MODULE 11:

In this module, the lessons focus on various philosophies of education. The

philosophy of education is an important source of knowledge for teachers to get
improved and develop their competencies. It makes teachers understand their job and
know what they are doing in class. Likewise, it represents answers to questions about
the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what
methods.
Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
 Summarize at least seven philosophies of education and draw their
implications to teaching and learning
 Formulate their own philosophy of education
 Appreciate the value of having a philosophy in the teaching profession
Content
A. SEVEN PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
Only seven philosophies will be discussed here: essentialism, progressivism,
perennialism, existentialism, behaviorism, linguistic philosophy and constructivism.
These seven philosophies differ in their concepts of the learner and values, in why do
we teach (objectives), what should be taught (curriculum) and how should the
curriculum be taught (teaching strategies). However, there exist also some similarities
among the philosophies.
1. ESSENTIALISM
This philosophy contends that teachers teach for learners to acquire basic knowledge,
skills and values. Teachers teach “not to radically reshape society” but rather” to transmit the
traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become
model citizens.”
Essentialist programs are academically rigorous. The emphasis is on academic content
for students to learn the basic skills or the fundamental R’s-reading, writing, arithmetic, right
conduct- as these are essential to the acquisition of higher or more complex skills needed in
preparation for adult life. The essentialist curriculum includes the “traditional disciplines such
as Math, Natural Science, History, Foreign Language and Literature. Essentialists frown upon
vocational courses or other courses with watered down academic content. The teachers and
administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn and
place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when they divert time and
attention from the academic curriculum
Essentialist teachers emphasize mastery of subject matter. They were
expected to be intellectual and moral models of their students. They are seen as
“fountain” of information and as paragon of virtue, if ever there is such a person. To gain
mastery of basic skills, teachers have to observe “core requirements, longer school day, a
longer academic year. With mastery of academic content as primary focus, teachers rely on
the use of prescribed textbooks, and drill method and other methods that will enable them to
cover as much academic content as possible like the lecture method. There is a heavy stress
on memorization and discipline.
2. PERENNIALISM
This philosophy adheres to the belief that we are all rational animals. Schools, therefore
should develop the students’ rational and moral powers. According to Aristotle, if we
neglect the students’ reasoning skills, we deprive them of the ability to use their
higher faculties to control their passions and appetites.
The perennialist curriculum is a universal one on the view that all human
beings possess the same essential nature. It is heavy on the humanities, on general
education. It is not a specialist curriculum but rather a general one. There is less emphasis on
vocational and technical education. Philosopher Mortimer Adler claims that the Great Books
of ancient and medieval as well as modern times are repository of knowledge
and wisdom, a tradition of culture which must initiate each generation”. What the
perrenialist teachers teach are lifted from the Great Books.
The perennialist classrooms are “centered around teachers”. The teachers do
not allow the students’ interests or experience to substantially dictate what they teach. They
apply whatever creative techniques and others tried and true methods which are believed to
be most conducive to disciplining the students’ minds. Students engaged in Socratic
dialogues or mutual inquiry sessions to develop an understanding of history’s most timeless
concepts.”
3. EXISTENTIALISM
The main concern of the existentialists is “to help students understand and
appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility
for their thoughts, feelings and actions”. Since “existence precedes essence”, the
existentialist teacher’s role is to help students define their own essence by exposing them to
various paths they take in life and by creating an environment in which they freely choose
their own preferred way. Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision
making, the existentialist demands the education of the whole person, not just the mind.
In an existentialist curriculum, students are given a wide variety of options to choose from.
Students are afforded great latitude in their choice of subject matter. The humanities,
however, are given tremendous emphasis” to provide students with vicarious experiences
that will help unleash their own creativity and self - expression. For example, rather
than emphasizing historical events, existentialists focus upon the actions of
historical individuals, each of whom provides possible models for the students’ own behavior.
Moreover, vocational education is regarded more as a means of teaching students about
themselves and their potential than of earning a livelihood. In teaching art,
existentialism encourages individual creativity and imagination more than copying and
imitating established models.
Existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is self-paced, self
directed. It includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher, who relates to each
