Philosophies of Education: Their Implications to Teaching and Learning
Philosophy
1. Essentialism
William Bagley(1874-1946)
American educator
It holds that our culture has a
core of common knowledge
that the schools are obligated
to transmit to students in
systematic, disciplined way.
According the essentialist
philosophy, schooling should
be practical and provide
children with sound instruction
that prepares them to live life.
In education, it is a philosophy
holding that certain basic ideas
and skills or disciplines
essential to one’s culture are
formulable and should be
taught to all alike by certain
time-tested methods. The
educational institutions as far
as essentialism is concerned
are the agencies for the
propagation and perpetuation
of these long-cherished
cultural traits and not an entity
to oppose such values.
What to teach (Content) How to teach(Strategies) Why teach (Rationale) Related
quotes/Remarks
*Academic content *Mastery of the subject matter
*Walk the talk”-Teachers are expected to be moral
*To help learners acquire “Values are both
and intellectual models of their students; “fountain basic knowledge, skills taught and caught.”
*Fundamental r’s—reading, of information and paragon of virtue” (Social and values and have
Learning Theory)
’riting, ‘rithmetic, right In Social Learning Theory , it is said that people disciplined, practical “Children need
conduct learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, minds capable of applying models rather than
and outcomes of those behaviors. According to
Bandura, “Most human behavior is learned schoolhouse lessons in critics.”(Joseph
*Traditional disciplines— observationally through modeling: from observing the real world Joubert)
others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors
math, natural science, are performed, and on later occasions this coded
history, foreign language, information serves as a guide for action.” Social *To transmit the traditional “The teacher is
learning theory explains human behavior in terms
literature of continuous reciprocal interaction between
moral values and engaged, not simply
cognitive, behavioral, and environmental intellectual knowledge in the training of the
influences. Necessary conditions for effective
*Values hailed and modeling:
that students need to individual but in the
considered important by 1.Attention -Includes distinctiveness, affective become model citizens formation of the
society valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value.
One’s characteristics (e.g. sensory capacities,
proper social
arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement) *To propagate and life.”(John Dewey)
affect attention. perpetuate long-cherished
2.Retention — remembering what you paid
attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental cultural traits to make “The future of the
images, cognitive organization, symbolic students “culturally nation is on the
rehearsal, motor rehearsal
3. Reproduction — reproducing the image. literate” shoulders of
Including physical capabilities, and self- teachers and how
observation of reproduction.
4.Motivation — having a good reason to imitate. *To instill students with they teach kids; the
Includes motives such as  past (i.e. traditional the essentials of future of the world is
behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and
vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced
academic knowledge and in the classrooms
model) character development where the teachers
are….”(Richard
*Observance of core requirements, longer school
day, a longer academic year
Reginald Green)
*Use of prescribed textbooks
*Drill method/ Exercise(Law of Exercise)
*Enhanced lecture method
*Memorization and discipline
36
 2. Existentialism
Jean Paul Sarte
It is a philosophical doctrine which
emphasizes the freedom of
human beings to make choices in
a world where there are no
absolute values outside man
himself. It focuses on the
experiences of the individual.
It emphasizes creative choice, the
subjectivity of human experiences
and concrete acts human
existence. Education for the
existentialists should enable man
to make choices for his life.
The decisions that man makes
will enable him to realize what
kind of a person he will be and
will make him distinct from other
people, and if a person has
developed and is aware of his
own identity, he will find meaning
and purpose for his existence. It
should be a means to open his
very eyes to the naked truth of his
existence and be aware of his
status quo and in so doing
education serves as a guiding
spirit for him in making prudent
decisions and wise actions.
*Wide variety of options
*Humanities-given
emphasis to provide
vicarious experiences to
help unleash students’
creativity and self-
expression
*In History, focusing on
actions of historical figures
to give models to students
*Vocational education to
discover students’
potentials
*Arts to encourage
individual creativity and
imagination
*Learner-centered methods
*Learning is self-paced and self-
directed.
*Strategies encouraging individual
creativity and imagination
*Individual contact with students
*Values clarification strategy
*Teachers believe that the
classroom should be a market
of free ideas that would
guarantee complete individual
freedom. The student must be
allowed to decide for himself and
undertake activities which he
believes are significant and
beneficial in his life, whereas, the
teacher should only act as a
guide, a resource person or
facilitator of learning and must not
interfere in the decisions of the
student. The teacher has “the
right to teach his students how
to think but not what to think.”
