Philosophies of

Education
Philosophical positions and
statements of purpose

Tools of Philosophers (1
0f 3)
Axiology is the study of values;
it asks the question of What is
good? From axiology, we
arrive at an understanding of
What is good?
We get ethics from the study of
axiology

Tools of Philosophers
(2 of 3)
EpistemologyHow do we
know what is true?
This is a live question todayDo
we listen to standardized test
results to determine how much
students know, or read their
portfolios?

Tools of Philosophy
(3 of 3)
Metaphysics is somewhat
related to epistemology and
asks the question What is
real?
Are the things that are real only
the things that can be touched
and measured?
Behaviorists vs. existentialists

Purposes for Education

Hilda Taba,
1962-Transmit the
cultural heritage
Transform the
culture
Maximize human
potential

The Seven Cardinal

Principles (1 of 2)
The Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education
Commission on Re-organization of Secondary Education (1918).
1. Health
2. Command of fundamental processes
3. Worthy home membership
4. Vocational competence

The Seven Cardinal

Principles (2 of 2)
The Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education
Commission on Re-organization of Secondary Education (1918).
5. Citizenship
6. Worthy use of leisure time
7. Ethical character

But what do these

mean?

Meaning comes
from at least six
philosophical
positions that
filter or
influence how
people perceive
educational
events.

Essentialism
Almost an entire generation in
America has grown up under
essentialism.
Essentialism is a conservative
view of curriculum that holds
schools responsible for only the
most immediately needed
instruction.

Essentialism (2)

Essentialism
avoids some of
the waste
inherent with
experimentalism
But it can
become so
conservative
that it fails to
truly educate

What is Essentialism?

Emphasis on a traditional

education

Development of the mind

Core curriculum

Reality is based in the physical world

Teacher-directed learning

Reading,
What
would essentialists teach?

spelling,
language arts

Mathematics,

S. & World
History

No

vocational
education!

U.

How essentialists would evaluate

student's learning?
Standardized

tests

Criterion

referenced tests

Not

as likely to
require portfolios

Classroom management
Using

only text books

Seated

row by row

Teacher

lecture,
students listen

Punishment--attempted

behaviorism but without

expertise

Orientation of Essentialism
Teach

the basic
civilized skills of
reading, spelling and
measuring.

Limit

educations
responsibility--let
industry teach
vocational subjects

Reality testing

Writing

test

Multiple choices

True/False

Binary-Choice

Matching

Future orientation

All

students will
remember the
basic
information.

All

students will
learn how to pass
the test.

Experimentalism
Experimentalism is associated
with a very broad but shallow
curriculum. Many electives, few
required subjects.
Experimentalism is friendly to
educational research, and many
new ideas come from it.

Experimentalism (2)

But
experimentalism
can be wasteful
of resources
It can also fail
to follow
through
Accommodates
fads too easily

Experimentalism

Experimentalist
teachers like to
tinker or
experiment
They dont like
to leave things
the same all the
time.

Classroom Management
for Experimentalists

Dont like bmod

or assertive
discipline
Prefer more
constructivistic
approaches
such as
Discipline with
Dignity

What experimentalists
would teach

Everything-anything that
had any relation
to students
possible futures
Has been
accused of
trying to do the
homes job

Where experimentalism
shines

When essentialism or perennialism

have been in power for so long,
school programs have become
stagnant
When school has become all work
and no play
When traditional methods have
become ineffective

Perennialism
Perennialism was prevalent in
the early seventies in U. S.
Perennialism reveres the
experience of teachers who
have been there.
Heavy orientation to the past 20
years--almost nil attention to
the future

Perennialism

Perennialists
like to teach
time-honored
curricula,
including the
classics such as
Plato an
Aristotle
They dont like
change.

Perennialism

They would
include
subjects such
as:
Geometry
English
literature
World
Geography

Algebra
Trigonometry
Ancient
Geography
World history
U.S. History
Bookkeeping

Perennialist Evaluation
Methodology
Teacher-made
Standardized
Memory

test

work (mind is a

muscle)
Spelling

tests

bees

Classroom Management
Assign
Be

seats in rows.

strict, but not

necessarily expert, with

punishment and reward.
Set

up classroom rules.

Orientation Expected
Self-contained

knowledge-teacher is supposed to know

all the answers
Teacher is the fountain of
all knowledge.
Students are passive
listeners

Reality Testing for

Perennialists

Paper-pencil test

Recitation

Standardized test

Future Orientation for

Perennialists

Expect future to continue in the

same vein as the present
Belief that knowing the classics
of the past will equip students
for the future

Where Perennialism
Shines
Perennialism does help to
dampen the uncertain effects of
the fads that come to education
Not every new idea is a good
one, or one that will even be
effective.
Perennialism plays well to
traditional communities

Behaviorism
Behaviorism believes in a
science of behavior that would
shape the world into a better
place to live
Behaviorists to some degree
rightfully claim that behaviorism
naturally occurs in the world
whether people acknowledge it
or not

What behaviorists
believe

Behaviorists
believe in a
science of
behavior\
They rely
heavily on
scientific
studies of
behavior and
how behavior is

What behaviorists would

teach
Behaviorists are at least as
concerned about how people
behave as what they know
They do not tend to be big
innovators in curriculum
They will however give a fair
trial to any new curricula that
someone else might write

Where Behaviorism
shines

Special ed
situations,
where students
do not pick up
on subtle cues
about learning
or behavior
Alternative and
problem schools

Where behaviorism will

come short
Situations where behavior is not
so much the need as the
learning of academic content
Situations where students have
internalized appropriate
behavior and behavior does not
need to be emphasized at the
expense of scholarship.

Reconstructionism
Reconstructionists point to a
time in the past when they
believe that things were better
They would re-create education
to be like things were back
during that time
They cite research, particularly
historical, to show that things
are not going well now.

What reconstructionists
believe

Reconstructionists point to a
time in the past
when they
believe that
things were
better
They would recreate
education to be
like things were

What reconstructionists
would teach
Reconstructionists would teach
the subjects that were taught
during that golden age.
The subjects would be those
that were taught during that
time.
If the 1960s, for instance, they
would teach usage of the slide
rule.

One example of
Reconstructionism

1946right after
the Second
World War
GIs wanted
schools and
society to return
to what they
were before
Pearl Harbor

Reconstructionists and
technology

Their orientation
is very much to
the past
They and
perennialists do
not react
immediately and
positively to
new technology

Existentialism
Existentialists celebrate the
human existence
Very subjective
Emphasis on meaning within
each individual
May doubt external reality
Emphasis on present

What existentialists
believe

Existentialists
believe in the
consciousness
of the self
They are very
concerned with
whether
students find
school to be a
satisfying

What existentialists
would teach

Not the same

subjects to
everyone, since
not everyone
would enjoy the
same things
They would
emphasize selfesteem and a
feeling of self-

They would
include topics
such as values
clarification
and . . . .

An example of
existentialism

1960
Summerhill
School in
England
1970s in some
parts of America
self esteem,
values
clarification

A healthy balance

Each of the six

philosophies has
something to
offer
The only hazard
happens when
one philosophy
rules for a long
period of time