Friday, October 22, 2010

How well do teaching ideologies reflect political parties?

Who says politics and education don't match up?

If one were to look at the policies for each political party, there is a very broad but certain resemblance to the policies of educational ideologies. The two main ideologies I would like to focus on would be Essentialism and Progressivism. These are the two largest teaching ideologies practiced in the United States out the four total ideologies. The two political stances being identified are the Republican Party and the Progressive Party. Give comments or feedback on how these these platforms and ideologies are related or not related to one another, and follow the directions at the bottom:

(I do not want to go too far into the topic at hand for the reason being that I would like for the readers of this blog to come to their own conclusions about the relationship that these ideas share. If readers do need more information on the topic(s) at hand, click on the links at the bottem of the page for further information. Please respond to this post with any criticism, agreements, argumentation, other relationships, and or if other teaching ideologies match up the same way to other political parties. Responders are also encouraged to give examples that further support these relationships or to disagree with the relationships. It is up for you to decide, just please be courteous, respectful, and professional with your posts; this is not a place or topic for slander or rudeness. HAVE FUN!)

Progressives in Education
Progressives in Politics
Essentialists in Education
Essentialists in Politics
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80 comments:

  1. If you were to compare teaching philosophies to political parties, there would be many similarities that you could come up with. First, the Republican Party would be associated more with essentialism than with progressivism. This is because most Republicans just focus on the basics, as do essentialists. The main focus of both of these is to teach the basics to people so that they can find jobs in the real world. Essentialism in education is very teacher-centered and the Republican Party is very leader-centered. I am not bashing on the Republicans here; I am, myself, a Republican. I do not, however, believe in every single facet of the Republican Party. Whereas, on the other side is progressivism and the Progressive Party who believe that real-life examples should be how we learn and what we focus on. Progressivism in education is not ruled by standardized tests but rather by student-centered learning. This is similar to the ideas of progressivism in that progressivists believe that people should learn by getting experience in the real world and that the politics should revolve around the individual. We can learn a great deal of information from comparing political parties to educational philosophies, and it is very interesting to examine how they correlate.

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  2. Progressivism as you explain it sounds more like Perennialism to me. In progressivism, the teacher uses the students' experiences to incorporate learning, rather than just dumping information that only the teacher has into their brains.

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  3. I think, though, that we must take into account that there should be a way to assess how students are doing. Interviews with them or even performance assessments, not necessarily a test. Too many people feel anxiety over being pressured on certain events, some might even say it is a new way of bullying. If the Republican Party is leader centered and they throw their own parties, shouldn't the analogy still stand? Why then would we do this to students?

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  4. Let me start by saying I don't know much about politics. However, after reading your explanations, I agree that Republicans and Essentialists have a lot in common with their ideologies. The most recent backer of essentialism (George Bush) went so far as to sign it into a law (No Child Left Behind) that children had to know the basics. Based on that, I agree with your opinion.

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  5. While I, too, would argue that some of the tenants you discussed relating to progressivism seem to be a bit more grounded in perennialism, I think that looking at educational philosophies in light of political parties is an interesting concept. Specifically, I think that it is easy to see how many of the progressivist philosophies in politics have a direct correlation to those in the classroom, such as how the progressive party primarily focuses on a government “controlled by citizens” – just as a progressivist classroom is a democratic, student-centered environment. I would argue, however, that progressivism in the classroom does take in interest in the efforts of tomorrow, for the active learning environments created in such classrooms seems to be rooted in a desire to grow students so that they will be sufficiently successful in the future. Some of these progressivist philosophies can also be tied to social constructivist ideologies, for it seems as though this type of education (and, indeed, the political party that it is associated with) strives to look past basic needs in an attempt to improve society as a whole.

    This view of multifaceted growth, however, is not shared by policies favoring essentialism, which I believe are closely aligned with the ideologies of the Republican Party (especially in the light of the fact that many essentialist policies such as NCLB were introduced which a Republican was in office). Though not necessarily always true, it seems as though many Republican efforts focus on the absolute core values of society, which perfectly connects to the goal of an essentialist education to promote growth in the key skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Especially after viewing Waiting for ‘Superman’ I personally believe that there is a lot more to school and to a child’s education in general than these core skills, but it seems as though it will take a lot in order to move our country past the high-stakes testing on core skills that only seems to be pushing us further behind as a country as a whole.

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  6. I agree that the Republican Party associates more with essentialism. It's obvious by the policies (such as NCLB) put in place while George Bush was in office. However, what about Democrats? Now that Obama is in office I'm curious as to what policies he will implement. Something needs to be done now more than ever. As the previous person mentioned the system that is in place now is only generating negative results and causing us to fall farther and farther behind.

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  7. I think that it is interesting to see how a lot of people think that the Republican party associates more with the philosophy in education of essentialism. I do not really follow political parties, but I do know about the No Child Left Behind policy created by GB and it is ironic that he is a Republican. I know that Republicans are leader-based and the leader has the most authority, whereas in essentialism, the teacher/upper body has the control by creating tests upon tests for children. This is the opposite of progressivism because there it is more people-student based, just like the Democratic party, where people have the say.

