Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Philosophy of Education
Maggie Stewart
University of Saint Mary

Abstract

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PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
It is very important for teachers to have an individual philosophy of education in order to
connect with students and teach them what they need to know. While ideas of what information
students need to know differ among teachers, this paper will present one idea of a philosophy of
education that is based in progressivism while also focusing on the necessary elements of
perennialism. This paper will introduce the basic principles of these different philosophies of
education, contrasting their varied elements. Finally, it will offer an illustration of how a teacher
would implement all of these ideas as her individual philosophy of education in the classroom.

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As education in the United States has grown and changed, so have the ideas behind
education, especially as far as what students must know and how teachers should teach that
information. Philosophies of education are varied in their perceptions of these ideas, and each
teacher implements his or her ideas differently in the classroom, leading to a wide range of
effectiveness. Through my time in my beginning education courses and observing in both a
private and an urban school, I thought about the importance of these differences and how I think
education should work. I would describe my philosophy of education as based in perennialism
but put in action through progressivism, blending different educational ideologies in order to
reach students and teach them to be contributing members of society.
A perennialist educational philosophy involves a large emphasis on constant truths and
intellectual growth (Parkay 2013). In perennialist education, students focus on the arts and
sciences and study literary classics in order to grow intellectually into well-rounded people
(Parkay 2013). Although many people would view this as outdated or not catering to individuals
interests, it is important for students to learn historically what has contributed to the way society
functions. Also, even though a work of art or literature was produced centuries earlier, it can still
hold universal truths applicable to twenty-first century students. Through being able to identify,
appreciate, and apply these universal messages found in different facets of culture, students
develop creatively and intellectually.
I have always I had a love for the arts and an appreciation for what we can learn through
art, music, literature, language, and history. I understand that not all students are interested in
those fields, but I believe that knowledge is invaluable, and the more things that a person can
potentially learn about, the more power he or she has. Students often do not realize the way
literary works apply to their own lives, or the way history has shaped the world in which they

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live; no matter in what subject a students interests or talents lie, every student could benefit from
the opportunity to explore these vast subjects and learn about classically important elements of
culture and history. It would be extremely sad for classic works of art and literature to be
forgotten in American education, as they can have an impact on students lives and developed
thinking just as much as a more apparently applicable field.
However, students still learn in many different ways, and that is where progressivism can
be helpful. The idea of progressivism is that students lead their own learning, choosing in what
way they want to explore and research a topic so that the information makes the most sense to
them and is better retained in the long-term memory (Parkay 2013). A main idea of
progressivism is that the entire curriculum content comes from students interests rather than
what teachers, administrators, school boards, and other authorities think students should know
(Parkay 2013). Although this could be helpful, it seems that there would then be no standard of
learned information among schools and even among individual students. If there were a standard
curriculum of what students should study and learn, but they were given a variety of means to
learn more about these topics, more students would learn and retain the material; they would also
learn to apply what they learn.
Through my time spent observing in schools so far, I have seen what I believe to be the
need for progressivist education. It saddens me to see students assigned to work quietly in a
workbook for twenty minutes of precious class time that they could have spent exploring new
things rather than simply remaining busy and reviewing. Of course, review is important,
especially since standardized assessments will not be disappearing from American education
anytime soon, but even class review could be done in a more hands-on manner, in which students
are taught to take initiative and lead their learning. I realize now from my observations that I am

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somewhat idealistic as an education student, but it still seems completely possible to me for a
teacher to devote more time to build the way she presents the curriculum, so that students learn
important life skills such as leadership, critical thinking, and creativity, and are able to apply
what they learn and retain that information by doing activities that will better engrain the learned
material in their memories.
The pairing of perennialist and progressivist philosophy sounds very strange, as they are
often presented as opposites. However, a perennialist curriculum with a progressive approach
would help students to become well-rounded, learning about culturally and historically
significant events and ideas through their own unique learning styles, and exploring these ideas
through various projects and experiments. A perennialist-progressivist classroom would be a
place where students would not only grow intellectually, but develop creativity, leadership, and
critical thinking skills as well, and although I am only beginning to understand the time and
energy it will demand, I am extremely excited to try this approach in my future classroom and
see the good it does for my studentsand if it proves to be not as effective as I had hoped,
flexibility adaptation is an important element in education, and I am interested to see the ways I
grow from an idealistic education student to an optimistic, empowering teacher.