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Philosophies of Education Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Philosophy of education is the branch of applied or practical philosophy concerned with the nature and aims of education and the philosophical problems arising from educational theory and practice.

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Essent­ialism

Training the mind with what are essential
Why teach?
To instill students with the "­ess­ent­ial­s" of academic knowledge, enacting a back-t­o-basic approach.
What to teach?
Basic skills or the fundam­ental R's such as reading, writing, arithmetic and right conduct.
How to teach?
Emphasis on mastery of subject matter. Observance of core requir­ements and longer academic year.
Essent­ialism focuses primarily or entirely on the teaching and mastery of core basic subjects and skills. In an essent­ialist approach, the topics and compet­encies covered are commen­surate with the learners' level of develo­pment. A student at the earliest stage of learning practices simple skills and concepts, which increase in complexity as the student advances in their learning trajec­tory. Typically, the subjects or skills that essent­ialists emphasize are reading, writing, mathem­atics, science, history, art, music and foreign languages, with technology being a common modern addition to the repert­oire. Essent­ialist teaching methods often rely on rote practice and standa­rdized assess­ment.

Perenn­ialism

Teaching ideas that are everla­sting.
Why teach?
to teach students to think rationally and develop minds that can think critic­ally.
What to teach?
Lessons are lifted from classic and great books.
How to teach?
Classroom are teache­r-c­ent­ered. Students engaged in socratic dialogue.
The perenn­ialist teaching philosophy centers on the subject. This approach focuses on the teaching of ideas that have everla­sting and universal value and truth. The teaching focus, then, is on principles such as reasoning and critical thinking in addition to time-t­ested concepts from well-known figures such as Plato and Einstein. The educator is respon­sible for guiding students in their efforts to think critically and logically and showing them how to appreciate great everla­sting works.

Progre­ssivism

Education comes from xperience
Why teach?
to develop learners into becoming enligh­tened and intell­igent citizens.
What to teach?
Curriculum that responds to studnets' needs and that relates to their personal lives and experi­ence.
How to teach?
Teachers employ experi­ential methods. They believe that one learns by doing.
The progre­ssivist teaching philosophy is a studen­t-o­riented approach that considers the signif­icance of indivi­duality and its connection to active learning. Progre­ssivism states that the ideal learning situation is when the subject matter is relevant to the life of the learner and their abilities. Progre­ssivist educators, therefore, often try to reveal the relevance of academic topics to stoke the curiosity and engagement of their students. This approach also emphasizes intera­ction, cooper­ation and consid­eration of other viewpoints as essential elements of learning.

Existe­nti­alism

Focuses on indivi­dual's freedom to choose their own purpose in life.
Why teach?
To help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique indivi­duals.
What to teach?
Students are given a wie variety of options from which to choose. Humanities are given emphasis.
How to teach?
Methods focus on the indivi­dual. Learning is self-paced and self-d­ire­cted.
Existe­nti­alist educators believe there is no god or higher power guiding their students. They emphasize indivi­duality and self-u­nde­rst­anding as the first step in any education. They also use teaching methods and curriculum design that respect the identity and agency of both teachers and learners as human beings.

Behavi­orism

The acquis­ition of new behavior based on enviro­nmental condit­ions.
Why teach?
To modify and shape students' behavior.
What to teach?
Teachers teach students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the enviro­nment.
How to teach?
Teachers arrange enviro­nmental condit­ions. THey provide reinfo­rcement and punish­ment.
The behavi­orist school of thought states that students learn behaviors through their intera­ctions. According to behavi­orists, an indivi­dual's intrinsic qualities have little bearing on how they behave within an enviro­nment. Rather, the teacher can directly and intent­ionally influence the quality and consis­tency of student behaviors with various strate­gies. An example of behavi­orist thought in practice is positive reinfo­rce­ment, in which a learner receives a reward for positive actions. In time, they come to associate these actions with rewards and so prefer to behave well rather than poorly.

Constr­uct­ivism

People construct their own unders­tanding and knowledge of the world.
Why teach?
To develop intrin­sically motivated and indepe­ndent learners equipped with learning skills.
What to teach?
Students are taught how to learn.
How to teach?
Teacher provide students with data or experieces that allow them hypoth­esize, predict, manipu­late, pose questions, researcg and invent.
Aside from these ideas concerning unique founda­tions and learning outcomes, constr­uct­ivism includes the following precepts:
Social intera­ctions, such as those experi­enced through discussion and group work, are essential to the constr­uction of knowledge.
 
It's necessary for learners to engage actively in learning activities not only to gain knowledge but also to retain it and build meanin­gfully on top of it.
 
