Teaching Philosophy of Essentialism PDF

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Final Paper on the Teaching Philosophy of the Teacher Centered Theory of Essentialism...

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THE TEACHING PHILOSOPHY OF ESSENTIALISM APA 6TH EDITION FORMAT

Essentialism is an educational philosophy focusing on the essentials, usually emphasizing “the basic skills related to reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history.” (Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353) The word can also refer to “the philosophical belief that all entities of a certain kind must possess certain characteristics independent of context”(Seel, 2012, p. 67). This philosophy is associated with the belief in “natural giftedness”(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017), as opposed to universal potential. It upholds the Biblical worldview in its focus on learning basic truth, but denies the biblical teaching of universal spiritual gifts.

The educational philosophy of essentialism focuses on “the major idea that there are core (essential) subjects or disciplines that should be studied; and, the teacher is the primary authority in the classroom.”(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353). The set of knowledge that students need to learn is assumed to be fixed and unchanging, and the teacher is ideally a person who has mastered all of the material. Since the teacher knows everything, and the students must learn everything, the only variable left is the time it takes to teach. Direct instruction is the most efficient way to teach known material, and it is the method most preferred by essentialists.(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353)

Essentialism is founded on the “ancient philosophical orientations of idealism and realism.”(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353) Similar to idealism, essentialism places the teacher as the “...primary authority in the classroom. Teachers are not charged with changing society;”, rather, the teacher’s job is to give students all the knowledge they will need to be good citizens(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353). However, unlike idealism’s focus on copying the teacher (who is the ideal), essentialism focuses on learning all of the great ideas of the past. Instead of copying one teacher, essentialism asks students to learn about all of the great people in history, and learn from them as well.(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353) Similar to realism, essentialism believes that education exists to provide students with enough knowledge to survive and thrive in the world. Essentialists believe “... that there are core (essential) subjects or disciplines that should be studied...”(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353) However,

unlike realism’s insistence on using logic and the senses to figure out what is real, essentialism prefers not to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. If a fact is already known, an essentialist would much to prefer to teach it directly than to teach through inquiry, which may lead to mistakes in the learner’s mind. (Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353)

In the context of general philosophy, however, essentialism can also mean “the philosophical belief that all entities of a certain kind must possess certain characteristics independent of context.”(Seel, 2012, p. 67). That is, believing in stereotypes. All surviving works from Ancient Greece are cultural masterpieces. Any work written by a white person during the 1960s is racist. Or even, “women are born with superior language skills, while men are born with superior math skills.”(Seel, 2012, p. 67). This is the point which many opponents of essentialism raise, since stereotypes by definition cannot accurately represent reality. (Seel, 2012, p. 67) However, the essentialist may argue that some stereotypes, when used in moderation, can be helpful. For example, most 4 year olds cannot read. Some can, but in general, it’s safe to assume that if you want a 4 year old to know information that is written, you will have to read it to them.

Perhaps because of this perpetuation of stereotypes, essentialists tend to believe in “natural giftedness”(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017), that is, some children having more innate ability than others. One study found that “ In terms of effect size, this association represents a medium-sized effect.”(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017). This belief that some students are more able to learn than others is a double edged sword. Some would argue that since intelligence is so variable, we should sort students by ability and help all, especially the least able, to reach their full potential. Others would claim that this variety means we should select the most able, and abandon the rest(Seel, 2012, p. 67). In any case, it is hard to say whether belief in essentialism causes belief in ‘the gifted few’, or if this elitist belief causes essentialism(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017).

Essentialism and the Biblical worldview both claim that truth is knowable and essential to living a good life(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353). Essentialism focuses on ‘the core subjects’, while

the Bible focuses on knowing God and doing His will. They can coincide, since many of the classics recognized by essentialists were written by Christians seeking to understand their Creator, but many modern incarnations of essentialism steer toward the secular(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353). Essentialism and the Biblical worldview do not agree on the nature of intelligence. Essentialism claims that some people are smarter (better) than others(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017).” The Bible tells us that all humans are made in the image of God, and are each given spiritual gifts. However, modern incarnations of essentialism often acknowledge that old measures of intelligence can only measure a few types of gifting, and that many more people are talented than were previously admitted(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017).

In conclusion, essentialism is the educational philosophy that hones in on the basic core subjects(Hunt, 2010, pp. 352-353). ‘Essentialism’ in general philosophy can also mean believing in the essential nature of objects, that is, stereotypes(Seel, 2012, p. 67). The philosophy is also associated with belief in “natural giftedness” of a few, to the exclusion of many(Räty, Mononen, & Pykäläinen, 2017). It agrees with the Bible in its focus on finding truth and learning it, but disagrees with the Bible about the nature of intelligence.

References Hunt, T. C. (2010). Encyclopedia of educational reform and dissent. Thousand Oaks: SAGE. Räty, H., Mononen, N., & Pykäläinen, E. (2017). Essentialism and social representations of intelligence. Social Psychology of Education, 20(4), 915–927. doi: 10.1007/ s11218-017-9399-5 Seel, N. M. (2012). Encyclopedia of the sciences of learning. New York: Springer....