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My Teaching Philosophy by Grace Bramlage

There are four main teaching philosophies (​Kauchak & Eggen, 2014, p.154​). While I

believe all four are important and have their place in different classrooms, the two I most align

with are progressivism and social reconstructionism. In my future teaching career, however, I

will most likely manage my classroom and curriculum based on essentialism and progressivism.

The first of the four philosophies is perennialism. The name comes from the Latin

adjective perennis which means continual or everlasting (​Traupman, 2007​). Perennialism focuses

on essential truths and questions that have been asked throughout all of human history.

The next philosophy is essentialism. Essentialists focus on teaching students the essential

skills they’ll need in life. They tend not to go very in depth on topics, so they can ensure they

cover all the necessary ones.

Another philosophy is progressivism. Progressivists believe in teaching students what

they want to learn or what they will need for their future. The focus is on what the material’s

application is for the students and developing skills like decision-making which will be used in

their daily lives.

The final philosophy is social reconstructionism. This philosophy has the goal of

educating students on social issues and giving them the tools to fix them. Its values are rooted in

equality and justice.

My own personal teaching philosophy is a mix of progressivism and social

reconstructionism. I think it’s important to teach students skills that will be useful to them in

their daily lives, but I also think students need to be educated on the problems of the world and

be inspired to fix them. I believe the purpose in teaching the next generation is to raise them to
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make the world better, and that’s best accomplished through the education on problems and

solutions given through social reconstructionism along with the skills learned through

progressivism.

Of course, while a teacher may have a personal philosophy, the students must come first.

I believe strongly in social reconstructionism, but in my future subject--physics--it would benefit

my students less than other philosophies.

As a physics teacher I will practice a mix of essentialism and progressivism. There are

some basic physics concepts and skills I will teach my students; they should attain at least a

surface level understanding of physics through my class. I will also be a progressivist because

the best part of physics is connecting it to students and their daily lives. I want to teach students

what they want to learn; I want to explain the aspects of the world they are most curious about. I

also want to explain how things as simple as friction constantly affect them. Finally, I believe

physics is an excellent subject to teach students basic problem solving skills they can use no

matter what field they go into.

In conclusion, of the four main teaching philosophies I believe the most in progressivism

and social reconstructionism; however, in order to best serve my students, as a physics teacher I

will use a mix of progressive and essentialist ideals.

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References

Kauchak, D., & Eggen, P. (2014). ​Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional​ (5th ed.).

Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education.

Traupman, J. C. (2007). ​The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary​. New York, New

York: Bantam Dell.