FIELD STUDY 6: EPISODE 2 – THE TEACHER’S

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

MY FS LEARNING TASK OVERVIEW

What is your philosophy about schools and education?

Since you will become a teacher, you must have a clear understanding of your
strong belief or philosophy of education. A philosophy will guide your actions in
teaching and learning. This section will cover some of the fundamental educational
philosophies that will help you as future teacher.
Learning Episode 2 will tackle only Essentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism,
Existentialism, Behaviorism, Linguistic Philosophy and Constructivism.

MY DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Identify one’s philosophy of teaching and education

 Gather information on the philosophy of education of experienced teachers
 Clarify how these philosophies are being put into practice

My Learning Essentials
 As a teacher, one should have a philosophy of education, a philosophy is
a strong belief that is translated into action. A philosophy will guide you on
what you teach, how you teach, why you teach among others. The different
schools of thought or philosophies were handed down to us by different
philosophers. But as the world progresses, other philosophies emerged.

Below are major educational philosophies, presented in summary form.

 Philosophy of Education Basic Features
Aim: promote intellectual growth
1. of learners for competence
Teacher’s role: Sole authority in
Essentialism the subject matter
Focus: Essential skills, 3 Rs
Trends: Back to Basics, cultural
literacy, excellence
Aim: To educate the rational
person, cultivate intellect
Teacher’s role: Assist learners to
think with reason (critical thinking,
2. Perennialism HOTS)
Focus: Classical subject, Great
Books, Enduring curriculum
Trends: Use of Great Books: Bible,
Koran, Classical Books
Aim: Education of the whole being,
as unique individuals
Teacher’s role: help students
3. Existentialism define who they are, their essence
Focus: Self-paced, self-directed,
learner-centered
Trends: Individualized learning,
values clarification

Aim: Provide democratic social

living
Teacher’s role: Develop lifelong
learners
Focus: Learner-centeredness,
4. Progressivism interdisciplinary, outcomes-
based
Trends: Humanistic education,
contextualized curriculum,
equal opportunities for all.

Aim: Improve and reconstruct

society. Education for change
Teacher’s role: Agent of change
and reform
5. Reconstructionism
Focus: Transformation of
present to future landscape
Trends: Global education,
convergence, transformative
education

Aim: Develop communication

skills in different languages
(Multilingualism)
Teacher’s role: Provide
experiential learning to learn
language
6. Linguistic Philosophy Focus: Language and
communication
Trends: Mastery of
communication skills (verbal,
non-verbal), paraverbal or
listening, speaking, writing,
reading and viewing)

Aim: Modify and shape

learner’s behaviour
Teacher’s role: Arrange
environmental conditions to
change behaviour
Focus: Learners and the
7. Behaviourism learning environment that act
LEARNING MAP

Here is the way to achieve your desired learning outcomes (DLO). Follow this.

Activity 1 will be Step 1 to 6

Step 1: Know thy self. Determine your own philosophy, by answering the 40 items
scale.

Step 2: Record your answer on the matrix provided on the column S (students).
Add all your scores from all the items in the cluster.

Step 3: Go to a school where you have a teacher as a resource person. Request two
of the teachers to answer the same survey form that you answered. Secure a
permit before asking them to answer. Your coordinator will endorse that to the
teacher.

Step 4: Record their answer, in the same way you did it with your own results.

Step 5: Analyze the results in the matrix. Rank the Philosophies of each one from the
Most Dominant (highest) to the Least Dominant (lowest)
Step 6: Add the result matrix as your entry to the portfolio

Activity 2 will be Step 7 to 9

Step 7: Go back to the school where you surveyed the teacher. Identify from our
matrix, his/her dominant philosophy

Step 8: Observe his/her class and activities in at least three hours. Record your
observation in your notebook. Write down at least 5 teaching actions that
reflect his/her philosophy of education. Describe in detail.

Step 9: Prepare this report as an entry to your portfolio.

My Learning Activities

Know Thy Self: My Philosophy of Education

Activity 1
WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION?
(Based on Sadker &Sadker, 2nd Ed. Bilbao, 2014)

What is your philosophy of education? To find out, read each of the following
statements about the nature of education. Decide whether you agree or disagree
with each statement: Use the following numbers to express your response:

Legend: 4 Agree strongly 2 Disagree

3 Agree 1 Disagree strongly
 1. The student learning should be centered around 3Rs only.

 2. The school subjects should focus on the great thinkers of the past.

 3. Many students learn best by engaging in real- world activities than reading.

 4. The students should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.

 5. Subject matter is taught effectively when it is broken down into small parts.

 6. The school subjects should include only essential for all students to know.
 7. Schools above all, should develop students’ abilities to think deeply, analytically,

and creatively than develop social skill or acquire body of knowledge.

