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)

Epistemology—”How do we know what is true?”

This is a live question today—Do 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

Emphasis on a traditional education

Development of the mind Core curriculum Reality is based in the

physical world Teacher-directed learning

Reading, spelling, language arts

Mathematics, U. S. & World History

No vocational education!

Standardized tests

Criterion referenced tests

Not as likely to require portfolios

Using only text books Seated row by row Teacher lecture,

students listen Punishment--attempted

behaviorism but without expertise

Teach the basic civilized skills of reading, spelling and measuring.

Limit education’s responsibility--let industry teach vocational subjects

Writing test Multiple choices True/False Binary-Choice Matching

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 don’t like to leave things the same all the time.

Classroom Management for Experimentalists

Don’t 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 home’s 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 don’t 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 tests

Standardized test

Memory work (“mind is a

muscle”)

Spelling bees

Classroom Management

Assign seats in rows.

Be 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 influenced by its consequences

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

Reconstruction-ists 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

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

1946—right 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 experience

What existentialists would teach

Not the same subjects to everyone, since not everyone would enjoy the same things

They would emphasize self-esteem and a feeling of self-worth

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