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Theories

Theories. Essentialism Perennialism Progressivism Critical Theory. Essentialism. Emphasizes fundamental, basic skills and subjects (“back to the basics” theory) American educational problems may be solved by Keeping schools on task

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Theories

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  1. Theories Essentialism Perennialism Progressivism Critical Theory

  2. Essentialism • Emphasizes fundamental, basic skills and subjects (“back to the basics” theory) • American educational problems may be solved by • Keeping schools on task • Teaching skills and subjects systematically and sequentially • Insisting on high standards for promotion and graduation • Emphasizing that learning requires discipline, effort and hard work

  3. Essentialism Key Events • Basic Education revival of 1970s and 1980s • A Nation at Risk(1983) • Standards Movement of 1990s and 2000s • No Child Left Behind (Federal Education Act of 2001)

  4. Essentialism Education Implications • Subject-based curriculum differentiated and organized according to subjects’ internal logic or chronology • Disciplines must be taught within a specific scope (critical of interdisciplinary approaches) • Must follow a specific sequence • Curriculum should be cumulative • Organize like a ladder with each rung preparing students for the next • Schools and teachers should stay on task, not solve outside problems

  5. Perennialism • People possess and share a common nature that defines them as human beings • Follows Aristotle and Aquinas (Realism) • Rationality of human nature in all times and places • All people may find universal truth and live according to its values • Study classic literature and arts to discover enduring truth and beauty

  6. Perennialism Education • School is an intellectual agency with a primary purpose to develop human reason (greatest happiness comes from exercising and applying reason) • Education should be universal, leading students to discover truth and make logical choices accordingly • Support a general curriculum, not a specialized one, based on valuable skills and subject matter • Critical of “presentism” and specialization that comes too early (general, liberal education should come first)

  7. Progressivism • Name derived from an interest in reforming society through “progress” • Progressive reforms • Are nonviolent • Follow known and accepted procedures (generally public and formal, though some progressives advocate informal and less public) • Begin with existing situations (as opposed to beginning with ideal or utopian conditions) • Are gradual, serial and cumulative • Dissention exists within its ranks

  8. Progressivism Education Generally divided into two camps: Child-Centered and Social Reconstructionist Child-Centered • Curriculum should grow from child’s own interests, free from imposition of traditional curriculum • Guided by permissive, encouraging teachers, children explore their environment, which enlarges their horizons • Children collaborate and discover new ways to shape democratic society Reconstructionist • Children should be used as a deliberate agency of social, political and economic reform • Schools and teachers should deal with important contemporary issues, regardless of how controversial they might be • Goal is building a better, more equitable society

  9. Progressivism Education (continued) Generally oppose • Formal, routine instruction • Prescribed curriculum • Competitive situations • Teaching for test preparation • Extrinsic incentives Generally favor • Activities encouraging initiative, creativity & self-expression • Curriculum based on experiences • Collaborative learning • Teachers as facilitators • Whole-child education

  10. Critical Theory • Generally derived from postmodernism and liberation pedagogy • Goals to raise consciousness and transform education and society • Focused on empowering those who have been disenfranchised • Self-determination is possible if people become conscious of and overthrow the forces that exploit them • Asks questions like, “Who controls?” and “Who benefits?” of society’s institutions, especially education

  11. Critical Theory Education • First goal is making the oppressed aware of their condition • Must deconstruct texts, expose methods of domination and empower the dispossessed • Societal values should be derived from an authentic conversation in which all individuals have an equal voice • Teachers must encourage students to express their beliefs and concerns and facilitate conversations that lead to a realization that values are diverse, not universal • Teachers should be empowered, finding allies and joining others in the community to expose issues and bring about changes • Curriculum should grow from children’s own stories and experiences, leading to exploration of problems and knowledge for solving them, ultimately emancipating those who have been dominated

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