PHILOSOPHY of EDUCATION

ESSENTIALISM

 Educational essentialism is a theory that states that children should learn the traditional
basic subjects and that these should be learned thoroughly and rigorously. An essentialist
program normally teaches children progressively, from less complex skills to more
complex.

EXPLANATION: ESSENTIALISM is one of the Philosophies of Education and it states

that a child should be able to learn the traditional basic languages such as reading, writing,
literature, history, math, science, arts, music etc. thoroughly and rigorously, which means
that they should learn completely. Sa essentialism, tinuturuan ang bawat mag-aaral
progressively which means dapat mauna munang matutuhan ang medyo medaling mga
lesson at pahirap nang pahirap. Halimbawa sa Pilipinas, ang lesson sa elementary as less
complex compared sa high school.

 An educational theory that believes that the purpose of schooling is to impart necessary
knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enable young people to function as fully developed
human beings in the modern worlds.

EXPLANATION: We all know that the purpose of schooling is of course to acquire

knowledge, skills and attitudes that will make every child to be ready to face the real
modern world. Lahat naman tayo nag-aaral para matuto at magamit lahat ng natutuhan
natin sa pagdating ng panahon.

 Schools should be organized to transmit this core of essential material.

(BASAHIN NA LANG ANG PART NA ‘TO, NO NEED TO EXPLAIN)

 Classrooms are teacher-centered.

EXPLANATION: In essentialism, the center of the classroom is the teacher, meaning he/
she has the authority of all his/her students.

Major Proponents: (MGA TAONG NAG-PROPOSE NG ESSENTIALISM)

William Bagley

 An influential member of the Essentialist Committee for the Advancement of American

Education
 Critical of Progressivism and sought to create a philosophy of education stressing the
basics.

E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

 Believed in the importance of cultural literacy and extensive knowledge (facts, names,
events, etc.)

(BASAHIN NA LANG ANG MGA INFO ABOUT SA TAO, NO NEED TO EXPLAIN)

Principles of ESSENTIALISM

 Learning involves hard work and discipline. (EXPLANATION: Of course, hindi

madali ang mag-aaral kailangan hardworking ka at may disiplina. Hindi pwedeng
mawala ‘yan.)
  The teacher has the authority. (EXP: Gaya ng sinabi ko kanina, sa essentialism the
TEACHER is the center of the classroom, siya ang may authority, siya ang
facilitator.)
 The core objective is for the student to learn the essential subjects (which can change
over time). (EXP: Nabanggit na rin kanina, ang objective is matuto ang bawat
estudyante ng mga essential subjects.)
 Schools should use traditional methods of instruction (lecture, rote memorization, etc.).
(EXP: The traditional methods or ways on teaching students are lecturing them,
make them memorize etc. These methods are somehow effective.)
 Vocational courses are frowned upon. (EXP: Sa essentialism, they are discouraging
vocational courses kasi nga doon sila sa essential subjects.)

EXISTENTIALISM

 From the Latin words existere which means “to stand out”.

EXP: Existentialism was derived from the Latin words existere which means “to stand out”
or in Tagalog, “maging angat o mangibabaw sa iba”

 Existentialism in education is a teaching and learning philosophy that focuses on the

student’s freedom and agency to choose their future. Existentialist educators believe
there is no god or higher power guiding their students. Thus, they encourage all students
to exercise personal agency and create their own meaning for life.

EXP: In existentialism, student’s has the FREEDOM. Unlike in essentialism that’s a

teacher centered education. Dito sa existentialism, ang student o ang bata ang gagawa ng
kanyang kinabukasan.

 The term “existentialism” seems to have been coined by the French philosopher Gabriel
Marcel and adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre.

EXP: Ang existentialism ay galing o pinasikat ni Gabriel Marcel at in-adopt ni Jean Paul
Sartre.

 The philosophy of existentialism has not displayed any particular interest in education.
Therefore, it has been observed that the educational implications are derived and deduced
from their philosophy rather than that are developed by existentialists.

