7 Philosophies of Education

The 7 Philosophies of Education 7 Philosophies of Education Essentialism Progressivism Proponents Purpose of the Curriculum Subjects to be Taught William Bagley The main purpose of this philosophy is to help the learners acquire basic skill set, intelligence and morals for them to become model citizens. • • • • • • John Dewey This philosophical school of education aims to develop the learners to become enlightened and intelligent citizens of a democratic society. They encourage the learners to live fully NOW instead of preparing for adult life. • Teaching Strategies and Approaches Reading & Writing Math Natural Sciences History Foreign Languages Literature Teachers who follow the essentialist way of teaching focuses mainly on the mastery of subject matter and basic skills through the use of prescribed textbooks, drill method and the lecture method. Skills in Gathering and Evaluating Information • Problem Solving Skills • Natural and Social Sciences Teachers following this philosophy of teaching use experimental methods in teaching that encourage the learners to gain knowledge from actual experience. Teachers in this school of educational philosophy also use the “hands-on-minds-onhearts-on” teaching methodology to let the students interact with nature and society. Perennialism Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler The curriculum for this philosophical school of education aims to develop the learners’ rational and moral powers and to let them use their reasoning skills and higher faculties according to their passions and appetites. • • • • • • • Humanities General Education Principles of Natural Science Philosophy Language History Conceptual Thinking The perennialist way of teaching is centered on the teacher. They utilise the Socratic method of teaching and mutual inquiry sessions. ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ Humanities Vocational Education History Fine Arts Drama Creative Expression Literature Philosophy The teaching-learning process in an existentialist classroom is self-paced and self-directed. It encourages an open and honest individual relationship between the learner and the teacher. The teachers use the values clarification strategy. Existentialism Jean Paul Sartre This school of philosophy deals with the development of the learner as a whole person and not just the development of the mind. They do this by helping the students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions Behaviourism Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, John Watson and Burrhus Frederic Skinner ➢ Psychology of Human The main purpose of the behaviourist curriculum is to Behaviour develop a favourable learning ➢ Stimuli-Response environment for the learners to Relationship develop desirable behaviour in the society. Teachers under this school of philosophy use behaviourist method of teaching in which the teacher control physical variables to get the desired responses from the learners. Linguistic Philosophy Constructivism Jurgen Habermas and Hans Georg Linguistic educational Gadamer philosophy works toward the development of the learners’ communication skills from them to be able to express themselves and their ideas. ➢ Verbal Communication ➢ Nonverbal Communication ➢ Paraverbal Communication ➢ Foreign Language The experimental method is the most popular teaching strategy used by the teachers under this philosophy since it is the most effective way of teaching language and communication. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky ➢ Knowledge Evaluation and Synthesis ➢ Learning Process and Skills ➢ Research and Experimentation A constructivist teacher provides the learners adequate data and information and encourage them to interact with this data to form their own hypothesis, predict the outcome, investigate, and invent new ideas and to research for further information. This philosophy of education aims to develop learners to become independent and inherently motivated so that they can construct new ideas with the help of proper learning skills. 7 Philosophies of Education Philosophy: The original meaning of the word philosophy comes from the Greek roots philo- meaning "love" and -sophos, or "wisdom." -the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. Education: The term education has been derived from the Latin word 'educare'. The term 'educare' means 'to bring up', 'to rise', and 'to nourish'. -Is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. What is a philosophy of education, and why should it be important to you? • Behind every school and every teacher is a set of related beliefs--a philosophy of education--that influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods. !Essentialism ·"Why Teach"– this philosophy contends that teachers teach for learners to acquire basic knowledge, skills and values. Teachers teach “not to radically reshape society but rather to transmit the traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizen.” ·"What to Teach? – Essentialist program are academically rigorous. The emphasis is on academic content for student to learn the basic skill or the fundamental r’s – reading, riting, rithmetic, right conduct – as these are essential to the acquisition of higher or morecomplex skills needed in preparation for adult life. The essentialist curriculum includes the “traditional disciplines such as math, natural science, history, foreign language, and literature. Essentialist frown upon vocational courses. Or other courses with watered down academic content. The teachers and administrator decide what is most important for the student to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum.” ·"How to Teach"– Essentialist teachers emphasize mastery of subject matter. They are expected to be intellectual and moral models of their students. They are seen as “fountain” of information and as ‘Paragon of virtue”, if ever there is such a person, to gain mastery of basic skills, teachers have to observe “core requirements, longer school day, a longer academic year” Progressivism ·"Why Teach"– progressivist teachers teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened! and intelligent citizens of a democratic society. This group of teachers teaches learners so they may live life fully NOW not to prepare them for adult life. ·What to teach"– the progressivists are identified with need – based and relevant curriculum. This is a curriculum that “responds to students” needs and that relates to students’ personal lives and experiences.” Progressivists accept the impermanence of life and inevitability of change. For the progressivists , everything else changes. Change is the only thing that does not change. Hence, progressivists teachers are more concerned with teaching facts or bits of information that are true today but become obsolete tomorrow, they would rather focus their teaching on the teaching of skills or processes in gathering and evaluating information and in problem – solving.! The subjects that are given emphasis in progressivists schools are the “natural and Social sciences. Teachers expose students to many new scientific, technological, and social development, reflecting the progressivists! otion that progress and change are fundamental. Perennialism ·Why Teach"– 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. ·What to Teach"– 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. Philosopher Mortimer Adler claims that the “Great Books of ancient and medieval as well as modern times are a repository of knowledge and wisdom, a tradition of culture which must initiate each generation”. What the Perennialist teachers teach are lifted from the Great Books. ·How to Teach"– the Perennialist classroom are “centered around Teacher”. The teachers do not allow the students’ interest or experiences to substantially dictate what they teach. They apply whatever creative techniques and other tried and true methods which are believed to be most conducive to disciplining the students’ minds. Students engaged in Socratic dialogues, or mutual inquiry sessions to develop an understanding of history’s most timeless concepts.” Existentialism ·"Why Teach"– the main concern of the existentialists is “to help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions” Since existence precedes essence “ the existentialist teacher’s role is to help students define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they take in life and by creating an environment in which they freely choose their own preferred way. Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision making, the existentialist demands the education of the whole person, not just the mind.” ·"What to Teach"– “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. The humanities, however are given tremendous emphasis to “provide students with vicarious experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and self-expression. For example, rather than emphasizing historical events, existentialist focus upon the actions of historical individuals, each of whom provide possible models for the students’ own behaviour. ·How to Teach"– existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is self-paced, self-directed. It includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher, who relates to each student openly and honestly. To help students known themselves and their place in society, teachers employ values clarification strategy. In the use of such strategy, teachers remain non-judgmental and take care not to impose their values on their students since values are persona. Behaviorism ·Why Teach"– Behaviorist school are concerned with the modification and shaping of students’ behaviour by providing for a favourable environment, since they believe that they are a product of their environment. They are after students’ who exhibit desirable behaviour in society. ·What to Teach"– Because behaviorists look at “people and other animals… as complex combinations of matter that act only in response to internally or externally generated physical stimuli”, behaviorist teachers teach students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment. ·How to Teach"– behaviorists teachers “ought to arrange environmental conditions so that students can make the responses to stimuli. Physical variables like light, temperature, arrangement of furniture, size and quantity of visual aids have to be controlled to get the desired responses from the learners. Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the learners’ attention. They ought to provide appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken or eliminate negatives ones.” (Trespeces, 1995) Linguistic Philosophy ·Why Teach"– to develop the communication skills of the learner because the ability to articulate, to voice out the meaning and values of things that one obtains from his/her experiences of life and the world is the very essence of man. It is through his/her ability to express himself/herself clearly, to get his/her ideas across, to make known to others the values that he/she has imbibed, the beauty that he/she has seen, the ugliness that he rejects and the truth that he/she has discovered. Teachers in the learner the skill to send messages clearly and receive messages correctly. ·What to Teach"– Learners should be taught to communicate clearly – how to send clear – concise messages and how to receive and correctly understand messages sent. Communication takes place in three (3) ways – verbal nonverbal, and para- verbal. Verbal component refers to the content of our message, the choice and arrangement of our words. This can be oral or written. Nonverbal component refers to the message we send through our body languages while para-verbal component refers to how we say what we say – the tone, pacing and volume of our voices. There is need to teach learners to use language that is correct, precise, grammatical, coherent, accurate so that they are able to communicate clearly and precisely their thoughts and feelings. There is need to help students expand their vocabularies to enhance their communication skills. There is need to teach the learners how to communicate clearly through non-verbal means and consistently though para-verbal means. ·How to Teach"– the most effective way to teach language and communication is the experiential way. Make them experience sending and receiving messages through verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal manner. Teacher should make the classroom a place for the interplay of minds and hearts. The teacher facilities dialogue among learners and between him/her and his/her students because in the exchange of words there is also an exchange of ideas. Constructivism ·Why Teach"– to develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners adequately equipped 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 skill 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. ·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 teacher’s role is to facilitate this process.