Five educational philosophies framework (perennialism, idealism, realism, experimentalism, existentialism)¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article organizes teachers' philosophical orientations into five categories used by the Wiles and Bondi Philosophical Preferences Assessment: perennialism, idealism, realism, experimentalism and existentialism. Each carries distinct views of the teacher's role, from subject-centered authority in perennialism to guiding facilitator in experimentalism, where "The responsibility of the teacher is to guide students." The framework is used to classify teachers and relate philosophy to teaching style.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Measured via a 40-item, 5-point Likert Philosophical Preferences Assessment form; the philosophy with the highest score determines the teacher's philosophy

Constraints¶

• The study examines philosophies under these five categories to match the questionnaire, not the four-title classification common in the literature

Target Learners¶

• primary school classroom teachers

Target Learning Objectives¶

• understanding teachers' educational philosophies and their influence on teaching

Claims¶

• Classroom Teachers Mostly Adopt Experimentalism [+M]
• Teacher Centered Philosophies Correlate Formal Authority [+M]
• Student Centered Philosophies Correlate Student Centered Styles [+M]

Related Theories¶

• Learning-centered learning: a construct resting on five philosophical learning assumptions
• Taxonomy of educational philosophies: Perennialism, Essentialism, Pragmatism, Reconstructionism, and Existentialism
• Taxonomy of four general philosophies organized by the three basic philosophical questions
• Traditional versus modern philosophies distinguished by who determines ends and means

Examples¶

• Use in-service training to raise teacher awareness of lingering teacher-centered styles

Key Sources¶

• Emel Saritaş. (2016). Relationship between philosophical preferences of classroom teachers and their teaching styles. Educational Research and Reviews. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2016.2787