Introduction to The Philosophy Underlying the Model
Defines man as a spiritual as well as a material being;
Explains his reality in terms of the process of his becoming (actualization of potentiality) and recognizes that the concept of process presupposes both creativity and potentiality;
Proposes that, because of man's ability to create further potential (a form of transcendence) through the cumulative effects of learning and culture (a reflection of immanence), his potentiality be regarded as infinite;
Derives the explanation of the process of becoming from a general ontological principle of relativity (i.e., man’s relatedness to all other entities in the universe and the impossibility of understanding any being apart from the circumstances in which it becomes);
Accepts the principle of hierarchical structuring as the primary expression of order and beauty in the universe;
Defines the basic order of the universe in terms of different hierarchically arranged ontological levels and places man at the apex of all living creatures;
Conceives of order as dynamic in nature (i.e., novelty perpetually emerges from new integration of prior entities) and upholds the thesis that man escapes the limitations of mere materiality by virtue of his ability to direct the process of his own becoming — patterning the use of the energy available to him. — by consciously entertaining the infinite range of possibilities (potentialities) open to him;
Identifies the process of becoming with an intrinsic pressure to know and to love which impels conscious speculation about, and attraction to, unknowns and ultimate unknowables (in themselves forms of potentialities) and man's relationship to them;
Defines man's spirituality as the conscious capacity (1) to formulate and/or respond to nonactual realities (ideals, aims, purposes, theories) as a consequence of such speculation and attraction, (2) to accept them (ideals or theories) as substitutes for or manifestations of the unknowns/unknowables, and (3) to give them symbolic expression which helps to guide or give direction to the translation of potentiality into actuality, thereby facilitating their functioning as the final cause;
Accepts the realization of beauty as the teleology of the universe and equates the self-actualization of potentiality in service of beauty (knowing and loving the ultimate unknowns underlying the ordering of the universe) as the highest expression of that teleology.
The body of theory derived from the philosophy includes theories of development, curriculum, pedagogy, administration, and evaluation, each of which is briefly outlined below.