Educational Philosophies

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There are many different educational philosophies that have been used in classrooms over the years. Some different types of philosophies include Pragmatism, Behaviorism, Existentialism, and Post Modernism. It is important to understand these philosophies because the way we teach our classroom one day can be based on these philosophies. In this essay I will explain these philosophies of education and then explain how the classroom atmosphere will be in these different settings.
The first Philosophy that I would like to explain is Pragmatism. This philosophy states an idea or practice can be considered true only if it works satisfactorily. All ideas that are tested and can be considered true should be accepted and ideas that are tested and cant be considered true should not be accepted. The root word Pragma is a Greek word that means work. This philosophy encourages us to search hard and find the best way and then do the things that work best and are practical. The Pragmatist approach is a scientific method to things. Pragmatism also encourages humans to seek out the processes and do things that work best to help them achieve desirable ends. A pragmatist believes that ideas are only useful if they can be put into action or become beneficial to gain knowledge or a desirable outcome.
A pragmatist teacher gives students the tools they need to solve problems educationally and in real life situations. Pragmatists believe that students learn the best through doing hands on activities and learning. Students will learn better by doing experiments and discovering the answers by there selves. This way they test a certain situation and they can accept it or not accept it. It is very important that the way a teacher gets his or her students ...

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...more authoriive rather then instead of a guided style teacher. Students should self reflect and find solutions that fit themselves best. Students in this classroom feel accepted because differences are accepted and students feel like they belong and are worthy. An example of a teacher using this philosophy of teaching is a science teacher telling her students to look at evolution from a stand point that doesn’t conflict there believes.

Works Cited

Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., Hall, G. E., & Gollnick, D. (2013). Foundations of American Education.
Ozmon, H. (2011). Philosophical Foundations of Education. New Jersey: Pearson.

Pragmatism. My Groups Abstract and Presentation.
Behaviorism Groups Abstracts
Dr. Artis Existentialism PowerPoint
Dr. Artis Postmodernism PowerPoint
Existentialism Group PowerPoint and Abstract
Postmodernism Group PowerPoint and Abstract

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