Transcript Educational Theory in American Schools: Philosophy in Action Chapter 10 Teacher Centered Educational Theories  Perennialism: an educational theory that focuses on enduring principles of knowledge; nature, human.

Educational Theory in
American Schools:
Philosophy in Action
Chapter 10
Teacher Centered Educational
Theories
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Perennialism: an educational theory that
focuses on enduring principles of
knowledge; nature, human nature, and the
underlying principles of existence are
considered constant, undergoing little
change
Perennialism
Focus of learning: activities designed to
discipline the mind
 Learners are rational and spiritual people
 Perennialist curriculum: the three Rs,
character training, educating the
intellectual elite, trade and skill training for
others
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Essentialism
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An educational theory that holds that there
is a common core of information and skills
that an educated person must have;
schools should be organized to transmit
this core of essential material
Essentialism
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Common core of information and skills that an
educated person in a given culture must have
Three basic principles: a core of information,
hard work and mental discipline, teachercentered instruction
Back to basics movement is essentialist
Draws equally from Idealism and
Realism…important difference in emphasis from
the notions of everlasting truth that perennialists
espouse
Essentialism
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Focus of learning: transmit the cultural
heritage and develop good citizens.
Schools are places where children come
to learn what they need to know and the
teacher is the person who can best
instruct students in essential matters
Behaviorism
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A psychological theory that asserts that
behaviors represent the essence of a person
and that all behaviors can be explained as
responses to stimuli
Closely linked to Realism…the environment,
particularly the interpersonal environment,
shapes human behavior
Reinforcement: positive…things students like
and negative…things students wish to avoid
Positivism
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A social theory that limits truth and knowledge to
what is observable and measurable
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)…three historical
periods…theological era, things explained in
reference to spirits and gods…metaphysical era,
things explained in terms of causes, essences,
inner principles…positive period, thinkers did not
attempt to go beyond observable, measurable
fact
Student Centered Educational
Theories
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Progressivism…an educational theory that
emphasizes that ideas should be tested by
experimentation and that learning is rooted in
questions developed by the learner
Opposes authoritarianism and favors human
experience as a basis for knowledge, favors the
scientific method and also student involvement
Learning how to think rather than what to think
Reconstructionism
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An educational theory that calls on schools to
teach people to control institutions and to be
organized according to basic democratic ideals
Progressivism too focused on the needs of the
child and fails to develop long range goals for
society
Need to analyze world events, explore
controversial issues, develop a vision for a new
and better world
Humanism
An education theory that contends that
humans are innately good—that they are
born free but become enslaved by
institutions
 Not a blank slate but born with certain
innate qualities and tendencies… “God
makes all things good; man meddles with
them and they become evil.” Emile
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Humanism
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I-Thou relationships rather than I-it
People share their thoughts, feelings, beliefs,
fears, and aspirations in an environment of
caring
Educational programs that address the needs of
the individual are usually more costly per pupil
than group centered programs…we live in a time
of unit-cost scrutiny
Constructivism
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An educational theory that emphasizes handson, activity-based teaching and learning during
which students develop their own frames of
thought
Closely associated with Existentialism
Focuses on the personalized way a learner
internalizes, shapes, or transforms information
that results from the emergence of new
cognitive structures