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Saturday, February 8, 2014

Reading Materials for LET (7 Philosophies of Education)


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 morecomplex 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 – progressivist 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 progressivists 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 behaviourists look at “people and other animals… as complex combinations of matter that act only in response to internally or externally generated physical stimuli”, behaviourist teachers teach students to respond favourably 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.



 1.      The department of the Education gives greater emphasis on the development of basic skills. What is the         philosophical basis of this?
a.      Essentialism
b.      Pragmatism
c.       Existentialism
d.      Perennialism

2.      Mr.Olivar views his students as unique, free-choosing and responsible individuals. All classroom activities revolve around the said premise. What theory underlies this?
a.      Realism
b.      Progressivism
c.       Essentialism
d.      Existentialism

3.      Religious ritual in the classroom and in the school programs prove the deep natural religiosity of the Filipinos. Which philosophy has greatly contributed to this tradition?
a.      Islam
b.      Budhism
c.       Hinduism
d.      Confucianism

4.      In order to make Roman education truly utilitarian, the day-to-day lessons were
a.      Taught in the students’ native dialect
b.      Taught interestingly through the play way method
c.       Related and linked to the events happening in everyday life
d.      Practiced at home under the guidance of their respective parents

5.      Which program of the government seems to be aligned to the Christian humanitarian principle for respect for the human personality?
a.      The study of the Philippine Constitution
b.      The massive housing program to house the poor Filipinos
c.       The promotion of the basic human rights of the Filipinos
d.      The functional literacy program for the out-of-school youth and adults

6.      The military training requirements among students in the secondary and tertiary levels can be traced as a strong influence of the
a.      Greeks
b.      Romans
c.       Orientals
d.      Chinese

7.      The educational objective to indoctrinate Filipinos to accept the teaching of the catholic church which is to foster faith in God is bedrocked in the philosophy called
a.      Realism
b.      Pragmatism
c.       Idealism
d.      Existentialism




8.      Virtue as one component in the teaching of Rizal as a course focuses on the teaching of good and beauty consistent with the good and beauty in God. Which philosophy supports this?
a.      Idealism
b.      Progressivism
c.       Existentialism
d.      Social reconstructionism

9.      Giving the highest budgetary allocation, the Philippine government recognizes the possible contribution of its future citizens to the national development gosals of the Philippine society.This goal of education for social transformation was stressed by the early
a.      Greek education
b.      Roman education
c.       Athenian education
d.      Followers of Christ

10.  The progressivists emphasized the individuality of the child, the reconstructionists were more concerned with
a.      Subjectivity
b.      Experiential learning
c.       Social change
d.      Social problem

11.  One of the following questions does not conform to the Christian doctrine of education for humanitarianism. Which one is it?
a.      Love thy neighbour as thyself
b.      Do unto as you would like others do unto you
c.       Whatever good things we do our poor helpless brother, we do it for God
d.      Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.

12.  Scouting and Citizens Army Training (CAT) give training in character-building citizenship training etc. Which leads to the creation of a new social order and a new society eventually. What philosophy support this?
a.      Perennialism
b.      Progressivism
c.       Existentialism
d.      Social reconstructionism

13.  Mr. Peralta demonstrated the technique on how to group students according to their needs and interests and how to use self-paced instructional materials. This activity is a manifestation of the philosophy of
a.      Pragmatism
b.      Progressivism
c.       Essentialism
d.      Reconstructionism

14.  Mrs. Peralta, a Christian Living teacher, puts so much significance on values development and discipline. What could be  her educational philosophy?
a.      Realism
b.      Pragmatism
c.       Idealism
d.      Progressivism

15.  The class of VI Molave was asked to recite a poem out of memory which described this method?
a.      Jesus Christ parable method
b.      Early Christian’s catechetical method
c.       Scholastic’s method of logical analysis
d.      Socratic method of question and answer


TEACHER'S WORK: Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Teachers