the proper teaching theory implored to ensure understanding.
Peters also talked about the Procedural criterion. According to Peters, it rules out indoctrination, brainwashing and any coercive practices that infringe upon the willingness of the learner to learn. If a pupil does not want to carry out a process ,does the teacher just say “go out and play? ” A good teacher should explore ways to help the pupil to realise that the process is very useful to the pupil’s life. This is the role of a teacher, a professional charged with the responsibility to teach all students willing or unwilling.
Therein lies the art of the teacher and the relationship between the teacher and the learner. Being patient ,finding solutions and procedures but without coercion. Instead if the teacher decides to punish the learner for not doing work, the learner will associate learning with punishment. This will represent a form of coercion and in creating that link, the value and the desirability criterion becomes diluted, confused and potentially lost. Therefore the education in Technical and Vocational must implore strategies which do not create some form of oercion but they should find creative solutions to help the learners and explain the importance of such processes in the learner’s life. Procedural criterion also cautions that teaching theory and the learning theory must ensure the meeting of goals of reasons to be educated and what is to be learned. In Technical and Vocational Education educators are not supposed to teach facts without understanding them. Learning should change the learner’s view of life instead of rote learning whereby what is learnt can be used pragmatically, say in the writing of exams, but it tends to have little lasting influence.
In general, in Technical and Vocational Education at secondary school level, pupils should understand the value of learning the technical subject and their lives must be transformed by the knowledge. The educators must outline the knowledge to be taught and the content to be covered and ensure understanding of concepts and engender a broad cognitive perspective. More so, proper procedures must be used to help the learner acquire a skill without any form of coercion. Educators must find creative solutions that can help the learners. Pupils must have a commitment in carrying worthwhile activities.
They must not be highly specialised in one area. They must relate to the environing world in a way that is well informed. They must be educated not so much to have arrived at but to travel in a different view. REFERENCE The Practice of Teaching 2000 T. C . Gwarinda Mambo press, Gweru. Authority,Responsibility and Education 1973 R. S. Peters Paul . S. Errickson Inc , New York. Ethics and Education 1966 R. S . Peters George Allen & Unwin Pub . London An Introduction to Philosophy of Education 1995 Robbin Barrow & Ronald Woods U. S. A Routledge. Discuss R. S.
Peters criteria for Education and its implications to Technical and Vocational Education at Secondary School level. Education is a process which involves many dimensions of learning and teaching therefore in this essay, the writer is going to analyse the criterions of education highlighted by R. S. Peters . The writer will look at the Value criterion, The knowledge criterion and the Procedural criterion. The writer will also analyse how these criterions affects the Technical and Vocational Education at Secondary School Level. Definition of Terms Education, Gwarinda .
T. C. The Practice of Teaching 2000: 167, Education is the process of developing someone’s skills and attributes in all aspects that is mentally, technically, physically and socially. This means education is a process of liberating human potentialities leading to self fulfilment In Ethics and Education, Peters asserts that the word “educ” has normative implications. It has a criterion built into it that something worthwhile must be achieved. Criteria, Oxford dictionary defines criteria as a standard in which a judgement or a decision may be based.
Professor Peters’ treatment of educational criteria is spread throughout his work. He looked at what is an educational process? , What is an educated person? , What are the aims of education?. He used these questions to come up with a clear analysis of the educational criterion. Peters asserts that an educated person is one whose form of life is exhibited in his conduct, the activities to which he is committed, his judgements and feelings which ought to be desirable. The educators [Teachers and Parents], must take note that the general state of developing the person is moving in desirable lines.
It must be remembered that one’s general state, one’s feelings and one’s commitments are considered to be learned. Educators must ensure that what is learned functions adequately in the general context of what ever the pupil has learned, that means it must influence the pupil’s general view of the world and what he does in it. Peters refers to this learning as the developing of cognitive perspective. (Ethics and Education page 45). Indeed if the worthwhile development is to be assured, the learning of new things must have these things. R. S.
Peters summarises the definition of an educated person as one who is critical in thought, creative in thought and autonomous, able to stand on their own feet. R. S. Peters’ criteria for pursuing education for its intrinsic values, pursuing some kind of conceptual scheme to organise and develop information, containing a body of information on various topics and transforming that information into some valuable outcome. Peters provides some amplifications for the educated person. Education has to be described as initiation into activities or modes of thoughts and content that is worthwhile.
