PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
 comes two Greek words “Philo” means love and “Sophos” means wisdom = Philosophy means love of wisdom.
 All teachers have a personal philosophy that colors the way they teach.
 Your educational philosophy consists of what you believe in about education - the set of principles that guides your professional action.
Philosophy Goal of education
Perennialism Focus on the basic principles
Robert Hutchins of education are changeless,
permanent; unchanging;
forever
Essentialism Teaching basic, essential
William Bagley knowledge; focuses on basic
skills and knowledge.
Progressivism Focuses on the whole child
Dewey, Pestalozzi and cultivation (raising) of
individuality;
Social Use education to help solve
reconstructionism significant social problems
George counts and as a result, make
democracy more efficient
and effective; social reform is
the aim.
Humanism Emphasize self-actualization,
help students become self-
actualized, and blend the
cognitive, and the affective.
Help students to assimilate
knowledge into their daily
lives; stress human values.
Existentialism Create climate of freedom
Kierkegaard, Saarte and choice where individuals
can choose and be
responsible for their
Role of students
Develop and use virtues in life’s
decisions; acquire knowledge.
Acquire and use cultural
knowledge; learn and use thinking
skills.
Participate in formulating the
purposes that are the basis for the
student-centered curriculum
Identify social problems and use
thinking skills and knowledge to
solve problems
Develop healthy attitude toward
self, others, and learning
experience; become self-
actualized.
Accept responsibility for the
choices and actions; learn to set
personal goals and achieve them
by developing independence,
Role of teachers
teacher's job is to teach their
students how to think critically,
analyze information, and solve
problems; Teachers are responsible
for teaching their students about a
particular subject or topic.
Provide common core of cultural
literacy curriculum integrated with
basic school subjects.
Act as a facilitator for student
learning; determine student interests
for developing curriculum
Facilitate process of students
identifying and solving community-
based problems.
Help students to become self-
actualized and make sense of
learning; connect individuals to their
learning and help them apply
curriculum to themselves, the
community, the nation, and the
world.
Create environment for independent
action and enable students to make
choices and accept responsibility for
behavior.
Teaching methods
Teacher-centered; reading and
discussion of the “Great Books”;
focuses on the timeless topic.
Primarily subject and teacher
centered.
Learner-centered; cooperative
learning; student-led and initiated
discussion.
Facilitate cooperative learning and
group problem-solving; encourage
students to use problem-solving
skills.
Group processes, one-on-one
teacher-student interaction.
Analysis and discussion regarding
students’ choices.
Curriculum emphasis
. Perennialism is the classroom is
focused on the curriculum and nature
need. Curriculum will focus on attaining
cultural literacy, stressing students’
growth in enduring disciplines.
A uniformed curriculum for all students
emphasizing subject matter and cultural
knowledge.
Students interests and needs;
democracy; morality; social
development.
Integrated knowledge of and solution of
social problems in the regular
curriculum.
Physical and emotional needs of the
students and development of learning
experience so that student can fulfill
their needs and resolve developmental
crisis.
Social studies; humanities.
 decisions; focuses on self or
individual; Man shapes his
being as he lives.
Idealism more on mind and spirit;
Plato believes that nothing exist
except the mind of a man or
what we want the world to
be.
Realism Touch and see (tangible) use
Aristotle, Herbert, 5 senses. discourages rote
locke … learning and bookish
knowledge and prefers
hands-on experience for the
purpose of learning; prefer
experience; opposite to
idealism.
Pragmatism Practical use; learning by
William James, John doing. students learn best
Dewey through experience;
emphasizes the needs and
interests of the children.
making decisions and problem
solving.
The student is a passive receptor,
who has to gain the knowledge
transferred by the knowledge.  ideas according to words of God.
the student is a functioning
organism which, through sensory
experience, can perceive the
natural order of the world.  around them, rather than confining
According to pragmatism, school
functions as a bridge between
student and the society, and
prepares students to solve the
problems they encounter during
their life.
An idealist teacher focuses on the
ideal act of the students and the
Idealist teacher in a classroom aims
to develop students' spiritual, mental
and moral being.
Realist educators encourage
students to draw their observations
and conclusions from the world
themselves to an analysis of their
own ideas. The modern role of a
teacher—that of an organizer,
systematizer, and promoter of critical
thinking—is largely founded on
realist principles.
teachers should be teaching
students things that are practical for
life and encourage them to grow into
better people.
Idealism advocates five teaching
techniques: Questioning,
Discussion, Lecture method,
Single & group projects &
Imitation; teacher centered.
The realism classroom is teacher-
centered; subjects are taught by a
teacher who is impersonal and
objective and who knows the
subject fully.
the principle of the pragmatic
method of teaching is to establish
a relation with the life of the child,
he desires, interest, needs and
purposeful activities.
idealist curriculum comprises
of physical, intellectual and spiritual
activities that will enable a man to
develop fully.
Realism recommends the designing of
curriculum for realistic education
which enables learners to solve
different problems of life and to lead a
happy and successful life. 
Pragmatic curriculum deals with the
integration of subjects and activities. 
 Rationalism Knowledge is based on
logical and critical thinking;
more on reasoning that let
the student to think
critically/logically
Behaviorism Behaviorism always guided
by standards or procedure;
purpose is to modify the
behavior; behavior learn from
the environment;
Constructivism Focused on how humans
Jean Piaget make meaning in relation to
the interaction between their
experiences and their ideas.
The students use deductive
reasoning to validate their answers
(general – specific)
the role of the learner is to be acted
upon by the teacher-controlled
environment.
earners construct knowledge rather
than just passively take in
information. As people experience
the world and reflect upon those
experiences, they build their own
representations and incorporate
new information into their pre-
existing knowledge (schemas).
 The role of the teacher is to help
students acquire the content,
concepts, and ideas of the classic
academic disciplines.
The teacher's role is to manipulate
the environment to shape behavior.  show students how they should
You can guide the student through
environment interaction.
Teachers have a dialogue with
students, helping students construct
their own knowledge. Teacher's role
is directive, rooted in authority.
Teacher's role is interactive, rooted
in negotiation. Assessment is
through testing and correct answers.
Rationalism focuses on using
logic to solve life's BIG questions.  to the curriculum that honors the role of
Teachers use behaviorism to
react and respond to certain
stimuli. This needs to be done in a
repetitive way, to regularly remind
students what behavior a teacher
is looking for. Positive
reinforcement is key in the
behavioral learning theory.
Student-centered interaction
Academic rationalism is an orientation
traditional content in the development
of the rational human mind.
Behavioral curricula emphasize the
importance of operationalizing
behaviors and objectives. All targeted
behaviors should be objectively, clearly,
and completely defined. 
Constructivism promotes social and
communication skills by creating a
classroom environment that
emphasizes collaboration and
exchange of ideas. Students must learn
how to articulate their ideas clearly as
well as to collaborate on tasks
effectively by sharing in group projects.