*Methods promoting MIs and LS
of students
*Academic freedom is
encouraged.
37
*To help students
understand and
appreciate themselves as
unique individuals
accepting complete
responsibilities for their
thoughts and actions
*To help students define
their own essence by
exposing them to various
paths they take in life and
by creating an
environment giving them
freedom to choose their
own way
*To educate the whole
person-promoting holistic
development of students
“A teacher’s purpose is not to
create students in his own
image, but to develop
students who can create their
own image.”--Unknown
“The essence of
education is not to stuff
you with facts but to help
you discover your
uniqueness, to teach you
how to develop it, and
then to show you how to
give it away.” (Leo
Buscaglia)
“Education is to allow the
good in every person to
break through the rock
that imprisons it and
bring it into the light
where it can blossom and
give off its radiance.”
“I am the captain of my
fate and the master of my
soul.”
. “ It is the supreme art of
the teacher to awaken joy
in creative expression
and knowledge.” (Albert
Einstein)
“In teaching, we do not
impose our wills on the
student, but introduce
him to the many
mansions of the heritage
in which we ourselves
strive to live, and to the
improvement of which we
ourselves dedicated.”
(Israel Scheffler)
“Every student can learn,
just not on the same day,
or the same way.”(George

3. Progressivism
John Dewey(1859-1952)
American educator
It claims that the child’s growth
and development as an
individual depend on his
experiences and self-activity.
It emphasizes that
educational concern must be
on the child’s interests, desires
and the learner’s freedom.
It asserts that learning is a
dynamic or active process and
a learner learns best if he is an
active participant in the
learning process.
Progressive education begins
with the child. Human kind is a
constant state of change, and
education makes possible a
future that is better than the
past.
*Needs-based and relevant *Experimental methods
curriculum
(Learning by doing)
*Problem solving methods
*Curriculum that responds *Hands-on-minds-on teaching
to the students’ needs and
methodology—field trips,
that relates to students’
personal lives and
thought-provoking games and
experiences puzzles
*Principle of self-activity
stimulating thinking and
*Skills that help students
cope with change reasoning
*Use of MIs and LS of students
*Processes in gathering and in devising learning activities
evaluating information and
in problem solving *It stresses group discussion
and group activities as effective
*Natural and social means of self- expression and
sciences
development.
*New scientific,
technological, and social
Effective teaching takes into
developments account the whole child, his
interests and needs in regard to
cognitive, affective and
psychomotor areas.
38
The aim of education is to
teach students to think
rationally so that they may
become intelligent,
contributing members of
the society.
*To develop learners into
becoming enlightened
and intelligent citizens of
a democratic society
*To teach learners so they
may live life fully Now
Evans)
“Learning is not attained
by chance, it must be
sought for with ardor and
attended to with
diligence.”(Abigail Adams)
. “Teaching is more than
imparting knowledge, it is
inspiring change.
Learning is more than
absorbing facts, it is
acquiring
understanding.” (William
Arthur Ward
“We learn by example
and by direct experience
because there are real
limits to the adequacy of
verbal instruction.
“(Malcolm Gladwell)
“That one is learned who
has reduced his learning
to practice.” Proverb
“The greater the time
pupils work together and
the greater the
responsibility they take
for their work, the greater
the learning.”
“What I hear, I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I understand.
(Confucius)
 4. Perennialism
Perennial means everlasting.
Perennialism views truth as constant
or perennial. The perennialist
philosophy emphasizes the rational
thinking of human beings; the
cultivation of the intellect that makes
human beings truly human and
differentiates them from other forms
of animals.
It emphasizes on teaching the things
that one deems to be of everlasting
importance to all people everywhere.
Since the distinctive characteristic of
humans is the capacity to reason out,
education should concentrate on
building up rationality.
Developing intellectual and moral
qualities is a must.
Perennialists believe that the main
focus of education rest upon the
ideas and lessons that have lasted
over centuries. They believe that
these lessons are relevant today as
when they were written. The
educator also uses techniques that
have been tested by time and are
also believed to be most beneficial in
disciplining a students’ minds. The
perennialists recommend that the
students learn from studying the
works of history’s finest thinkers and
writers.
Perennialists recommend that
schools spend more time teaching
concepts and explaining why it is
important that the pupil learn these
concepts.
