Educational Philosophies

Each educational philosophy is a view used and applied by teachers in organizing their classroom, instruction and assessment. There as two different teaching and learning principles of eight philosophies recognized today; they are perennialism, essentialism, behaviorism, positivism, progressivism, humanism, reconstructionsim, and constructivism.

Teacher-Centered Locus-of-Control:

Perennialism is a theory focused on humans. It is all about humans. Humans do not change, therefore, facts, which can change, are not important because they can change. Perennialist principles are based on personal development for society concentrating on the essential nature of human beings. Scientific method and mathematics are studied because they stay constant.

Essentialism belief is that there is a common core of information and skills that a typical person should know. Through teacher instruction, hard work and mental discipline, this core of information will be portrayed to and learned by the students. Learning about cultural heritage and creating good citizens is important to the Essentialist philosophy. Subject matter includes literate, history, foreign language, religion, and the natural laws and physical world which are taught through the math and sciences. Universal truths are learned by reading, lectures, memorization, repetition and examination. (idealism and realism)

Behaviorism is the theory that behavior represents the essence of an individual and that behaviors are responses to stimuli. This belief looks at the effects of environment on individual behaviors. School environments should be highly organized and the curriculum should be based on obtaining certain behavioral objectives. Behaviorist believe that empirical evidence and scientific method are very important for the student to comprehend in order for them to learn. In all, the school creates learning environments that develop desirable behaviors in students. (realism)

Positivism "is a social theory that limits truth and knowledge to what is observable and measurable" (pg. 326, Foundations of American Education). This theory rejects essences, intuition and inner causes because they cannot always be measured. The emphasis is on empirical verification, that is experimental/observable evidence. Bases on perception and investigation, knowledge is bases on observable facts and learning focuses on the acquisition of these facts. By studying experts, students are expected to develop their own observation, classification and logic skills. The teacher is expected to directly state what each student is to learn and master through clear, precise expectations.

Student-Centered Locus-of-Control:

Progressivism is the idea that learning occurs through questioning and experimentation by the learner. Human experience is the basis for knowledge, therefore progressivists promote the scientific method and student involvement programs. Schools should prepare students for change, emphasizing how to think instead of what to think. Through experimentation, divergent thinking, and curriculum based on life experience, the progressivism theory creates an experience-centered school that stresses the process of learning, not the result. (pragmatism)

Humanism is the belief that humans are innately good. Humanist education is the process of creating a free and self-actualizing person, based on the students feelings. The idea is to start with the individual and build outward, as opposed to starting with the world and great ideas. The belief is that education should be without coercion, without forcing students to learn, and encourage students to make their own choices about their learning. Content is based on the students interests, abilities and needs. The views and opinions of the teacher are withheld from the students in order for them to formulate their complete own beliefs. (existentialism)

Reconstructionsm is the belief of hands-on, activity based teaching and learning for the betterment of society built on democratic values. Lead class learning through social questions and human condition. Concentrates on learning the needs of the society and how to make society better. Reconstructionist believe in a community based learning.

Constructivism is the theory that uses hands-on, activity based teaching and learning allowing the student to develop their own thoughts. Students, active learners, should be given opportunities to develop their own thoughts. Teaching instruction must include activities that allow students to discover answers to their own questions. Constructivists consider true learning to be the student developing personal meaning as opposed to someone else's meaning. Curricula is based on student questions. The teacher proposes situations that allow the student the think and develop their own questions. Problem-based learning, based on constructivist views, challenges teachers to create student-interest based curriculum, allowing the student time to find, clarify, assess, gather, and present solutions to problems, with guidance from the teacher. (existentialism)


Reflection:

Although I can relate to as least a part of each of the six educational philosophies, I feel I most relate to the constructivism theory. Hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning with an emphasis on student interests, allowing the student to develop their own frame of thought is important to me. Students should be allowed to learn through their interests. We can not expect them to learn from stuff that does not hold their interest. I like the idea of the teacher proposing problems from which the students each develop their own solution and create their own personal knowledge allow the ways. Since I believe that the basics are a necessity, a lot of the basic learning can come from this problem-based learning strategy. Progressivism is next educational philosophy that I relate to the most. I believe it is important that ideas be tested by experimentation and that the learner continuously ask questions of the world around them. Stressing experience-centered learning allows the student to learn to process of learning and not just the result, which helps them the next time they must problem solve.