12 Common Teaching Philosophies (With Definitions)
Indeed Editorial Team
Updated June 25, 2022
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There are many approaches you can take to teaching. Determining the approach or philosophy that works best
for you is important in terms of educating with intention, prioritizing your teaching goals and effectively sharing
details about your teaching style. If you're looking to transition into an educational role, you may benefit from
understanding what some of the common philosophies are. In this article, we define teaching philosophies and
explore 12 well-known types of philosophies to guide you as you develop your own.
What is a teaching philosophy?
A teaching philosophy is a set of beliefs concerning the practice of pedagogy and the process of learning. The
expression of a teaching philosophy often takes the form of an essay or a verbal response, usually in the context
of a cover letter or response to an interview question. In it, an educator states their core education principles,
discusses a rationale for each and provides practical examples to support their beliefs. Though specific beliefs
are often unique in some way to the educator, teaching philosophies tend to include some common elements:
-Concept of learning: The educator defines what it means for a person to learn or master a concept and describes
an ideal learning situation.
-Concept of teaching: The educator expounds on their educational values and aspirations, defines their
understanding of the teacher's role in education and describes ideal teaching scenarios.
-Student goals: The educator discusses the ideal learning outcomes and what improvements they hope to
produce in their students.
-Teaching methods and strategies: The educator describes the various ways in which they intend to achieve their
student goals, often explaining how each method can facilitate their implementation of teaching and learning
concepts.
-Teacher–student interactions: The educator describes what they believe is the ideal dynamic between a teacher
and their students and explains why they wish to work with their preferred level of learners.
-Assessment: The educator's statement about assessment relates to their methods for measuring improvement,
the types of assessment they use and their beliefs about the accuracy or efficacy of grading, particularly in certain
contexts.
-Professional development: The educator's statement on professional development addresses their personal
and professional goals, how they plan to keep pace or grow as a teacher and how they believe they can measure
their own development.
12 types of teaching philosophies
Though the particulars of a teaching philosophy may be unique to a specific educator, most philosophies fall
under a particular school of thought, or a combination thereof. To help develop your own ideas about education,
consider the following broad categories of teaching philosophies:
1. Behaviorism
The behaviorist school of thought states that students learn behaviors through their interactions. According to
behaviorists, an individual's intrinsic qualities have little bearing on how they behave within an environment.
Rather, the teacher can directly and intentionally influence the quality and consistency of student behaviors with
various strategies. An example of behaviorist thought in practice is positive reinforcement, in which a learner
receives a reward for positive actions. In time, they come to associate these actions with rewards and so prefer
to behave well rather than poorly.
2. Conservatism
In pedagogy, conservatism refers to the belief that the original intended purpose of education was to prepare
learners for entry into an established culture, with its traditional values and social pathways. An educational
conservative is likely to believe teaching to be an act of data transmission and learning to be the combined acts
of obedience and data acceptance. This school of thought may also deny any nonacademic functions of
education, such as the belief that schools also function as environments where young people learn about social
interactions and the value of the individual.
3. Constructivism
The constructivist philosophy states that learners develop knowledge by building on the foundations of previous
learning. Constructivists acknowledge that learners come from different backgrounds, so they carry their unique
set of circumstances and experiences into the shared environment of the classroom. Moreover, the experiences
and knowledge specific to a learner can affect how they receive new information. Aside from these ideas
concerning unique foundations and learning outcomes, constructivism includes the following precepts:
-Social interactions, such as those experienced through discussion and group work, are essential to the
construction of knowledge.
-It's necessary for learners to engage actively in learning activities not only to gain knowledge but also to retain
it and build meaningfully on top of it.
-It's also necessary for individuals to reflect actively on their learning so that they achieve a more complete
understanding of new ideas.
-Learning happens when people can connect new information with what they already know or thought they
knew.
-Motivation and a willingness to reflect on previous learning are crucial to the learning process.
