Which Philosophy Best Suits You?
Upon entering the field of education, I am faced with many questions. Will the students like me? Will I have a large class? Will I be a good teacher? A few of the questions that definitely need to be answered before I enter the classroom, are what methods should I use to teach? What aspects of which methods will work best for me? What philosophy best exemplifies the way I want to bestow the learning process to my students? In my quest to become an elementary teacher I shall use a variety of aspects from past philosophers of education. As long as each child is learning, I feel that I am fulfilling my goal, and a difference is being made, I am on my way to a successful classroom.
Of all the philosophies that I have been taught and researched in my Education classes, I feel that I will probably use Essentialism, the most dominant and widely accepted philosophy currently in classrooms today. For example, I think that after a lesson is taught each student should have to take a test to evaluate how well they have understood the information, and hopefully, be able to demonstrate to me how well I have taught the information. Mastery of the material should be practiced in the classroom. The student may not go any further in a lesson until the proposed idea has been taught and mastered.
My belief in Perennialism, the second philosophy of my choice, is not as strong as Essentialism, although I feel that I will use a few aspects, such as discussion in the classroom and writing of essays. I feel students are more open and opinionated when asked questions and may feel comfortable knowing that they can ask questions and discuss their answers freely. Two key points of this philosophy I find myself using even now within the classes I attend are time on task and precision. Dividing my time appropriately and allowing enough time to complete work, as well as goal of completion. Also setting a schedule so I know when I need to attend to certain tasks. The same idea will expectantly reflect on my students as they see that I set dates as a guideline to manage my time appropriately, as well as their classroom time.
In today’s educational system, multiple philosophies exist. Each teacher instructs based on what they think is most effective. The five philosophies that are mostly used today include the following: Essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionism, and existentialism. A significant amount of teachers teach in their own styles involving one or multiple of the philosophies mentioned above. My personal philosophy of education involves a student centered classroom. What is covered in class should be the interests of the students’. Doing this will keep the students focused on the material being taught. When students are not taken into consideration during the creation of lesson plans, they tend to be distracted with other things
There are five main philosophies that describe education: Essentialism (the back-to-basics approach which strives to teach students the essentials), Progressivism (which stresses individuality), Perennialism (which is the teaching of philosophies that have been around for hundreds of years), Existentialism (which give the students the choice of when to study and when not to), and Behaviorism (which lets teachers use reinforcement to achieve the desired behaviors which need to be used in the class room). Essentialism was the main philosophy used in earlier classrooms, and should be adopted back into the classrooms of today.
A teacher’s personal philosophy of education is a critical element in his or her approach to guiding children along the path of enlightenment. Hence, there are five key educational philosophies recognized in the field of education. These include, Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism, Existentialism, and Behaviorism (Sadker & Sadker, 1994, p. 382-83). Each carries both positive and negative tenets, at least in my opinion. Therefore, I prefer an eclectic discernment in my quest of an educational philosophy. Because, my idea of the perfect teacher is one, who inspires learning in addition to just relating the required facts. A certain amount of creativity, enthusiasm, and motivation is required of the teacher. Certainly, this is a tall
There have been many philosophies passed down through the years by many great educators. Views and opinions that have varied from individual to individual. Some ideas were widely accepted and others were not. I feel that it is important for every educator to obtain their own individual educational philosophy. An individual philosophy is good way to help an educator become grounded in what they believe and strive to make that philosophy happen in the classroom. It is a belief that should be strongly believed in and in the end have an impact on the people it is aimed for, which is the students. Over the last few years, I have developed a philosophy that I strongly believe in, because it has proven itself to me, and I want to prove it to others. The philosophy I have developed is that education is the key that opens the doors of opportunity and every student needs to understand the opportunities that await them with an education no matter who they may be.
Many of my students are functioning on grade levels ranging from kindergarten to 9th grade, so the material I chose must be chosen wisely. I primarily use three of the types of educational philosophies, but have used all 5 in various ways during my years teaching. Beginning with perennialism, I use my previously learned knowledge from real life experiences to talk with my students about life outside of the classroom. The delivery of my knowledge is to advise students on how to discipline themselves to become productive citizens in the community. Next, idealism is used in my classroom by establishing goals for my students to achieve. Students are given annual goals based on their needs, my instruction, and assessments. Then, realism is implemented by relating curriculum and applying it to real life events. For
All six of the major educational philosophies Perennialism, Progressivism, Essentialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstruction, and Behaviorism are in my opinion feasible in the classroom. However, I have chosen Essentialism as the primary philosophy I would like to employ in my classroom for several reasons. Although I think all six would result in learning, which is the primary purpose of education, I think that Essentialism is superior to the other five for my classroom. I feel this way because it embraces the purpose or original goal of public education, it allows lessons to be gauged to all different learning styles, and finally because essentialism employs methods of teaching and discipline that I believe work exceptionally well with my content specialization.
