What is Reconstructionism in Education?

The term Reconstructionism was used by John Dewey in philosophy for the first time. Then this term was used by Theodore Brameld in his book titled ‘Toward a Reconstructed Philosophy of Education’. The five theses that he included in his book are given briefly below:

Education must aim to fulfill the basic values of our culture. And at the same time harmonize with the underlying social and economic forces of the modern world.

The new society must operate according to democratic values.

Brameld suggested that civilized life is a group life and therefore in a school groups must be recognized as they are. It does not mean we should accept their passive behaviour or condemn them cynically but we need to develop a sound system through which we can bring about greater potentialities and eliminate their immoralities.

Pupils must understand that through the principles of defensible partiality and open examination we need to implement reconstructionism urgently.

Aims and goals of the education must correspond to the current demands of the society and culture.

The reconstructionists believe that reality is which is felt and agreed to by collective social wisdom and it acts as the basis of further understanding of experience and finally we can reach to true knowledge. Knowledge is such which is acceptable to people at large. Knowledge can be gained by analyzing that experience in a group using the principle of defensible partiality.

Aims of Education.

• Promoting social reformation.
• Development of powerful means.
• Social realization.
• Ability to examine cultural heritage and thereby bringing about overall change in society.
• Development of a goal-oriented attitude.
• Development of citizenship qualities.
• Development of problem-solving capacity of the learners.
• Development of a commitment towards the goal of social reformation.
• Development of awareness and consciousness towards social problems and engaging them actively in the solution of these problems.
• Making them realize the importance of an interdependent world reality.