Philosophy of Education Activity

1. Complete the worksheet below

2. Define the philosophy you most closely identify with

3. Use the items below to think about the practical application of your philosophy in your own classroom.

        What Is Your Philosophy of Education?
Each of us has a philosophy of education, or a set of fundamental beliefs regarding how we think schools should be run. What is your philosophy of education? To find out, read each of the
following statements about the nature of education. Decide whether you agree or disagree with
each statement. Use the following numbers to express your response:

            5 Agree strongly
            4 Agree
            3 Neutral
            2 Disagree
            1 Disagree Strongly
 

____ 1. The curriculum of the schools should be subject centered. In particular, student learning should be centered around basic subjects such as reading, writing, history, math, and science.

_____ 2. The curriculum of the schools should focus on the great thinkers of the past.

_____ 3. Many students learn best by engaging in real-world activities rather than reading.

_____ 4. The students should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.

_____ 5. Material is taught effectively when it is broken down into small parts.

_____ 6. The curriculum should place multidisciplinary analysis and action regarding social   problems and themes from social life at the heart of students’ school experience.

_____ 7. The curriculum of a school should be determined by information that is essential for all students to know.

_____ 8. Schools, above all, should develop students' abilities to think deeply, analytically, and creatively; this is more important than developing their social skills or providing them with a useful body of knowledge about our ever-changing world.

_____ 9. Schools should prepare students for analyzing and solving the types of problems they will face outside the classroom.

_____ 10. Reality is determined by each individual's perceptions. There is no objective and universal reality.

_____11. People are shaped much more by their environment than by their genetic dispositions or the exercise of their free will.

_____12. Schools should engage students in the analysis of major institutions and social issues so that social problems, causes, and ways to respond could be identified.

_____13. Students should not be promoted from one grade to the next until they have read and mastered certain key material.

_____14. An effective education is not aimed at the immediate needs of the students or society.

_____15. The curriculum of a school should be built around the personal experiences and needs of the students.

_____16. Students who do not want to study much should not be required to do so.

_____17. Programmed learning is an effective method of teaching information.

_____18. School curriculum should emphasize the common good over that of the individual.

_____19. Academic rigor is an essential component of education.

_____20. All students, regardless of ability, should study more or less the same curriculum.

_____21. Art classes should focus primarily on individual expression and creativity.

_____22. Effective learning is unstructured and informal.

_____23. Students learn best through reinforcement.

_____24. Students learn more outside the classroom than in.

_____25. Effective schools assign a substantial amount of homework.
 
_____26. Education should focus on the discussion of questions such as "What is beauty?" or  "What is truth?"

_____27. Since students learn effectively through social interaction, schools should plan for substantial social interaction in their curricula.

_____28. The purpose of school is to help students understand and find the meaning of their existence.

_____29. Frequent objective testing is the best way to determine what students know.

_____30. Students need to have experiences which develop their desire and capacity to respond to social needs.

_____31. America must become more competitive economically with countries such as Japan,  and schools have an affirmative obligation to bolster their academic requirements in order  to facilitate such competition.

_____32. Students must be taught to appreciate learning primarily for its own sake, rather than  because it will help them in their careers.

_____33. Schools must place more emphasis on teaching about the concerns of minorities and  women.

_____34. Each person has free will to develop as he or she sees fit.

_____35. Reward students well for learning and they will remember and be able to apply what they learned, even if they were not led to understand why the information is worth knowing.

_____36.A project-based curriculum based on social needs is necessary training to participate in a democracy.

_____37. American schools should attempt to instill traditional American values in students.

_____38. Teacher-guided discovery of profound truths is a key method of teaching students.

_____39. Students should be active participants in the learning process.

_____40. There are no external standards of beauty. Beauty is what an individual decides it to be.

_____41. We can place a lot of faith in our schools and teachers to determine which student behaviors are acceptable and which are not.

_____42. Curriculum must encourage participation, critical analysis, and action.

_____43. Schools must provide students with a firm grasp of basic facts regarding the books, people, and events that have shaped the American heritage.

_____44. Philosophy is ultimately at least as practical a subject to study as is computer science.

_____45. Teachers must stress for students the relevance of what they are learning to their lives outside, as well as inside, the classroom.

_____46. It is more important for a student to develop a positive self-concept than to learn specific subject matter.

_____47. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent tests to determine what they have learned.

_____48. The overall education experience should minimize the importance of individual student achievement.

Now that you have responded to all 48 items, write the number of your response to each statement in the spaces below. Add the numbers in each column to determine your attitudes toward key educational philosophies.
 

These scores, in columns A through F respectively, represent how much you agree or disagree with the beliefs of six major educational philosophies: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, existentialism, social reconstructionism, and behaviorism.  The higher your score, the more you agree with philosophers who represent that viewpoint. The highest possible score in any one area is 40, and the lowest possible score is 8.  Scores in the mid to high 30s indicate strong agreement, and scores below 20 indicate disagreement with the tenets of a particular philosophy. Compare your six scores. What is your highest?  What is your lowest?  Now you have done some initial examination of what you believe about education, and you have even given yourself a philosophical label.