Editing Philosophy of education (section)

== Philosophical movements ==
=== Existentialist ===
The existentialist sees the world as one's personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth, and reality are individually defined. Reality is a world of existing, truth subjectively chosen, and goodness a matter of freedom. The subject matter of existentialist classrooms should be a matter of personal choice. Teachers view the individual as an entity within a social context in which the learner must confront others' views to clarify his or her own. Character development emphasizes individual responsibility for decisions. Real answers come from within the individual, not from outside authority. Examining life through authentic thinking involves students in genuine learning experiences. Existentialists are opposed to thinking about students as objects to be measured, tracked, or standardized. Such educators want the educational experience to focus on creating opportunities for self-direction and self-actualization. They start with the student, rather than on curriculum content.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_existentialism.html |title=Existentialism - By Branch / Doctrine - The Basics of Philosophy |website=www.philosophybasics.com |language=en |access-date=2018-06-27 |archive-date=2018-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627091103/https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_existentialism.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Perennialism===
{{Main|Educational perennialism}}
Perennialists believe that one should teach the things that one deems to be of everlasting importance to all people everywhere. They believe that the most important topics develop a person. Since details of fact change constantly, these cannot be the most important. Therefore, one should teach principles, not facts. Since people are human, one should teach first about humans, not machines or techniques. Since people are people first, and workers second if at all, one should teach liberal topics first, not vocational topics. The focus is primarily on teaching reasoning and wisdom rather than facts, the liberal arts rather than vocational training.

=== Classical education ===
{{Main|Classical education movement}}
The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages. The term "classical education" has been used in English for several centuries, with each era modifying the definition and adding its own selection of topics. By the end of the 18th century, in addition to the trivium and quadrivium of the Middle Ages, the definition of a classical education embraced study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art, and languages. In the 20th and 21st centuries it is used to refer to a broad-based study of the liberal arts and sciences, as opposed to a practical or pre-professional program. Classical Education can be described as rigorous and systematic, separating children and their learning into three rigid categories, Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric.

===Essentialism===
{{Main|Educational essentialism}}
According to educational essentialism, there are certain essential facts about the world that every student needs to learn and master. It is a form of [[traditional education]] that relies on long-standing and established subjects and teaching methods. Essentialists usually focus on subjects like reading, writing, mathematics, and science, usually starting with very basic skills while progressively increasing complexity.<ref>{{Cite book |title=New Educational Philosophy |last=Sahu |first=Bhagirathi |publisher=Sarup & Sons |year=2002 |isbn=9788176253178 |pages=162}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Elementary Education: A Reference Handbook |last1=Harmon |first1=Deborah |last2=Jones |first2=Toni |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |isbn=1576079422 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/elementaryeducat0000harm/page/46 46] |url=https://archive.org/details/elementaryeducat0000harm/page/46}}</ref><ref name="Pugach2009">{{cite book |last1=Pugach |first1=Marleen C. |title=Because Teaching Matters: An Introduction to the Profession |date=6 January 2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-40820-9 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTVxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |language=en |access-date=31 May 2024 |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529074235/https://books.google.com/books?id=VTVxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |url-status=live }}</ref> They prefer a teacher-centered approach, meaning that the teacher acts as the authority figure guiding the learning activity while students are expected to follow their lead.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Philosophical and Sociological Foundations of Education |last=Siddiqui |first=Muibul Hasan |publisher=APH Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=9788131303917 |location=New Delhi |pages=36}}</ref><ref name="Pugach2009"/>

===Social reconstructionism and critical pedagogy===
{{Main|Critical pedagogy}}
Critical pedagogy is an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop [[consciousness]] of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action." Based in [[Marxist theory]], critical pedagogy draws on [[radical democracy]], [[anarchism]], [[feminism]], and other movements for [[social justice]].

===Democratic education===
{{Main|Democratic education}}
Democratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy. In a democratic school, there is typically shared decision-making among students and staff on matters concerning living, working, and learning together.

=== Progressivism ===
{{Main|Educational progressivism}}
Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are [[social animals]] who learn best in real-life activities with other people. [[Progressivism|Progressivists]], like proponents of most educational theories, claim to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning known as "the pattern of inquiry":<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/logictheoryofinq00dewe |title=Logic, the theory of inquiry |last=Dewey |first=John |date=1938 |publisher=New York, H. Holt and Company}}</ref> 1) Become aware of the problem. 2) Define the problem. 3) Propose hypotheses to solve it. 4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience. 5) Test the likeliest solution.[https://books.google.com/books?id=VPsXv7PhC5YC&dq=educational+progressivism&pg=PA59]

===Unschooling===
{{Main|Unschooling}}
Unschooling is a range of [[education]]al philosophies and practices centered on allowing [[child]]ren to [[learn]] through their natural life experiences, including child directed [[play (activity)|play]], [[game]] play, [[household]] responsibilities, work experience, and [[social interaction]], rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities led by the children themselves, facilitated by the adults. Unschooling differs from conventional schooling principally in the thesis that standard [[curricula]] and conventional [[Grading in education|grading]] methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are counterproductive to the goal of maximizing the education of each child.

===Contemplative education===
[[Contemplative education]] focuses on bringing introspective practices such as mindfulness and yoga into curricular and pedagogical processes for diverse aims grounded in secular, spiritual, religious and post-secular perspectives.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewin |first1=David |title=Educational philosophy for a post-secular age |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138923669}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ergas |first1=Oren |title=Mindfulness in education at the intersection of science, religion, and healing |journal=Critical Studies in Education |date=13 December 2013 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=58–72 |doi=10.1080/17508487.2014.858643 |s2cid=144860756}}</ref> Contemplative approaches may be used in the classroom, especially in tertiary or (often in modified form) in secondary education. [[Parker Palmer]] is a recent pioneer in contemplative methods. [[The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society]] founded a branch focusing on education, [[The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education]].

Contemplative methods may also be used by teachers in their preparation; [[Waldorf education]] was one of the pioneers of the latter approach. In this case, inspiration for enriching the content, format, or teaching methods may be sought through various practices, such as consciously reviewing the previous day's activities; actively holding the students in consciousness; and contemplating inspiring pedagogical texts. Zigler suggested that only through focusing on their own spiritual development could teachers positively impact the spiritual development of students.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zigler |first=Ronald Lee |title=Tacit Knowledge and Spiritual Pedagogy |journal=Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion and Education |year=1999 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=162–172 |doi=10.1080/1361767990200202}}</ref>