Educational Philosophies

6 Educational Philosophies
1. 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. Teaching
these unchanging principles is critical. 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. The
loftiest accomplishments of humankind are emphasized– the great works of
literature and art, the laws or principles of science. 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.
2. 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. 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 nonproductive instincts in check, such as aggression or mindlessness.
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).
3. 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. 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
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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. 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.
4. Reconstructionism/Critical Theory
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.
Critical theorists, like social reconstructionists, believe that systems must be

changed to overcome oppression and improve human conditions. Paulo Freire
(1921-1997) was a Brazilian whose experiences living in poverty led him to
champion education and literacy as the vehicle for social change. In his view,
humans must learn to resist oppression and not become its victims, nor oppress
others. To do so requires dialog and critical consciousness, the development of
awareness to overcome domination and oppression. Rather than "teaching as
banking," in which the educator deposits information into students' heads, Freire
saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the child must invent
and reinvent the world.
For social reconstructionists and critical theorists, curriculum focuses on student

experience and taking social action on real problems, such as violence, hunger,
international terrorism, inflation, and inequality. Strategies for dealing with
controversial issues (particularly in social studies and literature), inquiry,
dialogue, and multiple perspectives are the focus. Community-based learning
and bringing the world into the classroom are also strategies.
5. Behaviorism
Behaviorist theorists believe that behavior is shaped deliberately by forces in the
environment and that the type of person and actions desired can be the product
of design. In other words, behavior is determined by others, rather than by our
own free will. By carefully shaping desirable behavior, morality and information is
learned. Learners will acquire and remember responses that lead to satisfying
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aftereffects. Repetition of a meaningful connection results in learning. If the
student is ready for the connection, learning is enhanced; if not, learning is
inhibited. Motivation to learn is the satisfying aftereffect, or reinforcement.
Behaviorism is linked with empiricism, which stresses scientific information and

observation, rather than subjective or metaphysical realities. Behaviorists search
for laws that govern human behavior, like scientists who look for pattern sin
empirical events. Change in behavior must be observable; internal thought
processes are not considered.
Ivan Pavlov's research on using the reinforcement of a bell sound when food was
presented to a dog and finding the sound alone would make a dog salivate after
several presentations of the conditioned stimulus, was the beginning of
behaviorist approaches. Learning occurs as a result of responses to stimuli in the
environment that are reinforced by adults and others, as well as from feedback
from actions on objects. The teacher can help students learn by conditioning
them through identifying the desired behaviors in measurable, observable terms,
recording these behaviors and their frequencies, identifying appropriate
reinforcers for each desired behavior, and providing the reinforcer as soon as the
student displays the behavior. For example, if children are supposed to raise
hands to get called on, we might reinforce a child who raises his hand by using
praise, "Thank you for raising your hand."
6. Humanism
The roots of humanism are found in the thinking of Erasmus (1466-1536), who
attacked the religious teaching and thought prevalent in his time to focus on free
inquiry and rediscovery of the classical roots from Greece and Rome. Erasmus
believed in the essential goodness of children, that humans have free will, moral
conscience, the ability to reason, aesthetic sensibility, and religious instinct. He
advocated that the young should be treated kindly and that learning should not
be forced or rushed, as it proceeds in stages. Humanism was developed as an
educational philosophy by Rousseau (1712-1778) and Pestalozzi, who
emphasized nature and the basic goodness of humans, understanding through
the senses, and education as a gradual and unhurried process in which the
development of human character follows the unfolding of nature. Humanists
believe that the learner should be in control of his or her own destiny. Since the
learner should become a fully autonomous person, personal freedom, choice,
and responsibility are the focus. The learner is self-motivated to achieve towards
the highest level possible. Motivation to learn is intrinsic in humanism.
Recent applications of humanist philosophy focus on the social and emotional

well-being of the child, as well as the cognitive. Development of a healthy self-
concept, awareness of the psychological needs, helping students to strive to be
all that they can are important concepts, espoused in theories of Abraham
Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Alfred Adler that are found in classrooms today.
Teachers emphasize freedom from threat, emotional well-being, learning
processes, and self-fulfillment
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6 Educational Philosophies

Critical theorists, like social reconstructionists, believe that systems must be

For social reconstructionists and critical theorists, curriculum focuses on student

Behaviorism is linked with empiricism, which stresses scientific information and

Recent applications of humanist philosophy focus on the social and emotional

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