Philosophical & Historical

Influences on Education Chapters 9, 10

Big Ideas:
• How we got where we are today
• Who/what influenced(s) education as we know it and why
does it matter?
• What influences you as you develop your own educational
philosophy?
Philosophy: Influencing Education & Educators
• Philosophy: Love of Wisdom – how we make sense of
what we don’t understand: we seek to find answers
• What Factors influence your philosophy?
• Future?
• What do I want to do?
• Meaning?
• What is it I value and/or believe in?
• What do I stand for?
• Questioning & Reasoning – the process of
philosophy
• Thought – the product of philosophy
Developing Philosophy: Influences
• Our life experiences
• Determining the sources of our reactions to our experiences (internal or
externally motivated)
• Determining meaning (interpretation)
• Religious views
• Belief in a higher power? To what degree?
• Practice of religious (or lack of religious) beliefs
• Reading of literature, history & current events
• The more you know, the more influence
• How do some people view outside influences?
• Our culture
• Helps shape values, behaviors, sense of right and wrong
• Interpret and define based on how/where we live
Philosophy and Thinking
Philosophy Metacognition
• Concerned with the • Thinking about thinking
meaning of things • Concerned with the
• Interpretations of those process of thinking, not
meanings the result
• Clear, precise language is • Emphasis is on
important to processing thoughts and
determining meaning improving one’s thinking
ability
Determining YOUR Philosophy
Using the worksheet…. Jot down responses to the following
questions:

1. What is most important to you right now?

2. What are you most uncertain about/what questions arise
from that concern?
3. What are your life goals?
4. What do you value in terms of beliefs and behaviors?

Beginning the process of developing your teaching or education philosophy.

Progressivism
Romanticism
Essentialism
Perennialism

BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
And How They Relate to Education
Frayer Model
Branches of Philosophy: Subject
Perennialism (Plato) Educational Views:
• Truth and nature • Rigorous education crucial to
*particularly human developing a person’s mental
discipline & rationality;
nature) are constant, prepare for life
objective, and • Schools should offer core
unchanging. subjects & the arts to
• Purpose of Life is to conserve best thought from
search for the constant, the past
never changing truths • Emphasis on humanities
(literature) to discover
• Achieved through debate timeless wisdom
(Socratic Dialogue) • Issue: content is narrow
Branches of Philosophy: Subject
Essentialism
• Combination of Plato’s
idealism and Aristotle’s
realism – a 20th century
philosophy
• Critical core of information
and skills to be learned
• Value the past but not living
in the past
• Must observe reality & use
reasoning to gain new
knowledge.
Educational Views:
• Practical view of education
• Goal of education to teach
students the essentials
needed to live in the modern
world
• Electives are frills
• Make room for new
ideas/skills
• Focus on what is to be
learned not how it’s learned
• Issue: Who determines what
is essential?
Branches of Philosophy: Child
Romanticism
• Children born good and
pure. Must isolate them
from society for as long as
possible
• Learning is guided by
child’s curiosity
• Individual is more
important than the needs
of society
Educational Views:
• Purpose of education is
individual self-fulfillment
• Individuals develop physically,
intellectually, socially and
morally
• Teachers job – respond to child’s
questions; not impose learning
• Student’s job to remain curious
& take responsibility for learning
• Often seen applied at
elementary (primary or pre-
school) level.
Branches of Philosophy: Child
Progressivism (John Dewey)
• Nature is ever changing
• Knowledge must
continually be re-defined
(updated)
• People as problem
solvers (using natural
curiosity & inquiry to find
answers)
Educational Views:
• Purpose of education is to
develop problem solving ability
& make society better.
• Education begins with the
student (not subject)
• Teacher as a facilitator
• Subject matter is not as
important as processing
(methods vs. knowledge)
• Teaching students HOW to
think instead of WHAT to think.
• Democratic school to teach
democratic societal ways
What Do these Views Look Like
in the Classroom?
Read Scenarios
• P. 301-2 - Perennial Teacher
• P. 304-5 - Essentialist Teacher
• P. 307 - Romantic Teacher
• P. 311-12 – Progressive Teacher

As you read:
• Identify the thoughts and/or behaviors that support the
viewpoint.
• Consider the questions at the end of each scenario.
• What similarities or stark differences do you see between the
example teachers?
Theory of Behaviorism
Theory of Constructivism

INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
 Influence of Psychological Theories
• Behaviorism – BF Skinner
• Reinforce desired behavior so that it will recur
• Reinforcement tells a person what TO do
• Punishment only tells a person what NOT to do
• Behavior modification

• What Does a Behaviorist Classroom Look like?