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  8. Progressive teachers involve students in an activity based learning environment; these activities are supposed to help the students develop real-world skills that they can apply to their present and future everyday lives. Progressive teaching is comparable to the progressive political party mainly because they are both centered on the masses. In progressive education, the students' interests shape what is taught, thus this philosophy is learner centered. The progressive party focuses on creating a citizen centered government that implements policies that serve the "broad" public as opposed to just focusing on private interests.
    The essentialist philosophy of education and the republican political party are very different from the above philosophy and party. Essentialists in education believe that students should focus on the basics such as reading, writing, and arithmetic and be tested on their knowledge excessively. The Republican party is similar because they call for a more leader centered government that focuses on issues that they find to be important. Both the essential education philosophy and the republican are considered to be conservatives and I feel as though they both have very strict policies that they adhere to.

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  9. In your link, Progressives in Education, you stated that "progressive teachers look at each student as a, "receptacle for knowledge" meaning that students are merely an empty hole that you feed information to." I believe this is incorrect. Progressive teachers would not just stand in front of their students and lecture, "feeding information to" them. A Progressive teacher's classroom would be more student-centered, student-initiated. The teacher would help direct the students in activities that involve real life situations. Progressives would teach important content, but the way they teach it would engage their students and students would see how to apply it to their own lives.

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  10. I can see how the essentialism philosophy of education lines up with the Republican political standpoint. Sometimes focusing on the basic principles and policies and not branching out to much from it. Democrats on the other hand have more of an expanded outlook similiar to the progressivist philosophy of education. Political parties and educational philosophies do compare in terms of the main idea and purpose of the view points. All political parties and educational philosophies should be well rounded fro people to adapt to, however, this is not always the case.

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  11. I think Education directly deals with politics. We as educators need the rich politicians to support educations. I agree that by your explanation that the Republican party could closley associate with essentialist thinking. But the example of (NCLB) probably won't win many confused readers. I mean the idea of it is good but ultimately inaffective. Many children are ironically being left behind. I don't care which politicians were have to convience as long as education in this country starts to improve.

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  12. I am going to have to agree with the comment Stacey left about Progressivism sounding more like Perennialism. Which is ironic because Progressivism is a student based teaching, compared to Perennialism is all teacher based. As well as, like baumanna1 said, Progressivism is not just only focused on now, but tomorrow as well. They are preparing students for the real world and what experiences may come from it. Other than that, I would say I could see where you are coming from in this blog. They are rather comparable, yet there are a few things that do not match up as easily as I read through the other post. I am not one into politics, but as I think about the Democratic Party and comparable ideas to the Progressivism move, I could see how much they might relate. This being said, this negates the idea of focusing on today and not tomorrow. They both are about what is going on in the real world and how things should be managed for a better tomorrow for everyone.

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  13. I agree that essentialism/republican go together. But I also see Perennialism/republican going together. Some republican's feel that we should be teaching "Old School!" or Classic Knowledge! Yes, Bush introduced NCLB into our classrooms. I feel at least that was a start! I don't feel that standardized testing is the way to do it but it was still a start! Progressives and Progressivism I don't think they go well together. I feel that Progressives would deal with the hear and now and not individual development! Progressives would want a quick fix. Is that even possible? Over all I feel that this blog is trying to classify both politics and educational philosophies. I ask WHY? Can't people believe ideas from both? Don't we classify the children in our society enough? Why do we have to classify everything?

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  14. To start off, I am neither on the side of Essentialism or Progressivism. I agree with social reconstruction. I do not believe that these have anything to do with one another and they are actually total opposites. Progressivism to me is pointless is a sense that you only worry about what is going on at the moment and not ever looking toward the future. The fact that it is mostly controlled by its citizens is the only positive part because you can get their insight from the people in the community to help better issues going on instead of being on the outside looking in. Of course Republicans are on the Essentialism side, because they are all about money. Rich families are more likely to teach their children aspects like morals and values and prepare them for their youth. Lower class families are more likely not to teach their children about these aspects above. To me, one of these is based on rich families who have the power to do positive things in their children’s lives and the other is being able to work with what you have in middle and lower class families.

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  15. I see the progressivism educational philosophy being similar to the progressive political party. They are concerned with what they can fix right now and not what they could do to better the future. Just as the progressivists in education want to include their students as much as possible, the progressive political party includes its citizens rather than corporate elites. Essentialist education philosophy is similar to that of the republican political party. They concern themselves with the basic roots of both education and politics.

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  16. I can see the Essentialism comparison with the Republican Party. There are many similarities between the two in regards to knowing the basics. But, I have to disagree with you on Progressivism. I feel that in Progressivism, it doesn't just focus on today. It presents the real life experience to better prepare you for tomorrow. Also, I feel that the idea of the students mind being empty and having information dumped into it is more along the lines of Perennialism, not Progressivism

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  17. In some ways going back to the basics is appropriate in education, but you also need to branch out and bring in cultural/societal ideas. Republicans sometimes miss that mark, but I know that they try and make education better. Not knowing a lot about politics, it seems that we would want to improve our schools, as well as, help our students become well-rounded. I feel like these ideals are only used to bring up test scores and use it against other nations. NCLB is okay, but even though no child is denied an education, in return they get a lesser one. This is because resources/teachers are stretched thin. I feel like our government should take another look at it.