student openly and honestly. To help students know themselves and their place
in society, teachers employ values clarification strategy. In the use of such strategy,
teachers remain non- judgmental and take care not to impose their values on their students
since values are personal.
4. PROGRESSIVISM
Progressivist teachers teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened
and intelligent citizens of a democratic society. This group of teachers teaches learners so
they may live life fully now not to prepare them for adult life.
The progressivists are identified with need based and relevant curriculum.
This is a curriculum that responds to students’ needs and that relates to students’ personal
lives and experiences.
Progressivists accept the impermanence of life and the inevitability of change. For the
progressivists, everything else changes. Change is the only thing that does not change.
Hence, progressivist teachers are more concerned with teaching the learners the skills to
cope with change. Instead of occupying themselves with teaching facts or bits of
information that are true today but become obsolete tomorrow, they would rather
focus their teaching on the teaching of skills or processes in gathering and evaluating
information and in problem-solving. The subjects that are given emphasis in
progressivist schools are the Natural and Social
Sciences. Teachers expose students to many new scientific, technological and
social developments, reflecting the progressivist notion that progress and change are
fundamental. In addition, students solve problems in the classroom similar to those they will
encounter outside of the schoolhouse.
Progressivist teachers employ experiential methods. They believe that one
learns by doing. For John Dewey, the most popular advocate of progressivism,
book learning is no substitute for actual experience. One experiential teaching method
that progressivist teachers heavily rely on is the problem-solving method. This makes use of
the scientific method. Other hands-on-minds-on-hearts-on teaching methods used are
field trips during which students interact with nature or society. Teachers also stimulate
students through thought-provoking games and puzzles.
5. BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorist schools are concerned with the modification and shaping of
students’ behavior by providing for a favorable environment, since they believe that they are a
product of their environment. They are after students who exhibit desirable
behavior in society.
Since behaviorists look at “ people and other animals as complex
combinations of matter that act only in response to internally or externally generated physical
stimuli, behaviorist teachers teach students to respond favorably to various
stimuli in the environment.
Behaviorist teachers ought to arrange environmental conditions so that
students can make the responses to stimuli. Physical variables like light,
temperature, arrangement of furniture, size and quantity of visual aids have controlled to get
the desired responses from learners. Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting
to capture and hold the learners’ attentions. They ought to provide appropriate incentives to
reinforce positive responses and weaken or eliminate negative ones.
6. LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY
To develop the communication skills of the learner because the ability to
articulate, to voice out the meanings and values of things that one obtains from his
experience of life and the world is the very essence of man. It is through his ability to express
himself clearly, to get his ideas across, to make known to others the values that he has
imbibed, the beauty that he has seen, the ugliness that he rejects and the truth that she
has discovered. Teachers teach to develop in the learner the skill to send messages clearly
and receive messages correctly.
Learners should be taught to communicate clearly-how to send clear, concise
messages and how to receive and correctly understand messages sent. Communication
takes place in three ways- verbal, non verbal and paraverbal. Verbal component refers to the
content of our message, the choice and arrangement of our word. This can be oral or
written. Non - verbal component refers to the message we send through our body language
while paraverbal component refers to how we say what we say-the tone , pacing and volume
of our voices. There is a need to teach learners to use language that is
correct, precise, grammatical, coherent, and accurate so that they are able to
communicate clearly and precisely their thoughts and feelings. There is need to help
students expand their vocabularies to enhance their communication skills. There is need to
teach the learners how to communicate clearly through non verbal means and consistently
through para- verbal means.
There is need to caution the learners of the verbal and non verbal barriers to communication.
Teach them to speak as many languages as you can. The more languages one speaks, the
better he can communicate with the world. A multilingual has an edge over the
monolingual or bilingual.
 The most effective way to teach language and communication is the
experiential way. Make them experience sending and receiving messages through verbal,
non verbal and para verbal manner. Teacher should make the classroom a place for the
interplay of minds and hearts. The teacher facilitates dialogue among learners and between
him students because in the exchange of words, there is also an exchange of ideas.
7. CONSTRUCTIVISM
To develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners adequately equipped
with learning skills for them to be able to construct knowledge and make meaning of them. -
The learners are taught how to learn. They are taught learning processes and

