Theories of Philosophy

Abstract:
Perennialism - Perennialism focuses foremost on the everlasting importance of human beings. And since everything else changes in life, perennialists focus on personal development. Facts can change, but principles can't. This is a teacher-centered theory that teaches principles and scientific reasoning. Teaching methods are similar to essentialism, they include lecture, memorization, and examinations.

Essentialism - Essentialism is a mixture between idealism and realism. It stresses that everyone needs to know basic core information to be a productive member of society. But this core information changes with time and with different societies. The goal of all essentialists is to produce good citizens, so this is why they stress subjects like literature, history, language, and religion. Teaching methods are minimal and include lecture, memorization, and examinations.

Behaviorism - Behaviorism is closely linked to realism. People who believe in this think that all behaviors can be explained as responses to a stimuli and that behaviors represent the essence of an individual. One's behavior is determined by their environment, so the school environment for children need to be organized and the curriculum needs to be structured. Teachers who are behaviorists use both positive and negative reinforcers. Students are praised and get good grades when they do good things, and are reprimanded and get bad grades when they do poorly.

Positivism - Positivism is limited to known truth and knowledge that is observable and measurable. A lot of scientists and mathematicians are positivists because it is based on logics of the world. Positivists require schools to have set standards for students but also encourage students to develop their own skills of observation, classification, and analysis. Teachers decide what students should learn, but they teach it in different ways. It is the teacher's job to make sure the students learn the information, can recite the information, and can retain the information.

Progressivism - Progressivism is a theory that believes learning takes place from the questions developed by the learner. The learner's ideas should be tested by experimentation. Progressivism is the most popular in the United States. It emphasizes learning how to think, rather then what to think. Flexibility is very important in a progressive classroom. Classrooms should also have organized freedom, where everyone takes part in the decision-making. Progressivism views the learning as an experiencing, thinking, exploring individual.

Humanism - Humanism is closely related to existentialism and is concerned with enhancing the goodness of the individual. Therefore students are encouraged to make their own decisions and choices. They get to make the classroom rules and also get to decide what books are going to be read in class. Teachers use non-traditional ideas like individualizing instruction, open-access curriculum, non-graded instruction, and multi-age grouping. Humanists created the schools without walls that were popular in the 70's.

Reconstructivism - Reconstructivism focuses on democratic values, because students are the future generation that is going to shape society. Reconstructivists focus on community based learning because students are going to have to work together in society. They want to improve human conditions by focusing on real problems. Teachers want their students to gain experience so they are well prepared when they enter society.

Constructivism - Constructivism is also related to existentialism emphasizes hands-on and activity-based learning. The curriculum is based on big ideas rather then the memorization of factual information. Students learn by shaping their own understandings about the world around them. Instead of leading students to the right answer, constructivists encourage students to think on their own, even if it is in the wrong direction. Teachers use short activities called hooks to engage the students into the lesson, but the teachers main job is to act as a guide or coach in the learning process.

Reflection:
The two theories that best fit my theory of philosophy are Positivism and Constructivism. They are kind of opposites - positivism is a teacher-based approach and constructivism is a student-based approach to learning. But I believe that there should be a combination of the two. The teacher needs to create some activities because standards need to be met, but sometimes the students need to be able to make decisions for themselves. I think it's good for a classroom to have both.

I believe the same is true for the curriculum. Especially in math, there are things that students need to have memorized. For example, students should know their multiplication tables and the order of operations by heart. That's the positivism point of view. But at the same time, it's difficult for math teachers to cover everything their supposed to in one year - that's why it's good to cover the big ideas. If students know and understand how to use the big ideas, they can use their knowledge to figure out different problems. This is the constructivism point of view. They seem like opposites, but when brought together positivism and constructivism work nicely together.

A positivist teacher sets clear standards so students know exactly what they need to learn within a lesson. The students have clear expectations, which a lot of students like to have. But these clear standards can be boring for students. This is where the constructivism part comes in. A constructivist teacher creates hooks for lessons, that engages the students so they're excited to learn. Usually hooks incorporate real life situations which students love because they need to see the relevance in things. I think that my personal teaching style is a mixture of a positivist teacher and a constructivist teacher.