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  18. I think it’s obvious that the Republican Party is associated with essentialism. Proof would be their policies about how schools need a basic understanding of core knowledge and they have demonstrated this with the broken No child Left Behind Bill. And the Progressive Party has the same policies as progressivism. The Progressive Party is very concerned about the present but don’t necessarily think in terms of the future. However I don’t believe any of these are bad philosophies to have. They just will serve better if the two parties can combined the two. Students do need a core understanding of basic knowledge, but their education should not be limited to that. Same goes for progressivism, you need to teach students how to better the world, but at the same time not ignore the core knowledge every student needs. So if the parties can learn to collaborate ideas I think the parties can make progress in improving education.

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  19. I can agree with your statement about Progressivism and Essentialism being similar to one another in both education and politics. Progressivism in both education and politics focuses on the individuals’ opinions and feelings. In education it focuses on making the classroom like a mini society. Progressives in education focus on students as individuals not as a whole classroom. Progressives in politics do similar things. They focus on the citizens not the big corporate elites. They want to know how the citizens feel and what they want. Essentialists on the other hand in both education and politics focus more on what society is going to be like in the future. They want students prepared for the future because they will be who is leading it and making the decisions. In politics they expect the same thing. They hold individuals responsible for themselves and their achievements. I personally think that Progressivism is the better way to go. As a future teacher I will want to manage my classroom in a Progressive way. I think it is important to make the students the main focus of the classroom and to get to know them as individuals.

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  20. I can clearly see a relationship between the philosophy of Essentialism to a conservative party, as well as, the connection between Progressivism to a more liberal party. Essentialism, like Republicans, stand for information and methods of leadership that are constant and never changing. The Progressivism Philosophy is teaching for the students and focusing on their needs; just like the Democratic Party meets certain citizens’ needs that otherwise would be looked over, such as stem cell research. Although there is a connection between the philosophies of education and politics, I don’t think that it means if you are Republican you have to have to agree with the Essentialist philosophy of teaching. I have Republican views but agree with the Progressivism philosophy of teaching. I also think that Progressivism is more complex than simply, as mentioned, feeding information into an empty hole.

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  21. I think the idea of comparing politics to educational philosophies in this blog is interesting but ultimately futile, because of the way the political parties have been identified (ie: Democrat =Progressive, Republican = Conservative). Simply put, just because someone is a Republican does not mean they are a conservative and just because someone is a Democrat does not mean they are a progressive. There are too many shades of grey in politics, which makes over-generalizations pointless. For example, Harold Ford Jr. (former Democratic congressman) is much more conservative than Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican Governor of California). Also, some individuals have conservative / progressive economic views and have different social views, (Rudy Giuliani is a Republican example). Although, I know this goes against what TV pundits might say, I think the members of both major political parties in America have too much diversity to declare that one party belongs to one specific ideology. Purity tests are as easy as they are incorrect.

    Mike Ricco

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  22. I can clearly see a basic relationship between educational philosophies and politics. Essentialism is concerned and based upon the original teachings of reading, writing, and arithmetic which are still highly important in our society today. This does coincide with Republicans views on tradition and procedure. Progressive beliefs of both education and political standing do share the ideology of "living in the now." For some reason, I feel like in education this does address the changes that will affect the future. Maybe in politics this party is more focused on the automatic rewards or changes that will occur due to an action or law, but in education this ideology also focus on the lifelong learning skills of students. If this is the case, then progressivism in education is aware of the changes and impact learning has on individuals for their future in both academics and society.

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  23. I do believe that there is a "strong" correlation between Essentialism and the Republican Party as many of you have pointed out. NCLB, standardized tests, etc. are definitely at the heart of many Republican ideologies and I believe they are a good start...with that being said Progressivism is and can be a wonderful "step further" for our educational system. I see the value in both ideologies, incorporating a good, strong foundation with Essentialists structure then exposing students, or even political factions, to how to move into modern, student/people-centered implications would certainly benefit everyone.

    There is little benefit to doing anything with blinders on, and ignoring the benefits in our schools/government to a more progressive, multi-faceted way of accomplishing our goals only hinders our potential. There is no ONE perfect way to succeed but I would venture to say that most who do succeed explore and learn about all possible avenues before developing what works best for them! I am drawn to progressivism as a future educator but I never forget my strong background in essentialist ideals and my ability to tackle most methods of higher learning.

    Never forget where you came from and never forget where you want to go! The ability to continually adjust attitudes, actions, and meet neccessities, whether in the classroom or in the political arena are vital to success as politicians, educators, students, parents, employees, etc.

    by jbaker

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  24. I definitely think there can be similarities between politics and educational philosophies. Essentialist and republicans are very similar in their beliefs and what they think makes a strong person. Progressivists on both spectrums are similar as well. The word progressive says right off the bat what they want and believe. Progressivists want progress and change, whereas republicans are more apt to stick with what has worked in the past and not change things too often.

