Our group was given this topic to report in class. Honestly, I wasn’t so ecstatic about it at first. But as we delved into the world of existentialism and as it swallowed as whole like how Alice fell into the rabbit’s hole, I realized it was a blessing in disguise after all. After the research and everything else, I was so enthralled and interested about Existentialism that I felt really thankful to have been given the chance to study it.
Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with Existentialism. This philosophy is so on point and so out of point. It’s right and it’s also wrong. That’s probably why Existentialism is such a riveting topic to pursue, critic and reflect on. Let me take you into this journey deep into wonderland. Below are some of what I think are the utmost importance for one to understand Existentialism:
- We are condemned to be free thus we are responsible for shaping or authoring our own lives.
- No universal form of reality
- A higher being does not exist (via Sartre)
According to Sartre, one of the pioneers of the said philosophy, we are free individuals and this freedom condemns us to make choices throughout our lives. That is true, actually. When we think about it, we ourselves are responsible for our own actions. What we do now, affects our future. So a man must create himself (his own essence) because there is no predetermined human essence; it is not fixed in advance. It may sound like a complicated statement but I guess what I’m trying to say here is the fact that it is ALL ON YOU. It’s all on the person. He gives his life a meaning, he does something and his acts of will is what constitutes. Isn’t it true, though? If you did a bad thing, you couldn’t blame anyone else. It’s your choice — may it be influenced by someone or not, one way or another, you still chose it. In the Existentialist view, we couldn’t blame it on human fraility or weakness or things like that.
As we were intently researching about Existentialism, reading about the subjective perspective of things really did perplex me. First things first, what you see may not be what I see. I get that, yes. We, people have different views because we contribute to our own meaning, our interests and how we perceive things. I agree to this, actually because I believe that we are unique individuals and not everyone of us are able to see eye to eye. That is why there is a word called open-mindedness; wherein you relate to people and recognize their beliefs and what they see even though it’s not what you believe and not what you see. However the thing that I struggled with is the Existentialist thinking that there is no objectivity or whatsoever in what a person believes in. So what is our basis? What do we ADHERE to? Nothing? Yup. Nothing. That, right there made me think.
The next one that made me hate this philosophy is the fact that there is no higher being. Existentialist see that fate and destiny do not exist at all. There is no god who creates a future or makes a perfect plan for you. There exists no hidden power that control what lies ahead. There are also no god-given moral laws. To add to the dark and harsh world that we are trying to discern, Sartre also quoted Nietzsche, claiming that god is dead. That means bible is a hoax, humans are alone in the universe without a savior to guide them, no end goal in life and no salvation.
If we sum it up, Existentialism is humanism.
Let’s consider this philosophy’s implications to education. If I am a preschool teacher with an Existentialist view, I would give importance to freedom. I will be providing my students an array of activities to choose from. The act of choice is very significant in my curriculum as an existentialist teacher; I will make sure that it is not structured too much that I hinder my students’ capacity to act on his free will. Next, since Existentialism is subjective truth, I would create a learning environment that will help my students develop their own belief and their own self. I would never dictate to them what they should be or what they should believe in, instead I would involve myself in encouraging them to discover themselves through Arts, Music, Humanities and subjects that enhance self expression. Whenever I ask them to do Arts, as an existentialist teacher, I will never provide an example of a craft for them to copy. There is no basis, they do not need to conform to anything, instead they themselves are responsible to determine what is beautiful or what is not — it’s all up to them. Below are how I applied these in my class:
- The first five pictures show freedom. Students were given choices in terms of where to go during Work Time (Blocks Area, Manipulatives Area, Pretend Play and Dramatisation Area etc.)
2. Art Activities to develop Self Expression
Now going back to my philosophical question, How do I prepare students for life? I could actually prepare my learners for life by getting half of Existentialism and throwing the other half in the trash. I think that before anything else, God should be on top of my list. Honestly, in creating my own philosophy, sometimes I tend to focus too much on the intellect and the practical things that I forget the most important one — God. Before I started this blog, I know what I want to happen, I want to shed light to my question without giving away my educational goal for my learners — which is holistic education. Along the way, I got caught up with things and I let my educational goal slip. But I am so grateful to have been enlightened right now. I know Existentialism is an inadequate philosophy but if I want to prepare my students for life, then I would want them to understand that they are responsible for their actions but there is also a God who is always there to guide them. In life, there will always be this constant search for something. I experienced that. It’s like you’re looking for something but you can’t quite put your finger on it. We feel incomplete, this is because the missing piece in our human life is GOD. Personally, I feel so blessed because God has always been there for me. And as a catholic teacher, I would like to impart this to my students. I want them to know that yes they do shape their own future but they are not alone in this world. When the going gets tough, I want my students to cling to God. I want them to have faith and to believe that there is grace and blessings all around us. I want them to develop their own selves but at the same time, I also want moral values to guide them in developing their essence. But most importantly, I want them to believe that there is life after death, there is union with our creator the Almighty God.