-As learners develop, they become better and identifying relevant information, classifying it mentally and
weaving it into sophisticated systems of thought that incorporate multiple simultaneous ideas.
4. Essentialism
Essentialism focuses primarily or entirely on the teaching and mastery of core basic subjects and skills. In an
essentialist approach, the topics and competencies covered are commensurate with the learners' level of
development. A student at the earliest stage of learning practices simple skills and concepts, which increase in
complexity as the student advances in their learning trajectory. Typically, the subjects or skills that essentialists
emphasize are reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, art, music and foreign languages, with technology
being a common modern addition to the repertoire. Essentialist teaching methods often rely on rote practice
and standardized assessment.
5. Humanism
Humanism is a teaching philosophy that centers on the needs of the student. According to this approach,
students learn best under self-direction, when they have input in what they learn, so it's the goal of the educator
to facilitate a love of and competency for learning. To that end, humanistic educators aim to establish a safe,
nonthreatening environment for learners and openly validate students' feelings as part of the learning process.
Grades play little to no role in a humanistic learning environment since self-evaluation is the only meaningful
form of assessment.
6. Idealism
Idealism, as a teaching philosophy, posits that ideas are the only true reality and the objective of the learner is
to seek the truth. In this understanding of the world, true ideas are ongoing universal constants, so learners can
discover knowledge but not necessarily create it. Some idealists also state that the goal of education is to develop
the sort of mind and skills that can better serve society. An important facet of the idealist approach is awareness
of a role model whose example can guide the learner to an understanding of their place in and contributions to
society.
7. Liberalism
Liberalism refers to a philosophy aimed at cultivating free human beings through exposure to a broad array of
subjects and skills and the development of civic values tested via engagement with important ideas and issues.
A liberalist approach to education is necessarily multidisciplinary, allowing learners some freedom to choose
their path while allowing them the opportunity to develop knowledge in a wide range of subjects. Thus, this
philosophy tends to result in what people commonly call a "well-rounded education."
8. Perennialism
The perennialist teaching philosophy centers on the subject. This approach focuses on the teaching of ideas that
have everlasting and universal value and truth. The teaching focus, then, is on principles such as reasoning and
critical thinking in addition to time-tested concepts from well-known figures such as Plato and Einstein. The
educator is responsible for guiding students in their efforts to think critically and logically and showing them how
to appreciate great everlasting works.
9. Positivism
Positivism — stemming from the Latin "a posteriori," meaning "based on reasoning and facts" — is a teaching
philosophy based on evidence-based learning and verifiable notions. It's a teacher-oriented philosophy that
relies on concrete data and knowledge gained through experiments. Owing to these characteristics, positivism
tends to feature in the sciences and engineering disciplines.
10. Pragmatism
The pragmatist approach posits that the goal of education is to teach learners the knowledge and skills that are
likely to be of practical use to them. To that end, pragmatist educators tend to implement such methods as
project- and play-based learning, experiential learning, experimentation and excursions. What qualifies as
pragmatic is often dependent on the circumstances of the learner, their environment and their time. As societies
evolve in response to changing technologies and lifestyles, the pragmatic teaching philosophy adapts to provide
learners with relevant education.
11. Progressivism
The progressivist teaching philosophy is a student-oriented approach that considers the significance of
individuality and its connection to active learning. Progressivism states that the ideal learning situation is when
the subject matter is relevant to the life of the learner and their abilities. Progressivist educators, therefore, often
try to reveal the relevance of academic topics to stoke the curiosity and engagement of their students. This
approach also emphasizes interaction, cooperation and consideration of other viewpoints as essential elements
of learning.
12. Realism
The realist teaching philosophy states that reality and the mind's perception of it are separate phenomena. In
reality, there are objective truths and values, and it's the goal of education to promote rational modes of thought
to uncover what truth is. Educators who the realist philosophy tend to focus on teaching critical thinking and the
scientific method. By these means can learners overcome their preconceptions and biases and approach a more
logical perception.