The Seven Philosophies of Education Existentialism - Existentialism in education focuses on the individual, seeking out a personal understanding of the world. Essentialism - Essentialism values the “essence” of each object. Essence refers to the attribute, or set of attributes that make an object what it fundamentally is, and must have. Progressivism - Progressivism holds that education should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or the teacher. This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation. Behaviorism - Behaviorism holds that behavior is shaped deliberately by forces in the environment and that the type of person and actions desired can be the product of design. Constructivism - Constructivism claims that the learner actively constructs his or her own understandings of reality through interaction with objects, events, and people in the environment, and reflecting on these interactions. For learning to occur, an event, object, or experience must conflict with what the learner already knows. Therefore, the learner's previous experiences determine what can be learned.  Linguistic Philosophy - Linguistic philosophy is the view that philosophical problems could be solved (or dissolved) either by reforming language or by understanding more about the language that we presently use. Perennialism - Perennialism is a normative educational philosophy according to which one should teach the things that are of everlasting relevance to all people everywhere and that the emphasis should be on principles, not facts.

1. The Seven Philosophies
as used in Education

2. Essentialism
What is: Essentialism values the “essence” of each object. Essence refers to the attribute, or
set of attributes that make an object what it fundamentally is, and must have. This essence
describes a permanent, unalterable and eternal object. Without its essence, an object loses its
identity. It education, it is the doctrine that there are certain traditional concepts, values, and
skills that are essential to society and should be taught to students.
Why Teach: The goal of education is to produce students that can be responsible enough to
participate effectively in the society. For the essentialist, it agrees that the school is an essential
social institution that should prepare the students to solve the societal problems by providing
literacy and skills from a "socially aware" teacher. With this, students can keep the traditional
moral values and intellectual knowledge and still be prepared to learn higher, more complex
subjects.
How: Teachers emphasize the mastery of the subject matter. They serve as the fountain of
information and paragon of virtue. They observe core requirements, longer school days, and a
longer academic year. They rely heavily on the use of prescribed textbooks and stress on
memorization and discipline.

3. Progressivism
What is: Progressivism holds that education should focus on the whole child, rather than on the
content or the teacher. This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by
active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through
experiencing the world. It is active, not passive. The learner is a problem solver and thinker who
makes meaning through his or her individual experience in the physical and cultural context.
Why Teach: Progressivism is taught to develop the learner into becoming enlightened and
intelligent citizens of a democratic society. The goal is to teach learners so they may live life
fully now.
How: A progressivist teacher employs experiential methods as he/she believes that learners
learn by doing. He/she relies heavily on the problem-solving method and hands-on-minds-on
teaching method like field trips and thought-provoking games.

4. Perennialism
What is: Perennialism is a normative educational philosophy according to which one should
teach the things that are of everlasting relevance to all people everywhere and that the
emphasis should be on principles, not facts.
Why Teach: Perennialism is taught to develop the student's rational and moral powers.
Generally, there are timeless concepts and facts that cannot be altered and these needs to be
transmitted to new generations to keep the continuity of learning.
How: These philosophy is centered around teachers and students engage in Socratic dialogues
or mutual inquiry sessions to develop an understanding of history's most timeless concepts.

5. Existentialism
What is: Existentialism in education focuses on the individual, seeking out a personal
understanding of the world. Thus, each individual characterizes for himself or herself the
concepts of reality, truth and goodness and as a result, schools exist to aid children in knowing
themselves and their place in society.
Why Teach: Existentialism is taught to help students understand and appreciate themselves as
unique individual who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions
and to help students define their own essence by exposing them to various paths.
How: An existentialist teacher focuses on the learner's individuality. Learning is self-paced and
self-directed. The teacher provides avenues for the student for self-directed learning. He/she
does not control the student's interests and is not heavy on rules so that there are no
hindrances for the student to express in any way he/she wants.

6. Behaviorism
What is: Behaviorism holds that behavior is shaped deliberately by forces in the environment
and that the type of person and actions desired can be the product of design. In other words,
behavior is determined by others, rather than by our own free will. By carefully shaping
desirable behavior, morality and information is learned. Learners will acquire and remember
responses that lead to satisfying aftereffects. Repetition of a meaningful connection results in
learning. If the student is ready for the connection, learning is enhanced; if not, learning is
inhibited. Motivation to learn is the satisfying aftereffect, or reinforcement.
Why Teach: Behaviorism is taught to shape the student's behavior by providing a favorable
environment. If the goal is to produce responsible learners, then the teacher should consider
the behavioral factors affecting the student.
How: Behaviorist teachers arrange the environment conditions and make the stimuli clear and
interesting to capture and hold the learner's attention. They need to provide appropriate
incentives to reinforce positive responses to awaken or eliminate negative ones.

7. Linguistic Philosophy
What is: Linguistic philosophy is the view that philosophical problems could be solved (or
dissolved) either by reforming language or by understanding more about the language that we
presently use. The former position is that of ideal language philosophy, the latter the position of
ordinary language philosophy.
Why Teach: Linguistic philosophy is taught to develop the communication skills of the learners.
That is, the skill to send a message clearly and receive messages correctly.
How: In a classroom setting, linguistic philosophy is applied by teaching language and
communication through experiential way. The teachers should make the classroom a place for
the interplay of minds and hearts and facilitate dialogue among learners because exchange of
words there is also an exchange of ideas.

8. Constructivism
What is: Constructivism claims that the learner actively constructs his or her own
understandings of reality through interaction with objects, events, and people in the
environment, and reflecting on these interactions. For learning to occur, an event, object, or
experience must conflict with what the learner already knows. Therefore, the learner's previous
experiences determine what can be learned.
Why Teach: Constructivism is taught 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.
How: Teachers provide students with data or experiences that allow them to hypothesize,
predict, manipulate objects, pose questions, research, investigate, imagine, and invent. The
classroom should be interactive and promote a dialogical exchange of ideas among learners
between teachers and students where teacher's role is to facilitate the process.

9. REFERENCES:
https://www.slideshare.net/robertasmerkelis/philosophy-and-linguistics-28940425
https://www.academia.edu/24833960/Essentialism_As_a_Philosophy_and_As_a_Philosophy_of_Educ
ation
https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP4.html
https://www.slideshare.net/jenevel/teaching-profession-
40133053?fbclid=IwAR2o3SAK_wtq_hjZjbfLZ3Mz_2X7XizFdo-Ld1qHhGffn3s5bQdYZpgjqik
Need more help with the topic? Email me at iamcmuforyou@gmail.com