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
TEACHER'S WORK: Reviewer for Licensure Examination for Teachers
