BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE.....P.E.A.N CONFERENCE held in Unilag from 24th to 27th

THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND POLICY IN EDUCATION

DRAKE, Omonode Omamurhomu

Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education

University Of Benin, Benin City

&

Prof. (Mrs.) B.O.J. Omatseye

Institute of Education, University of Benin

Abstract
This paper will expose a major and unavoidable role of philosophy in policy formulation and implementation in education which has all along been watered down.  
 Philosophy which is still very much accepted as the foundation of all knowledge refers to those sets of belief and values that constitutes an individual or  society at large which will invariably define his or its desires and values of which its educational Philosophy is not left out. It points in the direction what a society aspires to achieve through education. Philosophy by that is the theory about and of education. Policies in education refer to the pool of laws, decrees and rules (which are mostly political) that govern the operation of educational   systems. There are several forms of education, for several purposes and through several means ranging from early-Childhood system, kindergarten, primary level, secondary level and tertiary education. Therefore policies in education can directly affect the type and quality of education a citizenry engages at all ages. Policies here can address or debate sizes of schools, ratio of teacher to learners, teacher’s qualification and corresponding pay, teaching methodology application etc. This paper categorizes all roles of philosophy in policy formulation in two. Philosophy firstly gives birth to policies and secondly shapes and helps construct policy through its logical and critical reasoning tools. Philosophy probably has the greatest effects on educational policies, as it also provides all including educationists and teachers with the framework for planning, implementation and evaluating curriculum in schools.  Philosophy provides the starting point and the heuristic dynamism in decision-making about education in all its entirety. Philosophy is the foundation upon which the entire educational apparatus rests upon be it curriculum, objectives or policies in education. Without a philosophy man is a chunk of meat with two eyes so also it is for the educational apparatus. Policies in education which also looks into the purposes of education, the objectives and goals to be achieved,  the research to be carried out in order to have the best system and all other aspects  requires philosophical thought. This paper holds and shows Philosophical tools like critical reasoning, logical, rational and reflective thinking has the ability to fine tune and come up with proper rules,  laws and regulation suitable in any given situation during and after policy formulation. Philosophy helps unify pedagogy, the purposes of education, curriculum and learning theories grounded on some peculiar metaphysical, epistemological and axiological assumptions upon which policies in education are mounted or formulated. It helps think critically and respond to issues of which will not only lead to the formulation of ideas and corresponding ideals such as policies in education, but also its actual implementation thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Key words: Philosophy, Education and
Policies

