PRE-COMPETENCY CHECKLIST

EDUC 7: The Teaching Profession

Name: Piornato,Le-Ann C. Date: ______________

Inventory of Philosophies of Education

As you read through the following statements about schools and teaching, decide how
strongly you agree or disagree. Then, write your response to the left of each statement,
using the following scale:

5 - Strongly Agree
4 - Agree
3 - Neither Agree nor Disagree
2 - Disagree
1 - Strongly Disagree

__5__1. A school curriculum includes the essentials that the students should know.
__4__ 2. A school curriculum deals with time-tested ideas.
__5__ 3. Field trips, internships, and practicum connect classroom theories to the real world.
__5__ 4. School should develop among the students the ability to solve social problems.
3__ 5. The student should decide what he wants to learn and when to learn it.
__3__ 6. Students could be promoted to the higher level only when they have mastered the
key materials.
__5_ 7. Schools should develop students’ ability to think, analyze, and reason out.
__5_ 8. Teachers must emphasize to the students the relation of their learning to real world.
__5__ 9. School should teach students how to recognize problems in society and work for
the solutions to alleviate them.
__3__ 10. Students who do not want to study should not be forced to do so.
__5__ 11. Teachers should require students to work hard and master academic lessons
taught to merit grades.
__5__ 12. Learning should be appreciated for its own sake. It is about solving problems and
memorizing facts.
__5__ 13. The experiences and needs of the students should be considered in preparing for
curriculum.
__5__ 14. Schools should develop among the student’s respect for ethnic and racial groups.
__5__ 15. The purpose of school is to help students understand themselves and find their
own place in the world.
__ 4__ 16. To be able to compete in the global village, schools must raise standards for
academic requirements to produce competent graduates.
__4__ 17. Teachers must prescribe the use of Great Books because they contain insights
related to the issues at present.
__5__ 18. Schools should include opportunities for social interaction in the curriculum.
__3__ 19. Schools should develop political literacy among the students so they can use it to
improve the quality of life.
__4__ 20. The primary function of the school is to provide students options and choices to
decide for themselves.
__5__ 21. Schools must encourage students to memorize basic facts about people and
events that shaped history.
__5__ 22. The teacher’s main objective is to help students unlock the insights gained over
time, so they can learn from the great thinkers of the past.
__5__ 23. Students should be active participants in the learning process.
__4__ 24. Teaching means identifying a new list of Great Books relevant to the present
times which would prepare students to create a better society than their ancestors.
__5__ 25. Teachers should assist the students in discovering themselves and developing
their own personal values, even when conflict with others’ values.

Interpreting Your Response:

Now than you have responded to the items, write the number of your response to each
statement in the spaces below. Add the numbers in each column to determine your attitude
towards the educational philosophies. The highest possible score in any column is 25, and
the lowest is 5. Scores in the 20’s indicate strong agreement and scores below 10 indicate
disagreement with the tenets of a particular philosophy.

A B C D E
Essentialism Perennialism Progressivism Social Existentialism
Reconstructionism
1. __5___ 2. __4___ 3. __5___ 4. __5___ 5. __3___
6. __3___ 7. __5___ 8. __5___ 9. __5___ 10. __3___
11. __5 __ 12. __5___ 13. __5___ 14. __5___ 15. __5___
16. __4___ 17. __4___ 18. __5___ 19. __3___ 20. __4___
21. __5___ 22. __5___ 23. __5___ 24. __4___ 25. __5___

Compare your 5 scores. What is your highest? What is your lowest? To what
philosophy do you strongly adhere to? You may notice that your philosophical learning,
as identified by your responses, reflect your general outlook or philosophy.
• The highest score I got is 25, the progressivism and the lowest was Existentialism.
I strongly adhere to the philosophy of progressivism as I got a perfect score on it, I
do believe that the education closely correlates with the views of progressivism. My
understanding of this philosophy highlights the child as a whole and the importance
of active learning that readies students for the world ahead of them. As a
progressivists also believe that experiences are a large part of a students learning
which is why active learning is so common allowing students to learn about
themselves and learn how to problem solve. Rather than believing in strict common
core curriculum, progressivist believe that the interest of students should be the main
source of deciding curriculum and activities.