*Universal curriculum
*Humanities
*General education
*Arts and sciences
*The classics in the fields of
knowledge
The curriculum, according
to the perennialists, should
stress intellectual growth in
the arts and sciences.
Students should encounter
in these areas the best,
most significant works that
humans have created. In
regard to any area of the
curriculum, only one
question needs be asked:
Are students acquiring
content that represents
the human races’ most
lofty accomplishments in
that area?
*The classroom is centered
around teachers.
*Applying creative techniques and
other tried and true methods
believed to be the most conducive
to disciplining the students’ minds
*Socratic dialogues or mutual
inquiry sessions to develop an
understanding of history’s most
timeless concepts
*cultivation of the intellect
*HOTS-centered activities
*Focus on principles not on facts
39
*The aim of education is
to ensure that students
acquire knowledge of
these unchanging
principles or great ideas.
*To help students
discover those ideas
most insightful and
timeless in understanding
human condition
*To impart knowledge that
has withstood the test of
time.
*To teach students to
think deeply, analytically,
flexibly, and imaginatively.
“If we neglect the
students’ reasoning
skills, we deprive
them of the ability to
use their higher
faculties to control
their passions and
appetites.” (Aristotle)
Learning is,by
nature,
curiosity.”(Philo)
You can teach a
student a lesson for
a day; but if you can
teach him to learn by
creating curiosity, he
will continue the
learning process as
long as he lives.”
(Clay P. Bedford)
Curiosity is the wick in
the candle of learning.
(William A. Ward)

5.Behaviorism
John Watson
Behaviorism is described
as a developmental theory that
measures observable behaviors
produced by a learner’s response
to stimuli. Responses to stimuli
can be reinforced with positive or
negative feedback to condition
desired behaviors. Punishment is
sometimes used in eliminating or
reducing incorrect actions,
followed by clarifying desired
actions. Educational effects of
behaviorism are key in developing
basic skills and foundations of
understanding in all subject areas
and in classroom management.
According to behaviorism,
knowing is giving the correct
response when exposed to a
particular stimulus. The
behaviorist is not concerned with
how or why knowledge is
obtained, but rather if the correct
response is given.
(https://www.msu.edu/~purcelll/
behaviorism%20theory.htm?
pagewanted=all8/3/11)
It is based on the principle that
desirable human behavior can be the
product of design, rather than
accident.
According to behaviorists, it is an
illusion to say that humans have free
*Behaviorists teachers “ought to
arrange environmental conditions so
that students can make the responses *To modify and shape
to stimuli. students’ behavior by
providing for a favorable
Physical variables like light,
*Techniques on how to environment since they “We are what we are
temperature, arrangement of
respond favorably to furniture, size and quantity of visual are a product of their and we do what we
various stimuli in the environment. do, not because of
aids have to be controlled to get the
environment desired responses from the learners. any mysterious
*To help students to power of human
*Coping mechanisms Teachers ought to make stimuli clear develop and exhibit volition, but because
and interesting to capture and hold desirable behavior in the outside forces over
the learners’ attention. society which we lack any
semblance of control
They ought to provide appropriate have us caught in an
incentives to reinforce positive inflexible web.
responses and weaken or eliminate Whatever else we
negative ones.
may be, we are not
Typical classroom instruction
the captains of our
consistent with the behaviorist
fate, or the masters
theory includes; classroom
of our soul.”
management, rote memorization,
and drill and practice. The
behaviorist approach to teaching
has practical applications in
education. In particular,
understanding basic skills and
core subject knowledge. The
approach of using positive and
negative reinforcements to elicit
desired behaviors of students is
also useful in establishing and
maintaining classroom
management.
40
will. Although we act as if we are
free, our behavior is really determined
by forces in the environment that
shape our behavior.
6. Linguistic Philosophy
Answers questions related to
speech, the language of thought,
semantics of the human mind
Linguistics deals with phonetics,
phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics
Of all creatures of God, only
human beings have received the
gift of speech. According to the
Nativist Theory of Language
Acquisition, speech is innate in
human beings. It is a natural
make-up in them to be capable of
learning a language and of
speaking. To exist as a human
being means to employ the gift of
speech, that is, to be a
communicator. This gift is
essential for human beings to be
social being—beings with and for
others.
Communication stems from a
Latin root communicare which
means ‘to make common’. Its
effectiveness is measured by the
similarity between the idea
transmitted and the idea received.
