Educatinal_Philosophy_and_Rationale

My Teaching Philosophy II There is a philosophy behind every school system. According to the beliefs, views and values of the teachers and people of the world or society each school has a different philosophy. The view and reality of the truth and goodness of a school is what develops a philosophy. From the school’s philosophy, a mission statement is established. There are seven basic philosophies of education: Idealism, realism, Pragmatism, Perennialism, Progressivism, Naturalism and Essentialism. The essentialism philosophy originated from the Greek philosophers. It continues through the No Child Left Behind Act. According to this philosophy children are taught the basics and factual information. The classrooms are more structured and disciplined. The students are tested by teachers, administration and the state board. Also, the students are motivated by challenge and competition among themselves and other students. This is one philosophy that I align myself with most. I attended catholic school all my life. Therefore, I really did not believe in or know of any other educational beliefs. I feel like my education was very valuable and important. I also, sent all three of my children to catholic schools up until the past two years. It seemed like the school they were attending was not as challenging as other schools. Not until three years ago, is when I was exposed to a different type of educational philosophy. This was the Montessori philosophy which was discovered by Dr. Maria Montessori who lived from 1870 to 1952, was a brilliant and original educator, scientist, healer, humanitarian and philosopher. She was one of the first women of Italy to study math, engineering and medicine. Montessori’s compassion for humanity led her to educate as well as study children for many years in order to gain valuable insight into the educational process for the sake correcting and improving it in order to help the children reach their highest potential. Montessori believed that this educational reform would eventually lead to the regeneration of mankind. Maria Montessori believed that a child could not be truly free without being independent. (“The Discovery of a Child” 56) Independence is apart of the natural development and one of the characteristics of the complete human. In a Montessori learning environment there is freedom and independence in learning. Initially there are few choices with more added as skills and interests are acquired. The child has the freedom to choose his/her own work, which is a form of self expression; choose their frequency and conduct them his/her pace. The freedom allows the child to be creative and to think on their own. I would compare this approach to Progressivism which was the philosophy of John Dewey. With this approach he believed that children learned by doing. In a progressivism classroom there are manipulative objects, experimentation and social interactions between the children. This is similar to what a Montessori classroom is like. The basic philosophies of education are Perennialism, Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, Progressivism, Naturalism and Essentialism. They are based on a view of society and what is important, as well as political beliefs to a certain degree. A combination of several of these philosophies and approaches may be effective.