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Spencer's Utilitarian Education Philosophy

Herbert Spencer advocated for a utilitarian approach to education based on scientific and practical objectives rather than humanistic and classical education. He believed the curriculum should emphasize practical and scientific subjects that help humans master their environment and contribute to human survival and progress. Individual competition leads to social progress according to Spencer's theory of "survival of the fittest."

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Salve May Tolinero
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1K views1 page

Spencer's Utilitarian Education Philosophy

Herbert Spencer advocated for a utilitarian approach to education based on scientific and practical objectives rather than humanistic and classical education. He believed the curriculum should emphasize practical and scientific subjects that help humans master their environment and contribute to human survival and progress. Individual competition leads to social progress according to Spencer's theory of "survival of the fittest."

Uploaded by

Salve May Tolinero
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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  • B. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Utilitarian Education

B.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Utilitarian Education

 Spencer’s concept of “survival of the fittest” means that human development had gone through
an evolutionary series of stages from the simple to the complex and from the uniform to the
more specialized kind of activity.
 Social development had taken place according to an evolutionary process by which simple
homogeneous societies had evolved to more complex societal systems characterized with
humanistic and classical education.
 Industrialized society require vocational and professional education based on scientific and
practical (utilitarian) objectives rather than on the very general educational goals associated
with humanistic and classical education.
 Curriculum should emphasize the practical, utilitarian and scientific subjects that help human
kind master the environment.
 Was not inclined to rote learning; schooling must be related to life and to the activities needed
to earn a living.
 Curriculum must be arranged according to their contribution to human survival and progress.
 Science and other subj ects that sustained human life and prosperity should have curricular
priority since it aids in the performance of life activities.
 Individual competition leads to social progress. He who is fittest survives. (Ornstein, 1984).

Comments:

Specialized Education of Spencer vs. General Education

 To survive in a complex society, Spencer favors specialized education over that of general
education. We are in need of social engineers who can combine harmoniously the findings of
specialized knowledge. This is particularly true in the field of medicine.
 The expert who concentrates on a limited field is useful, but if he loses sight of the
interdependence of things, he becomes a man who knows more and more about less and less.
We must be warned of the deadly peril of over specialism. Of course, we do not prefer the
other extreme, the superficial person who knows less and less about more and more.

Spencer’s Survival of the Fittest

 He who is the fittest survives. Individual competition leads to social progress. The competition
in class is what advocates of whole-child approach and Socio-emotional Learning (SEL)
atmosphere negate. The whole child approach a powerful tool for SEL-focus schools has a
tenets – “each student learns in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for
students and adults” and “each student has access to personalized learning and is supported by
qualified and caring adults . . . “ (Frey, N. 2019).
The highlighted words point to no competition for competition works against an emotionally
safe environment.

B. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) Utilitarian Education  Spencer’s concept of “survival of the fittest” means that human devel

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