To be a teacher it is imperative to have philosophies on teaching; why you want to teach, how you want to teach, and what you want to teach. There are six main philosophies of education; essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, existentialism, perennialism, and reconstructionism. My two strongest philosophies are progressivism and existentialism. Progressivism in short is the philosophy where the student utilizes their ability to access knowledge for themselves with a method they have discovered on their own instead of simply being told answers. This creates deeper thinking. Existentialism is the philosophy that the student decides how and what they will learn, they also decide what they think to be true and false. This creates
334). It also focuses on key subject areas in the class that are crucial when running a classroom based on this teacher-centered philosophy. These core subjects, based on Roberson (2014), involve: math, social studies, and science (p. 344). It is clear that Essentialism reminds whoever the source of information which is given to the students is directly from the teacher. A teacher, who is following this philosophy, knows that the information the teacher provides to the students is, “based on knowledge and evidence-based experience” (Elgstrom & Hellstenius, 2011, p. 721-722). Essentialism, according to Elgstrom & Hellstenius (2011) also plays an effective part in teaching when key elements of discipline and hierarchy are in play (p. 721-722). Advantages in essentialism include, school work that is coordinated and prepared by the teacher for the students (Roberson, 2014, p. 345). Disadvantages for essentialism involve how well the teacher and the student process all the information. For the teacher it involves how well the teacher teaches the subjects and for the students; on how well they can score on the test remembering the information. Roberson (2014) says that when not meeting up to the standards of the testing, teachers are more likely to take the blame than students
Essentialism is Essentialism refers to the "traditional" or "Back to the Basics" approach to education.
Considering the traditional teaching methods and the abundance of test-taking in schools, it is evident that the philosophical theory, Essentialism, has a strong presence in classrooms. Although Essentialism affects policymakers, parents, and the mass public, it most importantly affects the students. By deeply analyzing the issue of an overwhelming Essentialist presence in education, one can conclude that Essentialism is the root of contemporary issues in education.
First and foremost, I believe that the teacher should be in control of the classroom. Students are young, and they do not usually know what is best for them. Therefore, the teacher should be the one to choose the lessons and decide what is going to be taught each day. This traditional practice of orienting the class around the teacher is one of the main principles of the essentialist philosophy. To encourage this in my classes, I w...
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
In my experience, I grew up in a school system that incorporated the essentialism philosophy into their teaching styles. My teachers focused on reaching standards set by the state. The students were informed of what was expected of them and how the curriculum would be set in order to reach these goals. We were taught the basic subjects which were English, math, history, and science. I went to high school in the Kern High School District and they had these A-G requirements which every student who wanted to graduate had to complete. Only one of these requirements met the cul...
My main goal as a teacher is primarily to provide students with the knowledge that will help them further excel in their everyday lives, but also to teach students to apply the knowledge they gained and take advantage of opportunities that will enrich their lives. Many times, students learn better when they feel a certain subject is relevant in their lives. I feel that it is important to have a curriculum that is based on the student’s interest, experience and capabilities. Having a textbook integrated in a curriculum is important, but a student will have a better understanding of the subject area when experience is involved. Although there are many different techniques to education, I feel that the philosophy of progressivism and essentialism best fits my style and belief of teaching. These teaching philosophies focus around student needs, democracy, and the basics of education.
My philosophy of education is a combination of essentialism and progressivism . I feel that knowledge can be learned from a textbook, but I also want my students to use other means of knowledge. I fell in certain times, I should be the center of the classroom and other times, the students should be the center. Education is about the students and I am there to guide them through their journey. I think it's important to let children learn by exploring. By doing this, they choose what information is important and should be retained. When it comes to learning, students should always be in the center. The teachers are only there to mentor and improve upon a child's skills. In my mind progressivism with a mix of essentialism is the best philosophy for me to follow.