INTRODUCTION
Educational policies over the years has been reduced and misconstrued to only mean several government laws decrees and regulations concerning education but this is rather just a part of what obtains in an educational policy. Educational policies are most often than not as a result of the will and demands of the people living within a society. These demands and wills form the ideological lifestyle and orientation of the people of that society and by that, means the philosophical orientation of the people living within the ambit of such society. The philosophical orientation of a people can be seen as those ideological belief systems and norms of the people which they consider worthwhile ( B.O Omatseye, 2017) and such permeates through all facets of that society politically economically socially and of course and most importantly, educationally. Education being the means of instilling, initiating and socializing the new members of society into the practices of society stands to play the role of a life support to the abstract cultures and philosophies of the society and in order for it to carry out effectively its duties it needs proper planning and compartmentalization. This compartmentalization and planning to coordinate or guide the different aspects of the educational apparatus and the entire educational apparatus itself becomes expedient. This educational planning and structuring which must be based on a sound peopled-oriented philosophical foundation is what maybe termed educational policy. For instance Prior  to  independence  in  1960,  Nigerians  had vehemently  criticized  the  British  colonial  regime
 on  issues  of  relevance,  comprehensiveness  and focus  of  the  system  of  education provided  to  Nigerians.  Among  several  other agitations,  Nigerian  leaders  and educators were  particularly  worried  that  the  British  system  of  education  laid  emphasis  on academic  subjects;  educational  opportunity  was  restricted  to  few  people  and that  the British  grammar school  system  of  education  was  trans-imposed on  Nigeria  without  due consideration  to  the  culture,  environment  and the  aspirations  of  Nigeria  as  a  country (Nwagwu,  2003).
 the National policy on education Was created in 1977 after the national curriculum conference of 1969 and of which this conference was bore out of the fact that the erstwhile British educational modus operandi was not in tandem with the cultural implications of the immediate society secondly it was very limited in terms of accessibility as it was accessible to a certain class of persons in the society termed as qualified thirdly the British grammar schools system was super imposed on Nigeria without due consultation  and negotiation with the immediate very traditional and cultural populace fourthly it was accused to have idealistic philosophical undertone through the good office of liberal arts education which made and created more administrators than scientifically oriented persons which was anti-African as it was noticed that Nigerians where already engaged in technology before the advent of Britons e.g. tera-cota head in tiv bronze work in Benin herbal medicines for several ailments, building construction and accessories and traditional wears etc. Based on all this anti-Nigerian philosophical orientation was the national policy on education in Nigeria created. This paper stresses the mutual relationship between philosophy and educational policies. It holds that educational policy is the machinery through which the aims and beliefs of a people are redefined taught and put into practice invariably philosophy is the spirit-man of education for without education philosophy cant be perceived or made manifest and education policies wont be made or developed at all if there are no underlying philosophies whether good or bad. This is supported by John Dewey when he opined that “philosophy is the general theory of education” in another vein Aristotle also opined that “philosophy is the general theory of knowledge”. Educational policies are supposedly to draw inspiration from what the people ideologically hold as  worthwhile in the society and in turn the people keep alive  their values norms and ways of life through the good offices of educational policies within the education apparatus. Over the years attention has been placed more on implementation of policies rather than the creation processes of policies itself which has been flawed with persons who have concrete knowledge on anything other than the philosophical orientation of the society . They take policies to mean numerical facts juxtapositions, sometimes import policies and infuse directly into the system and cause more harm than good. In a case where a policy is built on faulty philosophical foundation (beliefs will and demands of a people within a particular society) policy becomes difficult to implement and also tends to be anti societal and this brings about a discord between education which ought to be the mirror of the society it serves and that same society it is fashioned to serve and this is the reason why Nigerian graduates most times than not are unemployable and not-useful to their immediate environment. Take for instance again the issue of corporal punishments in our secondary and primary schools. Nigeria is composed of three major ethnic group and several other minor ethnic groups a closer look at all these ethnic groups put together one can notice their high emphasis on discipline which is done through the use of whips some of these ethnic groups even use whips as a means of marriage ceremony to test the degree of love a man has for a woman as the more number of whips he can bear the higher his chances of getting the woman. Discipline with whips are also emphasized in their major religions as the bible states “spare the rod and spoil the child” although some have argued the rod as used in the bible doesn’t necessarily means a whip but just symbolizing correction (Mrs. B.O. Omatseye ,2017) and also the Quran supports same but the Nigerian educational system with its adoption of western ideologies on the abolishment of corporal punishments  has placed a strict stop on the use of whips without placing conditions or measures to use or not to use it. This obviously goes against the natural way of life and beliefs of the immediate society. The fact something seems or sounds right doesn’t mean it will always be right in all contexts as it was seen in the story of Adam and Eve. What was so wrong in having the knowledge that you are naked afterall but the supreme God chased them out for that foreign knowledge and brought a curse on all humanity?   When philosophy or ideological belief of a people is not in tandem with its educational tenets then nothing else can be right. it sets and divides the society into warring parties as some sects will hold on to the cultural beliefs and tenets while others will hold on to the foreign knowledge gotten from the ivory towers of its educational system which is evident in today’s Nigeria. For policies to achieve what is worthwhile for society then it must be built on sound philosophical foundation drawn from the way of life, beliefs and demands of the people. It is also pertinent to note that as time changes so also do peoples tastes cultures and beliefs transform and educational policies should go along with the tides of such transformation but this is lacking in a country such as Nigeria as it is retrogressive rather than progressive in nature as it’s national entrance exams minimum scores into the university has continued to drop and now it is at an all time low score of 120. If we must get it right in implementation of policies or even at the entire educational level there has to be a careful understanding and learning of what is needed and demanded by the immediate society and not what has been working somewhere else. To achieve this mutual synergy between the logical and predominant idiosyncrasies of the immediate society, and the actual planning of educational programmes nationwide there has to be an effective enlistment of proper and qualified hands on the boards of Education policy teams. Nigeria or any other country will find it an arduous and a very tiring task to achieve quality and proper education if this philosophy-policy mismatch is not well ironed out.