skills such as searching, critiquing and evaluating information, relating these

pieces of information, reflecting on the same, making meaning out of them, drawing
insights, posing questions, researching and constructing new knowledge out of
these bits of information learned.
In the constructivist classroom, the teacher provides students with data or
experiences that allow them to hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose
questions, research, investigate, imagine and invent. The constructivist classroom
is interactive. It promotes dialogical exchange of ideas among learners and between
teacher and learners. The teacher’s role is to facilitate this process. Knowledge is not a thing
that can be simply deposited by the teacher into the empty minds of the learners.
rather knowledge is constructed by learners through an active, mental process of
development wherein the learners are the builders and creators of meaning and
knowledge. Their minds are not empty. Instead, their minds are full of ideas waiting to be
“midwife” by the teacher with his skillful facilitating skills.

B. Formulating your Philosophy of Education

“Philosophy is vital only when the questions are mine and so is the struggle towards answers.”
- “ W. Luijpen”
Activity 1
Do this exercise. Read and follow the instruction.
An Exercise
To determine your educational philosophy, find out to which philosophy you adhere. To what
extent does each statement apply to you? Rate yourself 4 if you agree with the statement
always,3 if you agree but not always,2 if you agree sometimes and 1 if you don’t agree at all.

Statements 1 2 3 4

1. There is no substitute for concrete experience in learning.

2. The focus of education should be the ideas that are relevant today
as when they were first conceived.
3. Teachers must not force their students to learn the subject matter
if it does not interest them.
4. Schools must develop students’ capacity to reason by stressing on
the humanities.
5. In the classroom, students must be encouraged to interact with one
another to develop social virtues such as cooperation and respect.
6. Students should read and analyze the Great Books, the
creative works of history’s finest thinkers and writers.
7. Help students expand their knowledge by helping them apply their
previous experiences in solving new problems
8. Our course of study should be general, not specialized, liberal, not
vocational, humanistic, not technical.
9. There is no universal, inborn human nature. We are born and exist
and then we ourselves freely determine our essence.
10. Human beings are shaped by their environment.
11. Schools should stress on the teaching of basic skills.
12. Change of environment can change a person.
13. Curriculum should emphasize on the traditional disciplines such
as Math, Natural Science, History, Grammar and Literature.
14. Teacher cannot impose meaning, students make meaning of what
they are taught.
15. Schools should help individuals accept themselves as unique
individuals and accept responsibility for their thoughts, feelings
and actions
16. Learners produce knowledge based on their experience.
17. For the leaner to acquire the basic skills, he must go through the
rigor and discipline of serious study.
18. The teacher and the school head must prescribe what
is most important for the students to learn.
19. The truth shines in an atmosphere of genuine dialogue
20. A learner must be allowed to learn at his own pace.
21. The learner is not a blank slate but brings past experiences and
cultural factors to learning situation.
22. The classroom is not a place where teachers pour knowledge into
empty minds of students.
23. The learner must be taught how to communicate his ideas and
feelings.
24. To understand the message from his students, the teacher must
listen not only to what his students are saying but also to what
they are not saying.
25. An individual is what he chooses to become not dictated by his
environment.

Interpreting your Scores

If you have 2 answers of 2/4 in numbers
1,3,5,7- you are more of a progressivist
2,4,6,8- you are more of a perennialist
9,15,20,25- you are more of an existentialist
10,12- you are more of a behaviorist
11,13,17,18- you are more of an essentialist
14,16,,21,22- you are more of a constructivist
19,23,24 – you are more of a linguistic philosopher

If you have 2 scores of 4 in several of the 7 clusters, you have an eclectic philosophy
which means you put the philosophies together. If your scores are less than 4, this
means that you are not very definite in your philosophy. Or if your scores are less than
3 in most of the items, this means your philosophy is quite vague.

Your philosophy of education is your “window” to the world and “compass”

in life.
Hence, it may be good to put that philosophy of education in writing. Formulate your own
philosophy of education. What is your personal philosophy of education?
What does a philosophy of education contain or include? It includes your concept
about
-the human person, the learner in particular and the educated person
-what is true and good and therefore must be taught
-how a learner must be taught in order to come close to the truth

Example:
My Philosophy of education as a Grade School Teacher
I believe that every child
-has a natural interest in learning and is capable of learning
- is an embodied spirit
- can be influenced but not totally by his environment
- is unique and so comparing a child to other children has no basis
- does not have an empty mind, rather is full of ideas and it is my task to draw out these
ideas
I believe that there are unchanging values in changing times and these must be passed
on to every child by my modeling, value inculcation and value integration in
my lessons.
I believe that my task as a teacher is to facilitate the development of every child to the
optimum and to the maximum by
- Reaching out to all children without bias and prejudice towards the “least” of the
children
- Making every child feel good and confident about him thru his experiences of
success in the classroom
- Helping every child master the basic skills of reading, communicating in oral and
written form, arithmetic and computer skills
- Teaching my subject matter with mastery so that every child will use his basic
skills to continue acquiring knowledge, skills and values for him to go beyond
basic literacy and basic numeracy
- Inculcating or integrating the unchanging values of respect, honesty, love and
care for others regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, appearance and
economic status in my lessons
- Consistently practicing these values to serve as model for every child
- Strengthening the value formation of every child thru “hands-on-minds on-
hearts-on” experiences inside and outside the classroom
- Providing every child activities meant to develop the body, the mind and the
spirit

Assessment and Evaluation

Answer the Quiz (LMS)
References:
 https://kupdf.net/download/the-teaching-profession-all-
chapters_58e82ee0dc0d60786fda980a_pdf
  Bilbao. P. et.al (2018). The Teaching Profession
 Pila, R. et. al (2013). The Teaching Profession in the Philippines

Prepared: Checked: Approved:

Mrs. MARIA CRISTINA M. ADALIA Dr. AIDA A. CASAS Dr. RANDY M. BAJA
Instructor Department Head Dean