This document outlines the links between philosophical schools of thought and curriculum ideologies. It describes influential philosophers from idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism and how their ideas emphasize certain aspects of reality. It also discusses the educational implications of each philosophy and the curriculum ideologies they relate to, such as developing rational thinking for idealism or focusing on lived experiences for existentialism.

1. Dr.
Baudelaire
K.
Ulysse
Links of Curriculum Ideologies to Western Philosophy
Philosophical
Schools
Influential
Philosophers
Emphases Educational
Implications
Curriculum
Ideologies
Idealism Socrates
Plato
Kant
Ideas, concepts, and
the mind represent
Reality
Developing self-
consciousness
Growing the
rational apparatus
Scholar
Academic
Realism Aristotle
Locke
Whitehead
Nature, body, and
the physical world
represent Reality.
Teacher should
play a major role
Education’s main
aim is to advance
human rationality
Scientific
knowledge
predicts behavior
Social
Efficiency
Pragmatism Peirce
Dewey
Rorty
Action shapes
reality, thought, and
being.
Experience should
play a key role in
educational
processes
Using scientific
methods,
education should
focus on knowing
through problem-
solving
Social
Reconstruction
Existentialism Sartre
Heidegger
Nietzsche
Maxine Greene
Lived experience is
the only realty, and
meaning lies in deep
in each person’s
lived experience
Lived experience
is a body of
knowledge
Education should
focus on
extracting meaning
and knowledge
through self-
examination and
self-reflection
Learner-
centered
Ideology
References
Howick, W. (1980). Philosophies of education (14th
ed.). Chicago: The Interstate Printers & Publishers.
Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., Gollnick, D., & Dupuis, V. (2008). Foundations of American Education: Perspectives on
education in a changing world. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Ornstein, L. (2006). Foundations of education (9th
ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.