Existentialism

About Existentialism

Existentialism offers the individual a way of thinking about their life, and what has meaning to them. Existentialism makes the students the priority in the classroom, where the teacher facilitates the learner's quest for meaning and sense of purpose. Furthermore, existentialist thought mirrors the saying "Life is what you make of it."

A Philosopher's Take on Existentialism

Otto F. Bollnow was a soldier in the German army during World War II and that experience greatly influenced his research. Bollnow took a personal interest in existentialism and pedagogy. His work focuses on how teaching and coaching should center around the individual person. Existentialism offers the individual a way of thinking about their life, and what has meaning to them. This philosophy also emphasizes creative choice, the subjectivity of human experience, and concrete acts of human existence over any rational scheme for human nature or reality. Bollnow believed that teachers need to release their grip and dependence on their authority over the learner. Trust could be defined as confidence in another’s reliability, ability, and capacity. Additionally, Bollnow states that teachers need to constantly renew their capacity to trust the learner.

Authority and how a teacher manifests that authority in the classroom are critical in the effort of transcendence. As teachers move away from the historical authority of wielding absolute power over their learners, they will slowly advance towards a transcendent atmosphere of authority. Teachers who share their authority with their learners will discover that the learners will develop a community mindset and start to govern themselves appropriately. Trust is essential for any relationship to transcend. The teacher must take every chance to trust their learner. The teacher must be steadfast to their commitment to take risks in order to build a foundation of trust.

Our Take on Existentialism

Luciana

Being able to motivate this awareness allow a learner to develop a sense of purpose, a personal quest for meaning is essential for learning in part of the student and the teacher. In my senior year class, I had a philosophy class. From day one my teacher said, “I will teach you about topics that are never touch upon in any of your other classes. If you are not willing to feel unsure, challenged, contradicted by other ideas and opinion this will be a hard class. It is being able to be open to new ideas that will be hard in this class. If you are not willing to be open and explore and be tolerant. Please step out.” This scared me a lot. It was the first time someone had confronted me in this manner, I was quite terrified and unmotivated but I decided to give it a try and later realized this was his way of challenging to develop judgment and insight and learn how to think critically through analysis of ourselves and the world around us. His way of teaching promoted existentialism because he wanted to enable us to expand our own awareness and explore the unfamiliar through the curriculum. I hope I can be able to have the same effect as my philosophy teacher in high school because he truly made a difference on how I see the world today and my role in it.

Cecilia

For trust to flourish, a risk must be taken from both sides of the relationship. Trust is essential for a genuine relationship to occur. Trust creates an atmosphere of security for both the teacher and learner, which encourages the learner to grow. Personally, I take too many risks when trusting others. I tend to find myself hurt and let down by many people (teachers, friends, significant others, etc.). Although I have been hurt by people because of trust, I have learned to be a better person. I am working on being a person that is easy for people to trust. When I become a teacher, I will break down barriers and create an atmosphere of security where my students feel comfortable to take a risk to trust.

Megan

I personally believe that trust it essential to any worthwhile relationship a person has. If there is no trust in the relationship, there is no anchor, and it will be hard to give a part of yourself to the other person in the relationship. I have always believed that if I cannot trust a person, they do not deserve my time or company, and honestly, it is really hard for me to trust people. I have had so many problems and issues with being let down after I give a part of myself to someone, that it has become harder and harder. I do not want my future learners to end up with the same trust issues that I have, so I want to create an environment in which authority and trust can be facilitated and grown. I want to be that one person that my learner’s can trust and rely on, even if they have no one else. I know that would be something I would have liked when I was in school.

Patrick

As far as philosophical camps, I prefer to set my tent up within the parameters of existentialism. The pursuit of finding meaning to my life has always held my attention. It took me many years to understand that one of the most important things to me are meaningful relationships. Two requirements of every healthy, sustaining relationship is a mutual respect for each other’s authority and trust. I worked with a Captain while serving in the Army, and over time our relationship transcended. We were able to transcend because we both chose to trust each other, and to share our authority with each other and with our platoon of soldiers.

An Example of Existentialism in the Media

This clip from the movie The Miracle Worker (1962) demonstrates existentialism, in particular Bollnow's take on authority, due to Helen never having an authority figure before. Anne had to step up and be that authority figure for her, making Helen the center of the learning experience.