Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education/Chapter 1 Supplemental Materials/Why are they important to education? 2
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Gregg Mottinger
Developing a philosophy for education is critical for setting a standard to shoot for in everything your school does and everything you teach. You must have goals and a certain level of excellence that you preach on a daily basis and practice everyday. “A teacher's personal philosophy of education is a critical element in his or her approach to guiding children along the path of enlightenment” Barbara Wilt. (Wikipedia) We has teachers must develop our own personal outlook on the importance of education and instill the significance in all our students. Children are dependent upon older individuals to teach them the ways of the world so that they can be successful adults later on in life. What we preach everyday is remembered by students and plays a huge role in molding and shaping who they will become. All students have tremendous potential to achieve greatness. Through a goal oriented philosophy that stresses hard work, dedication, and perseverance, students will understand the importance of continuing to gain knowledge. My motivation for becoming a teacher is aided by the simple fact that I love to work with children, I am looking forward to helping them develop skills they will be able to use throughout their life. I am truly passionate about making a difference in every child’s life while giving them vital information that will assist them in the future in reaching their true potential.
A philosophy for education helps teachers stay on track when pushing their students to the limits in all aspects of education and learning.
My field of teaching will be physical education and health and I have a great passion for getting all students to be physically active on a daily basis. Developing a philosophy for physical education is vital to success in the classroom. With the alarming increase in obesity in America, it’s pivotal now, more than ever, that student understand how critical it is to eat right and be physically fit. Remaining healthy and active is the key to success in anything you do because if you are not healthy, you can’t reach your true potential. Each student must be pushed to their limits within the confines the physical education classroom. Every student has different ability levels and every student also has the will to work hard, you just have to find a way to bring out their good work ethic. Despite different capabilities among each individual, I will work tirelessly to help each student comprehend all the aspects of each lesson. I believe that by giving a student a chance to show me what they can do, I will be amazed at what each student has to offer to me and to their classmates. Your own personal educational philosophy should always start out with I believe. It’s your thoughts and ideas that you feel are important for achieving greatness. Its important that you gather a variety of information on numerous topics before formulating your outlooks on education. John Dewey believed that learning was active and schooling unnecessarily long and restrictive. (Wikipedia) His idea was that children came to school to do things and live in a community which gave them real, guided experiences which fostered their capacity to contribute to society. Jacques Maritain is another founder of educational philosophy. Maritain's view of education coincided with the Perennialist’s theory of education. Maritain believed that all humans have the power of intellect and that this power gives humans the potential of rationality. (Wikipedia) According to Maritain, all humans have the ability to learn. These are just two of the philosophers that are the founders of educational philosophies. It’s critical to research these brilliant men and gain an abundance of information of educational philosophies.
There are five main philosophies that have been applied to education. These philosophies have greatly impacted the educational system that we have today. There is idealism, realism, perennialism, pragmatism, and essentialism. Idealism maintains that reality is spiritual, mental, and unchanging. (Shaw 2004). Learning is very religious and takes strong beliefs and values. Idealism deals with having a mentor or someone to look up to that helps to guide you through your learning experience. This is where the teacher plays a huge role in molding and shaping the minds of young students. The students look up to the teachers and seek guidance from them. Realism was first started by Aristotle proposed that reality was an objective thing, instead of a spiritual experience.(Shaw 2004). He believed that people grow and mature throughout the course of their life. You take what life gives you and you roll with it by learning from your experiences. Realism is though to be the practical outlook on education. Realism stemmed the development of Perennialism and Essentialism. Essentialism refers to the "traditional" or "Back to the Basics" approach to education. It is so named because it strives to instill students with the "essentials" of academic knowledge and character development. This back to the basics approach focuses on math, science, English, and history. The perennialists base their support of a universal curriculum on the view that all human beings possess the same essential nature: We are all rational animals. (Shaw 2004). Perennialists argue that allowing students to take vocational or life-adjustment courses denies them the opportunity to fully develop their rational powers. (Shaw 2004). This outlook focuses on developing you own unique personality through hard work and dedication. Perennialists seek to help students discover those ideas most insightful and timeless in understanding the human condition. (Shaw 2004). Perennialists urge schools to spend more time teaching about concepts and explaining how these concepts are meaningful to students. Particularly at the high school and university levels, perennialists don’t agree with a concentration on textbooks and lectures to communicate ideas. The person most responsible for the success of pragmatism was John Dewey. The pragmatism movement stimulated schools to broaden their curricula, making education more relevant to the needs and interests of students. (Shaw 2004). Dewey not only believed in the existence of change but welcomed it. He regarded the principles of democracy and freedom espoused in America as representing tremendous progress over the political ideas of earlier times. (Shaw 2004). Pragmatism enthusiasts believe that education should be a perpetually enriching process of ongoing growth, not merely a preparation for adult lives. They also deny the essentialist belief that the study of traditional subject matter is appropriate for all students, regardless of interest and personal experience. ( Kreis, Steven, Sapere). These different philosophies all have different outlooks on education and formulate different opinions. As a teacher, you must decide what you believe in your heart to be most important for learning and preach that everyday to your students while helping them to reach their true potential.
Bold text5 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1 Why is it important to devlop a philosophy of education for your?
A. So students know what is expected
B. So the princple knows why the teacher is teaching
C. to set a standard in everything your school does everything you teach
D. So you can have something to show the superintendent
2 What did John Dewy beleive?
A.that learning was active and schooling unnecessarily long and restrictive
B. that school should be madatory for all
C that school should teach relgious perspectives
D. that teachers should be paid more than doctors
3 What did Jacques Maritian beleive?
A. schooling was not needed at young ages
B.that all humans have the power of intellect and power of rationality and learning
C. schooling was to be taought in an informal fasion
D teaching should be done by the priests
4 What is idealism?
A. that students should be taught through methods of the bible
B. maintains that reality is spiritual, mental, and unchanging
C. reality is impossible to understand
D. all students have the right to an education
5 What does Essentialism refer to?
A. developing you own unique personality through hard work and dedication
B. uderstanding why we must be educated
C. following your dreams and becoming what you want
D. "traditional" or "Back to the Basics" approach to education
Bold textESSAY QUESTION
Disscuss the differences in the five main phiosophies that apply to education and give a little background information on each of the five based on the article that you have just read. If you can, site examples of a couple of the philosophies.
Continue your tour of the five educational philosophies by clicking on any of the five philosophies below, this is a website that will go more indepth on the 5 main phiosophies of education:
[1. Essentialism
2. Progressivism
3. Perennialism
4. Existentialism
5. Behaviorism]
Kreis, Steven., Sapere Aude!., The History Guide. Educational Philosophy. 12 May 2004. http://www.historyguide.org/teach.html. 26 Sept. 2006. Shaw, Larry J. "Five Educational Philosophies." <http://edweb.sdsu.edu/LShaw/f95syll/philos/phprogr.html (September 13,2006). Master, David and Welster, Haly. D &W Teaching Philosophies. 2003 http://www.theteacherspot.com/firstyears/educational_philosophy.htm Wikipedia. “Philosophy of education.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education> (June 16, 2006) Edler, Frank, Materials on the Philosophies of Education. Omaha, Nebraska. February 17 2001.http://commhum.mccneb.edu/PHILOS/phileduc.htm
