Philosophical

Foundation of Education
Philosophical Foundations Of Education

Perennialism Progressivism

Constructivism Behaviorism

Existentialism Essentialism
Perennialism
Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler

 Ageless, eternal, unchanged

 Truth – universal – does not depend on circumstances of time, place and
person (transcendent truths and values)

 Why teach?

 We are all rational animals. School 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 appetite.
What to teach?

 The perennialist curriculum is universal one on the view that all human beings possess the
same essential nature.
 It is less emphasis on vocational and technical education.
 What the Perennialist teachers teach are lifted from the great books.
 History, religion, literature (past ideas- relevant) understand the great work of civilization.
How to teach?

 The perenialist classrooms are “centered on teachers.” The teachers

do not allow students’ interest or experiences to substantially
dictate what they teach.
 Students engaged in Socratic dialogues, or mutual inquiry sessions
to develop an understanding of history’s most timeless concepts.
 Constructivism
The formalization of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Piaget
 He identified processes of assimilation and accommodation that are key in this interaction as
individuals construct new knowledge from their experience.

 Assimilation – absorbing new information and experience and incorporate them into our pre-
existing ideas .
 Accommodation – process in which new information replaces old beliefs.

Why teach?

Constructivist sees to develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners adequately

equip with learning skills for them to be able to construct knowledge and make meaning of
them.
What to teach?

 The learners are taught how to learn.

 They are taught learning processes and skills such as searching, critiquing, evaluating
information, drawing, inferences posing questions out of the information provided.
How to teach?

 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 teachers and
learners.
 The teachers role is to facilitate this process.
 Their minds are full of ideas waiting to be “midwifed” by the
teacher with his/her skillful facilitating skills.
Progressivism
John Dewey “Learning by Doing”

 Contrasted – essentialism and perennialism.

 Change and growth.
 Learners – enlightened and intelligent to fully live NOW.
Why teach?

 Progressivist teachers teach to develop learners into becoming

enlightened and intelligent citizens of a democratic society.
 This group of teachers teach learners so they may live life fully NOW
not to prepare them for adult life.
 What to teach?

 The Progressivist are identified with need-based and relevant curriculum.

 This is curriculum that “responds to students’ needs and they relate to students’
personal lives and experiences.”
 Progressivist accept the impermanence of life and the inevitability of change.
 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.
 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.
how to teach?

 Progressivist teachers employ experiential methods – “one learns

by doing”
 Book learning is no substitute for actual experience (Dewey).
One experiential teaching method that Progressivist teachers
heavily rely on is the problem-solving method.
Methods: “hands- on-minds-on hearts-on” teaching methodology
such as field trips thought provoking games, and puzzles.
Behaviorism
John Watson, B.F. Skinner

 Human beings – shaped by the environment

 Man- neither good/ bad – product of society

 Why teach?

Behaviorist schools are concerned with the modification and shaping of students.
 how to teach?

 Teachers create classroom atmosphere/ classroom climate that is conductive learning.

- Physical climate: light, temperature, arrangement of furniture, size and quantity of visual
aids.
- Psychological climate: feeling of a students in the presence of the teachers and their
classmates: respected, welcomed, supported
 Teachers ought to make lesson as clear and interesting as possible to capture and hold the
learner’s attention.
 Power of positive reinforcement and appropriate incentives to eliminate negative ones.
 Existentialism
Jean Paul Sarte & Soren Keirgeraad

“Existence precedes essence”

Philosophy of Subjectivity people are free to choose what to make of their lives and their
individual passions are what drive them.

The concerns of the existentialists:

 To help students understand and appreciate themselves.
 To be taught how who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and
actions.
The existentialist teacher’s role :
 To help students define their own essence
- By exposing them to various paths they take in life.
- By creating an environment in which they freely choose their own preferred way.
 Since feeling is not divorced from a reason in decision making, the existentialist
demands the education of the whole person, “not just the mind”.
What to teach?

1. Students are given a wide variety of options from which to choose from.
2. The humanities, however, are given tremendous emphasis to “prove students with
vicarious experience that will help unleash their own creativity and self-expression.
3. Helps students define their essence.
4. Holistic development – make good decisions.

how to teach?

• Teachers should not impose values too since values are personal.
• Learning is self-paced, self-directed.
• Teachers are merely facilitators.
 Essentialism
William bagley , James Koener
“essence precedes existence”
 Why teach?
• Because there is already a life prepared for everyone, the role of the teachers is to teach
learners the basic knowledge, skills and values.
• Traditional approach or back to basic approach that emphasizes the basic skills or the
fundamental 4 R’s
(reading , ‘riting , ‘rithmetic, right conduct)
• Essentialist programs are academically rigorous, curriculum centered.
• Math, natural science, history,foreign language and literature.
• 4r’s are needed for the students to acquire 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
without considering student’s interest, background and learning styles.
how to teach?

 Teacher- centered – everything comes from the teacher.

 Teachers – fountain of knowledge, paragon of virtues.
 Emphasis- mastery of subject matter.
Group 1

Leader: Julie-an Emelyn Deinla

Members:
Charry C. Eclipse
Jessa A. Deonila
Raiza Mae E. Almojuela
Shiela Mae A. Lique
Shaina Angel A. Bartolata
Mikee Almojuela
Glenn R. Capariño