PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION
Philosophy Why Teach?
Essentialism  Acquire basic knowledge, skills and
values
 Not to radically reshape society but
rather to transmit the traditional
moral values and intellectual
knowledge that students need to
become model citizens
Progressivism •develop learners into becoming
enlightened and intelligent citizens of
a democratic society
•To live life fully NOW not to prepare
them for adult life
Perennialism •we are all rational animals
•develop students rational and moral
powers,
•Aristotle “if we neglect students’
reasoning skills, we deprive them of
the ability to use their higher faculties
to control their passions and
appetites”
Existentialism •to help student understand and
appreciate themselves as unique
individuals who accept complete
responsibility for their thoughts,
feelings and actions
•help student define their own
essence by exposing them to various
paths they take in life and by crafting
an environment in which they freely
choose their own preferred way
Behaviorism •modification and shaping of
students’ behavior by providing
favorable environment
•students are product of their
environment
•students who exhibit desirable
behavior in socieyty
Linguistic •to develop communication skills of
Philosophy the learner because the ability to
articulate, to voice out the meaning
and values of things that one obtains
from his/her experience of life and the
world is the very essence of man
•to develop in the learner the skill to
send messages clearly and receive
messages correctly
Constructivism •to develop intrinsically motivated
and independent learners adequately
equipped with learning skills for them
to be able to construct knowledge and
make meaning of them
What to teach?
 Emphasis is on academic
content for students to learn
the basic skills
 Decide what is most important
for students to learn
 Place little emphasis on student
interest
•responds to students’ needs and
that relates to students’ personal
lives and experience
•Teaching the learners to cope
with change
•Teaching of skills or processes in
gathering and evaluating
information in problem-solving
•natural and social sciences
subjects
•all human beigns possess the
same essential nature
•humanities, general education
•teachers teach are lifted from
the great books
• choice of subject matter
•students are given a wide
variety of options from which to
choose
HISTORY – emphasize on actions
of historical individuals
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION –
teaching students about
themselves and their potential
than of earning a livelihood
• teach students to respond
favorably to various stimuli in the
environment
• should be thought to
communicate clearly – how to
send clear, concise messages and
how to receive and correctly
understand messages sent.
VERBAL COMPONENT – content
of message, choice and
arrangement of our world, oral or
written
NONVERBAL COMPONENT –
message we send through our
body language
PARAVERBAL COMP. – how we
say what we say – tone, pacing
and volume of our voices
•taught how to learn
•learning processes such as
searching, critiquing and
evaluating information, relating
pieces of information, reflecting
on the same, making meaning out
of them, drawing insights, posing
How to teach?
•mastery on subject matter
•intellectual and moral models of
their students
•“fountain of information”
• “paragon of virtue”
•Stress on memorization and
discipline
• experiential methods (learning by
doing)
•John Dewey “book learning is no
substitute for actual experience”
• problem-solving method using
scientific method
•hands-on-minds-on-hearts-on –
field trips, games, puzzles
•”centered around teachers”
• do not allow students interests or
experiences to substantially dictate
what they teach
•Socratic dialogues or mutual
inquiry sessions to develop an
understanding of history’s most
timeless concepts
•focus on the individual
•values clarification strategy
•teachers remain non-judgemental
and take care not to impose their
values on their students since
values are personal
•ought to arrange environmental
conditions so that students can
make the responses to stimuli
•ought to make the stimuli clear
and interesting to capture and hold
the learners’ attention
•ought to provide appropriate
incentives to reinforce positive
response and weaken or eliminate
negative ones
•experiential way
•experience sending and receiving
messages through verbal, non-
verbal and para-verbal manner
•exchange of words, exchange
ofnism ideas
•interactive classroom
•dialogical exchange of ideas
among learners and between
teacher and learners
•knowledge is constructed by
learners through an active, mental
process of development; learners

Christian “The purpose of Christian school
Philosophy education is to show children and
young people how to face Christ and
then with the vision of Christ in their
hearts to face the present world and
the world
to come.”
Confucianism •concentrates on benevolence or
humanity
•To practice benevolence is , to him,
the ultimate goal of education
• “not to impose on others what one
oneself does not desire”
Paolo Freire’s •students should act in a way that
Philosophy/ enables them to transform their
Critical societies which is best achieved
Pedagogy through emancipatory education.
•Through problem posing education
and questioning the problematic
issues in learners’ lives, students learn
to think critically and develop a critical
consciousness which help them to
improve their life conditions and to
take necessary actions to build a more
just and equitable society.
questions, researching and are the builders and creators of
constructing new knowledge out meaning and knowledge
of these bits of information
learned.
5 Pillars of a true philosophy The integration of education should
education: merge into living union with God’s
•Bible-based - Bible as the truth. We should lead our students
foundation of all knowledge to salvation in Christ, build them up
•Christ-centered - Jesus Christ is in their faith, and equip them to
our authority and Lord of truth serve Him student’s knowledge to
•Holy Spirit-controlled - bring about moral conformity to the
acknowledges the work of the image of God’s Son. Parents and
•Holy Spirit in the lives of teachers are to teach children to
parents, teachers, and students. love God with all their heart,
The parents and teachers must soul, mind, and strength.
have His guidance to impart the The parents and teachers integrate
truth to their students effectively faith and Biblical values into a
and appropriately. lifestyle reflecting a Christian
•pupil-related - what God intends worldview by example and
every child to be instruction to their students
•socially-oriented - teaches
young people how to interact and
relate with the world
•humanism – meant developing •people holding responsible
virtous, conduct through positions must set examples of
education moral uprightness by their own
•harmony – avoiding strife and actions so as to influence reform
extremism others
•hierarchy – people should know •provides education for all people
their place and behave without discrimination
accordingly •teach according to the student’s
•benevolence, wisdom, altruism, ability
righteousness and loyalty •adopts the approach of self -
enlightenment
Problem posing education, To think democratically, question
according to Freire (1970), and use what they learn
involves uncovering of reality,
striving for the emergence of
consciousness and critical
intervention in reality. This
consciousness allows students to
take the necessary actions to
improve their life conditions
(Freire, 1970). It is based on the
realities of learners and their life
situations. It shows people that
they have the right to ask
questions. In this process of
problem posing, the teacher
listens to students, then, he
selects and brings
known situations to students in
codified forms, finally he asks a
series of inductive questions
regarding the
discussion of the situation. The
learner undergoes five steps of
problem posing respectively ;
describing the content of
discussion,
defining the problem,
personalizing the problem,
discussing the problem, and
discussing the alternatives of the
problem