 8. Teaching should prepare students for analysing and solving the types of

problems they will face outside the classroom.

 9. Reality is determined by each individual’s perceptions. There is no objective and

universal reality.

 10. People are shaped much more by their environment than by the exercise of

their free will.

 11. Students should not be promoted to the next grade until they have read and

mastered certain key material.

 12. An effective education is not aimed at the immediate needs of the students or

society.

 13. The curriculum of a school should be built around the personal experiences

and needs of the students.

 14. Students who do not want to study much should not be required to do so.

 15. Programmed learning is an effective method of teaching information.

 16. Academic rigor is an essential component of education.

 17. All students, regardless of ability, should study more or less the same

curriculum.

 18. Art classes should focus primarily on individual expression and creativity.

 19. Effective learning is unstructured and informal.

 20. Students learn best through reinforcement.

 21. Effective schools assign a substantial amount of homework.

 22. Education should be focus on timeless question such as “What is beauty?” or

“What is truth?”
 23. Since students learn effectively through social interaction, schools should plan
for more social gathering in their curricula.
 24. The purpose of school is to help students understand themselves and find the
meaning of their existence.
 25. Frequent objective testing is the best way to determine what students know.
 26. Countries must become more competitive economically; hence schools must
bolster their academic requirements for more competition.
 27. Students must be taught to appreciate learning primarily for its own sake,
rather than to help them into their careers.
 28. Schools must place more emphasis on teaching about the concerns of
minorities and women.
 29. Each person has free will to develop as he or she sees fit.
  30. Reward students well for learning so they will remember and be able to apply
what they learned, even if they were not able to understand why the information is
worth knowing.
 31. Philippines schools should attempt to instil traditional Filipino values in
students.
 32. Teacher- guided discovery of profound truths is a key method of teaching
students.
 33. Students should be active participants in learning process.
 34. There are no external standards of beauty. Beauty is what an individual
decides it to be.
 35. We can place lot of faith in our schools and teachers to determine which
student’s behaviours are acceptable and which are not.
 36. Schools must provide students with a firm grasp of basic facts regarding the
books, people, and events.
 37. Philosophy is ultimately a practical subject to study like computer science.
 38. Teachers must stress to the students the relevance of they are learning to their
lives outside and inside the classroom.
 39. It is more important for the students to develop positive self-concept than to
learn specific concepts.
 40. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent test to determine
what they have learned.

My Philosophy of Education

Essentialism Perennialism Progressivism Existentialism Behaviourism

S T T T T T T T T T T
Item 1 2
Item S 1 2
Item S 1 2
Item S 1 2
Item S 1 2

1 3 3 2 2 2 4 3 4 4 3 2 3 4 4
1 2 3 4 5

4 2 3 3 2 2 4 4 4 4 3 2 3 3 3
6 7 8 9 10
3 4 3 1 2 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 2 2 3

11 12 13 14 15
3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 2 3 2 4 3 4
2
16 17 18 19 20
2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 2 3

21 22 23 24 25
3 4 2 2 4 1 2 4 3 3 4 4 3 2 3

26 27 28 29 30
3 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 4 3

31 32 33 34 45
 3 3 4 3 3 2 4 4 4 4 3 2 3 3 4

36 37 38 39 40

Tota 2 2 2 Tota 2 2 2 Tota 2 2 2 Tota 2 2 1 Tota 2 2 2

l 3 5 5 l 0 2 1 l 9 9 7 l 6 6 9 l 3 3 7

Legend: S- Self, T1-Teacher 1; T2- Teacher 2

Based on the information taken, answer the following questions:

Rank your total raw scores for each category. Do the same for Teacher 1 and Teacher 2.

1. What Philosophy is most dominant for you? Progressivism

Which is least dominant? Perennialism

2. For Teacher 1, which is the most dominant? Progressivism

Least dominant: Perennialism

3. For Teacher 2, what Philosophy has gained the highest score? Behaviorism

This is the most dominant philosophy of the teacher. What has the lowest score?
Existentialism

Application of Philosophy of education in the

Activity 2 Classroom
Name of Teacher: Mrs. Jeran T. Occeńa

Dominant Philosophy: Progressivism

Observations: Write at least 5 observations in narrative form that shows the

application of the dominant philosophy of the Teacher.

