Chapter 8 lesson 1

PERENNIALISM
A teacher-centered philosophical school of thoughts.
Perennial means lasting for many years, ever lasting, permanent, immortal. Thus perennial focus on
things that lasts for many years.
A conservative philosophy.
Two Branches of Perennialism
1. Religious Perennialism – focus on moral and religious development relies on revelation.
2. Lay Perennialism – focus on intellectual development and relies on reasoning.
Perennialism and Aim of Education
• Basic thing is to develop intellect of the students.
• It is concerned to teach students to think rationally and develop minds to think critically.
• Develop of leadership qualities and selfcontrol.
• Focus on education should be the ideas that have lasted for centuries.
People of Perennialism
Robert Hutchins (1899-1977)
• Perennialist educator who strongly believed in having traditional liberal arts in all schools.
• Introduced the Great Books program.
• Wanted NO extracurricular activities in schools… said they were irrelevant to the learning process.
• Professor and Dean at Yale Law School.
Montimer Adler (1902-2001)
• Helped Hutchins organize the Great Books program.
• Proposed a single elementary and secondary curriculum for all students, with no curricular
electives except the choice of a second language.
• Professor of Philosophy at Columbia
University.
Perennialism and Curriculum  Universal curriculum.
• Focus on Great Books.
• Teaching everlasting and enduring things.
• Core curriculum consists of language, history, mathematics, arts and music etc.
• Vocational and industrial types of education may be included.
Role of Teachers
• Teachers is prominent and dominant throughout the classroom.
• Teacher is authority and source of knowledge because of knowledge, experience and training.
• Teacher is an Encyclopedia.
• Teacher is a role model.
Role of Students
• The role of the students is to understand the pre-established law and order.
• Students must be hardworking, dutiful, obedient and interested.
• Character building of students.
Discipline
• Discipline plays a pivotal role in the class.
 • Noisy class is unacceptable.
• Respect for authority.
Teaching Methods
• Socratic method (in which method is used as an approach of teaching).
• Students participate in the discussion but finally it will be concluded by the teacher.
Criticism
• Focus on the past.
• It is called backward looking approach.
• Specific subject centered.
EXISTENTIALISM
A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or
indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and
responsibility for the consequences of one’s act.
Existentialist
Soren Kiekergaard
• Viewed as Father of Existentialism
• Felt individual was responsible for giving life meaning and living that life passionately.
• Focused on subjective experiences of human rather than the object truths provided by math and
science.
Jean-Paul Sartre
• In 1945, adopted Existential term to describe his philosophy.
• Major concept of his philosophy was freedom and responsibility.
• “Man first of all exist, encounters himself, surges up in the world and defines himself afterward.”
Karl Jasper
• “Existenz philosophy” is the way of thought by means of which a man seeks to become himself.
Focus on conditions of human existence:
• Emotions.
• Actions.
• Responsibilities.
• Thoughts.
• Meaning or purpose of life.
Beliefs of Existentialism
• Existence precedes essence.
• Human essence is determined through life choices.
• Philosophy encourages preservation in spite of absurdity.
• Philosophy helps people to avoid living their lives in ways that put them in danger of having a
breakdown of everything meaningful.
Existentialism Philosophy in Education
• Teacher must facilitate choices for students.
• Let the child take the first step and the teacher guide the next.
• Teacher prepare students for success and failure.
Roles within Philosophy
 • Students has freedom to make choices within their education. They are ultimately responsible for
those choices.
• Teacher, administrators, and school work to facilitate, guide and accept the student’s choices. The
consequences, good or bad, must be taught to student.
Curriculum
The existential curriculum would be one of experience:
• Those experiences set up by the school for the purpose of disciplining students and youth in group
ways of thinking and acting (Smith, Stanley & Shores).
• Series of things that children and youth must do and experience (Bobbitt).
• All experiences children have under the guidance of teachers (Caswell & Campbell).
• A goal or set of values that is activated through a development process and culminates in classroom
experiences for students (Wiles).
Existentialism in the Academic Content Standards Philosophy of Ohio’s Social Studies Academic Content
Standards:
Effective social studies integrate history, geography, economics, political science, other social sciences and
humanities in order to prepare students to be participating citizens. Specifically, social studies.
• Helps students develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for themselves and the
common good;
• Prepares students for their role as citizens and decision makers in a diverse, democratic society;
• Fosters student’s ability to act responsibly and become successful problem solvers in an
interdependent world of limited resources.
BEHAVIORISM
Is an approach to psychology based on the belief that all human actions and responses can be
explained in terms of reflexes conditioned by reward or punishment.
It focuses on the idea that all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment.
The Theorists
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Pavlov did a famous experiment that demonstrate the theory of classical conditions.
• He is known for using dogs for behavioral tests. He used a bell to teach the dogs to know that food
was being given and it resulted in the dogs salivating while waiting for the food. This became known
as classical conditioning.
Edvard Thorndike (1874-1949)
 Thornlike is known for the theory he called the law of effect, which emerged from his research on how
cats learn to escape from puzzle boxes. According to the law of effect, responses that immediately
followed by a satisfactory outcome become more strongly associated with the situation and are
therefore more likely to occur again in the future. In his view, behaviors and responses that are
rewarded will become strengthened and habitual.

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

 Watson believed that human behavior resulted from specific stimuli that elicited certain responses.
Watson’s basic premise was that conclusions about human development should be based on
 observation of overt behavior rather than speculation about subconscious motives or latent
cognitive processes.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)
 Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its
consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning is
a method of learning that occur through rewards and punishments for behavior.
The learning goals
• Improving student’s memory.
• Throwing out bad behavior.
The role of Teacher
• Giving students positive reinforcement.
• Providing stimulus materials.
• Dividing the task into small steps.
The role of Students
• Responding to the reinforcement.
• Asking questions for more clarity to the directions.
• Asking for feedback.
• Practicing to remove old habits.
Advantage
• Excellent scores
Disadvantage
• Requires only low – level thinking.
LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY

A philosophy of education whose goal is to develop the learners’ communication skills.

Is the belief that language is at the root of all learning.
Why to Teach?
• To develop the communication skill of the learner because the ability to articulate to voice out
the meaning and values of things that one obtains from his or her experience of life and the
world is the very essence of man.
• To develop in the learner, the skill to send messages clearly and receive messages correctly.
What to Teach?
Communication takes place in three ways:
1. Verbal component – refers to the content of our message, the choice and arrangement of our words.
This can be oral or written.
2. Nonverbal component – refers to the message we send through our body language.
3. Paraverbal component – refers to how we say what we say; the tone, pacing and volume of our voices.

• There is need to teach learners to use language that is correct, precise, grammatical, coherent and
accurate.

• There is need to caution the learners of the verbal and nonverbal barriers to communication.

• Teach them to speak as many languages as you can. The more languages one speaks, the better he or
she can communicate with the world.
 How to Teach?

• Teach a language and communication through experiential way.

• Teachers should make the classroom a place for the interplay of minds and hearts.

• Facilitates dialogue among teachers.

Reporter: Limbona, Mohammad Nadjib L.