Educational Philosophy Term Paper

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Educational Philosophy

Although not old in years and experience, my educational philosophy is fortunately commensurate with the institution I am presently working for as a teacher. This institution is committed to one of the oldest and most respected academic traditions in existence, that of the Jesuit Catholic tradition of rigorous, questioning inquiry in education. It also stresses a strong community service tradition, along with the Catholic faith tradition. It combines justice education with academic excellence. It stresses that students must take pride in their African-American identity, and show pride and respect for themselves and their community by applying themselves to their studies with intellectual engagement as well as with a sense of duty.

This stress upon the great works of the religious tradition may seem to connect the school to the academic tradition and philosophy of perennialism. This educational philosophy advocates the use of original, translated but not abridged, great books of the Western tradition, rather than textbooks. Perrenialism's basic argument is that the original work is the work of genius, rather than the commentary. This stress upon inquiry and examination of basic, great works of text and training the mind is in line with the Jesuit tradition. However, my school and my own belief recognizes that the African-American canon is still evolving, and is an important part of student's lives and other American tradition of great texts. Thus, more contemporary texts are incorporated into the curriculum than might be typical of a perrenialism school.

In line with the thinking of secular educational perennialists, the school and my own educational philosophy emphasizes the importance of learning how to reason, rather than learning facts by rote. Perrenialists argue that accurate, independent reasoning defines the greatest difference between an uneducated mind and an educated mind. The ability to make intelligent choices, rather than obedience, marks the truly good student. My school, which is located in a section of Chicago where students are often challenged in their faith and belief structures with negative influences, thus embodies this aspect of the perrenialist tradition that encourages students to learn how to 'fish for a lifetime,' that is to learn how to learn, rather than to be given a singular meal to feed the student's mind for a day.

Perrenialists tend to de-emphasize facts in curriculum choice.

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"Since details of fact change constantly, these cannot be the most important. Therefore, one should teach principles, not facts." ("Perrenialism," 2004) Also, the approach that modern perennialists specifically use when teaching scientific reasoning is to stress the acquisition of the scientific method, not the acquisition of scientific facts. They may illustrate the reasoning with original accounts of famous experiments. This gives the students a human side to the science, and shows the reasoning in action. Most importantly, it shows the uncertainty and false steps of real science." ("Perrenialism," 2004) Although my school may stress the need to acquire certain facts to pass successfully through the higher education system, it still embraces perennialism's focus first on the personal development of the learning process, and the acquisition of the empowering tools to learn, along with a stress on great texts, secular and sacred.

Perrenialism also stresses that "since people are human, one should teach first about humans, not machines or techniques. Since people are people first, and workers second if at all, one should teach liberal topics first, not vocational topics." ("Perrenialism," 2004) This may be contrasted with realism, which tends to focus on a realistic preparation for one's likely path in life. Like perrenialism, realism focuses first on the essential skills of learning, but it stresses vocational training and the acquisition of technical and fact-based skills. Our school encourages students to learn how to learn, and to dream in a liberal and principle-based fashion, rather than limiting their aspirations early on in life to a single vocational path. They may change in their interests and ideals -- also, once students learn how to learn, and gain a strong moral foundation and discipline, then all….....

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