    R Rebholz

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  25. Well, first of all I never thought of educational philosophies and political parties going together. However, after reading about them, I do see similarties between the progressivism and progressive party. Just like in the educational philosophy of progressivism, the progressive party wants to deal with what's happening in the real world and try to solve things in it.

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  26. I will agree that Republican ideals relate to Essentialism more than anything due to their history (NCLB). With essentialism the educational system has failed. Would anyone want a doctor that has grown up in an essential education system conducting a rare, very non-basic surgery on them? Of course not, so why settle for basic learning? Do we need to know basic skills first? Most certainly, but there are more things to teach beyond that. This is not a bashing of Republicans because I am a strong Republican. What has the current Democratic administration done for our education? Nothing, so I really am not commenting for political debate. One this is for certain, Essentialism is not the correct system for education, but progressivism is because it teaches the REAL WORLD. At the same time however, because the way the real world is becoming with its essentialism, progressivism may even become a tainted form of teaching. Progressivism just may turn into Essentialism at this rate. Think about it.

    Ryan Spaulding

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  27. Conservative policy makers believe that persons should be given the same rights and responsibilities as one another and the decisions and life styles that those persons choose is up to them. They believe that the government should have a very small intervening role in an individual’s life. This mentality is evident in the essentialist philosophy of education, in which all students are taught the same basic information and instilled with basic moral values. What the students choose to do with that instruction is up to them. I do not agree with the information provided in this blog regarding the progressive philosophy of education. Yes, progressives orient their instruction in the present societal environment, but that does not mean they don’t focus on tomorrow. They do not simply allow the rest of life to fall into place. They are as equally focused on the future as essentialist, but choose to enhance their instruction in present, real life settings.

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  28. While there can be similarities found between the value systems of politics and education-- the Republican Party and Essentialism Philosophy-- the Progressive Party and Progressivism Philosophy, I would certainly stand with Mike Ricco in his commentary "There are too many shades of grey in politics, which makes over-generalizations pointless". There is truth in that not all Republicans are conservative and not all Democrats are progressive, so to deem them so would be false. However for the sake of thought connections and investigation of an amusing and interesting topic, in comparing the political beliefs of each party to both Essentialism and Progressivism it is obvious there are a number of commonalities. Both Essentialists and Republicans focus on the development of the individual in retrospect to self discipline, basic skills, and morals/values. The same can be said for Progressivism and the Progressive Party as they are both fixated on the group in collaboration and placing the responsibility of learning and decision making upon the student/citizen. But I must say there are significant differences among the Political parties and educational philosophies as well. I feel as though this topic would need a great deal of further consideration and investigation to determine a direct relationship between the two political parties and educational philosophies and due to the “shades of grey” it could be an impossible task in which to succeed.

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  29. I want to first say that I do not keep up with politics in any way. After reading your discriptions of the political parties, I do see where they are very similar in beliefs. My personal teaching ideaology is progressivism. I think that success in a child's life is based on how they handle the here and now. I don't, however, agree with the way the political party handles things. I think there are better options out there.

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  30. I would have to agree that essentialism typically is correlated with the Republican party, as they support a more straightforward and strict education system. When I think of this type of education, I think of how a lot of public schools are taught today. No Child Left Behind is a prime example of this because it focused on math, reading, writing, and science, and was a standardized test (for each state) across the board. I'm not sure that Democrats support just progressivism, I could also see the party supporting social reconstructivism as well. I know that Obama supports charter schools that if i remember correctly we learned can sometimes have a different curriculum and specialized schools that focus on the individual student more, like the school in Atlanta that only had six children in each classroom.

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  31. I am not very familiar with politics but when it comes to education I like to be up to date. I feel that the Republican Party supports essentialism and Democratic Party supports progressivism. The republicans are more worried about how our country looks compared to others. That is why standardized testing is mandated and so important to this country. The Republicans want us to look great to other parts of the world. The Democrats are always said to favor the poor people. In doing this they are helping lower income schooling and helping students learn how to live in this world in addition to the essentials. Overall, both support essentialism but democrats are more for progressivism.

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  32. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  33. I would have to say that the description of the progressive teacher, well the last statement, sounds a little inaccurate. The statement "students are merely an empty hole that you feed information to" makes the description sound as if the teacher knows all and students know nothing. Maybe I read the sentence as being negative. I noticed that the ideas of the progressive politics sound like perennialism. I believe, Mr. Jones is right on target with the matchup between the Republican party and the essentialist teaching. Since politics play a large part in education and change, educators must keep up with politics. What I do know is whether one is a republican or apart of the progressive party, our education system needs change NOW!

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  34. Progessive education and politics both have one important quality; they focus on the needs of the people/students. In education, the students need to input on their learning and prepare themselves for the real, working world. As for politics, progressivist believe that the rights of the people is what's important and the people's participation is crucial. So in the words of John Michael Montgomery, "Life's a dance you learn as you go..."

