E

SSENTIALISM
REYMARK C. ADORADA
and
GERLYN F. LLORENTE
 HISTORY OF ESSENTIALISM

Began in the United States in the year 1938. In Atlantic

City, New Jersey, a group met for the first time called
"The Essentialist's Committee for the Advancement
of Education." Their emphasis was to reform the
educational system to a rational-based system.
The term essentialist first appeared in the book An
Introduction to the Philosophy of Education which
was written by Michael John Demiashkevich.

In his book, Demiashkevich labels some specific

educators (including William C. Bagley) as
“essentialists." Demiashkevich compared the
essentialists to the different viewpoints of the Progressive
Education Association.
• He described how the Progressives preached a
“hedonistic doctrine of change” whereas the
essentialists stressed the moral responsibility of
man for his actions and looked toward permanent
principles of behavior.
In 1938 educators met together and Bagley gave a
speech detailing the main points of the essentialism
movement and attacking the public education in the
United States. One point that Bagley noted was that
students in the U.S. were not getting an education on the
same levels as students in Europe who were the same
age.
• A recent branch has emerged within the
essentialist school of thought called
"neoessentialism."
• Neoessentialism was created to try to appease
the problems facing the United States at the time.
RENOWNED ESSENTIALISTS
1. William Bagley (1874–1946)
• An important historical essentialist.

• Completed his undergraduate degree at

Michigan Agricultural College in 1895. It
wasn’t until after finishing his undergrad
studies that he truly wanted to be a
teacher. Bagley did his Graduate
studies at the University of Chicago and
at Cornell University.
• He acquired his Ph.D. in 1900 after which he
took his first school job as Principal in a St. Louis,
Missouri Elementary School.

• Bagley’s devotion increased during his work at

Montana State Normal School in Dillon, Montana.
It was here where he decided to dedicate his
time to the education of teachers and where he
published The Educative Process, launching his
name across the nation.
In April 1938, he published the Essentialist's
Platform, in which he outlined three major
points of essentialism.

1. He described the right of students to a well-educated and culturally

knowledgeable teacher.
2. He discussed the importance of teaching the ideals of community to
each group of students.
3. Bagley wrote of the importance of accuracy, thoroughness and effort
on part of the student in the classroom.
• Throughout his career Bagley argued against the
conservative position that teachers were not in need
of special training for their work. He believed that
liberal arts material was important in teacher
education.
 2. Eric Donald Hirsch, Jr. (1928)
• Founder and Chairman of the Core of Knowledge
Foundation and author to several books concerning fact-
based approaches to education.
• Now retired, he spent many years teaching at the
University of Virginia while also being an advocate for
the "back to basics“ movement.
• In his most popular book, Cultural Literacy — What
Every American Needs To Know, he offers lists,
quotations, and information regarding what he believes
is essential knowledge.
 CHARACTIRISTICS OF
ESSENTIALISM
 It's what you know GOALS:
 Academic Emphasis • Instill values , produce model
 Discourages vocational courses citizens through traditional
subjects.
 Liberal arts education
 Teachers-centered/Transfered
Method
Bagley believed that education
was NOT supposed to CHANGE
society, but TO PRESERVE it.
Essentialism in
the classroom
is...
TEACHER
CENTERED
Teacher’s Role:

Teaches discipline
and hardwork
An expert of content
knowledge
Accountable for
student learning
 STUDENT’S
ROLE

• Listen and Learn • Trust that the teacher

knows best
 THE
CURRICULUM

Goals: Academic emphasis:

 Instill values  Discourages vocational courses
 Produce model citizens through
traditional subjects
Strong emphasis on basic skills in
elementary schools and on disciplined
knowledge and scholastic achievement on
secondary schools.
There should be a common core curriculum
that is taught to all students.
 MATHEMATICS

NATURAL
LITERATURE SCIENCE

CCURRICULUM
OF
ESSENTIALISM

FOREIGN HISTORY
LANGUAGE
 TEACHING STRATEGIES
 Lecture
 Memorization
 Homework
 Mastery Learning
 Teacher and Subject centered
Students should be
passive and be ready
to learn what the
teacher presents to
them.
Why do schools need
essentialism in the
education system?

For the students to acquire basic

knowledge, skills and values.
To transmit the moral values and
intellectual knowledge that students
need to become model citizens.
 CRITICISM OF ESSENTIALISM
IN EDUCATION

POSITIVE: NEGATIVE:

 Stability of education Students are more passive in

their education.
Teaches the basic, or foundational subjects
Instill traditional classroom morals into the students
Promote character development of the students by
encouraging valued characteristics to be put to use.
Don’t focus so much on their interests in determining
what to teach, but focus more on important skills that
should be learned.
Provide an environment that is teacher-oriented and
allows for the practice of essentialism to
beimplemented.
 INSIGHT / REFLECTION
One of the positive effect of Essentialism is the stability of Education.
Even though it is a teacher centered philosophy in education at least
the learners are able to think deeper and was able to instill the
discipline and values. Focuses on the basics that the students need to
know to be a productive members of society. What i love with this
philosophy is that, a learner is someone to be taught in a stricter way
for them to be knowledgeable enough and with good manners.
However, because essentialism is largely teacher-centred, the role of
student is questionable .
Learning requires students should be taught hard work, respect for
authority effort and discipline. The good thing is that the students are
gradually moves towards into more complex skills and detailed nowledge
can be innate stctured of individual person. Moreover, it is a belief that
there is a common core of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to
students in a systematic and disciplined way.
Essentialism tries to instill all students with the most essential or basic
academic knowledge and skills and character development. Essentialists
believe that teachers should try to embed traditional moral values and
virtues such as respect for authority, perseverance, fidelity to duty,
consideration for others, and practicality and intellectual knowledge that
students need to become model citizens. The foundation of essentialist
curriculum is based on traditional disciplines such as math, natural
science, history, foreign language, and literature. Essentialists frown upon
vocational courses. In the essentialist system, students are required to
master a set body of information and basic techniques for their grade level
before they are promoted to the next higher grade. The content gradually
moves towards more complex skills and detailed knowledge. Essentialists
argue that classrooms should be teacher-oriented. The teacher should
serve as an intellectual and moral role model for the students.
The teachers or administrators decide what is most important for the
students to learn with little regard to the student interests. The teachers
also focus on achievement test scores as a means of evaluating progress.
The essentialist classroom is centered on students being taught about
the people, events, ideas, and institutions that have shaped American
society. Essentialists hope that when students leave school, they will not
only possess basic knowledge and skills, but they will also have
disciplined, practical minds, capable of applying lessons learned in
school in the real world. Essentialism is different from what Dewey
would like to see in the schools.
Students in this system would sit in rows and be taught in masses. The
students would learn passively by sitting in their desks and listening to
the teacher. An example of essentialism would be lecture based
introduction classes taught at universities. Students sit and take notes
in a classroom which holds over one hundred students. They take
introductory level courses in order to introduce them to the content.
After they have completed this course, they will take the next level
course and apply what they have learned previously. English 101 and
English 102 are a specific example of essentialism.