Famous Philosophies
The philosophy that children should learn the accumulated knowledge of our civilization through courses in the academic disciplines (math, science, history)
What is essentialism?
"Father of the Common School"
Who was Horace Mann
An influential philosopher of progressivism, he started a laboratory school in Chicago to test out his theories about education.
Who is John Dewey?
This ideology included the belief in reason as the proper means for discovering universal natural laws
What is the Enlightenment?
A collection of teaching methods or strategies that affect classroom practice.
What is pedagogy?
According to this philosophy, students should be self-directed learners, with the teacher merely serving as guides on the side, because there is no objective "truth" all children must learn.
What is existentialism?
This series of readers taught children not only how to read, but also imparted what were considered to be important moral lessons.
What is the McGuffey Readers?
His American Dictionary of the English Language sold 75 million copies by 1875.
Who was Noah Webster?
He wrote the Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, his plan for a system of public education in Virginia.
Who was Thomas Jefferson?
The belief that free will is an illusion and that human beings are shaped primarily by their environment.
What is behaviorism?
The philosophy that students should learn from the "Great Books" that address important themes and ideas that have stood the test of time (e.g. beauty, truth, good vs. evil).
What is perennialism?
This group of European immigrants with a strange culture were thought to be a threat to the English and Protestant hegemony in America.
Who are Irish Catholics?
This philosopher from ancient Greece asked questions as a means of provoking new ideas, and challenging the traditions of his time.
Who was Socrates?
This foundational document of republican government was influenced by Enlightenment ideas.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
The belief that children learn by building on previous knowledge to make sense of the world, not through the passing of information from teacher to student.
What is constructivism?
A classroom organized according to this philosophy would have students' desks arranged in groups to provide opportunities to work collaboratively on projects related to the real world.
What is progressivism?
Where many women trained to become teachers.
What are normal schools?
He believed conformity was a necessary purpose of public schools, which he said should create "Republican machines."
Who was Benjamin Rush?
Jefferson's term for the talented youngsters who were present in every segment of society and deserved a good education.
What is "natural aristocracy"?
The belief that all children can succeed through a combination of their natural ability and the effort they give to learning.
What is meritocracy?
According to this philosophy schools should prepare children to create a more just society, not transmit a "common culture" by maintaining the status quo.
What is social reconstructionism?
Laws against slaves learning how to read were strengthened following this slave revolt in 1831.
What was the Nat Turner slave rebellion?
Her seminary for women, where students learned a traditional academic curriculum, expanded some of the roles for women and planted seeds for 20th century feminist movements.
Who was Catharine Beecher?
The idea that mothers occupied a special role in society of raising virtuous male citizens.
What is Republican Motherhood?
The study of how we know what we know, or the nature of human knowledge
What is epistemology?