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  35. Of the two teaching styles discussed in this article, I feel that I identify closest with progressives. However, I do not agree with the way it was described in education for the purposes of this blog. I don’t view students as an ‘empty hole’. I view them as individuals coming to me with their own life experiences and circumstances, making them unique in their own way.

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  36. I personally believe that politics doesn’t play a huge role in the teaching methods used but teachers. It is each teacher’s personal belief on what the best way to teach their students. I believe that regardless of the governments political party stance is they want all students who live in America to excel in their studies, so America can be the best. If constantly testing students is the best method both political parties feel will help Americans be their best then both parties will agree to that.
    Stephanie White

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  37. I believe that generally speaking the match ups of the political parties and the ideologies are accurate. However, like everything in life there are always exceptions. Especially, when you have those individuals who find themselves in limbo. Being pulled between both political issues and educational issues, because of their mixed ideas on specific subjects. I also noticed that part of the description of progressivism was a little off, and resembled more of a description of perennialism if anything. Perennialist are those who believe that students are blank slates just waiting to be wrote on. Overall, I found the articles to be interesting and accurate.

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  38. I have not thought about this before, but I do see a correlation between the political parties and the teaching philosophies. Essentialism is definitely related to the repblican party, as they are responsible for No Child Left Behind. However, I agree with several of the previous posts that stated that just because you are Republican doesn't mean you follow their ideas rigidly. I think you could probably find a correlation between anything, if you search hard enough for it.

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  39. I do not know much about politics, but reading all of these posts has made me aware that political parties are in correlation with teaching philosophies. I agree that the Republican party has a correlation with the philosophy of Essentialism. Essentialism stresses that the basics should be the main focus. This is similar to the Democratic party because they are also conservatives and have policies that they have to stick to, just like the Essentailists have a curriculum to stick to.

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  40. When comparing the two teaching philosophies essentialism and progressivism to political parties there are many similarities that could come to your mind. First, I feel the Republican Party should be compared with essentialism rather than with progressivism. I feel this way because most Republicans like to focus on the basics, which follows the same views as essentialists. The primary goal of essentialists and republicans is to teach the basics to people for them to find jobs when they become an adult. I also believe that Essentialism in education is very teacher-centered and the Republican Party is very leader-centered.

    With progressivism and the Progressive Party they believe that real-life examples should be the way to learn and what is important. Progressivism in education is not ruled by standardized tests but rather by student-centered learning. This is similar to the ideas of progressivism in that progressivists believe that people should learn by getting experience in the real world and that the politics should revolve around the individual. I feel that this is the most beneficial form of education and politics because it is important that we continue to learn from one another. We need to remember that everyone is unique and we really can help each other. People learn in different ways and its important that we remember to express how we feel and share what we know. It is interesting to compare political parties to educational philosophies, it can teach us a lot and offer a lot of insight to us.

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  41. Here is how I see it. As far as NCLB, some sort of legislation was going to be passed during that term whether it was G.B. in office or a Democrat because of all of the pressures surrounding education. So I rule that out of this discussion. I see political views and teaching ideologies like this; the extreme right winged Republicans would have the most in common with a Perennialist teaching method, where as an extreme left winged Democrat would have the most in common with a Social Reconstructivist. As the parties move toward the center, Republicans resemble essestialism and Democrats resemble Progressivism. Politics and teaching ideologies are similar in the sense that there is no clear right or wrong. It takes a struggle between both sides to achieve common ground in the middle. The only part that does bother me is that there are no checks and balances conserning teaching ideology, so a teacher's ideology (right, wrong, or indifferent), is passed on directly to the student.

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  42. I agree with "Kenny's" statement above. I think in extremely general terms there will definitely be strong resemblences between far-right wing members and perennialists and far-left wing members and social reconstructionists. Generally speaking, part of a party's platform deals with education, so naturally they tend to fall into more of one category or the other. In the move away from the far right or left, I definitely believe there is more room for some intermingling of multiple views, which probably leads to the closeness of most of the philosophy of education outlooks we saw in class. I doubt many of us identify as staunchly far-left or far-right, and therefore there is more room within our philosophies to intermingle, or for us to have multiple results. While I don't believe this prompt is necessarily trying to generalize all members of one party into one particular view of education, I do think it is important to point out that many people that identify as either "Republican" or "Progressive" may not believe in the same educational philosophy as the majority of their respective party.

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  43. I agree with Suzanne's comment. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't really follow or know a lot with that is going on with politics but I do find it interesting how closely the two correlate. I think that yes, there are some obvious similarities, but being a future educator it is my job to really focus on the child. Despite who believes what, or what political group you belong to...as a teacher, the students will be my number one concern and I will change or tweak my teaching according to each individual student!

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  44. I can see the correlation between progressivism and the Democratic party. Both seek change from the basics. Progressives want more student-centered learning activities and less high stakes standardized testing. Democrats want to give the voice to the people. They take into account the affects on the individual person.

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  45. I agree with what beard_e was getting at. Education is directly related with politics. From city governments to our federal governments, leaders impact education substantially whether it is something as NCLB, or a county official redistricting a subdivision or even a street to another school. Yes they are on a different scale, however if you take even a street from one district to another that determines where that tax money goes. I have read about in a recent election an elected official was trying to move a street from a poorer smaller district to a less needy larger district and many was against him being elected due to that reason.

