by Josh Byrom

Created on: May 07, 2010

Every educator has their own philosophy of teaching. Some believe that teaching should be more about lecturing and instructing students in a formal setting; essentially, they believe that information needs to be transmitted in the traditional manner. Others believe that teaching needs to be more student-centered; they believe that there needs to be more group work, and more collaboration between students and educators. The five major teaching philosophies are Essentialism, Pereniallism, Progressivism, Reconstructionism, and Existentialism; all of which can be incorporated with each other to present effective instruction.

Essentialism is centered around the idea that the teacher lectures, the students sit in desks (which are often in rows), and is an overall traditional form of teaching. This is a philosophy that is one of the oldest. Many of us have had teachers who lectured, passed out objective tests (multiple-choice), had us sit in rows, and probably taught that way most of the time.

Pereniallism can be considered a cousin to Essentialism, as its form of instruction is very similar. Pereniallism teaches, centering around the Classics: Homer's The Odyssey, Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby, and others. This style of teaching is usually done together with Essentialism, and is largely used by Language Arts teachers.

Progressivism is a relatively new teaching philosophy. Many educators are turning from teacher-centered, to student-centered instruction. This means that, instead of the usual lecturing and note-taking, the teacher incorporates much group work. They also have the students learn through other means than the teacher transmitting information.

Reconstructionism centers instruction around how one can improve society. For instance, a teacher may instruct their students on The Lottery and then assign something to have students see how they can improve social injustices. The goal of a Reconstructionist is to educate their students on how they can improve society for future generations.

Existentialism is probably considered the most extreme philosophy. Very few teachers have this as a sole philosophy in their form of instruction. Existentialism essentially says that students are to guide their own learning, and the teacher is merely a counselor. The student can choose whether or not they want to learn.

Overall, the most effective teachers use a combination of these philosophies. For instance, my philosophy (though I am a pre-service teacher) is a combination of Progressivism and Essentialism. There are some educators who stick to one philosophy, but most incorporate multiple philosophies in order to educate their students most effectively.

Learn more about this author, Josh Byrom.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.