1. As what I have observed, Ma’am Occeńa uses variety of methods,

techniques, strategies and approaches in attacking her lessons.

2. Before she starts the lesson proper, she asked first the idea or opinions
of her students about the topic to determine the level of understanding of her
students.

3. She lets her students read the story and afterwards, discussed it and
sharing the information gathered in the class.

Name of Teacher: Mrs. Linfa S. Rafols

4. She encourages her students to participate actively in the class
discussions
Dominant Philosophy: Behaviourism

5. She lets
Observations: her at
Write students
least 5doobservations
the activity which will help
in narrative them
form thatunderstand
shows the
better the lessons.
application of the dominant philosophy of the Teacher.

1. Ma’am Rafols sets the mood of the classroom for her students, so that when
6. the students came,
She is open they
in all we’re ready
suggestions forcomments
and the discussions.
given by her students.

2. She never tolerates late and frequent coming in and out in the classroom.

3. She even scolded her students to get their attention and focus on the lesson.

4. She uses illustrations and pictures to help her students grasp the idea of
what it looked like as it was describe in the story.

5. Time to time she reprimand her students in coming in and out in the
classroom and told them to continue reading and do the activity afterwards.

6. She arranged the classroom properly so that her students would feel
comfortable while listening and paying attention to the class discussions.

My Reflections/ Insights
1. Have you discovered your dominant Philosophy of Education? How do you feel
after knowing it? Is your philosophy or firm belief of education reflected in what
you are doing as a future teacher?

Yes, I was amazed by the result. Somehow the result made me realized that I am not

a strict teacher if ever I would be given a chance to be equipped in the field. As a

future teacher, I am able to view and analyze from the perspective of their students.

Apart from understanding why students are behaving in a particular way, teachers

would also be able to know how students perceive their actions.

My dominant Philosophy of Education is: Progressivism.

The practices that I do as a student and future teacher that reflect my philosophy
are:

Well, I do believe that my dominant philosophy or strong belief is reflected in what I am

doing as a future teacher because I am learning well if I experienced or discovered my

own. I don’t just rely on the facts and concepts given rather I love to expand my idea

through searching and further readings. A good teacher cannot begin or continue to

inspire learning without being a learner. The good teacher must constantly learn what

is new in the discipline. In fact, the good teacher often helps to create new knowledge.

To live this belief, I must continuously examine my teaching methods and find new ones.

The practices that I will do, that will reflect my Philosophy of Education will be:

The practices I do are discovery learning, experiential learning, uses authentic task and

materials, and integrate technology in my learning.

2. In your observations, does an experienced teacher practice what they believe in

(philosophy of education) in actual teaching? If yes, describe the instance/ episode.
If No, what could be the reason?

As what I have observed, Ma’am Occeńa and Ma’am Rafols practiced their both
philosophy of education in actual teaching. For example, Ma’am Occeńa let her students
locate the
place/country of where the place can be found on the globe or map. Then, she let her
students do an activity (story mapping). While Ma’am Rafols, make a connection of
events in the story in the real-life situation.
 Integrating Theory and Practice

What have you gained from your experiences in Task No. 2, Activities 1 and 2?
Direction: Choose the correct answer from the options.
1. What is the right philosophy that every teacher should follow when teaching?

I. Pragmatism
II. Perennialism
III. Existentialism
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II
d. I, II and III

2. Mr. Balgos teaches science in the Junior High School. He taught the concept that sunlight
is necessary for the plants in the process of photosynthesis. Applying the philosophy of
pragmatism, Mr. Balgos should ______________.
a. Show a PowerPoint presentation of photosynthesis
b. Ask the students to bring plant leaves in school
c. Draw the leaves of the plant and color this green
d. Ask the students to do a simple experiment about photosynthesis

3. A philosophy that believes in prior learning or what the learners already know is
__________.
a. Essentialism
b. Behaviorism
c. Constructivism
d. Naturalism

4. Behaviorism is a philosophy that has been anchored on the theories that relate to
________.
I. Trial and error
II. Stimulus and response
III. Brain and thinking
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II
d. I, II and III
5. The teacher’s teaching philosophy is reflected by which of the following?
I. Choice of teaching methods
II. Choice of circle of friends
III. Choice of how to use leisure time
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II
d. I, II and II