What is Realism Education and its Aim?

Realism emerged because of the failure of idealist thinking to inculcate scientific temperament. Realism opined that things can be known as they really are. It aimed at developing an ability in learners to face the problems and getting happiness out of life. Some of the thinkers of realism are Bertrand Russell, John Locke, Milton, Ratke and Commenious.

Metaphysics and Realism.

Material world is independent of knower or perceiver. It is as it is and it is not influenced by how one perceives it. In the opinion of realists matter is the fundamental and ultimate reality of the world. They reject the existence of God or Soul and they believe that phenomenal world is true. They disagree to life after death or anything that is beyond matter.

Epistemology according to Realists.

Realist’s knowledge is popularly known as Spectator’s Theory. Knowledge is gained by sensations and perceptions. He rejected atoms to be the ultimate reality and claimed that sensations are ultimate reality. Anything is real if it can be observed in material world. They advocate that reality is something that can be observed and experimented.

Axiology (Value).

Realism does not believe in persuasion of higher values. It considers that anything valuable if it is consistent with the nature. It gives more importance to individual values, but individual values must conform to social values.

There are different forms of realism, which are explained below:

• Humanistic Realism: The concept of humanistic realism was propounded by Milton and Erasmus and they claimed that social and spiritual development of one individual must be attained in the welfare of all humans.
• Social Realism: Social realism emphasizes on attainment of real knowledge i.e. knowledge of social realities.
• Sense Realism: It claims that the sensory inputs are sources of knowledge and not words.
• Neo-Realism: It claims that knowledge should be obtained by analyzing the science, but this knowledge is very much subject to change.

Aims and Goals of Realism Education.

• Development of physical and mental powers of the child.
• Preparing child to lead a happy and contended life.
• Developing awareness in the child of his surroundings and real world around him.
• Providing sensory training so that he is able to have thorough knowledge of the external world.
• Developing an attitude of equilibrium between self consciousness and social consciousness.
• Developing an attitude of experimentation.
• Developing a rational attitude and ability to understand empirical facts.
• Inculcating scientific attitude and temperament to think logically.
• Development of reflective strength so as to enable a learner to reach at right conclusion.
• Preparing child for an occupation.