Essentialism versus Progressivism

6th Reflection Paper for the EDAD 207 Class of Dr. Alonsabe

Two of the theories in education essential for the development of the curriculum are essentialism and progressivism. Dr. Theodore, a college instructor, developed a web regarding the foundations of education (http://www.siue.edu/~ptheodo/foundations/progressivism. html, retrieved 07 August 2011). Accordingly, essentialism is an educational philosophy that thoroughly and rigorously teaches the essentials of academic knowledge through traditional disciplines like the teacher discussing the concepts that the students need to learn. Traditional discipline entails the teaching of the following subject areas: Reading, Writing, Literature, Foreign Languages, History, Mathematics, Science, Art, and Music. On the other hand, progressivism as an educational philosophy upholds the teaching of the most important lessons only through cooperative approaches. This gives opportunity for the students to interact and work together as a group toward efficient learning; thus, the students’ brains are developed by individualized thinking.

I have realized that I am an adherent to the progressivism philosophy of education. I like giving activities that entail concerted efforts by each member of the group. In this way, the pupils are forced to think because everyone has an assigned task to accomplish. The group leader gathers the work of his group mates to finalize their output. Nonetheless, I also am an essentialist with my teaching approach in the sense that my pupils become busy of memorizing some subject matters like the multiplication table, poems, or songs. Teaching is not about choosing what theory to use but how these theories are utilized to promote quality instruction.

If I will remain as a classroom teacher for the remaining years of my teaching profession, my pupils would enjoy learning through the progressive teaching approach. I will prepare lots of activities that would tickle their minds and make them love coming to school because of the supportive classroom environment by the peers and teacher, as well. I will highlight the relevance of comradeship in carrying out my class activities. My pupils will learn to love themselves and value the sense of individuality. Moreover, I will not compromise the advantages of the essentialist approach of teaching. I will give many rhymes, jazz chants, songs, and the like for my pupils to memorize. This will help them a lot to sharpen their memory which is essential for their pursuit to higher education.