An educated person must have achieved some desirable state of mind. There must be a desirable state in a person involving knowledge and understanding. The educated person must have breadth and depth and must not be narrowly specialised. He must have an all round type of development. This concept is more relevant in technical and vocational education at secondary school level because once a pupil acquires knowledge or a skill, the pupil must not be narrowly specialised but must know all concepts in the working of a process.
The pupil must have his/her outlook transformed by what the pupil has leant so that living becomes the quality of life. It is emphasised that the educational development is mental development involving a general introduction into broad classes of experiences and methods of thinking. Initiation is a social process and education gives approval to certain processes which involve the transmission of what is considered by a particular community. Occupation specific education is the education that is provided to Technical and Vocational Secondary schools.
It is surely the case that in the course of being educated, a pupil is in some sense transformed or changed. The transformation being related to the concept of knowledge and understanding. In terms of educators, one is educating when one gets children to find out things for themselves. In Ethics and Education he asserts that more has to be done/said about the requirements built into the concept of being educated. We do not call the person “educated”, who has simply mastered a skill such as pottery.
For a man to be educated he must have some body of knowledge. Therefore, Peters’ ultimate aim is to initiate man into a reflective form of life. On the Value criterion , R. S. Peters states that to be “educated” is a desirable thing to achieve that is better than being ignorant I would expect all politicians espousing the values of a democratic society to want its citizens to have a grasp on the world they live in. It is not good for young people who attend school because it is good for them . Put simply ,education is a value laden concept.
Pupils at secondary schools should learn technical subjects so that the values of their life is transformed and quality of life is improved and this knowledge is reflected in their ways of living. Since technical and vocational education is occupational specific education, pupils should be transformed by acquiring this form of education. Therefore there should be value added in anything that a pupil is taught. On the knowledge criterion ,Peters asserts that this involves the acquisition of knowledge and understanding in breadth and depth.
A person might have knowledge about birds but the knowledge about birds should be accompanied by other knowledge in other spheres. So as to engender a broad cognitive perspective. That cognitive perspective would include having appropriate emotions and attitudes about what has been learnt. There would be very little value in learning unless the learner has appropriate emotions and attitudes. Therefore, what is the type of knowledge that is taught at secondary schools? , Does it change the attitudes of learners and that can only be assured if the pupils acquire the knowledge as well as understanding.
In this regard Peters introduces the concept of what is to be learned which stipulates the type of knowledge or content to be covered in Technical and Vocational education. This content must be clearly stated, that is the depth and the proper teaching theory implored to ensure understanding. Peters also talked about the Procedural criterion. According to Peters, it rules out indoctrination, brainwashing and any coercive practices that infringe upon the willingness of the learner to learn. If a pupil does not want to carry out a process ,does the teacher just say “go out and play? A good teacher should explore ways to help the pupil to realise that the process is very useful to the pupil’s life. This is the role of a teacher, a professional charged with the responsibility to teach all students willing or unwilling. Therein lies the art of the teacher and the relationship between the teacher and the learner. Being patient ,finding solutions and procedures but without coercion. Instead if the teacher decides to punish the learner for not doing work, the learner will associate learning with punishment.
This will represent a form of coercion and in creating that link, the value and the desirability criterion becomes diluted, confused and potentially lost. Therefore the education in Technical and Vocational must implore strategies which do not create some form of coercion but they should find creative solutions to help the learners and explain the importance of such processes in the learner’s life. Procedural criterion also cautions that teaching theory and the learning theory must ensure the meeting of goals of reasons to be educated and what is to be learned.
In Technical and Vocational Education educators are not supposed to teach facts without understanding them. Learning should change the learner’s view of life instead of rote learning whereby what is learnt can be used pragmatically, say in the writing of exams, but it tends to have little lasting influence. In general, in Technical and Vocational Education at secondary school level, pupils should understand the value of learning the technical subject and their lives must be transformed by the knowledge.
The educators must outline the knowledge to be taught and the content to be covered and ensure understanding of concepts and engender a broad cognitive perspective. More so, proper procedures must be used to help the learner acquire a skill without any form of coercion. Educators must find creative solutions that can help the learners. Pupils must have a commitment in carrying worthwhile activities. They must not be highly specialised in one area. They must relate to the environing world in a way that is well informed. They must be educated not so much to have arrived at but to travel in a different view.
