• many people feel that idealism is too conservative.

• idealism views the world as a finished product waiting only to be discovered.

• intellectual emphasis ignores other aspects.

• does not accommodates modern era of technology.

Augustine also gave extensive attention to the need for Christians to become aware

An American transcendentalist whose ideas were a mixture of the philosophies

Plato, Plotinus, Kant, Hegel, Carlyle, and Emerson, he frequently contributed writings

A. Bronson Alcott, William Torrey Harris, Herman Horne, William Hocking,

Children on the Gospels as a way to introduce children to sacred literature

He was interested in the education of the young and opened a school

Masonic Temple in Boston in 1834 that became known as the Temple School.

actively involved in the school, where his daughter, Louisa May Alcott,

Idealists generally agree that education should not only stress development of the mind but also encourage students to focus on all things of lasting value.

. Along with Plato, they believe that the aim of education should be directed toward the search for true ideas. Another important idealist aim is character development because the search for truth demands personal discipline and steadfast character.

Other idealists have maintained that there might be levels of truth. Kant, for example, explored the truths of both pure reason and practical reason, and Hegel thought that truth is something in development, moving from simple to richer and more complex ideas.

Most idealists who look at our schools today are dismayed at what they find.

r becoming specialists of some kind, and using those specialties with little humane concern for their fellow human beings.

Idealists lean toward studies that provide depth, and they would strongly suggest a modification of the view that things should be studied simply because they are new or meet occupational needs.

The idealist emphasizes the importance of the teacher. The teacher should not only understand the various stages of learning but also maintain constant concern about the ultimate purposes of learning.

Butler maintains that modern idealist educators like to think of themselves as creators of methods rather than as mere imitators.

Some idealists stress the importance of emulation in learning because they believe that the teacher should be the kind of person we want our children to become, and idealists have often used Socrates as a prototype of learning and as a model for emulation.

. They prefer alternative ways of approaching learning, but they still like to see at least an informal dialectic in operation.

In questioning and discussion sessions during which the dialectic operates, the teacher can help students see alternatives they might otherwise have missed.

dialectical process can be informal, it should not become a mere pooling of the ignorance of immature students; the teacher should participate fully in order to maintain the integrity of the process.

Idealists have given considerable attention not only to the search for truth, but also to the persons involved in it.

. Perhaps the best way to understand this is by looking at Socrates as a prototype of the teacher the idealists would prefer.

Socrates spent much time analyzing and discussing ideas with others, and he was deeply committed to action based on reflection.

Idealists are, in general, greatly concerned with character development, which they believe should be one of the foremost goals of a good education, and they believe that the teacher should have a good character as well.

Idealist philosophy is also concerned with the student as one who has enormous potential for moral and cognitive growth, and the idealist tends to see the individual as a person whose moral values need to be considered and developed by school activities.