Educators such as Harry Broundy would like teachers to take a critical look at what they are doing. When they see the negative effects the trend in contemperary education is having, It is hoped that they will reverse this trend by returning to more basic subject matter. Realists complain that they have been equaled with such caricatures as Dickens’s Mr.Gradgain, and living’ Ichahod Crane. They say they are not for mere memorization and rote learning of facts, nore do they dismiss problem solving, projects, and enjoyable experiences in learning activities. They do feel, however, that such experiences should be faithful in erms of producing students with needed knowledge and skill. They would very much like to see our institutions of higher education turn out teaching specialists who are capable, and who would serve as models for the future development of students. In today’s world, when we are prpducing a generation of children first to witness man’s flight to the moon, and certainly soon to other planets, we should equip them with information to understand such events and to assist in the advancement of knowledge ii the future. The realists argue we can do this only by providing students with basic and essential knowledge.
It must be kept in mind that while realists share many concerns, there are also variations. If they agree schools should promote the essentials, they each search the meaning of ‘’essential’’ from individual perspectives. For instance, Whitehead was almost idealistic in his recommendation that education be primarily concerned with ideas, but he condemned what he referred to as ‘’scraps of information’’ and ‘’inert ideas,’’ for ideas should be learned in a practical and useful context. What makes his thought realistic is his view that one learned most truly from the material world in which one actually lives. He defended both classical and specialized studies if these studies have important applications now. Inertness, he held, is a central hazard in all education; consequently, Whitehead’s view of the essentials might be very different from what someone else views as necessary, for he had a distinct notion of what education should contain.
Realist put great emphasis on the ‘’practical’’ side of education, and their concept of practical includes education for moral and character development. John Locke. Johann F. Herbart, and Herbart Spencer all held that the chief aim of education should be moral education. Whitehead was close to this position when he said ‘’ the essence of education is that it be religious.’’ Spencer, in his essay ‘’What knowledge Is of Most Worth.’’ held that science provides for both moral and intellectual education because the pursuit of science demands integrity, self-sacrifice, and courage. For Locke, good character is superior to intellectual training; however, Locke’s views on character education seem to have been directed primarily at the English gentry of his day who were supposed to set examples for the rest of society. Herbart thought that moral education is founded on knowledge and Spencer agreed with this theory.
Thus, we can see different approaches to a common thrust. Realists agree education should be based on the essentials and the practical, but they vary in their individual approaches to these things. Regardless of these individual approaches, however, there is an underlying common element. The essentials and the practicalities of education lead to something beyond themselves, an element that is distinctly Aristotelian; that is, it proceeds from matter to form, from imperfection to perfection. Realists are Aristotelian in viewing education as the process of developing our rational powers to their fullest so that we can achieve the good life.