EXP: Existentialism kasi is primarily para sa ibang fields like art, wala sa edukasyon kaya
naman ang ipinapalagay ay na-derive lang ito at hindi talaga dinevelop ng mga
existentialists.

 Existentialism sprang from a strong rejection of traditional philosophy, educational

existentialism sprang from a strong rejection of the traditional, essentialist approach to
education. Existentialism rejects the existence of any source of objective, authoritative
truth about metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.

EXP: Ang existentialism is sumulpot dahil sa pag-reject sa mga tradisyunal o common ng

mga paniniwala like ‘yung essentialism na nabanggit kanina.

 Instead, individuals are responsible for determining for themselves what is “true” or
“false,” “right” or “wrong,” “beautiful” or “ugly.” For the existentialist, there exists no
universal form of human nature; each of us has the free will to develop as we see fit.
EXP: In existentialism, every individual is responsible to determine what is true and what
is false, it will depend on the individual whether the information she read are right or
wrong, and if an art is beautiful or not. Ayan ang paniniwala sa existentialism.

AIMS and OBJECTIVES of EDUCATION

 Existentialism is concerned principally with liberal education, freeing man from his
isolation and his anonymity, freeing his mind from the confusions that prevent him from
seeing his situations and his powers.

EXP: From the word liberal education, meaning free o malaya. Every individual will be
free from his isolation or pagkakulong, dahil siya ang sentro ng kanyang edukasyon.

 According to existentialist, education should make a man subjective and should make
him conscious for his individuality or ‘self’. Being self-conscious he will recognize his
‘self’ and he will get an understanding of his ‘being’.

EXP: Ang edukasyon o pag-aaral ay makakatulong sa isang tao upang makilala at

maintindihan niya ang kanyang sarili magkaroon ng kamalayan.

 Every individual is unique. Education must develop in him this uniqueness. It must cater
to individual differences Education must make pupil aware of the infinite possibilities of
his freedom and the responsibilities he must bear in life.

EXP: Alam naman nating hindi tayo pare-pareho, all of us are unique at hindi rin tayo
pare-pareho ng kakayahang matuto. May mga mabilis matuto, mayroon ding hindi. Kaya
naman ang edukasyon dapat ay may sistemang lahat ng mag-aaral ay magkakaroon ng
pagkakataong matuto.

 The most important aim in education is the becoming of a human person as one who lives
and makes decisions about what he will do and be. “Knowing” in the sense of knowing
oneself, social relationship, and biological development, is all the parts of becoming.
Human existence and the value related to it is the primary factory in education.

EXP: The very important aim or goal of education of course is to make a child a human
person who can live freely, make decisions etc. Ayan ang goal ng kaya tayo nag-aaral.

BEHAVIORISM

 Behaviorism is a branch of psychology that, when applied to a classroom setting, focuses

on conditioning student behavior with various types of behavior reinforcements and
consequences called operant conditioning.

EXP: I am sure narinig na natin itong behaviorism, kapag inapply natin ito sa classroom
setting ay mangangahulugan itong kailangang i-condition ang isang bata upang matuto.

 The principles of behaviorism and the techniques of behavioral engineering go back at

least to PAVLOV, WATSON, and SKINNER.

EXP: Sina Pavlov, Watson at Skinner ang sikat na proponent ng Behaviorism.

MAJOR PROPONENTS:

PAVLOV

 Famous for his behavioral with dogs.

  He taught dogs to salivate when he rang a bell.
 Provide a stimulus of food and achieved his desire reflex which was the dog salivating.
 Pavlov was the most known for his used of classical conditioning to train dogs.

EXP: Si Ivan Pavlov ay isang sikat na tao na nagsagawa ng experiment sa mga aso. Siya ay
nakilala sa ginawa niyang ito sa mga aso.

WATSON

 He belived that psychology could become a science when it became possible to predict
responses from stimuli; Psychology should be objective and experimental.

