Ochendo: An African Journal of Innovative Studies

Plato, through the theory of knowledge and rational capacity of the individual, recommends the training of the mind, the values of mental abilities to the effects of the societal growth, especially the courses on the Sustainable National Development (SND) in our contemporary civilization. Such Plato philosophy of education which is based on his theory of knowledge recognizes that there are indispensable needs to assess the nature or contents of education the human person with the purposes of whether the minds are properly formed or not. This is on the thrusts of education based on the values of idealism as the foundational philosophy of development; the focus on virtue; the pursuit of rational knowledge; the state involvement in the child education; the embrace of meritocracy; and the projection of moral and civil education as a way of living. Hence, this paper is positioned to explicate the placement of the Platonic philosophy of education consciousness for the training of the Nigerian child who is faced with many contents of learning associated the contemporary demands of developmental contents and values, especially the courses of SND. Therefore, the paper tries to explain the meaning and societal conception of Platonic philosophy of education with special reference to its applications and consideration in education of the minds for the development of the Nigerian child, and to situates education within the societal workability of the minds as the seat of discipline, innovation and creativity which help the individual as a teacher or learner in making good use of mental (spiritual and moral) capabilities through the understanding of their idealistic consciousness. Adopting the phenomenological method of analysis, the paper concludes that there are indispensable needs for the Nigerian child to strive meaningfully in training his or her minds in order to reasonably contribute the courses of SND.

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