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. The Seven Cardinal
Principles (1 of 2)
The Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education
Commission on Re-organization of Secondary Education (1918).
1. Health
2. Command of fundamental processes
3. Worthy home membership
4. Vocational competence
7. The Seven Cardinal
Principles (2 of 2)
The Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education
Commission on Re-organization of Secondary Education (1918).
5. Citizenship
6. Worthy use of leisure time
7. Ethical character
8. But what do these
mean?
Meaning comes
from at least six
philosophical
positions that
“filter” or
influence how
people perceive
educational
events.
9. 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.
18. 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.
23. 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
24. 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
31. 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
32. 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
33. 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
35. 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
37. 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.
38. 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.
40. 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.
45. 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
. . . .