Critical Theory Of Progressivism In Education

Progressivism in Education Throughout this course we have learned about the different philosophical educational theories. There are four different theories, Perennialism, essentialism, progressivism and critical theory. Perennialism and essentialism are the two traditional theories of education, and Progressivism and critical theory weren’t introduced until about a hundred years ago. The purpose of these four theories is to answer four basic questions: What is the purpose of education?, What is the content of the school curriculum? What is the place of students? And what is the role of teachers? Perennialists believed that students should understand the unchanging ideas of western civilization. Essentialists believe that there is a common core of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way. Unlike Essentialists, progressivists believe that the main focus of education should be focusing on the child as a whole, with hands on learning (philosophical perspective).These theories are the basis for how the education system is run, a combination

In order to continue this, progressivist’s views and ways of teaching need to be taught to upcoming teachers. As teachers it is important to attend to the students as a whole, not only making them better learners, but also better people showing not only intellectual growth, but growth in other things such as social skills. Making the child “the center of gravity” will lead to students getting a better understanding of learning and will help them grow intellectually (Alfie Kohn). Meaning since each student is so different from one another it is important to see what works best for each student, and meet their needs before anything else. Having a largely progressivist approach on teaching will greatly benefit