Is the educational philosophy that the importance of certain works transcends time. Perennial works are those considered as important and applicable today as they were when they were written, and are often referred to as great books. Common examples include Melville’s Moby Dick, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Dickens’s Great Expectations, and Dante’s

Is the educational philosophy of teaching basic skills. This philosophy advocates training the mind. Essentialist educators focus on transmitting a series of progressively difficult topics and promotion of students to the next level or grade. Subjects are focused on the historical context of the material world and culture, and move

Promotes attentive personal consideration about personal character, beliefs, and choices. The primary question existentialists ask is whether they want to define who they are themselves, or whether they want society to define them. Although freedom and individuality are highly valued American principles, existentialists argue that there is an underlying message

Is an educational philosophy that views schools as tools to solve social problems. Social reconstructionists reason that, because all leaders are the product of schools, schools should provide a curriculum that fosters their development. Reconstructionists not only aim to educate a generation of problem solvers, but also try to identify

Is based on the positive changes and problem-solving approach that individuals with various educational credentials can provide their students. Progressivist educators are outcome focused and don’t simply impart learned facts. Teachers are less concerned with passing on the existing culture and strive to allow students to develop an individual approach

On a wider scale than the educational landscape, globalization refers to the processes that promote worldwide participation and relationships between people of different countries, cultures, and languages. Four main processes promote globalization: communication processes, economic processes, political processes, and educational processes. Global communication processes are how information is delivered. Television,

The hidden curriculum refers to the unspoken, yet apparently prevalent inclusion of views that tend to support the continued existence and maintenance of the dominant or upper class. Critical theory advocates that to prevent the advancement of the hidden curriculum to the detriment of the lower classes, schools use officially

Is a philosophy of education that analyzes institutions, organizations, and instruction regarding power relationships. According to proponents of critical theory, schools are controlled by the powerful, wealthy upper class that marginalizes the lower classes by using their control to maintain or reproduce their favored position on an issue. The supporters

Is an ideological and political movement first proposed by Karl Marx, a 19th-century philosopher. Marx held that the class system conflicted with the social, political, and educational realms. Logically and intelligently questioning the economic consequences of class hierarchy gives a better understanding of the world. Marxism calls for an education

The opposite of liberalism is conservatism. Conservatism is the belief that institutions should function according to their original intended purpose and that any concepts that have not been maintained should be restored. Certain core principles shape the beliefs of a conservative, and conservatives believe these core principles come from a