Volume 37, 2008
Philosophy of Education
Oksana Mikhalina
Pages 203-208
Comparative Philosophical Investigations for Education
An accelerating rate of systemic, structural and institutional convergences leads to the transformation of world educational space. A comparative study makes possible to analyse at a systems level both philosophy of education as systematic scientific knowledge and education as a system. Philosophy attempts not only to comprehend the existing system and to formulate values for the educational system of the future, but also to generalize and compare existing experience. But “experience” has different meanings. First, it indicates the concrete, urgent experience of reality and contains the components of sensory receptions and sensations, their spiritualizing senses, an entire conceptual complex, and also accumulated habits, skills, and knowledge. From the other side, it is understood as a component of social-historical existence, including the storage, creation and transfer of cultural senses, objectified in the standards and values, in lingual and objective forms; this means that an educational experience is the axiological basis of education, its value-purposeful characteristics. Philosophy of education is an independent specific field of knowledge adequately reflecting conceptual, theoretic-methodological and practical trends of education. It has global, national and local level of its reflection. Comparative investigation in philosophy of education is a comparison of such levels and explanation of their interaction. The
main methodological question is the extent to which it is expedient to use the achievements of foreign experience in educational theory and practice in another country. Comparative study makes it possible to pass from descriptions to the answer to more fundamental questions: to explanation and development of reasons.