Four Educational Philosophies

Educational Philosophy The four Educational Philosophies Essentialism Essentialism argues that a common core of knowledge needs to be passed to learners in a disciplined and systematic manner. The concentration in this traditional viewpoint is on moral and intellectual standards that academic institutions should educate. The curriculum focuses on knowledge, skills, and academic rigor. Although this academic viewpoint is similar in some ways to Perennialism, Essentialism accepts the idea that this core curriculum may change. Education should be realistic, preparing learners to become useful people in the society.

It should concentrate on facts and "the fundamentals," training learners to speak, write, read and think clearly and rationally. Schools must not try to set or influence guidelines. Students should be trained self-discipline, respect for authority, and hard work. Instructors are to help learners keep their non-productive intuition in checks, such as mindlessness or aggression. This strategy was in response to progressivism techniques frequent in the Twenties and 30s (Barnes, 2008). William Bagley introduced the concept of essentialism in 1934. Other supporters of Essentialism are James Koerner, H.G.

Rickover, Theodore Sizer and Paul Copperman. Perennialism Perennialism claims that the aim of education is to ensure that learners acquire understanding about the excellent concepts of civilization. These concepts have the potential for fixing problems in any era. The focus is to educate concepts that are long-term, to seek sustained facts, which are constant, as the natural and human planets at their most essential level, do not change. Educating these constant concepts is critical. Humans are logical people, and their minds need to be expanded.

Thus, cultivation of the intelligence is the most important in a beneficial education. The challenging curriculum concentrates on acquiring cultural knowledge, pushing kids' growth in enduring professions. The loftiest achievements of humankind are emphasized -- the excellent works of art and literature, the principles or laws of science. Supporters of this educational viewpoint are Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler. Experimentalism Experimentalism appeared from the concepts of progressivism, pragmatism, and Reconstructionism. They have a common historical break from the most conventional concepts of idealism and realism.

The essentialist concept that truth, knowledge, and morality exist as absolute and outside people is disputable (Segall & Wilson, 2004). The growing trust in the scientific technique, the capability of people to make their machines, principles and law and the point that such man-made technology would work for them required an accompanying philosophy. Experimentalism served that philosophy. Managers are not exclusively conveyors of age-old wisdom; they are both the conveyers of the standard literacy of the time and the guiders of trial-and-error, exploratory learning.

Existentialism Existentialism is the cultural and philosophical concept, which claims that the starting point of philosophical reasoning must be the encounters of the person. Ethical and scientific reasoning together cannot be sufficient to comprehend human existence, so a further set of groups, controlled by" authenticity," is necessary to comprehend human existence. Existentialism started in the mid-19th century as a response to the then-dominant methodical philosophies, such as those designed by Kant and Hegel.

Kierkegaard S, usually regarded to be the first existentialist thinker, posited that a person is completely accountable for providing meaning to life and for leading a passionate and sincere life. Other well-known supporters associated with the philosophy were Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, Gabriel Marcel, Simone de Beauvoir, Karl Jaspers and Fjodor Dostoyevsky. Differences between the four Educational Philosophies Although the notions of existentialism and essentialism seem to be similar often, there are still serious variations regarding primary ideologies.

First, essentialism states that all things are created with a set, essence that describes them. Existentialists, notably Jean-Paul Sartre, go against this idea as they declare that people are born with no definition or purpose. As such, they must act through free will and choice to create meaning to an innate purposeless life. Essentialists also believe that life has an important purpose and meaning, but it is up to the person to find that purpose. Existentialism is the contrary.

Existentialists declare life is meaningless, and the person must work to create purpose or meaning into their life (Barnes, 2008). In order to advance the variations between these philosophies is to analyze what they are supporting. Essentialism demands more self-examination and discovering the "essence" that already prevails, while existentialism is more of a proactive approach that requires the person to search for meaning in an otherwise useless life.

On the other hand, existentialism contends that the existence comes before essence referring to how a person can exist without any preconditioned significance or "essence" in their life. This difference with the essentialist believed "essence comes before existence" that indicates the person cannot exist without the preconditioned implicit significance or "essence" of that individual's life. There must be a set feature that the person has within him or herself to exist. This "essence" allows there to be only one purpose in the individual's life (Segall & Wilson, 2004).

Thus, essentialism eventually states the important meaning to life must be established. However, existentialism makes life useless through the personal actions of free will. For the experimentalist, the world is a dynamic place. People experience reality. Fact is what currently functions. Goodness is what is approved by public test contrary to perennialism, essentialism, and existentialism. The experimentalist freely allows change and constantly endeavors to discover new ways to expand and improve community. The experimentalist would favor education with a heavy focus on social topics and encounters.

Learning would happen through an inquiry or problem-solving structure. Instructors would aid students or consult with students who would be actively engaged in discovering and experiencing the world in which they live (Bigge, 2012). For perennialism, the fact is a world of purpose. Such facts are exposed to people through study and sometimes through heavenly acts. Rationality is the source of goodness. Perennialists favor an education curriculum of topics and doctrine, trained through highly regimented routine and behavior control.

Educational institutions for the perennialists are available mainly to expose the reason by educating eternal truth. The instructor tells and interprets. The learner is an inactive recipient. Because the truth is eternal, all reforms in the school atmosphere are mostly trivial. How the selected philosophy would be effective in the American school system.