• Clear expectations (goals)
• Learning environment that reinforces desired expectations
• Provides feedback on progress toward the goal

• Issues:
• Teacher dominated; students don’t develop intrinsic motivation
• Too often students don’t assume responsibility for learning or behavior
Influence of Psychological Theories
• Constructivism
• Knowledge (understanding) cannot be transmitted from
teacher to student
• We all must make sense of what goes on around us
• At School
• Students must “construct” knowledge (understanding) by
• Making connections to prior knowledge
• Creating meaning so knowledge can be accessed and used
• Being actively engaged with the learning or assessment of
situation
• Applying knowledge and skills appropriately
• Teacher:
• provides support (scaffolding)
• Creates learning environments that allow students to create
their own meaning (less “sit and get”)
Sum It Up: Review & Reflect
• Write down 3 numbers between 1-25
• Determine the Letters you will have using the following code:

1=A 13 = M
2=B 14 = N
3=C 15 = O
4=D 16 = P
5=E 17 = Q
6=F 18 = R
7=G 19 = S
8=H 20 = T
9=I 21 = U
10 = J 22 = V
11 = K 23 = W
12 = L 24 = eX
25 = Y
Checking for Understanding
• Summarize each of your Frayer Models to make connections
to your notes.
• A-Z Summaries
• Each person gets 3 letters (as determined from previous slide)
• Write 3 statements about what you have learned; connections
made, most important concepts, etc.
• Explain in a 2nd sentence (if needed) why this is important
• Discussion Aerobics: to discuss and extend your understanding.
Education or Teaching Philosophy
• Why do I need one? Education or Teaching Philosophy

• What do you believe to be true? – Self Inventory p. 298-299

? All students can learn
? All students learn with different styles and at different rates
? The teacher is the most important factor in learning.
? Students are responsible for their own learning.
? Education should prepare students to live productive lives in society.

• Samples (on Wiki)

• What should it include?

• (see next slide)
Teaching or Education Philosophy
• Why do I teach?
• What does good teaching mean to
me as a teacher?
• What does effective learning mean
to me as a teacher?
• Do I have a particular teaching style
or approach? If so, how would I
describe it?
• What makes me unique as a
teacher?
• What do I expect from my students?
• What can my students expect from
me?
• What do I do to continue to
improve?
• Why do teachers teach?
• What does good teaching mean?
• What does effective learning
mean?
• What teaching styles are most
effective? Describe them.
• What qualities/skills make a
teacher great?
• What should we expect from
students?
• What should students expect
from teachers/school?
• Why is it important to continue
to improve as educators?
Philosophy of Education/Teaching
Begin here 11/7/13
• Starting Point:
• 5 key beliefs (words or phrases) about education or
teaching.
• Expand on this for your project.

Kid President
 Chapter 10

Historical Influences
→The past gives us insight into the present and the future of
education in the United States.
→American Education has been plagued with struggles for equal
opportunities
→Global economy & technology advances have opened up the
need for changes in education once again.
What Do You Think?
• Which of the following ideas or cultural changes
had the most significant impact on education as
we know it today?
• The Common Schooling/Universal Education
• European Ideas for Educating the Whole Child and
Early Education including the views of Progressive
Educators
• Equal Opportunities to minorities/ethnic groups and
women
We’ve come a long way baby!
• Limited schooling in terms of
• Who was permitted to be educated
• Length of time
• What was learned

• Reformers broadened the scope of education and who

can be educated
• Purpose of education
• Equal opportunities

• Global Economy (competition) sparked need for better

prepared workers with a different knowledge and skill set

• Technology has opened new educational opportunities

In the Beginning…. 1600’s
• In General: Common School – available to the average person
• Both girls & boys received early training but only boys received formal
education in the middle & upper levels
• Dame schools – for girls to learn household skills and some reading,
writing and religious training
• Apprenticeships: Learn a trade or skill
• Formal/college for upper class
• Regional Differences in Educational Opportunities
• New England – town & district schools; mostly for boys; very strict
learning environment; believed everyone should learn
• South – Plantation owners (upper class); tutors for their children but
others (poor) went without education; led to a disparity and lag in
southern education compared to the rest of the country.
• Middle Colonies – private schools because of religious differences;
shared beliefs with New England schools but also offered practical skills
too.
Universal Education – late 1700’s
• Began as free elementary education for all
• Constitution provided for state control over education (not
federal) – How does that work today?
• Common schooling seen as a way to strengthen the new nation
and would Americanize and stabilize the society.
• Universal education seen as a way to
• Equalize economic and social opportunities
• Better educated people increase productivity (enhance everyone’s
prosperity)
• Diminish crime by reducing poverty
• Opposition to common schooling
• Why should the “haves” pay for the “have nots” to go to school?
• Religious groups should be responsible for education
• Diminished cultural heritage if ethnic groups mingled
European Influences
• Kindergarten
• Emphasis on the whole child in elementary school – head,
heart, hands
• Inclusion of moral development followed
• Physical education was added not to train technical workers
but to round out intellectual instruction.
• Maria Montessori developed curriculum that emphasized
learning through the senses (Montessori schools today)
• Progressive educators embrace many of these ideas in
elementary schools today.
20 Century
th

