CHAPTER 6:

PHILOSOPHY AND AIMS OF

EDUCATION
 AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER YOU
SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

• Explain how aims of education are derived.

• Cite commonly voiced statements of the aims of
education.
• Write statements of the aims of education.
• Outline major beliefs of four well-known schools of
philosophy.
• Draft a school philosophy that could be submitted
to a school faculty for discussion.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-2

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION

• The educational literature uses a proliferation of

terms, rather loosely and often interchangeably, to
signify terminal expectations of education.

• Educators speak of “outcomes,” “aims,” “ends,”

“purposes,” “functions,” “goals,” and “objectives.”
“Aims” are equated with “ends,” “purposes,”
“functions,” and “universal goals.”

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-3

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION

• The aims of education are the very broad, general

statements of the purposes of education; they are
meant to give general direction to education
throughout the country.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-4

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION

• Over the years a number of prominent individuals

and groups have expressed their positions on the
appropriate aims of education for America. The
curriculum worker should be able not only to
formulate his or her own statement of aims but
should also be knowledgeable about historic and
significant statements of aims.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-5

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION

• Curriculum Goals:
○ Curriculum goals are defined as general,
programmatic expectations without criteria of
achievement or mastery, whereas curriculum
objectives are specific, programmatic targets
with criteria of achievement and, therefore, are
measurable.
○ “Curriculum goals,” “curriculum objectives,”
“instructional goals,” and “instructional
objectives” are separate entities of special
relevance to the local school or school system.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-6

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION

• Curriculum Goals and Objectives

○ The curriculum objectives stem from the
curriculum goals.
○ Both curriculum goals and curriculum objectives
trace their sources to the school’s philosophy
and the statement of aims of education.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-7

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 AIMS OF EDUCATION
• Instructional Goals and Objectives
○ Instructional goals are statements of instructional
targets in general, in observable terms without
criteria of achievement.
○ Instructional objectives are expected learner
behaviors formulated, with possible exceptions for
those in the affective domain, in measurable and
observable terms.
○ Instructional objectives are derived from
instructional goals.
○ Both instructional goals and instructional
objectives originate from the curriculum goals and
objectives.
Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-8
© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 GLOBAL AIMS

• Typically the aims of education have special

relevance to the nation as a whole. However,
aims of education can be defined on a global
scale.

• Many organizations attempt to define aims on a

global perspective for use by nations of the world
as a guide for the development of their own
educational systems.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-9

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 DERIVATION OF AIMS

• The aims of education are derived from examining

the needs of children and youth in our American
society, from analyzing our culture, and from
studying the various needs of our society.

• Statements of aims of education repeatedly

address great themes like democracy and the
progress of humanity.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-10

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 DERIVATION OF AIMS
Salad Bowl vs. Melting Pot:
• As our heterogeneous population reveals plural
rather than common values, the “salad bowl”
concept now challenges the old “melting pot” idea.
• Whether to promote multicultural values or
common values of American society is a highly
charged issue both in public schools and on college
campuses.
• As we examine statements of aims of education, we
soon discover that these statements are, in effect,
philosophical positions based on some set of values
and are derived from an analysis of society and its
children and youth.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-11

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

• Four major philosophies of education have

demanded the attention of educators. Only two of
these philosophies appear to have large followings
in today’s schools.

• Although these philosophies are known by various

names and there are schools of philosophy within
schools, we shall refer to these four as
reconstructionism, perennialism, essentialism, and
progressivism.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-12

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 RECONSTRUCTIONISM

• At the far left is the most liberal of these four

philosophies, reconstructionism, which contends
the school should be used to achieve what is
considered to be improvements in society and
young people should consider pressing social,
economic, and political problems and even attempt
to reach consensus on possible solutions.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-13

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 RECONSTRUCTIONISM

• Problems arise when teachers propose their own

specific solutions to problems which raises the
specter of indoctrination, a practice unacceptable
to most schools of philosophy.

• With its heavy emphasis on controversial social

issues and its major premise to make the school a
primary agency for social change,
reconstructionism has not made great inroads into
the largely middle-class, centrist schools of the
United States.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-14

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PERENNIALISM

• On the far right is the most conservative of the

four philosophies: perennialism.

• Perennialists believe that truth is eternal,

everlasting, and unchanging and at the heart of
the perennialist curriculum are the great books of
the Western world. In the great books of the past,
one searched for truth, which in perennialist
thinking is the same today as it was then and
always shall be.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-15

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PERENNIALISM

• The perennialist looks backward for the answers to

social problems.

• If taken seriously, perennialism would afford an

education suitable to that small percentage of
students who possess high verbal and academic
aptitude.

• To date, perennialism has not proved an attractive

philosophy for our educational system.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-16

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 ESSENTIALISM

• The aim of education according to essentialist

tenets is the transmission of the cultural heritage.

• The goals of the essentialist are primarily cognitive

and intellectual. Organized courses are the vehicles
for transmitting the culture, and emphasis is
placed on academic learning.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-17

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 ESSENTIALISM

• The three R’s and the “hard” (i.e., academic)

subjects form the core of the essentialist
curriculum.

• The subject matter curriculum is an essentialist

plan for curriculum organization. Erudition, the
ability to reproduce that which has been learned, is
highly valued, and education is perceived as
preparation for some future purpose—for college,
vocation, and life.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-18

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PROGRESSIVISM

• Progressivists insist that the needs and interests of

learners must be considered by recognizing that
learners bring their bodies, emotions, and spirits to
school along with their minds, and a child learns
best when actively experiencing his or her world as
opposed to passively absorbing preselected
content.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-19

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PROGRESSIVISM

• To the progressives, education is not a product to

be learned—for example, facts and motor skills—
but a process that continues as long as one lives.

• To date, progressivism has captured the attention

and allegiance of many educators.

• Today, essentialism is the dominant philosophy.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-20

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 FORMULATING A PHILOSOPHY

•A school’s philosophy should always be the result

of cooperative efforts by teachers and
administrators and preferably with the additional
help of parents and students.

• Curriculum workers should take the time to think

through their own philosophies and to formulate
them into some kind of coherent statement.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-21

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 FORMULATING A PHILOSOPHY

• Statements of philosophy are sometimes written

and promulgated by a school administrator as the
philosophy of that school. Such an activity misses
the spirit of the exercise.

• The writing of a school philosophy should be an

effort to gain consensus among divergent thinkers
and to find out what aims and values the group
holds in common. It should be accepted by the
school as a whole.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-22

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 VALUE IN WRITING A PHILOSOPHY

• As curriculum workers we must disabuse ourselves

of the notions that it is somehow indecent to
expose our beliefs and that we must feel either
silly or guilty when setting forth ideals.

•A school’s philosophy should include statements of

belief about the purposes of education, society, the
learner, and the role of the teacher. Examples of
statements of philosophy written by school
personnel are included in the text.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-23

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPING AND
IMPLEMENTING A PHILOSOPHY
• Curriculum workers often encounter two sets of
problems in developing and implementing a
school’s philosophy:
○ The various participating individuals may well
espouse differing and conflicting philosophies of
life that color their beliefs about education.
○ The statement of philosophical beliefs is written
in rather general, often vague, terms that permit
varying interpretations which creates a
continuing problem of striving to achieve
consensus on interpretations of the wording.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-24

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 FINAL THOUGHTS:

• In spite of the many conflicting philosophical views

the public and a majority present-day educators
endorse educational programs and practices in
American schools that represent a judicious
mixture of essentialist and progressive philosophy.

• The development of a statement of aims of

education and a school philosophy is seen as the
first phase or component of a comprehensive
model for curriculum development.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. 6-25

© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved