Seven Philosophies of Education

1. Essentialism

· Why Teach – this philosophy contends that teachers teach for learners to acquire basic knowledge,
skills and values. Teachers teach “not to radically reshape society but rather to transmit the traditional
moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizen.”

· What to Teach? – Essentialist program are academically rigorous. The emphasis is on academic
content for student to learn the basic skill or the fundamental r’s – reading, riting, rithmetic, right
conduct – as these are essential to the acquisition of higher or more complex skills needed in
preparation for adult life. The essentialist curriculum includes the “traditional disciplines such as math,
natural science, history, foreign language, and literature. Essentialist frown upon vocational courses. Or
other courses with watered down academic content. The teachers and administrator decide what is
most important for the student to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when
they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum.”

· How to Teach – Essentialist teachers emphasize mastery of subject matter. They are expected to be
intellectual and moral models of their students. They are seen as “fountain” of information and as
‘Paragon of virtue”, if ever there is such a person, to gain mastery of basic skills, teachers have to
observe “core requirements, longer school day, a longer academic year”

2. Progressivism

· Why Teach – progressivism teachers teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened and
intelligent citizens of a democratic society. This group of teachers teaches learners so they may live life
fully NOW not to prepare them for adult life.

· What to teach – the progressivisms are identified with need – based and relevant curriculum. This
is a curriculum that “responds to students” needs and that relates to students’ personal lives and
experiences.”
Progressivists accept the impermanence of life and inevitability of change. For the progressivists ,
everything else changes. Change is the only thing that does not change. Hence, progressivists teachers
are more concerned with teaching facts or bits of information that are true today but become obsolete
tomorrow, they would rather focus their teaching on the teaching of skills or processes in gathering and
evaluating information and in problem – solving. The subjects that are given emphasis in progressivists
schools are the “natural and Social sciences. Teachers expose students to many new scientific,
technological, and social development, reflecting the progressivists otion that progress and change are
fundamental.

3. Perennialism

· Why Teach – We are all rational animals. Schools should, therefore, develop the students’ rational
and moral powers. According to Aristotle, if we neglect the students’ reasoning skills, we deprive them
of the ability to use their higher faculties to control their passions and appetites.

· What to Teach – the Perennialist curriculum is a universal one on the view that all human beings
possess the same essential nature. It is heavy on the humanities, on general education. It is not a
specialist curriculum but rather a general one. There is less emphasis on vocational and technical
education. Philosopher Mortimer Adler claims that the “Great Books of ancient and medieval as well as
modern times are a repository of knowledge and wisdom, a tradition of culture which must initiate each
generation”. What the Perennialist teachers teach are lifted from the Great Books.

· How to Teach – the Perennialist classroom are “centered around Teacher”. The teachers do not
allow the students’ interest or experiences to substantially dictate what they teach. They apply
whatever creative techniques and other tried and true methods which are believed to be most
conducive to disciplining the students’ minds. Students engaged in Socratic dialogues, or mutual inquiry
sessions to develop an understanding of history’s most timeless concepts.”

4. Existentialism
· Why Teach – the main concern of the existentialists is “to help students understand and appreciate
themselves as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and
actions” Since existence precedes essence “ the existentialist teacher’s role is to help students define
their own essence by exposing them to various paths they take in life and by creating an environment in
which they freely choose their own preferred way. Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision
making, the existentialist demands the education of the whole person, not just the mind.”

· What to Teach – “In an existentialist curriculum, students are given a wide variety of options from
which to choose.” Students are afforded great latitude in their choice of subject matter. The humanities,
however are given tremendous emphasis to “provide students with vicarious experiences that will help
unleash their own creativity and self-expression. For example, rather than emphasizing historical events,
existentialist focus upon the actions of historical individuals, each of whom provide possible models for
the students’ own behaviour.

· How to Teach – existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is self-paced, self-directed.
It includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher, who relates to each student openly and
honestly. To help students known themselves and their place in society, teachers employ values
clarification strategy. In the use of such strategy, teachers remain non-judgmental and take care not to
impose their values on their students since values are persona.

5. Behaviorism

· Why Teach – Behaviorist school are concerned with the modification and shaping of students’
behaviour by providing for a favourable environment, since they believe that they are a product of their
environment. They are after students’ who exhibit desirable behaviour in society.

· What to Teach – Because behaviorists look at “people and other animals… as complex
combinations of matter that act only in response to internally or externally generated physical stimuli”,
behaviorist teachers teach students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment.
· How to Teach – behaviourists teachers “ought to arrange environmental conditions so that
students can make the responses to stimuli. Physical variables like light, temperature, arrangement of
furniture, size and quantity of visual aids have to be controlled to get the desired responses from the
learners. Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the learners’
attention. They ought to provide appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken or
eliminate negatives ones.” (Trespeces, 1995)

6. Linguistic Philosophy

· Why Teach – to develop the communication skills of the learner because the ability to articulate, to
voice out the meaning and values of things that one obtains from his/her experiences of life and the
world is the very essence of man. It is through his/her ability to express himself/herself clearly, to get
his/her ideas across, to make known to others the values that he/she has imbibed, the beauty that
he/she has seen, the ugliness that he rejects and the truth that he/she has discovered. Teachers in the
learner the skill to send messages clearly and receive messages correctly.

· What to Teach – Learners should be taught to communicate clearly – how to send clear – concise
messages and how to receive and correctly understand messages sent. Communication takes place in
three (3) ways – verbal nonverbal, and paraverbal. Verbal component refers to the content of our
message, the choice and arrangement of our words. This can be oral or written. Nonverbal component
refers to the message we send through our body languages while paraverbal component refers to how
we say what we say – the tone, pacing and volume of our voices.

There is need to teach learners to use language that is correct, precise, grammatical, coherent, accurate
so that they are able to communicate clearly and precisely their thoughts and feelings. There is need to
help students expand their vocabularies to enhance their communication skills. There is need to teach
the learners how to communicate clearly through non-verbal means and consistently though para-
verbal means.

· How to Teach – the most effective way to teach language and communication is the experiential
way. Make them experience sending and receiving messages through verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal
manner. Teacher should make the classroom a place for the interplay of minds and hearts. The teacher
facilities dialogue among learners and between him/her and his/her students because in the exchange
of words there is also an exchange of ideas.
7. Constructivism

· Why Teach – to develop intrinsically motivated and independent learners adequately equipped
with learning skills for them to be able to construct knowledge and make meaning of them.

· What to Teach – the learners are taught how to learn. They are taught learning processes and skill
such as searching, critiquing and evaluating information, relating these pieces of information, reflecting
on the same, making meaning out of them, drawing insights, posing questions, researching and
constructing new knowledge out of these bits of information learned.

· How to Teach – in the constructivist classroom, the teacher provides students with data or
experiences that allow them to hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose questions, research,
investigate, imagine, and invent. The constructivist classroom is interactive. It promotes dialogical
exchange of ideas among learners and between teachers and learners. The teacher’s role is to facilitate
this process.