MODULE 1.
PHILOSOPY OF EDUCATION - ELENA
PHILISOPHY OF EDUCATION
-Is the study of general and fundamental
problems concerning matters such as
existence, knowledge, values , reason,
mind and language.
-sets of beliefs that would inform you as
the would be teachers how you will teach,
what to teach and why to teach.
6 Major Philosophies of Education
Existentialism
Essentialism
Behaviorism
Perennialism
Constructivism
Progressivism
EXISTENTIALISM
Jean Paul Sartre and Soren Keirgeraad
“existence precedes essence”
considered as the Philosophy of Subjectivity
– because it believes in the power of man to
create his/her own life/world.
People are free to choose what to make of
their lives and their individual passions are
what drive them.
Why teach?
to help students to understand and
appreciate themselves.
To be taught how/who accept complete
responsibility for their thoughts, feeling and
actions.
Growth and development should be holistic.
What to teach?
Students are given wide variety of options
from with to choose from.
Holistic development = make good decisions
Learner-centered
Teachers should not impose values too since
values are personal
Learning is self-paced
Role of the Existentialist Teacher
to help students define their own essence
- by exposing them to various paths they
may take in life
- by creating an environment in w/c they
can freely choose their own preferred way.
Make sure that you should not only making
intellectual monsters.
Teachers are merely facilitators.
In an existentialist curriculum, students are
given a wide variety of options from which to
choose. Students are afforded great latitude
in their choice of subject matter.
Emphasis on individuality.
Students determine what is true, right,
beautiful.
Helping students understand themselves.
ESSENTIALISM
William Bagley and James Koerner
“essence precedes existence”
- even before you live in the earth you already
have your purpose.
- There are things beyond our control and
understanding.
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 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.
Emphasis on Rigorous Academics
Promotion based on Mastery of material
Curriculum is determined by administrators and
teachers
Teacher - centered
Focus subjects: math, natural sciences, history,
foreign language and literature.
Rely heavily on the use of prescribed textbooks.
BEHAVIORISM
John Watson and B.F. Skinner
Human beings – are shaped by the
environment
Man – neither good/bad – product of the
society
Behaviorist schools are concerned with the
modification and shaping of students.
Teachers create classroom atmosphere that is
conducive to learning.
Psychological Climate: feeling of the student in
the presence of the teacher and classmate:
respected, welcoming, and supported.
Power of positive reinforcement and
appropriate incentives to eliminate negative
ones.
PERENNIALISM
Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler
Ageless, eternal and unchanged
Truth – universal – does not depend on
circumstances of time, places and person.
The perennialist curriculum is a universal one
on the view that all human beings possess the
same essential nature.
We are all rational animals. Schools should
therefore, 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.
The oldest and conservative educational
philosophy.
Focus on classical ideas, develop the mind,
Socratic methods of questioning /challenging.
Develop reason and moral qualities.
Emphasis on Humanities and the Great books
(Aristotle, Darwin, Dickens, Marx, Plato, The
Bible, Chaucer, Melville) – because they
believed that past ideas are still relevant
Focus on concepts rather than facts.
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Jean Piaget – he identified the process of
MODULE 1. PHILOSOPY OF EDUCATION - ELENA

assimilation and accommodation that are key

in the interaction as individuals construct new
knowledge from their experiences.
Assimilation – absorbing new information
and experiences and incorporate them into
our pre-existing ideas(schema)
Accomodation – process in which new
information replaces old beliefs.
Constructivist sees to develop intrinsically
motivated and independent learners
adequately equip with learning skills for them
to be able to construct knowledge and make
learning of them.
The role of the teacher is just to facilitate the
learning.
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.
Learn from meaningful social experiences.
PROGRESSIVISM
John Dewey “Learning by doing”
Total opposite of essentialism and
perennialism.
Believes in change and growth
Teachers teach learners so they may live
life fully now not to prepare them for
adult life.
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.
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.
Education based on needs and interests of
students.
Students learn by doing as well as from
textbooks.
Teaching through field trips and games
Emphasis on natural and social sciences
Experiential Learning
Grouping by interest and abilities