READIN

G MATERIAL

Essentialism

Essentialism tries to instill all students with the most essential or basic academic knowledge and skills
and character development. Essentialists believe that teachers should try to embed traditional moral
values and virtues such as respect for authority, perseverance, fidelity to duty, consideration for others,
and practicality and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizens. The
foundation of essentialist curriculum is based on traditional disciplines such as math, natural science,
history, foreign language, and literature. Essentialists frown upon vocational courses. In the essentialist
system, students are required to master a set body of information and basic techniques for their grade
level before they are promoted to the next higher grade. The content gradually moves towards more
complex skills and detailed knowledge. Essentialists argue that classrooms should be teacher oriented.
The teacher should serve as an intellectual and moral role model for the students. The teachers or
administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn with little regard to the student
interests. The teachers also focus on achievement test scores as a means of evaluating progress. The
essentialist classroom is centered on students being taught about the people, events, ideas, and
institutions that have shaped American society. Essentialists hope that when students leave school, they
will not only possess basic knowledge and skills, but they will also have disciplined, practical minds,
capable of applying lessons learned in school in the real world. Essentialism is different from what
Dewey would like to see in the schools. Students in this system would sit in rows and be taught in
masses. The students would learn passively by sitting in their desks and listening to the teacher. An
example of essentialism would be lecture based introduction classes taught at universities. Students sit
and take notes in a classroom which holds over one hundred students. They take introductory level
courses in order to introduce them to the content. After they have completed this course, they will take
the next level course and apply what they have learned previously. English 101 and English 102 are a
specific example of essentialism.

Perennialism

Perennialists believe that the focus of education should be the ideas that have lasted over centuries.
They believe the ideas are as relevant and meaningful today as when they were written. They
recommend that students learn from reading and analyzing the works by history's finest thinkers and
writers. Essentialists believe that when students study these works and ideas, they will appreciate
learning. Similar top perennialism, essentialism aims to develop students' intellectual and moral
qualities. Perennialist classrooms are also centered on teachers in order to accomplish these goals. The
teachers are not concerned about the students' interests or experiences. They use tried and true
teaching methods and techniques that are believed to be most beneficial to disciplining students' minds.
The perennialist curriculum is universal and is based on their view that all human beings possess the
same essential nature. Perennialists think it is important that individuals think deeply, analytically,
flexibly, and imaginatively. They emphasize that students should not be taught information that may
soon be outdated or found to be incorrect. Perennialists disapprove of teachers requiring students to
absorb massive amounts of disconnected information. They recommend that schools spend more time
teaching about concepts and explaining they are meaningful to students. The only example I can think of
would be a class about religion or history. The instructor would use religious books and historical
documents.

Progressivism

Progressivists believe that individuality, progress, and change are fundamental to one's education.
Believing that people learn best from what they consider most relevant to their lives, progressivists
center their curricula on the needs, experiences, interests, and abilities of students. Progressivist
teachers try making school interesting and useful by planning lessons that provoke curiosity. In a
progressivist school, students are actively learning. The students interact with one another and develop
social qualities such as cooperation and tolerance for different points of view. In addition, students solve
problems in the classroom similar to those they will encounter in their everyday lives. Progressivists
believe that education should be a process of ongoing growth, not just a preparation for becoming an
adult. An obvious example of progressivism would be our class. We are in groups a lot and we actively
learn through discussion. We talk about how what we read can be incorporated into our future teaching
careers. Dr. Theodore takes into account the suggestions from the previous semester's students and
modifies his class accordingly.

After reading John Dewey’s book and discussing his thoughts and ideas in class, one can see John
Dewey's relationship to progressivism. He wanted students to learn through action and being involved in
the processes that will get to the end product. He wanted the students to work on hands-on projects so
learning would take place, rather than memorization. In a regular classroom students just memorize
what they need to know and it goes away after the test. In Dewey’s mind, the students would have to
exercise their brain by problem solving and thinking critically, resulting in learning (even though the
students may not even know it!). This allows the individual's brain to develop, so as the individual grows
learning becomes easier! After attending a school Dewey would have set up, a child would be ready for
the real world and a lot of the everyday setbacks that an individual would experience, such as losing a
button, changing a tire, making lunch, or balancing a checkbook. School would be a lot of hands-on
learning, and the progression of education would not end!