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  46. I agree with Stacey. You make Progressivism sound a lot like Essentialism. In the progressivist point of view the child needs to be taught how to be a good student as a well rounded individual in society. Students need to learn how to deal with social and emotional issues as well as the intellectual part of school. Progressiviam is NOT about just feeding information into the the students. It is about make students who can excell in every aspect of thier lives.

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  47. I agree with Stacey and Britney. Progressivism is about making students excel not only educationally but also sooially and morally. You teach them how to make decisions of their own so when they complete school they are capable of making those decisions. I also think that those who follow progressivism also have an open mind when it comes to politics. You agree with both sides but you chose to side with equality for all.

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  48. I agree that Essentialism is closely related to the Republican party and that Progressivism is linked with the Progessive political party. Essentialism shares the main idea with the Republicans in that they are both concerned with the basic roots of education and politics. Progressivism, much like the progessive political party, focuses on what they can do to better the future and move forward. Therefore, education is definitely related to politics on so many levels. I never really thought about this until I read this post.

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  49. After reading this blog, it is more clear to me that politics go hand in hand with education. Each candidiate in an election has his/her own views on how education should be carried out. Yes, it is clear that George Bush was an essentialist because he came out with No Child Left Behind, but it doesn't necessarily go for each Conservative person I am sure. Because essentialism relates to the idea that each person should be familar with the basic content areas, it does make sense that this is a Conservative notion. I think that it is vital to elect political figures into office who greatly value education. These figures can have a very strong impact on how students learn, such as NCLB.

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  50. I am not a person who follows politics or even cares much about them, but the link between political parties and educational philosophies are mind blowing. More than anything this gets me thinking about the cycle of the education and the world. Everywhere you go and everything you learn is preparing you and molding you into what society wants you to be. This all may sound extreme but through our education, no matter what type you receive, someone else is making our decisions for us by the education they present to us.

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  51. I really do think these views could relate to the political parties mentioned. I think it is difficult to say that all Republicans are Essentialist or Progressives are only teaching progressivism; I tend to agree though that it is most likely that each party may be inclined to be as proposed. We all have a certain base of beliefs and ideals that usually carry over to many aspects of our lives.

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  52. I believe that progressivism needs to become a major focus of this countries education focus, for all essentialism is doing if forcing teachers to teach to a test and thus inhibiting the learning process. By teaching to a test we are forming a generation of students who memorize and forget, not to mention we as educators are catering to a cutler of cheating and turning the blind eye by just letting this occur. I for one hope that with this new generation of teacher we have some brave souls who speak up and talk of all the problems within our education system and fight to make a difference.

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  53. I never really thought about different teaching techniques as matching up with any political parties. Now that the similarities and differences have been pointed out, I can kind of see what the author means. However, I definitely don’t think that all Republicans can be labeled as essentialists and all Democrats can be labeled as progressivists. And what about the other two teaching theories, perennialism and social reconstructionism? While I do agree that the political parties are more likely to lean towards these certain theories, I also think its possible for people to have many different views that conflict with each other to create complex views on education.

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  54. Progressivism boils down to dealing with a student centered based type of teaching, such a Progressivism in politics deals with the citizens being the focus and power. Today, Essentialism has taken over the power of majority of schools to where "testing," is the right way and the only focus of getting kids along in the "system." Just as an essentialism way of government deals with just the necessities of society. I believe though people see the results and may think it is an effective way, but what are we really doing to better our future. Are we teaching about life and what to expect with Essentialism? Is it fir to the children just to teach them about the three R's? Although the three R'S are valuable to children getting through school, why not teach child to think outside of the box. Why be programming children to be the same. Basically your reverting society in people can not make educated judgements because they simply do not know how to. Is this what we want for the next generation that is supposed to sit in the high ranking official seats taking care of our nation. This country was built upon structures and opinions because the system before was simply to get people by. Teach the progressivism way to help the future be able to make the right judgements. Our future relies upon it. There can be a way of seeing the progress of how students are educated instead of a simply biased test that pressures kids not to succeed.

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  55. I've never really thought of the correlation between politics and education before, but I believe that you have a valid point. As several others have mentioned, if you want proof of the correlation between the two just look at George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind policy. I feel that voters should take a much closer look at what political candidates will do to the education system before deciding who to vote for. However it is important for whoever does come into office to be aware that regardless of what you believe, the education system is letting a lot of people down and change is needed.

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  56. When I think about the education system in the US, I think of it as a whole. I do not really seperate the parties. They do have policies which they implement according to their beliefs on education. I do see that republicans lean mor towards essentialism (i.e. No Child Left Behind). Having two political parties with a mixture of beliefs could be helpful in combining both essentialism and progressivism. Maybe that is the answer to our education issues. However, when you think about it, regardless of what political party someone is with, the US is in desperate need of change in the education system and no one can deny that.