Communication is more than
speaking. Linguists claim that
spoken words are only 7% of
communication and that body
language, facial expression,
*Effective communication skills-
sending and receiving and
understanding messages
*Ways of communication: verbal,
nonverbal, paraverbal
Verbal-in words
content(semantics) syntax,
diction-oral or written
Nonverbal- through actions/body
language
Paraverbal- how we say-tone,
pacing, volume
*Proper use of language-correct
grammar, precision, coherence
and accuracy, wide vocabulary
*Competence in many languages-
being multilingual
*Communicative competence
It is a linguistic term which refers
to a person’s L2 ability. It not only
refers to the ability to apply and
use grammatical rules, but also to
form correct utterances, and know
how to use these utterances
appropriately Communicative
competence has four
components: grammatical
competence(words and rules),
sociolinguistic
competence(appropriateness),
discourse competence (cohesion
and coherence) strategic
competence (appropriate use of
communication strategies)
Communicative competence
approach
Dialogues
Journal writing/reflection writing
Group discussion
Reporting
Exploring the verbal/linguistic
intelligence of learners through
varied linguistic activities
“The art of communication is the
language of leadership.”
—James Humes
“Communication—the human
connection—is the key to personal
and career success.”—Paul J.
Meyer
“If you improve a teacher’s self-
esteem, confidence, communication
skills or stress levels, you improve
that teacher’s overall effectiveness
across curriculum.”
—Elaine MacDonald
41
To develop the
communication skills of
the learner
To mold persons as to
their very essence
(beings who can
articulate/voice out their
feelings and thoughts)
To train students to send
and receive messages
correctly
“Regardless of the changes in
technology, the market for well
crafted messages will always
have an audience.”
—Steve Burnett
“Precision of communication
is important, more important
than ever, in our era of hair
trigger balances, when a
false or misunderstood word
may create as much
disaster as a sudden
thoughtless act.”—James
Thurber
“Communication is
not only the essence
of being human, but
also a vital property
of life.”
--John A. Piece
To succeed, you will
soon learn, as I did, the
importance of a solid
foundation in the basics
of education-literacy,
both verbal and
numerical, and
communication skills.”
--Alan Greenspan
“Take advantage of
every opportunity to
practice your
communication skills so
that when important
occasions arise, you will
have the gift, the style,
the sharpness, the
clarity, and the emotions
to affect other people.”
—Jim Rohn
tonality, and style constitute the
rest of the 93% .
7. Constructivism
Constructivist learning is
based on students' active
participation in problem-
solving and critical thinking
regarding a learning activity
which they find relevant and
engaging. It potentially has
profound implications for how
current `traditional' instruction
is structured, since it fits with
several highly touted
educational trends, for
example:
*the transition of the
teacher's role from "sage on
the stage" (fount/transmitter of
knowledge) to "guide on the
side" (facilitator, coach);
* teaching "higher order"
skills such as problem-solving,
reasoning, and reflection
*enabling learners to
learn how to learn;
*more open-ended
evaluation of learning
outcomes;
*and, of course,
*How to learn-learning skills
and processes such as
searching, critiquing and
evaluating, relating,
generalizing, reflecting,
posing questions,
researching and
constructing new
knowledge
They are "constructing"
their own knowledge by
testing ideas and
approaches based on their
prior knowledge and
experience, applying these
to a new situation, and
integrating the new
knowledge gained with pre-
existing intellectual
constructs.
*Providing data as basis for
discussion, prediction, hypothesis,
investigation, invention, questions,
research
*Dialogue/Interaction
*Reflection
*Journal/Reaction Paper writing
*Problem-solving and inquiry-
based learning activities
*Hands-on activities
*Group activities/performances
*Concept factory
42
To develop intrinsically
motivated learners
adequately equipped with
learning skills to be able
to construct knowledge
and make meaning out of
them
The art of teaching is the
art of assisting discovery.
--Mark Van Doren
“Learning is
something students
do, NOT something
done to students.”
--Alfie Kohn
Learning
requires active
participation of the
student in a given
learning situation. It
can be proactive or
reactive. The student
has to prepare for the
next learning situation
or he/she has to
actively respond to the
learning situation at
hand. The degree of
participation of the
student in any learning
situation, in a way,
determines the degree
of reception and
retention of the
concepts being
learned.
cooperative and collaborative

43