Protection and Liberalism in Philosophy of Education An Indian Perspective

CONSERVATISM IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION The categories conservatism and liberaHsm are often used in the fields such as politics, economics and social philosophy. But these categories are as an approach to educational thought, appropriate in the terms of tradition versus modem or progressive verses essentialist or democratic versus authoritarian. The use of such terms involves certain semantic difficulties. For some people 'liberal" indicates only the beliefs and practices accepted by people of the day and age. On the other hand to define 'conservative" in terms of beliefs and practices which no longer exists serves no purpose, since most conservatives advocate many practices which still flourish. The conservative might be described as opposing drastic and rapid change, whereas the liberal favors such change. The conservative approaches to education emphasize the need to teach worthy subjects and fundamental moral values to the young. According to Edward Wynne: