Philosophical

Foundation of
Education
LET Review
Tanauan City
August 3-4, 2018
Concepts from General Philosophy
Philosophy
from the Greek words,
"Philia" = love
"Sophia” = wisdom
is defined technically as the science of beings in their
ultimate reasons, causes and principles, acquired by
human reason alone.
in Education..
- an intellectual base that supports
educational practices
- provides basis of what the teacher is doing
- application of theories to classroom
situations
- a basis of curriculum
 General Classification of
Philosophy
WESTERN EASTERN
Classical, traditional, Originated from the east
conservative or such as buddhism,
confucianism, and
conventional views which
shintoism from china,
influence modern japan and india
education
4 Areas of Philosophy

1. Epistemology – recognizes the significance of

education
2. Metaphysics – fundamentals of nature and
existence
3. Axiology – sets values desirable to live by any time
or place
4. Logic – formal structure of truth and
argument/art or reasoning
 Major Classical Western Philosophies
Theories
Idealism
- Reality is spirit
- Universe is made of infinite
mind
- Knowing takes place in the
mind
- Man can know intuitively
through reasons
- Every stimulus came from God
- Values are eternal
- Individuals freedom should be
emphasized and guaranteed
- Proponents are Plato and
Erasmus
Educational Practices
Aim: Develop the mind and the
self
Curriculum: Lessons necessary for
mental and moral development
Teaching: Learning process:
teachers to e role models of
intellectual/moral/aesthetic and
vocational excellence
Methods: provision for
thinking/reasoning, moral
evaluation
Proponents: Humanism in
Italy/Northern Europe, Catholic
Counter Reformation
 Major Classical Western Philosophies
Theories
Realism
- The world is real and material
- Knowledge is derive from sense
experience
- Natural laws determine and regulate
one’s existence
- Natural phenomena and social
institutions are the chief subjects of
study
- Concerns with realities of life
- Test of truth is when the mind is in
accord with material object
- Proponents are: Aristotle, Bacon,
Wolfgang, John Milton, John Amos.
Educational Practices
Aim: prepare students to survive in the
natural world
Curriculum: Math and Science
Teaching: Learning process: lessons
related to true-to-life experiences,
students learned factual information
Methods: scientific process,
experimentation, explanation/probing,
comparison, interpretation, practical
application, mastery of content and
application in real life
Proponents: Humanistic realism, social
realism, sense realism, rationalism,
naturalism
 Major Classical Western Philosophies
Theories
Pragmatism/Experimentalism
- The meaning of proposition lies
in its practical consequence
- Lerner/student centered
- Education is life; growth, a
social process, and the
construction of human
experience
- Reality is determined by
individual sense experience
- Man can know nothing beyond
his experience
- Experience determines
knowledge
Educational Practices
Aim: develops thinking individuals
to be able to adjust to an ever-
changing world
Curriculum: individual social
function
Teaching: Learning process:
learning by doing, provides
projects and activities for
individual and group experimental
learning
Proponents: John Dewey, Charles
Pierce, William James
 Contemporary Western Philosophies
Theories
Perennialism
- From perennial = everlasting
- Ideas lasted over centuries and are
still relevant today, should be the foci
of education
- Asserts that reality is a world of
reasons
- Some truths are revealed through
study and sometimes through divine
acts
- Goodness is to be found in oneself
- The roots lies in the philosophy of
Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas
Educational Practices
Aim: rigorously develop students’
intellectual powers first, and moral
qualities second
Curriculum: Theological principles and
ideas, Subject-Centered
Teaching: Learning process: learning
concepts and meaningful application,
reasoning for analytical, deep, thinking,
flexibility and imaginative development
Methods: Socratic dialogues between
teachers and students, application of
scientific processess
Proponents: St. Thomas, Robert
Hutchins
 Contemporary Western Philosophies
Theories
Essentialism
- Refers to traditional or back-to-the
basics approach to education
- The basic idea is that all men ought to English, History, Math, Literatures
know
- Individual should be able to
distinguish between essential and
non-essential
- Too rigid to prepare students for
adult life
- Believed that knowledge can be
obtained anywhere
- Emphasizes instruction in natural
science rather than philosophy and
religion
Educational Practices
Aim: instill the essential of academic
knowledge and character development
Curriculum: The 3 R’s
Teaching: Learning process: students are
required to master information and basic
techniques, form simple to complex
Methods: writing, measurement,
computing, application to real life, return
to the essentials
Proponents: William Bagley
 Contemporary Western Philosophies
Theories
Progressivism
- Childs growth and development
depends on his experiences and self
activity
- Educational concern must b on
learner’s interests, desires, and
freedom as an individual
- Believes that improvement and
reform in the human condition are
possible and desirable
- Asserts that human beings are
capable of improving and perfecting
their environment
- Recognizes the principle of individual
differences
- Includes practical subjects
Educational Practices
Aim: provide the individuals with
necessary skills to be able to interact
with his ever changing environment
Curriculum: Activity and Experience
Centered, principle of individual
differences
Teaching: Learning process: school as
microcosm of society, a model of
democracy, teacher is passive, acts only
as guide, facilitator, group leader, and
consultant
Methods: group activities, brain
storming, field trip, socialized recitation,
reading, learning by doing
Proponents: John Dewey
 Contemporary Western Philosophies
Theories
Existentialism
- Emphasizes freedom of human being
to make choices
- Accepts that individuals are
responsible for determining what is
true or false, what is beautiful and
ugly
- Man has no fixed nature and shapes
his being as he lives
- Sees the world as one personal
subjectivity, where truth and reality
are individually defined
- Reality is a world of things, goodness
as a matter of freedom
- Man is nothing but what he makes of
himself
Educational Practices
Aim: individuals to make own choice out
of available alternatives
Curriculum: subject matter is only
second to humanities, students given a
wide variety of options form which to
choose
Teaching: Learning process: teacher-
student interaction center around
assisting students in their personal
activities, students ask to choose own
subject matter, provides students with
activities to develop creativity/self
expression
Methods: experimental learning, field
trip, apprenticeship, individualized
instructions
Proponents: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche,
 Contemporary Western Philosophies
Theories
Social Reconstructionism
- Believes that man can control,
change, and reform his society
through democratic practices,
Educational Practices
Aim: improve reconstruct society
Curriculum: social sciences and
researches, social/economic/political
problems, national and global issues,
solutions to the societal problems
Teaching: Learning process: students are
involve in societal problems, discuss
social issues, teacher as facilitator and
director of learning while students work
on valued activities to improve or change
societies
Methods: group activities,
research/reporting, brainstorming,
fieldtrip
Proponents: John Dewey
Types of knowledge in relation
to observation
a. A priori - knowledge not requiring observation;
literally means "before" or "prior to"
b. A posteriori - knowledge based on observation;
literally means "after" or "posterior to“
c. Experimental – knowledge resulting from tested
observation.
Types of knowledge according to
means / instruments
a. Empirical - knowledge acquired through
sense perception (equivalent to scientific
knowledge). The school of thought is known
as empiricism.
Types of knowledge according to means /
instruments

b. Rational - knowledge acquired

primarily through reason and belief
is called rationalism.
Types of knowledge according to means / instruments

c. Intuitive - knowledge acquired

primarily through intuition (sudden
flash of insight) and the belief is known
as intuitionism.
Types of knowledge according to
means / instruments

d. Authoritative - knowledge acquired

through an authority (expertise) and the
belief is known as authoritarianism
e. Revealed. Knowledge acquired through
revelation (what God discloses to man). And
the belief is revelation ism. It is also called
religious knowledge.
Eastern/Oriental Philosophies
Distinct Character of Eastern/Asian
Philosophy
- It thinks of time in a cyclical manner. Nothing
really ends; nothing really begins absolutely. Once
in existence, always in existence.
- There is no dichotomy between a way of life and a
way of thinking. As one thinks, so one lives.
Religion and philosophy are one.
- It has propensity to mysticism, at its use of super-
consciousness, existence of the third eyes, or a
sixth sense.
Influences upon the Filipino

-G. Zaide. Contact with India, China,

Japan and Arabia before 1521 enriched
the ancient Filipino civilization.
-O.D. Corpuz. Asian influences persist in
modern times, having become part of
Filipino dialects, myths and art forms.
Influences upon the Filipino

- L. Estioko. The Filipino is enterprising,

maintains close family ties and community
structures, loves learning, cared for the soil
and surrounding, and is deeply religious.
These are traits embedded in the Filipino
souls before the first contact with the West.
Chinese Philosophy
Confucianism
•It is body of beliefs based on the
Analects, the teachings of Confucius
•Confucius was born at Kung-Fu-tzu in
551 B.C. and died in 479 B.C.
Confucianism
•Taught filial piety, devotion to the family,
loyalty to elders, love for learning,
brotherhood, honesty and efficiency in
government service (civil service), and
universal love and justice.
•For almost 2500 years it has been the
religion of the great masses in China.
Taoism
•The word "tao" means the path, the way,
of the great. It is the source of all being,
the First Cause, the Ultimate Reality.
•The original teachings of Taoism are
found in Tao Te Ching, attributed to Lao
Tzu, born in 604 B.C.
•To follow the Tao is to follow the way of
nature. Thus, its main tenet is
harmony with nature. It regards nature
as sacred and even as an extension of
human selves.
General Character of Chinese
Philosophy

•The highest achievement of man is to be a

sage or wise man.
•The Chinese are of this-world people. Life is
desirable.
•They believe in the cycle of ups-and-downs
in this life.
•They believe in the coordination of thought
and action.
Indian Philosophy
Hinduism
•It is the major religion of India,
accounting for 85% of the population. It
has known as "Trimurti" which consists
of BRAHMA, the supreme spirit, VISHNU,
the preserver, and SHIVA, the destroyer
and creator. Since the ancient times,
people are already destined into social
classes known as the caste system.
Hinduism

The Hindu's life is governed by the law

of "karma" which is a process or series
of birth and rebirth until one attains
perfection and finally reaches
"nirvana" - the place or eternal
happiness and bliss. Under this belief,
the sum of the person's actions carried
from one life to the next results in
either an improved or worsened fate.
 Buddhism
• It is one of the major religions of the world; founded by
Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in Northern India.
Today, Buddhism has two major divisions:
Buddha advocated four noble truths:
1. Life is suffering (duhka);
2. The cause of suffering is desire;
3. the end of suffering is to stop desire; and
4. to stop desire is to follow the Noble Eight-fold Path

(to break the chain of karma and to reach Nirvana)

Buddhism

• The Noble Eight-fold Path consists of

• 1) Right View;
• 2) Tight Resolve;
• 3) Right Speech;
• 4) Right Action;
• 5) Right Livelihood;
• 6) Right Effort;
• 7) Right Concentration; and
• 8) Right Contemplation.
Japanese Philosophy

Shintoism
•It was popular during the Imperial
regime but lost its popularity when Japan
lost during the Second World War. Shinto
was not a Japanese word. It was derived
from the Chinese "shon" (Gods) and
"tao" (the way). The intention was to
distinguish this religion from Buddhism
when it first entered Japan.
Shintoism

•Shintoism is the belief in the "kami no

michi" or the "way of the kami".
•Kami are Japanese deities or goods of
nature like the sun goddess,
Arabian Philosophy (Islam)

•Islam
•is a major world religion (one of the three
monotheistic religions), comes from the
Arabic word "al-islam" which literally means
complete submission to God (Allah).
•Islam traces its origin to the prophet
Muhammad who was born in Mecca, Arabia
about AD 571. in middle life, Muhammad
showed mystical traits and developed the
habit of withdrawing to the bills for
contemplation.
The Islamic faith is centered on these five Pillars
of Islam:

1. Shahada (confession of faith): There is

no other God but Allah and Muhammad
is his prophet.
2. Salat (prayer). Muslims pray five times
daily facing Mecca - at daybreak, noon,
mid afternoon, after sunset and early in
the night. They also go to the Mosques
during Fridays.
The Islamic faith is centered on these five Pillars
of Islam:

3. Zakat (almsgiving). Muslims give a percent of

their income and other properties to charity.
4. Ramadan (fasting) During this period, Muslims do
not eat, drink, smoke, or engage in sex between
dawn and sunset.
5. Haji (Pilgrimage). A Muslim is required to go to
Mecca at least once in his lifetime.
 Other important concepts in Islam are:

• Qur'an/Koran (recitation) - collection of the

revelations received by Muhammad from Allah.
• Hedith (tradition) - is the record of the life and
activities of Muhammad and early Muslim
communities.
• Sunna (example) - set of standards of Muhammad
which all Muslims should follow.
• Shiari'a (law) - formed by the combined Qur'an and
Sunna to serve as an extraordinary
comprehensive guide to life and conduct.
Western Philosophies
Naturalism. It is probably the oldest philosophic
thought in the west.

•Nature is the be-all and end-all of reality.

Its antithesis is supernaturalism. Nature
is the aggregate of things around us.
•its educational theme is harmony with
nature as exemplified in Rousseau's
Emile and the hedonistic principle of
pleasure in the educative process.
Naturalism
Its chief educational spokesman is
Herbert Spencer who believes that the
goal of education is complete living.
The child (pupil) is viewed as a child of
nature and so is inherently good.
Idealism. One of the oldest schools of thought in the
West.
It rebelled against the philosophy of
naturalism.

Its origin is traced to Plato who advocated a doctrine

of ideas (also the doctrine of the universals).
Since an idea is nonmaterial, idealism stresses moral
and spiritual reality.
Idealism

Its educational philosophy is ideal-

centered. God is the absolute/ perfect
ideal. Sometimes, it is regarded as
perfectionalism.
Plato's Republic is believed to be the
first educational classic/treatise ever
written. It envisioned a society ruled by
a philosopher-king.
Idealism
Emphasizes the importance of the mind,
soul and spirit
Goodness is an ideal state
Particular Philosophies of Education

• Idealism, the first systematic philosophy in Western

thought…Socrates and Plato, the Socratic method
was dialogue
• Generic notions: Philosophers often pose abstract
questions that are not easily answered but are
concerned with the search for truth
• World of matter in constant state of flux, senses are
not to be trusted, continually deceive us
• Truth is perfect and eternal, but not found in the
world of matter, only through the mind
Idealism
•The only constant for Plato was
mathematics, unchangeable and eternal
•Plato’s method of dialogue engaged in
systematic, logical examination of all
points of view…ultimately leading to
agreement and a synthesis of ideas…this
approach known as the dialectic.
Idealism

• Plato believed education helped move individuals

collectively toward achieving the good.
• The State should be involved in education, moving
brighter students toward abstract ideas and the less
able toward collecting data…a gender free tracking
system
• Those who were brighter should rule, others should
assume roles to maintain the state
Idealism

The philosopher-king
would lead the State to
the ultimate good
Idealism

• Evil comes through ignorance, education will lead to

the obliteration of evil
• More modern idealists: St. Augustine, Descartes,
Kant, Hegel
• Goal of Education: interested in the search for truth
through ideas…with truth comes responsibility to
enlighten others, “education is transformation:
Ideas can change lives.”
Idealism

•Role of the Teacher: to analyze and discuss

ideas with students so that students can
move to new levels of awareness so that they
can ultimately be transformed, abstractions
dealt with through the dialectic, but should
aim to connect analysis with action
•Role of the teacher is to bring out what is
already in student’s mind: reminiscence
Methods of Instruction

•Lecture from time to time, but primary

method of teaching is the
dialectic…discuss, analyze, synthesize,
and apply what they have read to
contemporary society
•Curriculum…importance of the study of
the classics…many support a back to the
basics approach to education
Realism. It is attributed
to Aristotle, a pupil of Plato.

