Jaydee Coladilla

Child - centered education challenged the traditional

teaching methods of "subject-centered" education in
an attempt to recognize the differences between
students and create a learning environment suitable
for each child's needs. In addition to teaching the
basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, the
original doctrine of the Progressive Education
Association offered the following principles as
necessary elements of education:
the freedom to develop naturally
interest is the motive for all work
teacher as a guide, not a taskmaster
scientific study of pupil development
greater attention to all that affects
the child's physical development
cooperation between school and
home.(Pulliam, 1996)
claims that it can meet the needs of all children.
Individual education programs have been used
extensively to enhance the learning processes of
both disabled and gifted students. The problems
faced by these children in traditional classrooms
have encouraged a move to specialized education
that meets the children's particular needs. The
success of such programs for special needs children
invites the question, shouldn't all children receive the
attention and encouragement individual education
programs provide?
Student-centered philosophies are another essential philosophy that
educators should be aware of. By focusing on the needs of students,
teachers are able to assist and teach students within the classroom
ensuring a higher level of student success. In this report three types of
student-centered philosophies will be discussed which are
progressivism, social reconstructionism, and existentialism.
Student-centered philosophies focus more on training
individual students. These philosophies place more
emphasis on the individuality of students and helping
them to realize their potential. A student-centered
classroom may be less rigid or structured, less
concerned about past teaching practices and drilling
academics, and more focused on training students for
success in an ever-changing world. Students and
teachers typically decide together what should be
learned, as well as how this can best be achieved.
is based on the positive changes and
problem-solving approach that
individuals with various educational
credentials can provide their students.
Progressivist educators are outcome
focused and don’t simply impart learned
facts. Teachers are less concerned with
passing on the existing culture and strive
to allow students to develop an
individual approach to tasks provided to
them.
Guiding minds of Progressivism.

John Jacques John Dewey (1859–

Rousseau (1712–1778) 1952)
John Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau maintained that people are
basically good and that society is
responsible for corrupting them. He
supported education in nature, away
from the city and the influences of
civilization, where the child’s interests
(as opposed to a written set of
guidelines) would guide the
curriculum.
John Dewey
John Dewey proposed that people learn best by
social interaction and problem solvin. Dewey
developed the scientific method of problem solving
and experimentalism. As a result of the varied
opinions emerging from the movement,
progressivism was not developed into a formalized,
documented educational philosophy. Progressivists
did, however, agree that they wanted to move
away from certain characteristics of traditional
schools. In particular, they were keen to remove
themselves from the textbook-based curriculum
and the idea of teachers as disseminators of
information, in favor of viewing teachers as
facilitators of thinking.
The progressivist classroom is about exploration and
experience. Teachers act as facilitators in a classroom
where students explore physical, mental, moral, and
social growth. Common sights in a progressivist
classroom might include: small groups debating,
custom-made activities, and learning stations. Teachers
typically walk freely among the groups, guiding them
using suggestions and thought-provoking questions.
is an educational philosophy that views schools as
tools to solve social problems. Social
reconstructionists reason that, because all leaders are
the product of schools, schools should provide a
curriculum that fosters their development.
Reconstructionists not only aim to educate a
generation of problem solvers, but also try to identify
and correct many noteworthy social problems that
face our nation, with diverse targets including racism,
pollution, homelessness, poverty, and violence. Rather
than a philosophy of education, reconstructionism may
be referred to as more of a remedy for society that
seeks to build a more objective social order.
He wrote Dare the School Build a New
Social Order? in 1932. He called on teachers
to educate students to prepare them for the
social changes that would accompany
heightened participation in science,
technology, and other fields of learning,
without compromising their cultural
education. This text was important in the
development of social reconstructionist
schools in the United States. For social
reconstructionists, the class becomes an area
where societal improvement is an active and
measurable goal.
Existentialism promotes attentive personal consideration about
personal character, beliefs, and choices. The primary question
existentialists ask is whether they want to define who they are
themselves, or whether they want society to define them. Although
freedom and individuality are highly valued American principles,
existentialists argue that there is an underlying message of
conformity. Rather than the belief that the mind needs to
understand the universe, existentialists assume that the mind
creates its universe. Their beliefs incorporate the inevitability of
death, as the afterlife cannot be experienced personally with the
current senses, focusing on the fact that the experience we have
of the world is temporary and should be appreciated as such.