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  57. I don't really folow politics. However, I agree with the other people that blogged before me. I feel that our educational system is lacking and it is important for us as future educators to help improve our system. I feel that education is extremely important and everyone should take it more seriously.

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  58. It is very obvious that politics and education go hand-in-hand. Essentialism very closely relates to the Republican Party. It is back to the basics and very teacher centered just like Republicans are leader centerted. And like everyone else has stated, progressivism follows along with the ideologies of the Progressivist Party. But I have to agree with remleyd1; we need something to change in education because the system we have now is helping our students excel. I think progressivism would be the step. It would get students more involved and help develop them as individuals who can succeed inside and outside of the classroom.

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  59. Republicans are like Essentialist education and Democrats are like Progressivism. Like some others I don't keep up with politics but with the descriptions the two political parties match up to the philosophies. Although I have learned that Progressivism is teacher-student, student-teacher centered. It is about taking the real world and bringing it into the classroom. The Progressivism described sounds more like Perennialism.

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  60. While there may be a correlation between the two education philosophies described and the two political parties, I am not so sure that provides proof that the political parties stand for each of the philosophies. Even if they can be divided into categories I don't think it matters much. Either way education needs to be reformed. Maybe it is because we are putting educational philosophies into political boxes which is why nothing has changed.

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  61. Essentialists in politics are a perfect match. The views of the Republicans are exactly what Essentialists believe & pursue. The strive for everyone to be equal and to have an equal opportunity for a valued education. Essentialists teach the basics, what students need to know to work and function in society. In politics, the Republican party is based on upholding the key values that the United States was founded on. In every elementary school, every student reads the Constitution, every student learns about Independence day and how glorious it was that the "we" started a new, free country. As the Republicans value what the United States was founded on, so does Public schools. Currently, the United States' Public Schools take a learn toward Essentialism. And that is the exact relationship we see here: Essentialism in the schools is directly relating to the values of the Republican party.

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  62. Nowadays, essentialism is not only prevalent in American schools, but also in American government. The need to establish a firm foundation of basic skills and values not only reflects essentialist teaching in the classroom but Republican views in Washington. Conservatives believe in supplying basic needs, meaning less government and more people. Essentialist characteristics involve the basics of learning: reading, writing, and arithmetic. This involves continual testing throughout student's academic careers to ensure that benchmarks are being reached. They parallel one another perfectly. Progressivism in the classroom also correlates to the Progessives in government. Both concentrate on focusing on current worldly problems and the "now." They each center on teaching the next generation to focus on today and let tomorrow fall in to place. It is often ignored that government has a huge hand in how the classroom is ran, regardless on whether the effect is positive or negative.

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  63. As Essentialism strives to teach the basics, the "basics" tend to be more traditional, and Republicans tend to view issues more traditionally. I feel that the Progressivists are motivated by change and Progressivism in the classroom thrives on change, new opinions, new ideas, new experiences, etc.

    -Courtney Gunn

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  64. I would have to say that eventhough it seems that Republicans seem to be more essentialist and Democrats more progressivists that the fact of the matter is that nothing is that there is a definite grey area between the two. I know a lot of people are bringing up the NCLB act that George Bush signed but like someone above mentioned, the act would have been passed by any president because of the political pressures involved with trying to reform our failing education system. Any person that is going to run for office is going to say that they want to help otu the kids because they just seem creul and heartless if they don't and there's no way they will ever get elected. When it all comes down to it, political parties are very much closely related to education but the ways that they look at education can also differ greatly within that same individual party.

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  65. I had never really looked at the educational ideologies in this light, although it seems very practical and logical to do so. I mean obviously progressive politics focuses on putting power within the citizens, much like placing a student's education within their own hands, and vice versa with essentialism and the republican party. Although this comparison seems logical, it is obvious the education is in the need of a serious reform and many of those reforms (such as extending the school day) don't fall into any set political party or educational philosophy.

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  66. Reading this blog as someone who knows the bare minimum when it comes to politics, I agree that the Republican Party is closely related to the essentialist philosophy. With the essentialist's teaching the basics, it is easy to see the relation to the Republican Party. This particular political party is concerned about how American's uphold the values our country was built on; they look back at the basics and work to improve our system from there. Essentialist's are also one's to teach the basics and be sure students' learn the core values that are important to our society. Education and politics will always be closely related, but will be different depending on how you look at various issues.

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  67. Well, in my opinion the teaching ideologies of Progressivism and Essentialism are reflected in the political parties. For example: The Progressive political party is more about change, changing to make things better for the future. The Progressive Philosophy is about real world stuff. Teaching children so that they can be the ones who are making the change that the Progressive party talks about. The Essentialistic politics is about key values and personal responsibility which ties right in with the basics that the Essentialism philosophy stresses like in NCLB.

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  68. While I'm not sure I agree with your definition of progressive education, I do agree that Republicans and Essentialists share many of the same views and values. Many others have already mentioned NCLB, and the act does seem to be the most prominent connection between the two.

