Existentialism and Education

It often appears that Existentialism is a rather negative view of things: anguish of being, anguish of freedom, and anguish of the here and now. However, one should not see Existentialism as a religion or a “world-view”, but rather as a purposeful rejection of the constraints of categorization. One can feel disturbed, if not afraid, of the view that there really is no boundary or pattern in life from which one could derive comfort. However, Existentialism is also a view of the universe that stresses freedom, rejection of often inhibitory social structures and norms, and lastly empowers people with the right or even more so the responsibility to enhance their own human subjective self.

There is a current or an inertia toward associating with those people, objects or ideas we find familiar. This probably is an evolutionary artifact or vestige, and unbeknownst to us still remains a useful first-order rule. This tendency is the cause for many of the “-isms” that exist today, since all people tend to congregate with similar people. Despite what we say, we often yearn to be pigeon-holed and categorized. However, as people mature and become more self-sufficient they often acknowledge the self-actualization (Maslow’s term) that is possible through destroying self-limiting constraints. In this sense, there is little doubt that Existentialism’s focus on avoiding the “tyranny of the average”.

Personally, I found that I am more Existentialist than I ever thought and the concept of free will is central to my entire belief system! As a note of general reflection, perhaps each philosophy is best focused on during various points of development. E.g., clearly Existentialism isn’t the most appropriate view for a child of less than say six years old, as during these ages children are firmly Realist, with a dash of Idealism. (There isn’t enough room to expand on this idea here.)

Educationally, the central ideas of Existentialism, that of freedom, are important in carefully prescribed doses. The open classroom can work only when the children are able to tolerate the “anxiety of freedom”. It is merely the teacher’s skills that counterbalances the children’s deficit in self-control (i.e., better teachers can probably handle more open classrooms). To this end, schools should be centered around the open classroom only when it is found that the particular teacher can handle that specific situation.

The most dangerous possible outgrowth of an Existentialist learning environment is that of a dogmatic existentialist. All good teachers bring students from learning the facts and rules, to learning of opinions and exceptions, and if those people are in a group setting (which of course is a highly contradictory outcome of a completely self-based view such as Existentialism), there is the risk that the teacher will gradually tend toward getting the groups to arrive at a nice-and-neat conclusion. Any individual based philosophy must allow the individual the full freedom to “fail”, or at least to arrive at unusual conclusions.

"Take away paradox from the thinker and you have a professor." -- Søren Kierkegaard