• Realism believes that things exist independent of the

mind. Its origin is traced to Aristotle's doctrine of
particulars.
• It has greatly influenced the socialistic (communistic)
educational philosophy.
• John Amos Comenius, a great realist, believes that
education is formation
and that the school is the true
forging place of man.
Realism

It believes in determinism (man is not free

because he is governed by laws or forces of
nature beyond his
control). One of the primary goals of
education is habit formation.
The teacher is the key figure, a master
teacher; one who transmit knowledge to his
pupils (an authority).
Realism

Stresses that the world is made up of

real, substantial and material entities
Natural laws regulate and determine
everything
Knowledge is derived from sense
experience
Standards of value are determined by
reason
Realism

•Aristotle was the leading proponent of

realism, started the Lyceum, the first
philosopher to develop a systematic
theory of logic
•Generic Notions…only through studying
the material world is it possible to clarify
or develop ideas…matter is real
independent of ideas
Aristotle’s Systematic Theory of Logic

•Begin with empirical research, speculate or

use dialectic reasoning, and culminate in a
syllogism
•A syllogism is a system of logic that consists
of three parts: (1) a major premise, (2) a
minor premise, and (3) a conclusion
•For a syllogism to work, all the parts must be
correct
Philosopher’s Concerns
•What is the good life?
•What is the importance of reason?
•Moderation in all things…balance in
leading one’s life: reason is the
instrument to help individuals achieve
balance and moderation
Realists
•Neo-Thomism…Aquinas affected a
synthesis of pagan ideas and Christian
beliefs…reason is the means of
ascertaining or understanding truth,
God could be understood through
reasoning based on the material
world…no conflict between science and
religion
•The world of faith with the world of
reason, contemporary Catholic schools
Modern Realism

•From the Renaissance, Francis Bacon

developed induction, the scientific
method…based on Aristotle, developed a
method starting with observations,
culminating in generalization, tested in
specific instances for the purpose of
verification
•John Locke and tabula rasa, things known
from experience… ordered sense data and
then reflected on them
Contemporary Realists

•Tend to focus on philosophy and

science…Alfred North Whitehead,
concerned with the search for
“universal patterns”
•Bertrand Russell with Whitehead,
Principia Mathematica…universal
patterns could be verified and classified
through mathematics
Goal of Education for Realists
•Notions of the good life, truth, beauty could
be answered through the study of ideas,
using the dialectical method…for
contemporary realists, the goal of education
is to help individuals understand and apply
the principles of science to help solve the
problems plaguing the modern world
•Teachers should be steeped in the basic
academic disciplines
Pragmatism. It is the most recent
among the four classical philosophies.
•Pragmatism is the belief that the
meaning of an idea is determined by the
consequences when it is put into test or
practice in the world of reality.
•Although Greek in origin, it later became
an American philosophy.
•The foremost American philosophers are
William James (practicalism), Charles
Peirce (experimentalism), and John
Dewey (instrumentalism)
Pragmatism

It believes that change is the essence of

reality. "Everything flows; nothing remains
the same."
Its chief method is the experimental
method that yields experimental
knowledge.
It believes that education is life; a
continuous process of reconstruction.
Education never complete.
Pragmatism
•Ideas are true if they work
•Reality is what is actually experienced
•People are instruments of change
capable of experimenting and testing
their beliefs
•Pragmatists openly accept change and
continually seek to discover new ways to
expand and improve society
Pragmatism

• An American philosophy from the 19th

century…Peirce, James, Dewey
• “By their fruits, ye shall know them.” Pragmatism
encourages people to find processes that work in
order to achieve their desired ends…action oriented,
experientially grounded
• Rousseau… “back to nature”, environment and
experience…Emile, little regard for the education of
women other than to be Emile’s companion
John Dewey

• Intellectual heir to Charles Darwin, constant

interaction between organism and environment,
dynamic and developing world…child centered
progressivism and social reconstructionism
• Instrumentalism and experimentalism, pragmatic
relationship between school and society and
applying ideas of education on an experimental
basis
John Dewey’s Philosophy

• Education starts with the needs and interests of the

child, allows the child to participate in planning her
course of study, employ project method or group
learning, depend heavily or experiential learning
• Children are active, organic beings…needing both
freedom and responsibility
• Ideas are not separate from social conditions,
philosophy has a responsibility to society
Dewey’s Role for the Teacher

