EFDE2113

Chapter 4 : Educational Philosophies rooted in Western Philosophies

 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

The concept of ‘Love of Wisdom’ in Western Tradition

• an attempt to understand the universe as a whole;

• an examination of humankind’s moral responsibilities and social obligations;
• an effort to fathom the divine intentions and the place of human beings with reference
to them;
• an effort to ground the enterprise of natural science;
• a rigorous examination of the origin, extent, and validity of human ideas;
• an exploration of the place of will or consciousness in the universe;
• an examination of the values of truth, goodness, and beauty;
• and an effort to codify the rules of human thought in order to promote rationality and
the extension of clear thinking

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Educational Philosophies rooted in Western Philosophies:

• Perennialism
• Essentialism
• Progressivism
• Reconstructionism

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

PERENNIALISM

• Advocates: • Secular Perennialism

• Robert Maynard Hutchins

• Mortimer Adler

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Perennialism

• For Perennialists, the aim of education is to ensure that students

acquire understandings about the great ideas of Western civilization.
• These ideas have the potential for solving problems in any era.
• The focus is to teach ideas that are everlasting, to seek enduring truths
which are constant, not changing, as the natural and human worlds at
their most essential level, do not change

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Perennialism (cont’d)

• Humans are rational beings, and their minds need to be developed.

Thus, cultivation of the intellect is the highest priority in a worthwhile
education. The demanding curriculum focuses on attaining cultural
literacy, stressing students' growth in enduring disciplines.
• Advocates of this educational philosophy are Robert Maynard Hutchins
who developed a Great Books program in 1963 and Mortimer Adler,
who further developed this curriculum based on 100 great books of
western civilization.

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 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

• As in the PDF.
• E:\JULY 2024\EFDO2313 PHILOSOPHY\Great Books of the Western World -
Wikipedia.pdf

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Perennialism – Teacher’s role

• For Perennialists, the teacher is seen as the authority figure in the classroom. As the
authority figure, it is up to the teacher to disseminate the truth.
• The teacher can do this by acting as a seminar leader or coach. According to Adler
(1984), as a seminar leader, the teacher illustrates the power of the literature being
read through questioning.
• When done correctly, this questioning should help students think rationally. One of the
most popular methods for questioning students is the Socratic Method.
Socratic method (analytical thinking)
For example, if students are reading an article on a current social issue like homelessness,
the instructor could ask what they learned about it, how their views changed since
reading the piece and the importance of learning about it. The instructor then might
select other students to share their views and respond to one another.
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Perennialism – Student’s role

• The students are supposed to learn the “truth” as taught to them by the teacher.
• Since truth does not change, students’ interests or experiences are not reflected in
what is taught in a Perennialist classroom.
• In fact, the issue of diversity is not even relevant, because learning is not about
diversity.

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ESSENTIALISM

• Proponent:
• William Bagley (1934)

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Essentialism

• Essentialists believe that there is a common core of knowledge that

needs to be transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way.
The emphasis in this conservative perspective is on intellectual and
moral standards that schools should teach. The core of the curriculum is
essential knowledge and skills and academic rigor

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Essentialism (cont’d)

• Although this educational philosophy is similar in some ways to Perennialism,

Essentialists accept the idea that this core curriculum may change.
• Schooling should be practical, preparing students to become valuable members
of society. It should focus on facts-the objective reality out there--and "the
basics," training students to read, write, speak, and compute clearly and
logically.
• Schools should not try to set or influence policies. Students should be taught
hard work, respect for authority, and discipline. Teachers are to help students
keep their non-productive instincts in check, such as aggression or mindlessness

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 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Essentialism (cont’d)

• This approach was in reaction to progressivist approaches prevalent in

the 1920s and 30s. William Bagley, took progressivist approaches to
task in the journal he formed in 1934.
• Other proponents of Essentialism are: James D. Koerner (1959), H. G.
Rickover (1959), Paul Copperman (1978), and Theodore Sizer (1985).

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Essentialism - Teacher’s role

• Essentialism is a teacher-centered philosophy of education.

• Butler (1966) found that one of the most important roles of the teacher
is to set
the character of the environment in which learning takes place. This
means that the teacher not only needs to consider the content being
taught, but the environment in which it is being taught as well.

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Essentialism – Student’s role

• Essentialism developed because they believed American students were not keeping up
with academic rigor of their counterparts in other countries like Japan and Germany.
Consequently, Essentialist believe that students should attend school to gain the
knowledge and skills they need to successfully participate in a democratic and
technological society (Webb et. al., 2010).
• As part of their schooling, students undergo rigorous academic instruction in core
content areas.

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PROGRESSIVISM

• Proponent:
• Jon Dewey

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Progressivism

• Progressivists believe that education should focus on the whole child,

rather than on the content or the teacher.
• This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by
active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners
that arise through experiencing the world. It is active, not passive.

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 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

Progressivism (cont’d)

• The learner is a problem solver and thinker who makes meaning

through his or her individual experience in the physical and cultural
context.
• Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by
doing. Curriculum content is derived from student interests and
questions.
• The scientific method is used by progressivist educators so that
students can study matter and events systematically and first-hand. The
emphasis is on process-how one comes to know.