It's also necessary for indivi­duals to reflect actively on their learning so that they achieve a more complete unders­tanding of new ideas.
 
Learning happens when people can connect new inform­ation with what they already know or thought they knew.
 
Motivation and a willin­gness to reflect on previous learning are crucial to the learning process.
 
As learners develop, they become better and identi­fying relevant inform­ation, classi­fying it mentally and weaving it into sophis­ticated systems of thought that incorp­orate multiple simult­aneous ideas.
The constr­uct­ivist philosophy states that learners develop knowledge by building on the founda­tions of previous learning. Constr­uct­ivists acknow­ledge that learners come from different backgr­ounds, so they carry their unique set of circum­stances and experi­ences into the shared enviro­nment of the classroom. Moreover, the experi­ences and knowledge specific to a learner can affect how they receive new inform­ation.

Recons­tru­cti­onism

Emphasizes the addressing of social questions and a quest to create a better society.
Why teach?
To attain social reform.
What to teach?
Curriculum focuses on student taking social action in solving real problems.
How to teach?
Social issues are dealt through inquiry, dialogue, and multiple perspe­ctives. Commun­ity­-based learning is utilized.
It promotes an empowering approach to education, where the learner is in charge of their own learning journey.
Recons­tru­cti­onism in education is a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of disman­tling oppressive social and instit­utional structures in order to achieve equality for all learners.
Social­-re­con­str­uct­ionist education is based on the theory that society can be recons­tructed through the complete control of education.
The objective was to change society to conform to the basic ideals of the political party or government in power or to create a utopian society through education. Social recons­tru­ction in education refers to a sociop­oli­tical movement that has the goal of transf­orming society through the education system.
  

Idealism

Adheres to the view that nothing exists except in the mind of man, the mind of god, or in a super or supra-­natural realm.
Idealists believe that ideas and knowledge are enduring and can change lives.
Idealism, as a teaching philos­ophy, posits that ideas are the only true reality and the objective of the learner is to seek the truth. In this unders­tanding of the world, true ideas are ongoing universal constants, so learners can discover knowledge but not necess­arily create it. Some idealists also state that the goal of education is to develop the sort of mind and skills that can better serve society. An important facet of the idealist approach is awareness of a role model whose example can guide the learner to an unders­tanding of their place in and contri­butions to society.

Realism

stresses that the world is made up of real, substa­ntial and material entities.
lnowledge is derived from sense and experi­ence.
The realist teaching philosophy states that reality and the mind's perception of it are separate phenomena. In reality, there are objective truths and values, and it's the goal of education to promote rational modes of thought to uncover what truth is. Educators who the realist philosophy tend to focus on teaching critical thinking and the scientific method. By these means can learners overcome their precon­cep­tions and biases and approach a more logical percep­tion.

Pragma­tis­m/E­xpe­rim­ent­alism

Pragma­tists believe that the curriculum should reflect the society, emphas­izing the needs and interests of the children.
The pragmatist approach posits that the goal of education is to teach learners the knowledge and skills that are likely to be of practical use to them. To that end, pragmatist educators tend to implement such methods as project- and play-based learning, experi­ential learning, experi­men­tation and excurs­ions. What qualifies as pragmatic is often dependent on the circum­stances of the learner, their enviro­nment and their time. As societies evolve in response to changing techno­logies and lifest­yles, the pragmatic teaching philosophy adapts to provide learners with relevant education.

Hinduism

emphasizes a commitment to an ideal way of life charac­terized by honesty, courage, service, faith, self-c­ontrol, purity and non-vi­olence which can be achieved through YOGA.

Buddhism

believes in the four noble truths
The truth of suffering (dukkha)
 
The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
 
The truth of the end of suffering (nirodhu)
 
The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering (magga)
believes in the Law of Karma

Confuc­ianism

teaches moral life through devotion to the family, loyalty to the elders, love of learning, brothe­rhood, civil service, and universal love and justice.
Stresses the Five Cardinal Virtues
1. Benevo­lence
 
2. Righte­ousness
 
3. Propriety
 
4. Wisdom
 
5. Sincerity

Taoism

A philosophy advocating simpli­city, frugality and the joys of being close to nature and being in harmony with the whole universe.
Strongly believes in Wu Wei (let things come naturally)

Zen Buddhism (Japanese Version)

Believes in the Third Eye (to see things which are invisible to the naked eyes and to get attuned to the things around us)
Encourages meditation (mind awakening)
Teaches that the entire universe is one's mind and if one cannot realize enligh­tenment in one's own mind now, one cannot ever achieve enligh­ten­ment.

Islam

has five pillars: beliefs in Allah, prayer (5x a day), fasting, almsgi­ving, and pilgri­mage.