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Zeke Michel
EDU 1010
Ryan Miller
06/28/2015
Chapter 5 Assignment
Over time there have been many, many different educational philosophies that teachers
use to decide how they will teach their students. Through all the changes and new philosophies
there are no real right or wrong philosophies. It is mainly how the teacher decides to use the
philosophy to direct their classroom. Each of these philosophies have different things that factor
into them to have teachers use them, however, the main reason why teachers develop each
philosophy depends on what kind of teaching you are going into (special ed., math, elementary,
P.E., etc.) To name a few teaching philosophies there is Perennialism, Essentialism,
Progressivism, and Social Reconstructionism.
Each one of these philosophies have different educational goals. Starting with
Perennialism the goal is to train the intellect and make sure that the kids can build upon old
ideas. Essentialisms goal is to train the student to learn the basic skills needed to function in
todays world. Progressivism is used to develop problem solving, decision making, and other life
skills. The final philosophy, Social Reconstructionism, is used to teach students to contribute to
the creation of a just society (Kauchak and Eggen. Pg. 161, Table 5.1.)
As stated earlier the type of teaching that you are going into will most likely effect what
kind of Philosophy you will have. The type of philosophy I believe would best suit me as a

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future teacher would most likely be Essentialism. I think this because with me going into severe
and profound special education the whole goal with each of our students is to teach them how to
be as independent as possible. Sure we focus on academics as well but in all reality the only
things that will really stick in the end are the things they will use every day, and that is true
across the board. In special education this proves to be more true seeing as survival is especially
difficult on these kids so simple things such as brushing their own teeth or knowing how to cook
easy microwaveable things will be much more useful. It also makes sense because with an
Essentialist approach the learning environment is highly structured with a strong focus on
essential skills (Kauchak and Eggen pg. 161, table 5.1.) In special education structure is
everything, it can be the difference between a student learning properly, and a student creating
new bad behaviors.
Essentialism goes along with behaviorism because learning survival skills is a
psychological behavior or instinct. Behaviorism is the approach to psychology that combines
philosophy, methodology, and theory (Kauchak and Eggen.) Essentialism is a great philosophy
for special education teachers and is most likely the one that I would adapt as my own
philosophy as a new teacher.

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Works Cited:
Kauchak, Donald P., and Paul D. Eggen. "Chapter 13." Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a
Professional. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PH/Merrill/Pearson, 2008. N. pag. Print.