EXP: Si John Watson naman ay naniniwalang ang psychology ay maaaring agham kapag
na-predict ang maaaring responses mula sa mga stimuli.

SKINNER

 Skinner also advocate of education, although many critics argue that what he meant by
education is not education but training.
 Behaviorist consider the child to be an organism who already a highly programmed
before coming to school. This programming is accomplished by among other influences
by Parents, Peers, Sibling, and Television.

EXP: Si B.F. Skinner naman ay isa ring famous advocate ng edukasyon ngunit mayroong
mga nagsasabing hindi pag-aaral ang ginagawa niya kundi training.

1. Some programming might have been bad, but the child has been receptive to it and has
absorbed a lot of it. (EXP: Whether the programming is good or bad, the child will
absorb it.)
2. SKINNER believes that one reason why people have trouble making moral decisions is
that they received contradictory. (EXP: People have difficulties in moral decisions
because they received the contradictory or kabaligtaran.)
3. And Skinner also believed that people should try to create a world of Peace and justice,
and if conditioning can help, then it should be used. (EXP: Lastly, ayon pa rin kay
Skinner na ang tao ay dapat gawin ang mundong may kapayapaan at may
hustisya).

AIMS of EDUCATION (BASAHIN NA LANG ANG AIMS OF EDUCATION, NO NEED

TO EXPLAIN)

Although many people disapprove of the concepts of behavioral engineering, it has increasingly
become part of the educational process.

 Teacher has conditioned to sit up straight and to be quite through looks, grades and
physical punishment.
 When students are emotionally disturbed, conditioning is one way to develop a step-by-
step program through rewards (or punishment.)

ROLES of TEACHERS

 All teachers use behavioral techniques of one kind of another in their classrooms.
Teacher condition students through grades, their attitudes toward them, gestures, and in a
thousand other ways. (EXP: Teachers are conditioning their students through their
grades, attitudes toward them, gestures etc. For example, kaya nag-aaral ang mga
 students because ayaw nilang makakuha nang mababang grades… that’s a form of
conditioning)
 Also, teacher may fail to reward an appropriate behavior in a timely manner. This often
happens in a school were one teacher might reward a particular behavior but another
teacher might not. (EXP: All teachers are not the same, some can rewards a child for
achieving something but some will not. Kasi iba-iba rin ang ugali at paraan ng mga
guro sa pagtuturo.)
 Skinner and other behaviorist would like to see some consensus among educators as to
the kinds of behavior they would like to see reinforced and then use proven methods of
conditioning to achieve such behaviors. (Basahin na lang, no need to explain)
 One of the most important things a teacher can do is learn the theory and the techniques
of the conditioning process. (EXP: As a teacher, you need to learn the techniques used
in behaviorism or in the conditioning process. Kailangan malaman ‘yon ng isang
guro at maunawaan.)
 Teachers must not learn the techniques of conditioning but also use them effectively.
(EXP: Hindi lang dapat matutuhan, dapat itong gamitin ng mga guro sa pinaka-
epektibong paraan.)

PERENNIALISM

 Perennialism Philosophy of Education focused on teaching in a way that it focuses on the

progress of the individual. The philosophy of education is based on the belief that it’s not
the teacher’s job to focus on the group but on the individual.

EXP: Sa perennialism naman, ang isang educator or teacher ay dapat naka-focus sa pag-
unlad ng kanyang bawat mag-aaral. Hindi lang sa buong klase, dapat sa bawat mag-aaral)

 It doesn’t matter if a student is below average in the group; as long as they progress to
their own goals, they’re excelling. (READ THIS, SELF EXPLANATORY NA SIYA.)

 It argues that children should be educated to provide them with the knowledge and skills
they need to succeed across time periods. Perennialist education is designed to provide
children with relevant skills today and will be relevant in the future.

