This document discusses several philosophies of education including essentialism, experimentalism, perennialism, behaviorism, reconstructionism, and existentialism. It provides an overview of the key beliefs and approaches to teaching and learning associated with each philosophy. For example, it states that essentialism emphasizes a traditional core curriculum focused on basic skills like reading and math, while experimentalism supports a broad curriculum with many electives and an openness to new ideas through educational research. The document also notes strengths and limitations of each philosophical approach.
2. Tools of Philosophers (1
0f 3)
Axiology is the study of values;
it asks the question of “What is
good?” From axiology, we
arrive at an understanding of
“What is good?”
We get ethics from the study of
axiology
3. Tools of Philosophers
(2 of 3)
Epistemology—”How do we
know what is true?”
This is a live question today—Do
we listen to standardized test
results to determine how much
students know, or read their
portfolios?
4. Tools of Philosophy
(3 of 3)
Metaphysics is somewhat
related to epistemology and
asks the question “What is
real?”
Are the things that are real only
the things that can be touched
and measured?
Behaviorists vs. existentialists
5. Purposes for Education
Hilda Taba,
1962--
Transmit the
cultural heritage
Transform the
culture
Maximize human
potential
6. Essentialism
Almost an entire generation in
America has grown up under
essentialism.
Essentialism is a conservative
view of curriculum that holds
schools responsible for only the
most immediately needed
instruction.
7. Essentialism (2)
Essentialism
avoids some of
the waste
inherent with
experimentalism
But it can
become so
conservative
that it fails to
truly educate
8. Emphasis on a traditional
education
Development of the mind
Core curriculum
Reality is based in the
physical world
Teacher-directed learning
15. Experimentalism
Experimentalism is associated
with a very broad but shallow
curriculum. Many electives, few
required subjects.
Experimentalism is friendly to
educational research, and many
new ideas come from it.
19. What experimentalists
would teach
Everything--
anything that
had any relation
to students’
possible futures
Has been
accused of
trying to do the
home’s job
20. Where experimentalism
shines
When essentialism or perennialism
have been in power for so long,
school programs have become
stagnant
When school has become all work
and no play
When traditional methods have
become ineffective
21. Perennialism
Perennialism was prevalent in
the early seventies in U. S.
Perennialism reveres the
experience of teachers who
have been there.
Heavy orientation to the past 20
years--almost nil attention to
the future
23. Perennialism
They would
include
subjects such
as:
• Geometry
• English
literature
• World
Geography
• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Ancient
Geography
• World history
• U.S. History
• Bookkeeping
25. Classroom Management
Assign seats in rows.
Be strict, but not
necessarily expert, with
punishment and reward.
Set up classroom rules.
26. Orientation Expected
Self-contained knowledge--
teacher is supposed to know
all the answers
Teacher is the “fountain of
all knowledge.”
Students are passive
listeners
28. Future Orientation for
Perennialists
Expect future to continue in the
same vein as the present
Belief that knowing the classics
of the past will equip students
for the future
29. Where Perennialism
Shines
Perennialism does help to
dampen the uncertain effects of
the fads that come to education
Not every new idea is a good
one, or one that will even be
effective.
Perennialism plays well to
traditional communities
30. Behaviorism
Behaviorism believes in a
science of behavior that would
shape the world into a better
place to live
Behaviorists to some degree
rightfully claim that behaviorism
naturally occurs in the world
whether people acknowledge it
or not
32. What behaviorists would
teach
Behaviorists are at least as
concerned about how people
behave as what they know
They do not tend to be big
innovators in curriculum
They will however give a fair
trial to any new curricula that
someone else might write
33. Where Behaviorism
shines
Special ed
situations,
where students
do not pick up
on subtle cues
about learning
or behavior
Alternative and
problem schools
34. Where behaviorism will
come short
Situations where behavior is not
so much the need as the
learning of academic content
Situations where students have
internalized appropriate
behavior and behavior does not
need to be emphasized at the
expense of scholarship.
35. Reconstructionism
Reconstructionists point to a
time in the past when they
believe that things were better
They would re-create education
to be like things were back
during that time
They cite research, particularly
historical, to show that things
are not going well now.
37. What reconstructionists
would teach
Reconstructionists would teach
the subjects that were taught
during that “golden age.”
The subjects would be those
that were taught during that
time.
If the 1960s, for instance, they
would teach usage of the slide
rule.
38. One example of
Reconstructionism
1946—right after
the Second
World War
GIs wanted
schools and
society to return
to what they
were before
Pearl Harbor
40. Existentialism
Existentialists celebrate the
human existence
Very subjective
Emphasis on meaning within
each individual
May doubt external reality
Emphasis on present
42. What existentialists
would teach
Not the same
subjects to
everyone, since
not everyone
would enjoy the
same things
They would
emphasize self-
esteem and a
feeling of self-
They would
include topics
such as values
clarification and
. . . .
43. An example of
existentialism
1960—
Summerhill
School in
England
1970s in some
parts of
America—self
esteem, values
clarification
44. A healthy balance
Each of the six
philosophies has
something to
offer
The only hazard
happens when
one philosophy
rules for a long
period of time