Marielle G.

Trompeta
Philosophy as a Basis for Curriculum Decisions
Allan C. Ornstein
Discussion questions with answers:
1. Which philosophical approach reflects your beliefs about (a) the school’s purpose, (b)
what subjects are of value, (c) how students learn, and (d) the process of teaching and
learning?
Answer:
The philosophical approach reflects my beliefs is progressivisms. (a) In terms of the
school’s purpose, it should aim on giving more value to experience than formal learning.
(b) The valuable subjects are those with problem-solving activities and hands-on projects.
(c) Students learn independently. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise
through experiencing the world. (d) The process of teaching and learning will be based
on student’s interests and interdisciplinary subject matter activities. The teacher will
serve as the facilitator in this process.

2. What curriculum focus would the perennialists and essentialists recommend for our
increasingly diverse school-age population?

Answer:
The curriculum focus that perennialists and essentialists recommend for our increasingly
diverse school-age population are classical subjects, literary analysis, constant
curriculum, essentials skills (3 Rs) and essential subjects (English, arithmetic, science,
history and foreign language).

3. What curriculum would the progressivists and reconstructionists select for a multicultural
student population?

Answer:
The curriculum that would be selected by that progressivists and reconstructionists for a
multicultural students population is the contemporary curriculum. This means that there
are individual expressions, students and teachers are engage in a dialogue, the teacher is
the facilitator and there are various activities to apply. The focus here is the students’
interests. It also focuses on learning by doing where the talents, intelligence and skills of
each student will be developed.

4. Should curriculum workers adopt a single philosophy to guide their practices? Why?
Why not?

Answer:
 Curriculum workers should not adopt single philosophy to guide their practices. There
should be various philosophies to be applied in teaching accordingly. A single philosophy
cannot accommodate all types of stakeholders. It should depend on the situation or the
needs of the learners, teachers and the school itself.

5. Which philosophy is most relevant to contemporary education? Why?

Answer:
The philosophy that most relevant to contemporary education is reconstructionism. It is
because it emphasizes the social concerns, questions and a pursuit to make a better
society and worldwide democracy. This focuses on social reform as the aim of education.
It also focuses on the present and future trends as well as the national and the
international issues. It teaches students and the public not to settle for “what is” but rather
to dream about “what might be”. It prepares students to become agents for change.