•Not the authoritarian but the

facilitator…encourages, offers
suggestions, questions and helps plan
and implement courses of study…has
command of several disciplines
•Inquiry method, problem solving,
integrated curriculum
Existentialism. It is principally a
contemporary or modern philosophy
•It grew out from the works of European
philosophers particularly Soren Kierkegaard
(Danish)
•Its chief principle is "existence precedes
essence."
•It was two types: atheistic and theistic. The
chief atheistic philosopher is Jean Paul Sarte
(French)
Jean Paul Sartre

Soren Kierkegaard
Existentialism

It clamors for individually and freedom

in education.
It stresses individual decision-making;
the teacher offers knowledge and the
pupil can either accept or reject it.
 Existentialism
•Man has no fixed nature and he
shapes his own being as he lives
•The world is a personal subjectivity
where goodness, truth and reality
are individually defined
Existentialism
•Knowledge is subjective to the person’s
decision: knowledge varies from one person
to another
•While an existentialist is completely free to
choose his values, he holds himself
responsible for the consequences of his
choice.
Existentialism

•Aim: to train the student for significant and

meaningful existence
•Curriculum: Subjects are to recognize
individual differences and complete
freedom to work
•Teachers giving assistance to students in
their personal learning journeys
•Schools create an atmosphere for active
interaction
Existentialism and
Phenomenology
•Kierkegaard, Buber, Jaspers, Sartre, Maxine
Greene…existentialists
•Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-
Ponty…phenomenologists
•How do one’s concerns affect the lives of an
individual…the phenomena of consciousness,
perception and meaning in an individual’s
experience
Existentialists and Phenomenologists

•Based on the earth alone, must make sense

of the chaos one encounters
•“Existence precedes essence.” People must
create themselves and create their own
meaning…done through the choices people
make in their lives, in a state of constant
becoming…an individual can make a
difference in a seemingly absurd world
Existentialists

•Education should focus on the needs of

individuals, include the nonrational as well as
rational, the notion of possibility
•Teachers should understand their own “lived
world” and help students to understand their
world
•The need to be “wide awake”…the role of
the teacher is intensely personal
Neo-Marxism

•Radical critique of capitalism

•The role of education should be to give
students the insight to demystify capitalism
and become agents of radical change
•Marx believed the history of civilization was
defined by class struggle
•General conflict theory…the teacher is a
“transformative intellectual”
CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL THEORIES
•A Theory is a set of assumptions initially
verified or tested but not yet universally
accepted.
•An educational theory is one that is
directed to education. The contemporary
educational theories have their roots in
formal philosophies.
•Perennialism. It is a theory founded on
the belief that the body of knowledge
that has endured through time and space
should form the basis for one's
education.
•Rooted in classical realism and idealism,
the chief exponent is Robert N. Hutchins.
He believes that the basic principles of
education are both timeless and
recurring.
Perennialism.

•“Liberal education should

contribute to the understanding
of the great works of
civilization” – Hutchins
Perennialism

• Purpose: To help students uncover and internalize

truths that are universal and constant.
• Curriculum and Method: Its curriculum is subject-
centered relying heavily on the disciplines of
literature, mathematics, languages, history,
philosophy, and-religion (liberal education).
Reading and discussion of the "Great Books"
would be the principal method of study.
Perennialism

Teacher: The teacher is viewed as

an authority, a master teacher,
whose expertise is not to be
questioned.
School: The school's role is to
train an intellectual elite and to
prepare the young for life,
Teacher Centered Educational
Theories
•Perennialism: an educational
theory that focuses on enduring
principles of knowledge; nature,
human nature, and the
underlying principles of
existence are considered
constant, undergoing little
change
Perennialism

•Focus of learning: activities designed to

discipline the mind
•Learners are rational and spiritual
people
•Perennialist curriculum: the three Rs,
character training, educating the
intellectual elite, trade and skill training
for others
•Progressivism. It grew out from
pragmatic philosophy and puts emphasis
on democratic experience and skills on
how to think.
•Its chief exponent is Francis Parker.
•Improvement and reform in human
condition are both possible and desirable
•Education is always a process of
development
 Progressivism
Purpose. To give the necessary skills-and-tools with
which to interact with the-environment within a
constant process of change.
Curriculum and Method. Its curriculum is built
around the personal and social experiences of the
learners. It draws most often from the social
sciences. Scientific methods of inquiry and problem
solving are its favored methods.
Progressivism

