PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION PAPER 1
Carley Paxton
Foundations of Education
Mrs. Depee
Fall 2012
November 1, 2012
A Teacher’s Philosophy in Education Today
Teachers in today’s society are called to be more than just a student’s “teacher”
at school. It must be a calling or a drive to work with students on an everyday basis to
help each student learn to their full potential. Critical knowledge and skills are very
important to our classroom students, but education should also be centered around realworld problem solving and decision making for the student’s own personal growth in
daily life. As educators, essentialism and progressivism are important factors to
implement into the classroom for the students. These philosophies have very insightful
ideas about how to help each student with basic skills and development, but neither
philosophy can stand-alone. A suggestion would be to mix the two philosophies, take
main ideas of both and apply them into the classroom because both are equally important.
Essentialism is defined, as a critical core of knowledge and skills exists that all
people should posses. No matter what grade level or subject matter, each student will
need to be taught the basic skills and knowledge of that particular course and subject
matter. Each student should know how to read, write, add, subtract, multiply, divide, and
the list goes on. It is important to instill this knowledge in them so they can function
outside of the classroom and in society. Teachers not only will have to teach the material
but will need to be sure each individual student is understanding the material as well.
This philosophy instills into teachers that the primary goals should be to help students
master essential content rather than to help them develop emotionally and socially.
PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION PAPER 2
Examples of how to relay this in the classroom would be to teach material to the class as
a whole, then meet in individual or small groups to go over material again to better assess
if the student in understanding the lesson completely. For essentialism, being sure the
students understand what is being taught is the key for how to execute this philosophy
into a classroom.
Not only is it important to fill the students minds with skills and knowledge about
each subject, but it is also important to have students use their problem solving and
decision making skills in the classroom as well. Progressivism is a philosophy that
emphasizes real-world problem solving and individual development. It is crucial to help
each individual student reach his or her maximum development in a physical, intellectual,
social, and emotional aspect. To implement this into the classroom, teachers will need to
use everyday life and experiences to relate to the subject matter. Going outside for an
experiment with nature or bringing nature inside to help students understand how things
work for more than just what a text book has to say is what progressivism is all about.
Finding ways to apply the lesson to their life can also be a way to apply this philosophy
into the classroom.
To be a teacher in today’s society, keeping up with all the latest technology and
common core standards are substantially important. Bringing these two philosophies into
the classroom will bring more variety and diversity to the students to keep them
intrigued, but also to keep them learning the basic skills and knowledge they will need to
know for a lifetime. By applying the basic principles of both of these educational
philosophies, educators can help individual student’s maximum potential.