THE TEACHING ESTHER T. LIM, MST.

PROFESSION College of Education and Natural Sciences

ESSENTIALISM
 Why teach?

 This philosophy contends that teachers teach for

learners to acquire basic knowledge, skills and
values.
 Teachers teach “not to radically shape society “but
rather “ to transmit the traditional moral values and
intellectual knowledge that students need to become
model citizens.”
 What to teach?
 Essentialist programs are academically rigorous. The emphasis is
on academic content for students to learn the basic skills of the
fundamentals r’s- reading, ‘riting, and right conduct.- as these are
essential to the acquisition of higher or more complex skills needed
in the preparation for adult life.
 What to teach?
 The essentialist curriculum includes the “traditional disciplines such
as math, natural science, history, foreign language, and
literature. Essentialist frown upon vocational courses… or other
courses with ‘watered down ‘ academic content.
 The teachers and administration decide what is most important
for the students to learn and place little emphasis on student
interests, particularly when they divert time and attention from the
academic curriculum.”
 How to teach?
 Essentialist teachers emphasize mastery of the subject matter.
They expected to be intellectual and moral models of their students.
They are seen as “fountain” of information and as “paragon of
virtue”, if ever there is such as a person.
 How to teach?
 To gain mastery of basic skills, teachers have to observe “core
requirements, longer school day, a longer academic year…”.
 With mastery of academic content as primary focus, teachers rely
heavily on the use of prescribed textbooks, the drill method and
other methods that will enable them to cover as much academic
content possible like the lecture method.
 There is a heavy stress on the memorization and discipline.
PROGRESSIVISM
 Why teach?
 Progressivist teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened
and intelligent citizens of a democratic society. This group of
teachers teach learners so they may live fully NOW not to prepare
them for adult life.
 What to teach?
 The progressivist are identified with need-based and relevant
curriculum. This is a curriculum that “responds to students’ needs and
that relates to students’ personal lives and experiences.”
 Progressivists accept the impermanence of life and the
inevitability of change. For the Progressivist, everything else
change. Change is the only thing that does not change. Hence,
progressivist teachers are more concerned with teaching the
learners the skills to cope with change.
 What to teach?
 Instead of occupying themselves with teaching facts or bits of
information that are true today but become obsolete tomorrow,
they would rather focus their teaching on the teaching of skills or
processes in gathering and evaluating information and in
problem-solving.
 What to teach?
 The subjects that are given emphasis in progressivist schools
are the “natural and social sciences.
 Teachers expose students many scientific, technological and
social developments, reflecting the progressivist notion progress
and change are fundamental.
 In additions students solve problems in the classroom similar
to those they will encounter outside of the schoolhouse.”
 How to teach?
 Progressivist teachers employ experiential methods. They believe
that one learns by doing.
 For John Dewey, the most popular advocate of progressivism,
book learning is no substitute for actual experience.
 One experiential teaching method that progressivist teachers
heavily rely on is the problem-solving method. This problem-
solving methods makes use of the scientific method.
How to teach?
 Other “hands-on-mind-on” teaching methodology that
progressivist teacher use are field trips during which student
interact with nature or society. Teachers also stimulate students
through thought- provoking games and puzzles.
PERRENIALISM
Why Teach?
 We are all rational animals. Schools should, therefore,
develop the students’ rational and moral powers.
 According to Aristotle, if we neglect the students reasoning
skills, we deprive, them of the ability to use their higher
faculties to control their passions and appetites.
 What to Teach?
 The perennialist curriculum is a universal one of the view that all
human beings possess the same essential nature. It is heavy on
the humanities, on general education.
 It is not a specialist curriculum but rather a general one. There is
less emphasis on vocational and technical education.
 What to Teach?
 Philosophers Mortimer Adler claims that the great books of
ancient and medieval as well as wisdom, a tradition of culture
which must initiate each generation”. What the perennialist
teachers teach are the lifted from the Great Books.
 How to teach?
 The Perennialist “centered around teachers”… The teachers do
not allow the students interest or experiences to substantially
dictate what they teach. They apply whatever creative techniques
and other tried and true methods which are believed to be most
conducive to disciplining the students minds.
 Students engaged in Socratic dialogues, or mutual inquiry sessions
to develop an understanding of history’s most timeless concepts”.
EXISTENTIALISM
 Why teach?

 Is to help students understand and appreciate themselves as

unique individuals who accept complete responsibility for their
thoughts, feelings and actions”.
 Since “existence precedes essence”, the existentialist teachers
role is to help them to various paths and they take in life and by
creating environment in which they freely choose their own
preferred way.
 Why teach?

 Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision making, the

existentialist demands the education of the whole person, not
just the mind.’
 What to teach?
 In an existentialist curriculum, students are given a wide variety
of options from which to choose. Students are afforded great
latitude in their choice of subject matter.
 The humanities, however are given tremendous emphasis to
“provide students with vicarious experiences that will help
unleash their own creativity and self-expression. For example,
rather than emphasizing historical events, existentialist focus upon
the actions of historical individuals, each of whom provide the
possible models for the student’s own behavior
What to teach?
 Moreover, vocational education is regarded more as a
means of teaching students about themselves and their
potential than of earning a livelihood.
 In teaching art, existentialism encourages individual
creativity and imagination more than copying and imitating
established models.
 How to teach?
 Existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is self-
paced, self-directed. It includes a great deal of individual contact
with the teacher, who relates to each student openly and honestly.
 To help students know themselves and their place in society,
teachers employ values clarification strategy. In the use of such
strategy, teachers remain non-judgmental and take care not to
impose their values on their students since values are personal.
BEHAVIORISM
 Why teach?
 Behaviorist schools are concerned with the modification and
shaping of students’ behavior by providing for a favorable
environment, since they believe that they are a product of their
environment. They are after students who exhibit desirable
behavior in society.
 What to teach?

 Because behaviorist look at “people and other animals… as

complex combinations of matter that act only in response to
internally or externally generated physical stimuli”,
behaviorist teachers teach students to respond favorably to
various stimuli in the environment.
 How to teach
 Behaviorist teachers “ ought to arrange environmental conditions
so that students can make the responses to stimuli.
 Physical variables like light, temperature, arrangement of furniture,
size and quantity of visual aids have to be controlled to get the
desired responses from the learners.
 How to teach
 Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting to
capture and hold the learner’s attention. They ought to provide
appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and
weaken or eliminate negative ones.” (Trespeces, 1995)