Taxonomy of educational philosophies: Perennialism, Essentialism, Pragmatism, Reconstructionism, and Existentialism¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article organizes its analysis with a taxonomy of educational philosophies drawn from Wiles and Bondi (2015) and other proponents. It states that "While traditionally, educational philosophies may be classified as Perennialism, Essentialism, and Reconstructionism, Wiles and Bondi (2015) also recognizes Existentialism" (as printed, listing Pragmatism among the traditional set). Table 1 details each philosophy's goal, core content, teacher focus, materials, and practices, e.g., Essentialism trains in the three Rs via explicit teaching, while Pragmatism promotes democratic life via active learning and project-based learning. The author uses these philosophies as deductive coding themes for the book analysis.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Educational philosophies are inferred from perceptions clustering around the source, medium, and substance of learning and/or teaching, as the article states

Constraints¶

• The taxonomy is applied to a children's literature corpus, not to classroom observation

Target Learners¶

• pre-service teachers

Target Learning Objectives¶

• understanding educational philosophies and their components

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Taxonomy of five educational philosophies for adult education
• Four-category taxonomy of educational philosophies grouped into traditional and contemporary dimensions
• Five educational philosophies framework (perennialism, idealism, realism, experimentalism, existentialism)
• Five basic educational philosophies: traditional-conservative versus contemporary
• Essentialism and Perennialism (Educational Philosophy)
• Five-philosophy framework of teacher beliefs (Realism, Idealism, Pragmatism, Existentialism, Phenomenology)
• Traditional versus modern philosophies distinguished by who determines ends and means

Examples¶

• Use Pippi Longstocking experientially in pre-service teacher education to practice educational philosophies.

Key Sources¶

• Ozturk, N. (2023). Clash of Traditional and Contemporary Educational Philosophies in Pippi Longstocking. EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings, Ani Publishing, pp. 366–382. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED638455