Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

Abstract

The research problem is to identify and examine the epistemological premises in Teilhard de Chardin's concept of evolution proposed in The Phenomenon of Man.The purpose is to identify and analyze Teilhard's theory of evolution in the context of the growth and development of the self-determined individual. The Teilhardian concepts utilized as the framework of this study are certainty of knowledge, momentum, perception, and the intellective process.Teilhard holds that the intellective process is mind's force of evolution. The evolving mind is self-determined and exercises its freedom via the scientific method. This predicates a balance of the cognitive, affective, and conative domains. When mind confronts, a relationship is constructed with the learning object which affords mind the power to intuit the refinement of its methods of analysis thereby affording greater insight--in essence, evolution.Five educational principles for theory of biolgoy teacher education evolve from Teilhard's epistemological premises. Theory for biology teacher education should: (1) Foster the evolution of freedom of mind for it is freedom of mind that makes education significant. (2) Recognize the evolutionary function of knowledge in the learning process. As mind seeks to understand, the knowledge obtained is transformed into new goals thereby acquiring a new potentiality. (3) Focus upon self-actualization. The learning act is a process of personal evolution. The individual who is self-actualized recognizes that to be human is to possess the capacity to affect the discovery and evolution of self. (4) Recognize the role of the perception of unity and its heuristic value in the learning process. Science is the process of integration, the sensing of a coherence which commands more of nature's hidden potential. (5) Recognize the role of science in the ethical development of humankind as science enables one to synthesize all dimensions of experience including values.

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