Essentialist Classroom Essay

In the essentialist classroom students learn the basics, traditional disciplines such as; English, reading, language, math, science, and history. The essentialist classroom is a teacher centered classroom where the teacher is the role model for students. The core curriculum or also known as the back to the basics approach is where students learn the basic skills and knowledge.

Why Essentialism

Every teacher in the world today is unique, each one having their own perspective of education. There are five philosophies of education used by teachers in classrooms all over the world today. The philosophies of education are Essentialism, Existentialism, Perennialism, Progressivism, and Social Reconstructionist. Every teacher’s philosophy of education represents the teacher by what they expect in their classroom, their purpose of school, teacher’s role in the classroom, what and how the material should be taught to the students. Essentialism is a teacher centered philosophy that focuses on learning the traditional subjects such as: Reading, Writing, Math, History, and Science. Allie Figures stated that “An Essentialist curriculum is structured to develop discipline and a common culture of knowledge “(Figures, 2013). The essentialist or “back to the basics” approach to

In the essentialist classroom, you will see traditional subjects such as: English, Reading, Language, Math, Science, and History as the foundations of learning. “Essentialist teachers rely on achievement tests scores to evaluate progress and teachers expect that all students will leave school not only with the basic skills, but also disciplines, practical minds that are capable of applying lessons thought in school in the real world “(Sadker and Zittleman, 2007). Overall, teachers want their students to be able to use it appropriately in the real