Self Realization

Idealism is originated from the term "Ideal" and that means idealists are inviting people toward perfection and goodness. This maybe cannot be applied at the moment though Socrates and Plato talked about long years ago.

But the most idealistic topic I agreed on is Self Realization as one of the aims of education which is essential nowadays and teachers have to work immediately on it to build human beings and not robotic learners.

So teachers should be well informed and have to know personal qualities necessary to guide students along the path toward infinite.

Teachers should be as Idealists;they should emphasize on mental and spiritual qualities of human beings that lead to concentration on concepts of individuals and their place in education. 

Similarly as:

• Butler found that self is the prime reality of individual experience and the ultimate reality can be conceived as a self (oneself, community or universal self), therefore education become primary concerned with self-realization.

• Descartes placed thinking self as base of his schema "I think therefore I am".

• Plato emphasized on the individual role in the society.

• Augustine talked about the connection of infinite human to infinite God.

• Hegel said that "one must relate oneself to the totality of existence in order to gain true understanding to oneself".

• Horne and idealists agreed that, education should encourage the "will of perfection" for students and in an activity whereby one shapes oneself into the likeness of God. 

• Gentile focused on the idea that all human are connected to God (Religious education).

• Maslow believed that human nature consists of basic needs (physical, safety, emotions, truth, justice, beauty etc…) and healthy individual seeks to move up the ladder of needs to achieve their full potential represented by knowledge and education which is Self Actualization. 

We, as teachers, must not imitate the western thoughts that teachers have to focus in teaching the curriculum and contents as dealing with machines but we have to apply the Chinese thoughts about interaction between the teacher and the learners to guide them into the righteous behaviors before educating them the curricula concepts.   

Reference:

Ozmon, H. A., & Craver, S. M. (2003). Philosophical Foundations of Education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice HAll.