Educational philosophy itself is a scholarly field of study. However, most health professions faculty are not familiar with the literature on this subject. To introduce you to this field, we have selected several of the most influential philosophies of education for you to explore. They include: Perennialism, Essentialism, Progressivism, Behaviorism, Existentialism, Radicalism, and Constructivism.

On his Web page "Five Educational Philosophies," Shaw states that while these philosophies do not exhaust the list of possible educational philosophies you may adopt, they certainly present strong frameworks from which you can create your own educational philosophy. (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/LShaw/f95syll/philos/phintro.html). We would caution you, however, not to become overly concerned with the labels used to describe these philosophies, or use them in your own philosophy statements. In the eyes of peers and superiors, such labels often lead to premature pigeonholing. What is important are the differences in behaviors that generally characterize those who espouse each philosophy.

Essentialism ("Back to Basics")

Perennialism ("Universal Truth")

Progressivism ("Applied Learning")

Behaviorism ("Conditioning")

Existentialism "Individual Freedom")

Radicalism ("Student Empowerment")

Constructivism ("Prior Experience")

Select any of the titles above to learn more about the philosophy.