Throughout the history of this blog, I have tried to make the
case that a civics curriculum guided by the natural rights construct in what
content it should include has enabled or, at least, done little to ameliorate
the levels of certain unsavory social conditions. These conditions are low levels of political
knowledge, political participation, political skills or the disposition toward
developing those skills or attaining that knowledge, low levels of civility,
and high levels of criminal behavior. I
have provided reports of evidence and expert opinion to support these
contentions. With this posting, let me
add to that list of support. Let us “listen”
to Daniel N. Robinson’s – on the record – lecture:
[Thomas] Jefferson’s writings outside
of politics make clear, abundantly clear, and there’s no voice raised to
dispute this, that you cannot have this kind of [republican] government except
with an educated and instructed people, that the core of republican virtue is
education itself. If I might reflect
briefly on our own times, I would say that the deplorable state of education,
particularly in the primary and secondary schools, and the rather trite nature
of what we are pleased to call higher education, has to be worrisome. A self-governing people must be particularly
adept in weighing arguments and comprehending them, and in uniting their own
ideas and contrasting their own ideas with the best that history could
produce. The men assembled in
Philadelphia [at the Constitutional Convention in 1787] by and large could do
that, and could do it with great agility, though not that many of them had
degrees of any sort at all.[1]
I could delve into my overall agreement with Robinson, but
instead I want to use this quote to introduce a new topic – educational philosophy. While this might sound hotsy-totsy, there is
a very practical reason for my foray into the subject. But before I begin, I can’t help saying that
if the current presidential campaign doesn’t make Robinson’s point, I don’t
know what does.
Anyway, it seems from the tenor of the above quote that that
writer ascribes to an educational philosophy known as Perennialism. Perennialism is one of four overarching
educational philosophies and I believe it behooves parents and other citizens
to know about these philosophies if they take on the federalist responsibility
to engage in what is happening in their children’s schools. It will not only give such “intrusion” a more
knowledgeable foundation, but will also suggest optional courses for what is
going on in the schools in question. I
will merely introduce the topic in this posting, but in upcoming entries I will
delve further.
The four main
philosophies are the aforementioned Perennialism and Essentialism, Progressivism,
and Reconstructionism. I have already in
this blog introduced, some time ago, Reconstructionism. I identified it as critical theory, 1.0. As a philosophy, this idea takes on a more
encompassing definition, but runs in the same direction as I previously
indicated. I will elaborate in an upcoming
posting. There will be amplification on
these four. Of more recent vintage, two
more philosophies have been advanced.
They are Eclecticism and the educational form of Existentialism. Of course the term eclecticism gives away
this philosophy or should I write philosophies; that is, they are constructed
sets of ideas that borrow from the four main ones identified above. I would have to admit that what I have
promoted in this blog would be considered an expression of Eclecticism, but I would
argue that I probably fall, in terms of content, under the Perennialism
umbrella and in terms of instruction and instructional strategies under the
domain of Progressivism. If you are a
regular reader, as I go through these different schools of thought, you can
give me a grade on how true I am to any of these isms. As for Existentialism, again I have made
reference to it when reviewing critical theory.
Some thinkers who have attempted to soften the Marxian influence on
critical theory have relied on ideas and ideals from the Existentialist
perspective.
Beyond helping one
become a better observer and advocate at a given school, there is more to my
madness. Specifically, as when I reviewed
several elements of change theory, I would like people to be well “armed” if
and when they actively strive to implement a federalist civics program in their
communities’ schools. If in my teacher
preparation training I was typical, I was not made aware of these alternative
philosophies until graduate school.
Therefore, perhaps what I am about to share can be helpful to many
practicing teachers – hopefully so.
In this blog, my attention
has been on secondary schools and their curricula, but that is not to say that
a federalist approach could not and should not be implemented at the elementary
level. My hesitation to “go there” is
that I do not feel knowledgeable enough to do so. Whatever expertise I do enjoy concerns
secondary education in social studies.
In hopes of enticing
you, I do believe the topic of educational philosophy is interesting. Serious and gifted minds have expended a good
deal of effort in its study and I hope to share a relatively small portion of the
resulting literature.
[1] Robinson, D. N.
(2004). American ideals: Founding a
“republic of virtue.” [a
transcript booklet] Chantilly, VA: The Teaching
Company/The Great Courses.
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