EDUCATIONAL

PHILOSOPHIES
Prepared by
LICTAO, SHARON
By definition, teaching philosophy is a set of
statements that identifies and clarify the beliefs,
values, and understanding of a teacher or an
educational institution in general. It is a
partially organized body of knowledge and
opinion of education standards in terms of
concepts and practice.
Why Do Educational Philosophies Matter?
• A clear educational philosophy identifies and explains different
principles and themes that the school’s textbooks or syllabus fail to
exemplify. However, these philosophies are consistent with the
beliefs and values of the teacher or the institution.
• The aim of all the different types of teaching philosophies is to
ensure the complete and balanced development of students,
equipping them with not only intellect but wisdom to prosper.
Education is vocational in the sense that it prepares the youth for all
the dimensions of life. So, teachers impart information that gives a
defined structure but flexible direction to their learning journey.
Understanding Pedagogy
• Pedagogy is a term that describes how teachers
cultivate, sustain, nurture, and transform students. It
encompasses the vision, professional knowledge, and
ideals, as well as the curriculum selection, learning
design, classroom organization, and style of teaching
and lesson delivery. Pedagogy also defines the methods
of assessment the teacher chooses and the overall
control and discipline of the classroom.
Constructivism
• Constructivists believe in active participation. A typical classroom
contains students who are free to explore their ideas and share concepts in
non-traditional ways. It is among the most effective ways of learning today
and one of the go-to teaching philosophies teachers are trying to own.
• Constructivism recognizes the fact that learners construct knowledge
based on their beliefs and experiences rather than passively take in
information.
• Teachers use students’ experiences of the world to help them build their
representations and incorporate new information. It’s almost like adding
words to the dictionary or writing a poem.
Essentialism
• Essentialism is a teacher-centered philosophy that aims to teach basic skills.
Essentialists believe that there is a universal pool of knowledge up for grabs
and the fundamentals of teaching are the basis of the curriculum. This
educational philosophy advocates training the mind by focusing on
transmitting a series of difficult topics for the promotion of students to the
next level.
• The teachers impart knowledge by giving lectures while students take notes
and solve problems.
• The term ends with an assessment of the covered syllabus, and students
continue the same daily schedule for a year. Evaluations are predominantly
through quizzes, exams, and projects.
Progressivism
• Progressivism is a student-centered form of teaching philosophy.
• Students follow the scientific method of questioning, and teachers evaluate them
by assigning projects and portfolios.
• However, instead of dictating and controlling the teaching process,
progressivists facilitate students with what they need.
• Progressivists are active learners and believe that individuality, change, and
progress are essential for education. Teachers believe that students learn best
from what they consider most relevant in their lives, so they base their curricula
on the needs, experiences, interests, and abilities of students.
• They promote collaboration using group activities and problem-solving to
focus on them, not the content or the teacher.
Perennialism
• Perennials are teachers who believe that knowledge passed through the ages should continue
to be part of the curriculum, i.e., the classic work Plato, Einstein, or Thomas Edison.
• Perennials focus their teachings on logic, analytical thinking, and reasoning. To them, only
fixed information over the ages is relevant, and they do not consider student input.
• Perennialism is a subject-centered philosophy in which the educator teaches students to think
rationally.
• A perennial classroom is organized and well-disciplined, and teachers try to guide the thought
process of students towards appreciation of great works such as literature and science
discoveries.
• In this teaching philosophy, the teacher is the main actor on the stage.
Behaviorism
• Behaviorists believe in pain and gain through rewards and
punishments. This is a control-based approach to teaching in which
educators believe that humans react to internal or external stimuli due to
their intrinsic nature.
• This teacher-centered system gives full control to the educator, who
maintains the classroom environment based on student’s behavior.
• Many people see behaviorism as a form of classroom management to
maintain discipline.
• Teachers use intrinsic and extrinsic rewards whenever students perform a
desired behavior. The same concept applies to punishments.
Existentialism
To help students understand and appreciates themselves
as unique individuals who accept complete responsibility
for their thoughts and feelings and actions.
Students are given wide variety of options from which to
choose.
Existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is
self-paced, self-directed.
Linguistic Philosophy
To develop the communication skills of the learner
because the ability to articulate, to voice out the meaning
and values of things that one obtains from his/her
experience of life and the world is the very essence of
man. There is a need for learners to use language that is
correct, precise, grammatical, coherent, and accurate so
that they are able to communicate clearly and precisely.
Social Reconstructionism
Social Reconstructionism is an educational philosophy focused
on reconstructing society. This educational philosophy was
spear headed by a group of progressive educators known as the
“Frontier Thinkers” in the 1920s and 1930s (Webb et. al.,
2010). The goal of the Frontier Thinkers was to create a more
“equitable” society. To achieve such a society, the Frontier
Thinkers called for social reform because they believed the
educational system was not adequately addressing critical
societal issues like war, prosperity, and depression (Webb et.
al., 2010).
SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIVISM
Based on this emphasis, the curriculum provides students with the
opportunity to engage in service learning opportunities that would provide
them with first-hand experiences to study social problems and controversial
issues.

Social Reconstructivism is focused on looking at what is wrong is society

and seeing how it can be improved. Therefore, the instructional methods
used in the classroom are focused on problem solving, critical
thinking, research, and cooperative learning (Webb et. al., 2010).
STUDENTS ROLE
• Within this philosophy, students are called upon to be “change agents.” As such,
they are guided by their instructors to explore issues of inequality in society
and figure out ways to address them. However, “Social Reconstructionist believe
that students are the critical element in bringing about social change” (Webb el.
al., 2010, p. 85).
• With the guidance of the teacher, it is the role of the student to initiate change by
first identifying inequities in society. They then work together with their peers to
research and problem solve ways to address these inequities. Finally, they engage
in active, project-based learning, or service learning outside the school to
become immersed in the societal problem they have identified and apply the
possible solutions they have developed (Webb et. al., 2010).
Creating a safe and democratic environment for their students
so that lessons and topics may be discussed, debated, and all
students voices will be heard.
• Presenting students with material that looks into social
injustices so that their students know that these injustices
exist.
• Creating lessons to inform students but also evoke an
emotional response from their students.
• Being fearless in presenting material to students.
• Setting up a democratic environment in the classroom.
• Inspiring students to be the change they wish to see in the
world.
• Helping to shed light on social inequities.
• Providing students with the knowledge they need and the
critical thinking skills to process it in meaningful ways so they
can make positive changes in society.
• In order to accomplish all of these tasks, Social
Reconstructivist teachers have to take on a leadership role in
the classroom so that they can effectively facilitate student
learning.
TEACHERS ROLE
The role of the Social Reconstructivist teacher is constantly changing as a
result of the changing nature of society. Consequently, metaphors like “shaper
of a new society,” “transformational leader,” and “change agent” have been
used to describe the Social Reconstructionist teacher (Webb et. al., 2010). In
order to be an effective Social Reconstructivist teacher, teachers must be
willing to undergo constant change and updating of their personal and
professional lives and have a very high tolerance for ambiguity.
According to research by Revees (2013), the teachers role in the Social
Reconstructivist classroom includes: