The Student-Centered Philosophies

Student-centered philosophies are less authoritarian, less concerned with the past and “training the mind”, and more focus put on individual needs, contemporary relevance and preparing students for a changing future.  Progressivism, social reconstructionism and existentialism all place the individual learner at the center of the education process.  Students and educators work together on determining what should be learned and how it is best to learn it.  School is not seen as an institution that controls and directs youth, or works to preserve and transmit the core culture, but as an institution that works with the youth to improve society or help students realize their individuality. 

Progressivism organizes schools around the concerns, curiosity and real-world experience of students.  The progressive educator facilitates learning by helping students formulate meaningful questions and devise strategies to answer those questions.  Answers are not drawn from lists or even Great Books but rather discovered through real-world experience.  Progressivism is the educational application of a philosophy called pragmatism.  According to pragmatism, the way to determine if an idea has merit is by testing it.  If the idea works in the real world, then it has merit.  When one walks into a progressivist classroom, you will not find an educator standing at the front of the room talking to rows of seated students.  Rather, you will likely see children working in small groups, moving about and talking freely.  Interest centers are filled throughout the room, filled with books, materials, software and projects designed to ignite student interest on a wide array of topics.  Finally, you notice the educator, walking around the room, bending over to talk with individual students and small groups, asking questions and making suggestions.  Progressivists build the curriculum around the experiences, interests and abilities of students and encourage those students to work together cooperatively.  Educators feel no compulsion to focus their students’ attention on one discrete discipline at a time, and students integrate several subjects in their studies. 

Social reconstructionism encourages schools, educators and students to focus their studies and energies on alleviating pervasive social inequities and reconstruct society into a new and more just social order.  Although, social reconstructionism agree with progressivists that schools should concentrate on the needs of students, they split from progressivism in the 1920s after growing impatient with the slow pace of change in schools and society.  Social challenges and problems provide a natural and moral direction for curricular and instructional activities.  Racism, sexism, global warming and environmental pollution, homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, homophobia, AIDS and violence are rooted in misinformation and thrive in ignorance.  Therefore, social reconstructionists believe that school is the ideal place to begin ameliorating social problems.  The educator’s role is to explore social problems, suggest alternative perspectives, and facilitate student analysis of these problems.  A social reconstructionist educator must model democratic principles.  Both students and educators are expected to live and learn in a democratic culture where the students themselves must select educational objectives and social priorities. 

Existentialism is the final student-centered philosophy and places highest priority on students directing their own learning.  Existentialism asserts that the purpose of education is to help children find the meaning and direction in their lives and it rejects the notion that adults should or could direct meaningful learning for children.  Existentialists do not believe that “truth” is objective and applicable to all.  Instead, each of us must look within ourselves to discover our own truth, our own purpose in life.  Teaching students what adults believe they should learn is neither efficient nor effective; in fact, most of this “learning” will be forgotten.  Instead existentialists believe each student should decide what he or she needs to learn, and when to learn it.  This philosophy is considered the most challenging of the philosophies and schools built on this premise might very well seem alien.  However, we are a culture connected to the outside world, and far less connected to our inner voice or as an existentialist might say our essence.  Existentialists believe that schools should focus on thinking about why we are here and finding our purpose in life.  Existentialism in the classroom is a powerful rejection of traditional and particularly essentialist thinking.  In the existentialist classroom, subject matter takes second place to helping the students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals.  The educator’s role is to help students define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they may take in life and by creating an environment in which they can freely choose their way.  Existentialism, more than any other educational philosophy, affords students great latitude in their choice of subject matter and activity.  The existentialist curriculum often emphasizes the humanities as a means of providing students with vicarious experiences that will help them unleash their creativity and self-expression.  Existentialist learning is self-paced and self-directed, and includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher.  Honest interpersonal relationships are emphasized whereas roles and “official” status are de-emphasized.  Although there are elements of existentialism that occasionally appear in public schools, this philosophy has not been widely disseminated.  In the age of high-stakes standardized testing and standards, only a few schools, mostly private, implement existentialist ideals and practices.

After reading both the teacher-centered philosophies and the student-centered philosophies, which one do you feel you will encompass as an educator?  Do you feel as though your philosophy is student-centered or teacher-centered?