Engaging with influential thinkers: Educational philosophies and policies enduring the test of time

The ancient intellectual, Pythagoras was the first to introduce himself to a community as philosophos/philosopher meaning ‘lover of wisdom’, he whose philosophy still governs the world of mathematics. So, what is this philosophy that is so much linked to wisdom, intellect and love? From time immemorial, this body of knowledge has laid the foundation and given meaning and structure to what lies there in reality. To the question, does philosophy have practical implications to society and individual? The founding father of Western philosophy, Socrates visualised and emphasised that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater good and well-being towards the greatest number in society. The finest influential thinker, Plato’s philosophical thoughts to make individual life flourishing was by giving oneself the mental space to think through or subjecting one’s ideas to examination rather than following popular opinions or doxa which edges towards wrong values in relationships and careers. Have these basic truths endured the test of time and given themselves to be embedded in policies, mission, vision statements of organisations, educational institutions, curriculums, homes and individual life? An open ended questionnaire was administered and a semi-structured interview was conducted among research scholars of different disciplines to gather their experiences and views related to the theme. The responses were analysed and based on the viewpoint, archived literature was studied to provide an approach for related stakeholders of education to consider. This article is a scholarly study that focusses on reigniting our minds to the philosophical values of influential thinkers, explores and discusses using fulcrum, load and effort analogy on the educational philosophical policies.