• Move from 1 room schoolhouses to consolidated districts

(Kansas did this in the 60’s)
• Progressive Education Movement gained steam (p. 334)
• Extreme advocates of progressivism wanted students to have
total freedom to do/learn whatever they wanted to
• Others felt this would lead to a break between society & the child
• RESULT: conservative reaction in 1940’s to tone down the
progressivism of the day
• Progressive ideas that carried over to today:
• Project based learning, field trips, non-lecture instructional
methods
Since WWII
• US Role in the world expanded dramatically
• Rapid growth of kindergarten and special education programs
• Gifted & disabled
• Civil and human rights gained momentum
• Led to recognition of culturally disadvantaged as “at risk students”
• Led to more equal opportunities in education for ethnic minorities
and women
• More government money spent on programs to help students with
learning or cultural issues.
• Head Start
• Title I
• Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
• Test scores declined in 1970’s starting a back to basics
movement
Secondary Schools
• Moved from private academies to Public High Schools
• High School Curriculum: eventual goal to bridge the gap
between elementary school and higher education
• Teach students vocational and technical training
• Moved to a comprehensive curriculum to include math, science,
literature, foreign languages, physical education and social
studies (history – European History was initially more prevalent
than US History)
• High Schools have not changed as much as society has over the
same length of time.
• Junior High (7-8) – mini high school
• Middle School (6-7-8) – attention focused on student needs
instead of making them mini-high schoolers.
Other School Options
• Private schools
• Home schooling
• Charter Schools
• Virtual Schools

See Wiki for examples and more information

Equal Educational Opportunities
• Late 1800’s saw the first federal government attempts to provide
education for the American Indians
• 1954 – Ended Segregation – Brown v Board of Education
• Segregation – separate schools for blacks and whites
• Separate but Equal (Plessy vs Ferguson) - 1896
• Segregation was not always a law (like in the south) but often occurred
because of schools being located where people lived (residential patterns)

• Desegregation – (don’t confuse with integration)

• Problem: Bussing to uphold court rulings
• Eventually reduced to practical limits in the 1990’s
• Resegregation is increasing due to residential patterns and the fact that
desegregation was relaxed.
Equal Educational Opportunities
• Native Americans
• 10% of Native Americans attend Tribal Schools
• Serious issues still exist: higher drop out rate; underachievement;
high absenteeism; dialect issues (to translate tests); disconnect
between teaching NA culture and what is required by NCLB
• Hispanics
• Fastest growing youth population in the US
• Language barriers (25% speak mostly Spanish at home); less
educated parents; ELL programs are increasing as the need increases;
Need more connections between home and school
• Immersion is the method used to teach English
• Asian Americans
• Discrimination was high during and after WWII (west)
• Why are they called the “Model Minority?” Is this a fair assessment?
Equal Opportunities: Women
• Throughout history, women have been pushed
aside or to the back.
• Last to receive the right to vote
• Last to receive equal opportunity in education
• Why?
• Men received the education
• Men made the laws
• Religious beliefs kept women at a lower level
• Childrearing was often left to the mother
• Even the textbook barely mentions Title IX – the
1972 law that gave women equal opportunities in
school (end rant! )
Checking for Understanding
• Considering the Historical Influences, write 3 “From To”
statements that reflect what you understand about how
education was early in our US History and what it is now.

• From __________________ to ____________________

• From __________________ to ____________________
• From __________________ to ____________________
What Do You Think?
Save the Last Word For Me
• With a Partner: Take one of the following ideas or
cultural changes and convince us that it had the most
significant impact on education as we know it today.
• The Common Schooling/Universal Education
• European Ideas for Educating the Whole Child and Early
Education including the views of Progressive Educators
• Equal Opportunities to minorities/ethnic groups and women

Provide evidence of the impact and why you

think this to be true.
• Improving education is an ongoing process…
• While everyone agrees education is important, there are
many viewpoints on how education is best provided.
• Educators often feel reforms are done to them instead of
with them in a cooperative, collaborative effort.
RECENT & CURRENT REFORM
EFFORTS
 Many
kinds of
reforms!!
10 Key Issues/Reforms
1. 21st Century Skills
2. Charter Schools/School Choice
3. Common Core State Standards
4. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
5. Florida Model
6. Goals 2000
7. Local Control
8. Nation At Risk
9. No Child Left Behind
10. Race to the Top
Standardized Testing: Why?
As a result of NCLB:
• State Assessments
• AYP (Adequate Yearly
Progress)
• Standard of Excellence

Positives:
• Comparable data
• Accountability for student
achievement goals
• Testing what is taught (Standards)
Standardized Testing: Why Not?