Definition of Humanism

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural

beliefs, affi rms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that
aspire to the greater good.
– American Humanist Association
Humanism is a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by
compassion. Affi rming the dignity of each human being, it supports the maximization of
individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It
advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society,
standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human
beings as a part of nature and holds that values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-
have their source in human experience and culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life
from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and
asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny.
– The  Humanist  Magazine
The principles of humanistic learning theory.
There are several important principles involved in the humanistic learning theory that all lead to self-
actualization. Self-actualization is when all your needs are met, you’ve become the best you’ve can, and
you are fulfilled. While Maslow and the humanists don’t believe that most people reach self-
actualization, their belief is that we are always in search of it, and the closer we are, the more we can
learn. 
 Student choice. Choice is central to the humanistic learning theory and humanistic psychology.
Humanistic learning is student-centered, so students are encouraged to take control over their
education. They make choices that can range from daily activities to future goals. Students are
encouraged to focus on a specific subject area of interest for a reasonable amount of time that
they choose. Teachers who utilize humanistic learning believe that it’s crucial for students to
find motivation and engagement in their learning, and that is more likely to happen when
students are choosing to learn about something that they really want to know. 
 Fostering engagement to inspire students to become self-motivated to learn. The effectiveness
of this psychology approach is based on learners feeling engaged and self-motivated so they
want to learn. So humanistic learning relies on educators working to engage students,
encouraging them to find things they are passionate about so they are excited about learning. 
 The importance of self-evaluation. For most humanistic teachers, grades don’t really matter.
Self-evaluation is the most meaningful way to evaluate how learning is going. Grading students
encourages students to work for the grade, instead of doing things based on their own
satisfaction and excitement of learning. Routine testing and rote memorization don’t lead to
meaningful learning in this theory, and thus aren’t encouraged by humanistic teachers.
Humanistic educators help students perform self-evaluations so they can see how students feel
about their progress.
 Feelings and knowledge are both important to the learning process and should not be separated
according to humanistic psychology. Humanistic teachers believe that knowledge and feelings
go hand-in-hand in the learning process. Cognitive and affective learning are both important to
humanistic learning. Lessons and activities should focus on the whole student and their intellect
and feelings, not one or the other.
 A safe learning environment. Because humanistic learning focuses on the entire student,
humanistic educators understand that they need to create a safe environment so students can
have as many as their needs met as possible. They need to feel safe physically, mentally, and
emotionally in order to be able to focus on learning. So humanistic educators are passionate
about the idea of helping students meet as many of their needs as possible.

The role of teacher and student in humanistic learning theory.

In the humanistic learning theory, teachers and students have specific roles for success. The overall role
of a teacher is to be a facilitator and role model, not necessarily to be the one doing the teacher. The
role of the teacher includes:
 Teach learning skills. Good teachers in humanistic learning theory focus on helping students
develop learning skills. Students are responsible for learning choices, so helping them
understand the best ways to learn is key to their success.
  Provide motivation for classroom tasks. Humanistic learning focuses on engagement, so
teachers need to provide motivation and exciting activities to help students feel engaged about
learning. 
 Provide choices to students in task/subject selection. Choice is central to humanistic learning, so
teachers have a role in helping work with students to make choices about what to learn. They
may offer options, help students evaluate what they’re excited about, and more. 
 Create opportunities for group work with peers. As a facilitator in the classroom, teachers create
group opportunities to help students explore, observe, and self evaluate. They can do this better
as they interact with other students who are learning at the same time that they are.
Humanistic approach examples in education.
Some examples of humanistic education in action include:
 Teachers can help students set learning goals at the beginning of the year, and then help design
pathways for students to reach their goals. Students are in charge of their learning, and teachers
can help steer them in the right direction.
 Teachers can create exciting and engaging learning opportunities. For example, teachers trying
to help students understand government can allow students to create their own government in
the classroom. Students will be excited about learning, as well as be in-charge of how everything
runs.
 Teachers can create a safe learning environment for students by having snacks, encouraging
students to use the bathroom and get water, and creating good relationships with students so
they will trust speaking to their teacher if there is an issue. 
 Teachers can utilize journaling to help students focus on self-evaluation and their feelings as
part of learning. Using prompt questions can help students better understand their feelings and
progress in learning. 

