Essentialism

"Information is the key to a

good education."

Amber BlairKari DaultonSuzanne Sharp

Essentialism• Essentialism was created by those who disagreed

with Dewey’s Progressive Education Movement.– belief that education must be based on the principle that

humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people.

– believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning:

• Become aware of the problem.• Define the problem.• Propose hypotheses to solve it.• Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's

past experience.• Test the likeliest solution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education

1930’s

• Essentialism refers to “basic education”– It insists that teaching must stress the basics

which will prepare students to become successful citizens in the “American Society”

• Forming the foundation of this theory is:• Idealism-reality is based on the mind or ideas

– It is objective and fact based• Realism-logical and practical reasoning methods of

dealing with the "real world"• Thomism-truth is true wherever it is found

Aristotle:The purpose of education is to produce a good man.Learn through obedience and responsibility.The basics of education include reading, writing, & mathematics.The teacher would organize materials according to law.Repetitive drill would reinforce what was understood by reason.The state legislature would censor material to be read by

children.Plato:

Education was key to creating and sustaining his Republic.Education will produce citizens of good character.The character will be passed from generation to generation.

Influences from Greek Philosophers

Principles of Essentialist

• Only teach the basic subjects• Teaching “nonessentials” contributes to illiteracy

in our country• Learning is hard work which creates self-

discipline• Learning must be taught in less exciting and fun

methods• Authority lies in the teachers hands!

– She knows what, how, and why to teach

Essentialists Beliefs

• The progressive method of teaching was the result of deficiencies in education.

• Essentialists prefer tried and true methods of teaching students.

• Their goal for education is to pass on a set of “basic knowledge” from generation to generation.– This goal will assure that our society will survive!

Beliefs continued…

• They thought that teachers should:• teach essential skills and subjects that are taught

systematically and sequentially, • insist on high standards, • and emphasize discipline and hard work.

Essentialism in US schools:The philosophy of essentialism has been the dominant educational philosophy in US schools since the end of the Second World War. Today we call the new phase of this traditional philosophy neoessentialism, which is spurred by the federal government’s“No Child Left Behind Act”, increased core graduation requirements, stronger standards, and more testing of teachers and students.

Most US students have been educated in schools that holdessentialism as their main philosophy of education. This philosophy is used in public, private, parochial, and rural schools.

http://susancanthony.com/workshops/philosophy_hand.html

Key Terms

• When deciding if a theory is related to Essentialism look for these key terms:

basics accountability phonics three R's core knowledge drill and practice cultural literacy memorization test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af17nrIEPoM

Role of the Teacher• Content specialist that controls the activity within the

classroom• Accountable for the students learning• Classroom Manager

– Strict– Makes the rules with little to no class input

• Uses the following methods to teach:– Teacher and subject centered– Lecture, memorization, homework– Mastery learning– Individual accountability

• There is little to no opportunity for group work

Roles of Other Participants

• Students should be passive and learn information presented by the teacher.

• Students trust the teacher to guide them academically and morally.

• Administrators determine educational needs and content to be learned by students through instruction by teachers.

What impact might these roles have on the education of

students with learning disabilities or other special needs?

Essentialism: Curriculum as Subject Matter

• Essentialism requires disciplined and systematic study of prescribed content.

• This content is the basis of knowledge for all students.

With Some Outcome Added

• Students progress from basic knowledge to more complex and abstract knowledge in a sequential manner.

• Essentialism requires that students master the skills required before moving on to more difficult material in another grade.

Sample Writers and Home School Curriculums:

E. D. Hirsch (What Your First Grader Needs to Know, etc.) Inge Cannon Bob Jones Saxon Math Moving with Math Writing Road to Reading A Beka Sonlight Ring of Fire Rod & Staff

Apply what you have learned…

On the following page you will be asked to read the content standard presented and apply what you have learned about Essentialism by relating the standard to it.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive TextStudents gain information from reading for purposes of learning about a subject, doing a job, making decisions and accomplishing a task. Students need to apply the reading process to various types of informational texts, including essays, magazines, newspapers, textbooks, instruction manuals, consumer and workplace documents, reference materials, multimedia and electronic resources. They learn to attend to text features, such as titles, subtitles and visual aids, to make predictions and build text knowledge. They learn to read diagrams, charts, graphs, maps and displays in text as sources of additional information. Students use their knowledge of text structure to organize content information, analyze it and draw inferences from it. Strategic readers learn to recognize arguments, bias, stereotyping and propaganda in informational text sources.

References• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Chandler_Bagley• http://www.k12academics.com/educational-philosophy/educational-

essentialism• http://www.slc.sevier.org/5edphils.htm• http://www.msubillings.edu/COEFaculty/Hobbs/Perspectives.htm• Essentialist's Platform, William Bagley

• Additional Resources– http://www.library.eiu.edu/ersvdocs/4458.pdf