Philosophies of Education

1. Philosophies of Education Chapter 3

2. Perennialism • Works, writings, findings, and truths that have stood the test of time • Principles so central, so important to the development of a culture, that they cannot be ignored • The universality of Truth, the importance of rationality…enduring principles exist in the physical world (both Idealists and Realists)

3. Perennialism • For learning to take place, must be a shared body of knowledge (Hirsch) • Core curriculum…literature, mathematics, science, languages, social sciences, the arts • Has intrinsic value, transmitted through the school, studied for its own sake • The student learns identity, values, the workings of the universe

4. Perennialism • Paramount to success of perennialist pedagogy, an informed and knowledgeable teacher with depth and breadth in the classics as well as the subject field s/he is teaching • Perennialists often labeled as humanists

5. Essentialism • The Common Core for successful living, as defined by the “real world” • Content addresses today’s needs in society and the world of work • Accountability critical to the teaching/learning process • Competent teachers transmit the core curriculum of knowledge, skills, and attitudes through direct instruction and prescribed subject areas

6. Essentialism • Back to the Basics…transmit a critical mass of basic knowledge necessary for moral and literate citizenry • Sputnik (1957) and the call for restoration of an essential standard curriculum • World-class standards for curriculum in the global marketplace (1983-present)

7. Behaviorism • Human behavior can be shaped and changed leading to mastery learning • Realists who believe knowledge is derived from the natural world • Reward/punishment schedules to shape behavior • Tabula Rasa (Locke), the learned can learn to behave usefully • Nurture rather than Nature

8. Romantic Naturalism • Reflects the tone of the 19th century • Rousseau, Froebel, Peabody, Motessori drawing on Erasmus and Comenius…common sense, benevolent treatment of the learner, confidence in students’ good intentions and natural curiosity • Human condition is basically good, corruption due to outside influences • Rousseau…Emile • Froebel…Kindergarten • Montessori…structured, self-directed learning

9. Progressivism • Rooted in Pragmatism • Education is Life itself, human experience defines reality • Knowledge is experiential, constructed through interaction • Education for democracy using science and the arts to produce enlightened citizen • The educated person is a problem solver who can criticize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, formulate, and create

10. Existentialism • Reality grows out of individual experience and one’s frame of reference • Kierkegaard, Buber, Sartre, Camus • Life is structured individually through one’s choices • True to oneself and others: authentic being • Authenticity orders a chaotic and absurd world

11. Reconstructionism • Grew out of Progressivism • Sought systemic change of social conditions that would reconstruct society and fashion a new social order (Brameld) • Skeptical of the values and information imposed on learners by the prevailing culture (Counts) • Neo-Marxists, postmodernists, critical theorists, liberationists • Freire: Pedagogy of the Oppressed (conscientizacao)