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivism is an important learning theory that educators use to help their students
learn. Constructivism is based on the idea that people actively construct or make their own knowledge,
and that reality is determined by your experiences as a learner. Basically, learners use their previous
knowledge as a foundation and build on it with new things that they learn. So everyone's individual
experiences make their learning unique to them.  

Constructivism is crucial to understand as an educator because it influences the way all of your students
learn. Teachers and instructors that understand the constructivist learning theory understand that their
students bring their own unique experiences to the classroom every day. Their background and previous
knowledge impacts how they are able to learn. Educators are able to use constructivist learning theory
to help their students understand their previous knowledge. If you’re a current or aspiring educator, it’s
important to get the education and credentials you need. But it’s also important to understand learning
theories and how they impact you and your students. This guide will tell you more about the
constructivist learning theory and how it helps you as a teacher.

Principles of constructivism.
There are many specific elements and principles of constructivism that shape the way the theory works
and applies to students. Learn about the different principles of constructivism and how they make up
the whole theory. 

 Knowledge is constructed. This is the basic principle, meaning that knowledge is built upon
other knowledge. Students take pieces and put them together in their own unique way, building
something different than what another student will build. The student’s previous knowledge,
experiences, beliefs, and insights are all important foundations for their continued learning. 

 People learn to learn, as they learn. Learning involves constructing meaning and systems of
meaning. For example, if a student is learning the chronology of dates for a series of historical
events, at the same time they are learning the meaning of chronology. If a student is writing a
paper about history, they are also learning principles of grammar and writing as well. Each thing
we learn gives us a better understanding of other things in the future.

 Learning is an active process. Learning involves sensory input to construct meaning. The learner
needs to do something in order to learn, it’s not a passive activity. Learners need to engage in
the world so they are actively involved in their own learning and development. You can’t just sit
and expect to be told things and learn, you need to engage in discussions, reading, activities, etc.

 Learning is a social activity. Learning is directly associated to our connection with other people.
Our teachers, our family, or peers, and our acquaintances impact our learning. Educators are
more likely to be successful as they understand that peer involvement is key in learning.
Isolating learnings isn’t the best way to help students learn and grow together. Progressive
education recognizes that social interaction is key to learning and they use conversation,
interaction, and group applications to help students retain their knowledge. 

 Learning is contextual. Students don’t learn isolated facts and theories separate from the rest of
our lives—we learn in ways connected to things we already know, what we believe, and more.
The things we learn and the points we tend to remember are connected to the things going on
around us. 

 Knowledge is personal. Because constructivism is based on your own experiences and beliefs,
knowledge becomes a personal affair. Each person will have their own prior knowledge and
experiences to bring to the table. So the way and things people learn and gain from education
will all be very different. 

 Learning exists in the mind. Hands-on experiences and physical actions are necessary for
learning, but those elements aren’t enough. Engaging the mind is key to successful learning.
Learning needs to involve activities for the minds, not just our hands. Mental experiences are
needed for retaining knowledge.

 Motivation is key to learning. Students are unable to learn if they are unmotivated. Educators
need to have ways to engage and motivate learners to activate their minds and help them be
excited about education. Without motivation, it’s difficult for learners to reach into their past
experience and make connections for new learning.