Teacher: Since the students are

capable of thinking and exploring their
own environment, the teacher's role is
that of a guide, group leader,
consultant, and facilitator in the
student's activities.
School. It is viewed as a microcosm of
society, a living learning laboratory, and
a working model of democracy.
Student Centered Educational
Theories
• Progressivism…an educational theory that
emphasizes that ideas should be tested by
experimentation and that learning is rooted in
questions developed by the learner
• Opposes authoritarianism and favors human
experience as a basis for knowledge, favors the
scientific method and also student involvement
• Learning how to think rather than what to think
ESSENTIALISM. It is rooted in
classical idealism and realism with
William C. Bagley as principal
advocate. It clamored for curricular
reforms with emphasis on the basics
or essential.
There are certain essentials that all
men ought to know
ESSENTIALISM
•Individuals should be able to
distinguish between the essentials and
non-essentials in one’s life
•“Essential subjects represent the most
precious elements of the human
heritage” –Bagley
ESSENTIALISM.

• Purpose. To transmit the cultural and historical

heritage to each new generation of learners.
• Curriculum and Method. It puts emphasis on the
3r's in the elementary and a concentrated study of
mathematics, sciences, humanities, languages and
literature in the secondary. Mastery of the basic
facts and concepts of essentials is imperative.
ESSENTIALISM

Teacher, The teacher is a master of

his/her discipline and a model worth
emulating.
It becomes one of conserving and
transmitting to the present generation
to the rich cultural heritage of man.
Essentialism

•An educational theory that holds

that there is a common core of
information and skills that an
educated person must have; schools
should be organized to transmit this
core of essential material
Essentialism

• Common core of information and skills that an

educated person in a given culture must have
• Three basic principles: a core of information, hard
work and mental discipline, teacher-centered
instruction
• Back to basics movement is essentialist
• Draws equally from Idealism and
Realism…important difference in emphasis from the
notions of everlasting truth that perennialists
espouse
Essentialism

•Focus of learning: transmit the cultural

heritage and develop good citizens.
Schools are places where children come
to learn what they need to know and
the teacher is the person who can best
instruct students in essential matters
Behaviorism

• A psychological theory that asserts that behaviors

represent the essence of a person and that all
behaviors can be explained as responses to stimuli
• Closely linked to Realism…the environment,
particularly the interpersonal environment, shapes
human behavior
• Reinforcement: positive…things students like and
negative…things students wish to avoid
Positivism

• A social theory that limits truth and knowledge to

what is observable and measurable
• Auguste Comte (1798-1857)…three historical
periods…theological era, things explained in
reference to spirits and gods…metaphysical era,
things explained in terms of causes, essences, inner
principles…positive period, thinkers did not attempt
to go beyond observable, measurable fact
•Reconstructionism. Also known as
social reconstructionism it is rooted
in pragmatism and progressivism. It
is Utopian because it clamors for a
new world social order, its principal
exponents are George Counts,
Theodore Brameld and Edwin
Reischauer."
Reconstructionism.
Man plans and controls is society,
that in a democratic society this
should be done in the public
interest
Society is in need of contact
reconstruction
Reconstructionism
•“Curriculum should include broad
areas of social and technological
knowledge.” –George Counts
Reconstructionism

•Purpose. To raise the consciousness of

students regarding social, economic,
and political problems facing mankind.
•Curriculum and Method. Its subject is
the multitude of social, political and
economic problem of man and uses
pragmatic methods of scientific inquiry.
Reconstructionism

Teacher. The teacher is a social

catalyst, a change agent, a social
engineer, and the other roles of the
progressivist teacher.
School. It becomes the primary
agency for societal change.
Reconstructionism

• An educational theory that calls on schools to teach

people to control institutions and to be organized
according to basic democratic ideals
• Progressivism too focused on the needs of the child
and fails to develop long range goals for society
• Need to analyze world events, explore controversial
issues, develop a vision for a new and better world
Thank You…

Good Luck to All of You..