EXP: Ang perennialism naman, ang mga itinuturo sa bata ay ‘yung mga skills na
magagamit niya sa hinaharap. Ibig sabihin, hindi lang ano-ano ang itinuturo dapat
magagamit sa hinaharap.

ROLES OF TEACHERS

 The goal of a perennialist educator is to teach students to think rationally and develop
minds that can think critically. A perennialist classroom aims to be a closely organized
and well-disciplined environment, which develops in students a lifelong quest for the
truth.

EXP: Ang role ng isang teacher na naniniwala sa perennialism ay turuan ang kanyang mga
mag-aaral na mag-isip nang tama, maging rasyunal at kritikal sa tuwing mag-iisip. Ang
klasrum ay dapat organisado na maghahanda sa mga estudyante sa kanilang paglalakbay
sa paghanap sa katotohanan.
CONSTRUCTIVISM

 Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on

our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us
generates our own “rules” and “mental models,” which we use to make sense of our
experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to
accommodate new experiences.

EXP: Sa constructivisim naman from the word “construct,” ang bawat indibidwal lalo na
ang mga mag-aaral ay dapat makagawa ng ating sariling mga patakaran at mga modelo sa
ating buhay. Para sa kanila ganito, Learning is simply the process of adjusting our mental
models to accommodate new experiences.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around
which students are actively trying to construct meaning. (EXP: This means that when
we study, we are searching for the meaning. Naghahanap tayo ng kahulugan ng mga
bagay.)

2. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be understood
in the context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not
isolated facts. (EXP: It means that in order or an individual to understand the
meaning he should understand first the parts of it. To understand the parts, you
must be familiar with the context of the whole o kabuuan.)

3. In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to
perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models. (EXP: As a
future teacher, before teaching we should understand first the mental models of our
students)

4. The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not
just memorize the “right” answers and regurgitate someone else’s meaning. Since
education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to
make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with
information on the quality of their learning. (EXP: I agree on this principle, because I
believe if you really understand something you can construct your own meaning.
Learning is just about memorization or copying your classmate’s answer.)

PROGRESSIVISM

 Progressivism mostly became popular as a result of the work of John Dewey (1897).
Dewey's belief was in the experience that students had, and the fact that children will
learn better by experiencing the idea first hand. He believed that students must try and
fail in order to learn and develop understandings about the world around them. In
connection to the quote by Labaree (2005) above, progressivism is about failing to
succeed, while loving and hating the emotions that follow.

EXP: Progressivism became popular because of this person named John Dewey, he said
that every child must try and fail in order to learn. Ganyan naman dapat, para matuto
kailangan ka munang magkamali.

 According to Labaree (2005), progressivism is known as "child-centered instruction."

This means that everything that is done in the classroom is done for the purpose of
 facilitating and nurturing the student's development. It bases all of the lessons or plans on
the developmental needs of the children, and believes that a child should learn by doing,
rather than by passively watching. Learning is constructed based on discovery and
experience.

EXP: Sa progressivism, child – centered siya ibig sabihin ang mga bata ang sentro ng
edukasyon hindi gaya ng mga nabanggit kanina na ang mga teacher ang sentro. Lahat ng
lessons or lesson plan ay ginagawa batay sa mga pangangailangan ng mga bata. Sabi pa,
learning can be obtained through discovery and experience. Sabi nga, experience is the best
teacher.

 Like pragmatism, progressivism believes that reality is constantly changing, so nothing is

ever static.

EXP: Sabi nga, change is the only constant in this world. Lahat nagbabago kaya dapat
makasabay.

 Students are encouraged to ask "How?" and "Why?" rather than just accepting facts for
what they are. Students are encouraged to problem-solve and be active in the construction
of their answers.

EXP: Ang mga estudyante ay dapat magtanong na “Paano?” at “Bakit?” kaysa sa tanggap
lang sila nang tanggap ng mga facts. Hindi matututo ang bata kung puro siya facts,
kailangan matuto siyang magtanong, siya mismo maka-discover ng mga facts na
hinahanap niya.)