Philosophy
In the most general sense philosophy can be perceived to be a sum total of a person’s basic or fundamental beliefs and convictions. These beliefs include issues pertaining to right and wrong, existence of God, beauty and ugliness and other matters relating to his immediate environment and how he perceives them. These ideas are most times acquired through obscure and unclear channels but philosophy helps man arrange these thoughts in a more sensible logical and workable manner that it forms a course he takes in life. It is not out of place to then say that all aspects of human life are tampered and ruled by philosophical considerations. Philosophers indulge in asking questions such as who we are? What is happiness, what is a virtue?. Can we hope to find truth of our existences? What is the relationship or link between mind and body? are our senses reliable in telling us the truth about universe? What is the relationship between nature and humans? It is the careful inquiry into general and fundamental problems that encircles Issues bothering on existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, law, validity, mind, justices and language
Philosophy as word is actually a combination of two Greek words philos which is interpreted as love, and also Sophia which is interpreted as wisdom. So etymologically philosophy means the love of wisdom. Some philosophers Have however tried to argue the inconsistency of this root definition as Dr. Agaosa in a postgraduate class in 2017 asked “ is there any wisdom in love”. it suffices to know that words sometimes can have various meaning depending on its usage love as in “philo” here actually refers to “desire “that exist between human and an inanimate object and not the affectionate relationship between two lovers as in Romeo and Juliet. For many Greeks of old, wisdom was not just mere knowledge but held that knowledge alone is not all to wisdom. Wisdom makes up knowledge plus its implication in all situations and circumstances as purported by Descartes, “through wisdom we hear not only prudence in business but a perfect knowledge of all things that man can know both the conduct of his life by preserving his health and the invention of all art. if a piece of knowledge is not applicable then it is utopian and invariably not wisdom. In other words philosophy strives to give man wisdom which helps him understand and live peaceably in his immediate environment and then secondly, his environment in relation to the entire universe. philosophy has been characterized as a friend to wisdom as Plato in his “Republic” state vividly “he who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious  to learn and is never satisfied may be termed philosopher”. In other words a philosopher is one who takes interest in all facets of knowledge unlike the physicist, botanist, micro-biologist who tend to have a mono-outlook, the philosopher has a multidimensional outlook and interest to life with an aim of achieving coherence and consistency in all forms of realities the immediate environment of man poses to man but here it is noteworthy that realities of life appear to different people in different shades and manners the way it appears to a briton in his environment maybe quite different from the way that same concept present itself to an African or a Nigerian to be specific for instance the concept God, what food is and what they see  as good clothing all differ based on how their environments relates such realities to them. This is one of the reasons for disparities among philosophers. These disparities are the reasons why many cultures differ in their cultural beliefs and idiosyncrasies of which they see as wisdom. Philosophers come under various philosophical schools of thought as they tend to see matters differently as in idealism, realism, pragmatism, etc and by the virtue of this, have varying beliefs from one culture to the other, place and another and time. Thus different peoples got their different ideologies ways of living and invariably different types of philosophies.The proximity in time place and culture may not only be the reasons for different types of philosophies but reasoning It self as Hamlet in a discussion with Rosencrates in the popular shakesparan novel “Hamlet” opined that “nothing is good or bad thinking makes it so”. It is noteworthy that differences in ideologies in philosophy are rather a strong point of philosophy rather than a weak side as many external scholars have opined. Same sex marriage maybe seen as a way of expressing freedom to the whites but remains abominable to the Africans because of it’s long lasting tradition rooted in either Christianity or traditional worship of which both negate this idea so one must be careful in imitating or imbibing foreign practices and cultures. Nothing is really good or bad but thinking makes it so. A philosopher won’t say 1+1 is two but will prefer to say one plus one is two under xyz condition. No assumption is infallible everything should be subjected to reason in relation to the location and time where such obtains so as to make cogent and worthwhile decisions which help in policy construction and implementation in governance. Haven said all this it is noteworthy that societies are continuously blessed with new members as babies grow into teenagers and teenagers grow into adulthood and these persons of course will need to be ideologically recruited and initiated into the mores and practices of his immediate society and its at this point education becomes expedient as it is saddled with the responsibility of socializing the younger generation into society. Technically education has been seen as a process by which society desperately transmits its accumulated knowledge (values) or what is worthwhile (skills beliefs norms values etc) from generation to generation and this will be the working definition for this paper. This is supported by Drever who opined that “Education is a process in which and by which knowledge character and behavior of the young are shaped and molded. Also, G.H. Thompson emphasized that “The culture which each generation purposefully gives to those who are to be its successors, in order to qualify them for at least keeping up and if possible for raising the level of improvement which has been attained. And again, John stuartmill opined that“In a narrow sense, education may be taken to mean any consciously directed effort to develop and cultivate our powers. There are deliberate efforts on the part of the educators to inculcate certain valued habits, skills, attitudes or influences in the learner, which are considered to be essential and useful to him and the society at large. John Dewey opines afterall that “The school exists to provide a special environment for the formative period of human life. School is a consciously designed institution, the sole concern of which is to educate the child. This special environment is essential to explain our complex society and civilization”. The varied influences or modes of influences in school setting are deliberately mapped-out, chosen and employed by the larger community for the welfare of members from the rising generation. The major purpose of these influences is to directly modify and re-shapen the behavior of the child in such a manner that he may become somewhat different from what he could have turned-out without the institution of education. It makes it quite possible for a better adjustment of human nature to his surroundings. According to Mackenzie, education, in the narrower sense, is a conscious effort to develop and cultivate our innate powers. It is a way society brings up their young to become parts of the society and avoid acting as aliens.

EDUCATIONAL POLICY
According to Steven I, Miller (2010) “a policy is a historical or contemporary statement which describe, prescribe and/or proscribe a course of action. these statements are usually written but they could be oral. They may or may not imply contractual legal obligations. Additionally, a policy maybe developed at different organizational levels and maybe binding for only that level or for other levels as well” so one could say or look at the educational policy on school duration for a certain level of the academic lifecycle say junior or secondary education for instance the Nigerian UBE policy stated a particular duration for secondary and senior secondary school. Policies in education dates far back as in the days of Plato republic where he divided society into stratas and decided which education should be given to each. Policies in education can be said to refer to the pool of laws, decrees and rules that govern the operation of educational systems. There are several forms of education, for several purposes and through several means ranging from early-Childhood system, kindergarten, primary level, secondary level and tertiary education. Therefore policies in education can directly affect the type and quality of education a citizenry engages at all ages. Policies here can address or debate sizes of schools, ratio of teacher to learners, teacher’s qualification and corresponding pay, teaching methodology application etc. invariably the policies made in education are the determinants for its successes or failures within any society. So when we talk the benefits of education we actually refer to that condition where all policies seem to be effective and working. These policies in question tends to vary from place to place this is so because various societies got various values and beliefs system (Philosophies) guiding their conducts as a society and As these beliefs vary so also do they also vary in what they perceive as worthwhile to be handed over to the next generation. Even within the same society we can have multiplicity of policies as the educational apparatus has different cadres and levels of learning as earlier stated in this paper which will certainly require different policies to guide them. Different societies adopt different philosophical approaches towards education as it best fits their society at a point in time for example Nigerian education system was fashioned after the British erstwhile colonial liberal / idealist type of education (Nesin Omatseye, 2004) which stressed spirituality and sound mind but today It is shifting to a more pragmatic approach which stresses the educational process as a process of social engineering for scientific and technological workability. A policy formed on the idealist background tends to produce more religious(clergymen), artisans and social personnel than improvement in science and technology while a policy grounded in pragmatism is likely to pursue more science and technology at the detriment of human relations skills and virtue. It is important to note that policies take the position of a heart to any educational system and invariably, the heart of education as a whole as it is the policy that fulfils all the promises education tends give to the society. Policy is to education what education is to philosophy as it will be later discovered in this paper.

The epistemic import of the mutual relationship between philosophy and educational policy

Philosophy and education are closely knitted and designed to be inter-related and inter dependent. In such a manner where philosophy points out the way or direction while education follows it as it goes on that direction. Without education philosophy is crippled and without philosophy education is blind.  This is supported by John Dewey when he opined that “philosophy is the theory of education in its most general phase” also in Fitche’s view point he opined that “the art of education will never attain complete clearness without philosophy in another vein John Adams Opined “Education is the dynamic side of philosophy and again John Dewey opined “Education is the laboratory in which philosophical direction become concrete and tested”. Also, Conner: “theory (philosophy) directs practice (education) and practice directs theory.” To this extent philosophy is the theory on which education stands and education serves as the actual practice of philosophy or “philosophy at work”. Philosophy influences and can be influenced by education in the following ways .

