Philosophies of
Education
Sherwin E. Balbuena
EdD Educ’l Leadership
DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA, SR. MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Existential
Questions
What is life?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
What am I living for?
What is reality?
Is the universe real?
What is good to do?
How should I live life meaningfully?
In the school
context…
Why do I teach?
What should I teach?
How should I teach?
What is the nature of the learner?
How do we learn?
Five Major
Philosophies of
Education
(Bilbao, et al)
Essentialism
Progressivism
Perennialism
Existentialism
Behaviorism
Essentialism
Why teach?
This philosophy contends that
teachers teach for learners to
acquire basic knowledge, skills,
and values.
Essentialism
What to teach?
Basic skills or the fundamental R’s -reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, right
conduct-- as these are essential to
the acquisition of higher or more
complex skills needed in
preparation for adult life.
Curriculum includes the traditional
disciplines such as math, natural
sciences, history, foreign language,
and literature.
Essentialism
How to teach?
Essentialist teachers emphasize
mastery of subject matter. They
are expected to be intellectual
and moral models of their
students.
Progressivism
(Pragmatism or
Experimentalism)
Why teach?
Progressivist teachers teach to develop
learners into becoming enlightened and
intelligent citizens of a democratic
society. They teach learners so they may
live fully NOW not to prepare them for
adult life.
Progressivism
 What to teach?
 Need-based and relevant curriculum. This is
a curriculum that “responds to students’
needs and that relates to students’ personal
lives and experiences.”
 More concerned with teaching the learners
the skills to cope change. Change is the only
thing that does not change.
 Natural and social sciences. Teachers expose
students to many new scientific,
technological, and social developments,
reflecting the progressivist notion that
progress and change are fundamental.
Progressivism
 How to teach?
 Progressivists teachers employ experiential
methods. They believe that one learns by
doing. (John Dewey)
 Problem-solving method makes use of the
scientific method.
 “Hands-on-minds-on” teaching
methodology (e.g., field trips during which
students interact with nature or society).
Teachers also stimulate students through
thought-provoking games and puzzles.
Perennialism
(Rational
Humanism)
Why teach?
To develop the students’ rational and
moral powers.
Belief in the primacy of reason and in the
human’s ability to make rational
judgments about the goodness of things
(Adler & Hutchins).
Perennialism
What to teach?
The perennialist curriculum is a universal
one on the view that all human beings
possess the same essential nature.
Heavy on humanities and general
education.
Great Books.
Perennialism
How to teach?
The perennialist classrooms are “centred
around teachers”. The teachers do not
allow the students’ interests or
experiences to substantially dictate what
they teach. They apply whatever creative
techniques and other tried and true
methods which are believed to be most
conducive to disciplining the students’
minds.
Existentialism
Why teach?
To help students understand and
appreciate themselves as unique
individuals who accept complete
responsibility for their thoughts, feelings,
and actions.
Existence precedes essence.
Education of the whole person, not just
the mind.
Existentialism
What to teach?
Gives a wide variety of options from
which to choose.
Emphasis on the humanities.
Vocational education to teach children
about themselves and their potentials.
In the arts, students are encouraged to
practice individual creativity and
imagination.
Existentialism
How to teach?
Focuses on the individual.
Learning is self-paced, self-directed.
Individual contact with the teacher.
Teachers remain non-judgmental and
take care not to impose their values on
the students; since values are personal.
Behaviorism
Why teach?
Student’s behavior is a product of his
environment.
Behaviorism
What to teach?
Teach students to respond favorably
to various stimuli in the
environment.
Behaviorism
How to teach?
Arranges environmental conditions
so that students can make the
responses to stimuli.
e.g., well-managed classroom, use
of attention catchers and incentives.
Summary
Other
Philosophies
(accdg. to
Eisner)
Reconstructionism/Critical Theory
Religious Orthodoxy
Reconceptualism
Cognitive Pluralism
Reflection
What philosophies of education
do our schools adhere to?
In the historical perspectives of
our educational system?
Thank you!
There are as many worlds as there
are ways to describe them.
NELSON GOODMAN