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Progressivism (cont’d)

• The Progressive education philosophy was established in America from

the mid 1920s through the mid 1950s.
• John Dewey was its foremost proponent. One of his tenets was that the
school should improve the way of life of our citizens through
experiencing freedom and democracy in schools.
• Shared decision making, planning of teachers with students, student-
selected topics are all aspects. Books are tools, rather than authority.

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Progressivism – Teacher’s role

• Progressivism is a student-centered philosophy of education.

• Progressivists view teachers as a facilitator in the classroom. As the facilitator, the
teacher directs the students learning, but the students voice is just as important as that
of the teacher.
• To support students in finding their own voice, the teacher takes on the role of a guide.
Since the student has such an important role in the learning, the teacher needs to guide
the students in “learning how to learn” (Labaree, 2005, p. 277). In other words, they
need to help students construct the skills they need to understand and process the
content.

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• In order to do this successfully, the teacher needs to act as a

collaborative partner. As a collaborative partner, the teachers works
with the student to make group decisions about what will be learned,
keeping in mind the ultimate out- comes that need to be obtained. The
primary aim as a collaborative partner, according to Progressivists, is to
help students “acquire the values of the democratic system” (Webb et.
al., 2010, p. 75).

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• Some of the key instructional methods used by Progressivist teachers

include:
• Promoting discovery and self-directly learning.
• Engaging students in active learning.
• Integrating socially relevant themes.
• Promoting values of community, cooperation, tolerance, justice, and democratic
equality.
• Encouraging the use of group activities.
• Promoting the application of projects to enhance learning.
• Engaging students in critical thinking.
• Challenging students to work on their problem solving skills.
• Developing decision making techniques.
• Utilizing cooperative learning strategies. (Webb et. al., 2010).

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 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
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Progressivism – Student’s role

• Students in a Progressivist classroom are empowered to take a more active role in the
learning process.
In fact, they are encourage to actively construct their
knowledge and understanding by:
• Interacting with their environment.
• Setting objectives for their own learning.
• Working together to solve problems.
• Learning by doing.
• Engaging in cooperative problem solving.
• Establishing classroom rules.
• Evaluating ideas.
• Testing ideas.

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UNIT 4 | EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES ROOTED IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES

RECONSTRUCTIONISM

• Founder:
• Theodore Brameld

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Reconstructionism

• Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes the addressing of

social questions and a quest to create a better society and worldwide
democracy. Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights
social reform as the aim of education.
• Theodore Brameld (1904-1987) was the founder of social reconstructionism, in
reaction against the realities of World War II. He recognized the potential for
either human annihilation through technology and human cruelty or the capacity
to create a beneficent society using technology and human compassion. George
Counts (1889-1974) recognized that education was the means of preparing
people for creating this new social order.

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Reconstructionism (cont’d)

• This philosophy focuses on empowering the learner. Learners should

be treated equally.
• Teachers will be the facilitator to help and guide, not to control.
• Students learn to be accountable and polish leadership skills as they
are in charge most of the times.

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Reconstructionism – Teacher’s role

• The philosophy of Social Reconstructionism is a student-centered philosophy.

• In order to be an effective Social Reconstructivist teacher, teachers must be

willing to undergo constant change and updating of their personal and
professional lives and have a very high tolerance for ambiguity.
• According to research by Revees (2013), the teachers role in the Social
Reconstructivist classroom includes:
• Creating a safe and democratic environment for their students so that lessons and
topics may be discussed, debated, and all students voices will be heard.
• Presenting students with material that looks into social injustices so that their students
know that these injustices exist.

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• Creating lessons to inform students but also evoke an emotional response from their
students.
• Being fearless in presenting material to students.
• Setting up a democratic environment in the classroom.
• Inspiring students to be the change they wish to see in the world.
• Helping to shed light on social inequities.
• Providing students with the knowledge they need and the critical thinking skills to
process it in meaningful ways so they can make positive changes in society.
• In order to accomplish all of these tasks, Social Reconstructivist teachers have to take
on a leadership role in the classroom so that they can effectively facilitate student
learning.

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Reconstructionsim – Student’s role

• Within this philosophy, students are called upon to be “change agents.” As such, they
are guided by their instructors to explore issues of inequality in society and figure out
ways to address them.
• People who do not believe in this philosophy would say that students
can not really have any significant impact on society. However, “Social
Reconstructionist believe that students are the critical element in
bringing about social change” (Webb el. al., 2010, p. 85).

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• With the guidance of the teacher, it is the role of the student to initiate change by first
identifying inequities in society. They then work together with their peers to research
and problem solve ways to address these inequities.
• Finally, they engage in active, project-based learning, or service learning outside the
school to become immersed in the societal problem they have identified and apply the
possible solutions they have developed (Webb et. al., 2010).

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REFLECTION

• From the lecture notes, discuss:

• Which educational philosophies are teacher-centered?
• Which educational philosophies are student-centered?

• In your opinion, which one is the best educational philosophy that you
would adopt as a teacher ? Why?

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 EFDE2113 | PHILOSOPHY, HISTORY AND POLICY OF EDUCATION
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Reference

• https://web.augsburg.edu/~erickson/edc490/downloads/comparison_edu_philo.pdf
• https://cer.jhu.edu/files_ta/4_Major_Educational_Philosophies.pdf

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