Philosophy decides the destination towards which educational policy should go

Philosophy over the years has always inspired educational theory and practice as it has done with other disciplines. Just as in the words of John Dewy ”Education is the laboratory in which philosophical direction become concrete and tested”. Just as we have earlier mentioned, policies in education make education whatever it is so if philosophy is wisdom then educational policy or policies is/are the channels through which that type of wisdom is transmitted to generations of that society if philosophy is a way of life then policies in education is the preparation for such life. If philosophy is a system of thoughts then educational policies embraces that thought in the context of societal laws on education. Philosophy goes a long way to provide the very aims and objectives of education and on which the educational policy is constructed to fulfill

Education polices makes philosophy less abstract: 
 education can be seen as the strongest tool for the attainment of the ideal life and an organized attempt to bring about a balanced and apt development strategy for a society. Education if likened to a plant will be drawing its nutrients from a soil called philosophy. In the exact words of Adams “Education is the dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active aspect of philosophical belief, the practical means of realizing the ideals of life”.  just as earlier stated in this paper philosophy is the theory and education is the practice thereof. Educational policies and philosophy are of uttermost importance to each and a lack in any renders the other lifeless.

Philosophy aids in coordination of educational policies

Educational policy is the means to achieve the goal (philosophy) as philosophy bothers itself with the end so also does education deal with the means to attain such ends. Philosophy doles out ideals values and principles while the educational policy works out the ideals, values and principles into practice. The importance or essences of philosophy in the education policy formulation process is for the purpose of capturing the social political ingredients or ideologies of that particular society which the policy is designed for. Philosophy doesn’t only help connect the societal norms/ideology to the aims and missions, goals and objectives adoptable in education but also goes further to intermittently critique ideologies/perspectives with a motion to make sure or ensure that such ideologies are fitting and worthwhile for societal development. It (Philosophy) serves as an anchor coordinating the various inputs coming from other disciplines of education (psychology, Sociology, economics, history, sciences education) into the policy as a complimentary whole. without these efforts of the benevolent tools of philosophy the entire educational policy process will be in a state Akinpelu describes as a “a jig – saw puzzle whose bits and pieces hang together in crazy quilt (Akinpelu, 2005; P.167)philosophy goes a long way to harness the goals and objectives needed for a successful policy making. The mismatch between the process of setting goals and the attainment of these set goals is what has plagued some national education polices. In other to discontinue or repel or prevent such mismatch the tools of philosophy are needed to maintain and ensure a perfect harmonious relationship between the goals and actual implementation. This will invariably enable the people arrive at the hypothesized destination to be achieved by education. The task of philosophy in education is also to allow flexibility and adaptation of educational policies in compliance or conformity with constant changes that afflict human society and ideology. It therefore follows to state categorically that for any nations academic practice to achieve the best for its educand it has to indeed be directed by very sound and apt philosophies this is actually supported by Amael (2005) who assert that a well formulated policy on education built on a strong philosophical footing, is indeed a sure guide to getting things right in the world of Education and consequently in the development of a nation

Conclusion;
From the analysis above it is crystal clear that philosophy is not just a part or the very beginning of a policy or educational policy but also an unavoidable segment in policy formulation process as it coordinates and shapens policies in education through the good use Logical and critical thinking tools. Its therefore sacrosanct that policy formulators should have a full understanding of the nature of society they find themselves so as to formulate proper and worthwhile goals and aims (philosophy) of education befitting to their society. For example CBT examinations in third world countries will obviously not have the same effects for developed countries as the former has national problems of epileptic power supply and wide spread ICT illiteracy on the increase as the idea of owning computers is still considered a luxury besides, an average nigerian still lives below a dollar. Not only is it important to know this fact but to employ capable hands trained in areas of philosophy(philosophers of education) to sit on education boards to make inputs in policy formulation processes in education. It is noteworthy to stress on the point of formulating policies that fit the type of society because what works in country B may not work perfectly in country C and it is only when this is done will good and implementable policies be made. Less developed economies find it a problem to implement formulated policies because most of its policies are unimplementable as many are drawn based on what has worked elsewhere or wrong diagnoses of the nature and needs of their society. When policies built are founded on a much more sophisticated ideology than what that society’s political, social and economic clime can carry then implementation becomes an issue and that spells doom for the academic process. It’s not just an issue of knowing this is the problem but taking frantic steps to bring in the little experts we have left in the field of educational philosophy and not amateurs or intellectual delinquents to savage the problem of policy formualtion-implementation mismatch. In conclusion it suffices to say education which is the bedrock of the development and progress of any country or nation can only be carried out properly through formidable policies grounded and directed on/by sound philosophical underpinnings which will invariably bridge the gap between theory and practice.


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