Deck 7: Existentialism and Education

Question 1

Existentialists maintain that education should place greater emphasis upon individual human reality,by which they mean

A)helping subjective individuals become more objective.
B)preparing students to face the demands of the job market.
C)helping individuals understand scientific objectivity.
D)exploring the rational and irrational aspects of existence.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Kierkegaard's philosophical studies were mainly concerned with individual alienation from

A)an overbearing peer group.
B)a sinful and unrepentant world of non-believers.
C)unfair competition in the economic order.
D)an objective and science-oriented world.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Educational theorists such as Carl Rogers reflect an existentialist outlook in their belief that teachers should

A)be facilitators of learning.
B)show,guide,and direct.
C)promote problem solving.
D)be humanistic taskmasters.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Maxine Greene's view that educators should promote "wide-awakeness" among students reflects the existentialist belief that a proper education should make us aware of

A)future possibilities.
B)irrational behavior.
C)extensive determinism.
D)powerful hierarchies.

Question 5

A central identifying feature of existentialist thought is the theme of the individual

A)caught up in a meaningless and absurd world.
B)finding meaning in the adolescent years.
C)seeking a place in the social order.
D)maintaining objectivity in social relations.

Question 6

From the phenomenological standpoint,education should help students develop a rational understanding of

A)an encompassing sense of objectivity that explains our lived experience.
B)what the world will impose from the outside onto impressionable students.
C)the demands imposed by others in a competitive social environment.
D)the primary world of consciousness that each of us brings to learning situations.

Question 7

According to Sartre,we are "condemned to be free," and this view of freedom also means that we are

A)justified in always acting in our own self interest.
B)totally responsible for our choices and actions.
C)unable to escape from our traditions and inhibitions.
D)forever condemned to follow traditional freedom.

Question 8

Christian existentialists such as Gabriel Marcel believe that an important aspect of human experience should be

A)learning job skills in the economy.
B)the presence of fellow human beings.
C)the demands of the group.
D)legitimate needs for adult approval.

Question 9

Hermeneutics is the philosophical study of

A)individual behavior in environmental conditions.
B)objective biographical data about other people.
C)the interpretation and meaning of conscious experience.
D)humanistic interpretations of literature.

Question 10

Buber promoted an "I-Thou" view of interpersonal relationships; that is,one must recognize that each and every individual has

A)an inalienable right to self-expression.
B)an intense need to clarify language concepts.
C)a commitment to her own social well being.
D)the freedom to reject others.