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  69. It's clear that Essentialism is connected to a Conservative ideology. Essentialists believe that there is a set of core content and skills that every student should possess and that will help them to funtion well in society. Conservatives are in favor of a smaller government which leaves many responsibilites to the citizens, thus creating a better country.
    On the other hand, the Progressive educational theory is very similar to the Progressive Party. Both hope to solve problems in today's society. Progressive teachers want to teach students critical thinking skills so they can contribute to society, and Progressive politicians want to create a larger government that solves problems and takes many of the people's responsibilities onto itself.

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  70. I agree with you that Republican party is closely associated with the essentialists. In today's society we only do teach the basics. I think that Republicans are closely related to essentialism though because it is a more traditional way of teaching. I also think that the correlation between politics and education will only get stronger in the future and this is because the gap between the rich and poor will be getting greater. When that happens I think more laws will be put in place because our education for some will only get worse.

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  71. Essentialism is what prepares students for the now and not the future. Right now the education system is dumbing our future down by suppressing the students into narration sickness, standarized tests, and the "three r's." Basically America is producing robots where the art's are not valued and the way things are going now... forgotten.
    If students are just taught to take tests where is the creative thinking in that? Where will our next inventors, doctors and artists come from? Once a students gets into the real world its not about the standarized tests anymore. It's about real problems where thinking critically is involved.
    Something is clearly wrong with our educational system today. The question is not which political part does this and that. The question is, who will recognize America's faults and do something about it?!

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  72. The Progressivism in Politics kind of makes me angry. I would consider myself a generally conservative person, but I think it's silly to make decisions based on what will affect us right now, and not think about the future. It seems irresponsible to do something like that.

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  73. I would have to disagree that essentialism and progressivism define both parties. If you watch and listen to what Obama has said about education you would classify him as an essentialist. So to claim that each reflects a particular political party is to me wrong.

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  74. Let's take a moment to consider education, and politics, at face value. Educating our students should not be defined by one simple explanation or style that attempts to define everything that a teacher believes or practices. The same applies to politics; base decisions on issue vs. issue, rather than party vs party, and you will come up with a whole new way of thinking. The classroom is diverse, and a successful teacher will consider both the positive an negative points of each style of teaching. Although they may resonate more closely with one style, an efforted mix of each will enhance the experience of the student. The world is full of personalities, ideas, and oppinions that conflict with each other. Teachers should apply teaching techniques and disciplines based on each student, classroom, and unit, just as they should vote based on their break-down of the issues.

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  75. Through the years it has become increasingly obvious that politicians use education to promote their own agendas. Support of education and education reforms grows and becomes more popular with upcoming elections. Politicians see education as an easy way to get people on their side.
    However, this is not always a bad thing. As long as the support for education and reforms also supports a quality education, then it is acceptable.
    Teaching philosophies absolutely reflect political parties beliefs. Everyone has their own beliefs on how education should be presented and political parties are no different. They just have bigger mouths and a larger audience to listen to them.
    The political parties will support changes in education that match their ideas closely and reflect their beliefs.

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  76. By Emily Baker:
    At first I thought that politics andeducation do not have a lot in common but I when I read the articles I found out they really do. The essentialist and progressivist beleive the same thing whether they are teaching or leading. Progressivist beleive in living or learning for the now not tomorrow. Essentailist believe in preparing the youth for their future. I found that to be true to in both politics and education.

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  77. There are definite similarities between the ideologies and the political parties. It's evident that with essentialism the basics are what's important and really emphasized. When we take a look at the Republican Party, we can see through acts such as No Child Left Behind that the basics are important. The Republican Party is based on tradition as well, which can be linked to essentialism too. Looking at progressivism, we can see that a lot of it is about moving forward and backing away from the traditional classroom. It's obvious with today's Democrats that the focus is definitely on change and not so much keeping things the way they currently are. I will definitely agree that the two have many similarities, but are not limited to each other.

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  78. I can definitely see where you are coming from with this blog. The similarities are very obvious, but I would not say are completely true of every teacher. I have a very progressive philosophy when it comes to teaching, but I would consider myself a Republican when it comes to politics. I suppose I have more liberal views when it comes to the education system, but in most situations I would be on the more conservative side of things. In conclusion, this is a very good theory that I am sure applies to many, but not all.

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  79. I have never really connected politics and education together but this really put it in perspective to me. They go hand in hand. Essentialist and Progressivist tie together, they believe in the same things. Essentialist believe in preparing children for the workforce and real life. Progressivist believe in learning now. These two together make me think of the No Child Left Behind Act which was brought in by a President. This act focusses on every child having the same opportunity and preparing for the future. This really showed me that politics and education go hand in hand and really do work and influence each other.

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  80. Well done everyone. I am super impressed by not only the vast amount of comments, but also the vast amount of well written comments. I just want thank everyon for taking the time and interest in this blog. When I was in my admission semester at NKU I had Introduction to Education with Dr. Love (one of the best at NKU). During the class we had been studying and debating these teaching ideologies and I found myself constantly comparing these ideologies to political platforms. I found it hard to seperate the two. I wanted to see how other people viewed these thought to see if I had any idea of what I was talking about. Thanks to your post, I can know see that I may indeed make somewhat of an argurment or theory on the topic. Thanks again and feel free to keep posting.

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