LESSON II

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNER-

CENTERED TEACHING
DESCRIPTION
This lesson of the module deals with the philosophical basis of learner-centered teaching.
This contains the different learner-centered philosophical thoughts that will guide the teacher in
designing instruction.
GUIDE
In order to become successful in this lesson, you need to comply the following:
1. Answer the pre-test in your activity notebook.
2. Answer the educational philosophy self-assessment in the ACTIVTY. Write your answers in
your activity notebook.
3. After answering the self-assessment test, interpret your score using the interpretation table in
the ANALYSIS part. Analyze your result.
4. Read and understand the ABSTRACTION.
5. Write an essay about your own Philosophy of Education in teaching in your activity notebook.
6. Write a reflection about your take aways in your journal notebook.
7. Answer the post-test in your activity notebook.
LESSON LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, students are expected to perform the following:
➢ Examine the different philosophies of learner-centered teaching.
➢ Adapt a learner-centered teaching philosophy.

REQUIREMENTS
The following are the requirements for this lesson:
1. Activity Notebook
2. Journal
3. Internet Access
4. Computer Software
PURPOSE
The following are the purpose of this lesson:
1. Understand the philosophical thoughts underlying learner-centered teaching;
2. Reflect on the different philosophical thoughts in designing learner-centered instruction; and
3. Develop their own philosophy of education in teaching in a learner-centered classroom.
 KEY TERMS

Constructivism- is a learner-centered educational theory that contends that to learn anything, each
learner must construct his or her understanding by tying new information to prior experiences.
Existentialism- promotes attentive personal consideration about personal character, beliefs, and
choices.
Humanism- believes that learning must be self-initiated and self-regulated, motivated by the
person’s natural desire to learn those things that are necessary to maintain and develop the self.
Progressivism- is based on the positive changes and problem-solving approach that individuals
with various educational credentials can provide their students.
Philosophy- It is the ultimate search for the meaning of life and seeks to answer basic questions in
life.
Social Reconstructivism- is an educational philosophy that views schools as tools to solve social
problems.

ACTIVITY: Educational Philosophies Self-Assessment

This questionnaire will help you recognize and name your own educational philosophy.
Respond to the given statements on a scale from 1, "Strongly Disagree," to 5, "Strongly Agree."
Record the number of your answer along with the question number for scoring.
1. Students are makers of meaning and construct their 1 2 3 4 5
understandings from active experience, rather than through
transmission from teachers.
2. Education should emphasize personal growth by solving 1 2 3 4 5
problems that are real to students.
3. Teaching the great works of literature is less critical than involving 1 2 3 4 5
students in activities to criticize and shape society.
4. Students' involvement in choosing how and what they should 1 2 3 4 5
learn is central to education.
5. Curriculum should not be predetermined; rather, it should spring 1 2 3 4 5
from students' interests and needs.
6 Teachers, rather than imparting knowledge, are facilitators of 1 2 3 4 5
conditions and experiences so students can construct their own
understandings.
7. If encouraging and nourishing environments are provided, 1 2 3 4 5
learning will flourish naturally because people have an inherent
tendency to learn.
8. Schools should encourage student involvement in social change 1 2 3 4 5
to aid in societal reform.
9. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent tests 1 2 3 4 5
to determine what they have learned.
10. Perceptions centered in experience should be emphasized, as 1 2 3 4 5
well as the freedom and responsibility to achieve one's potential.
11. Conflicts to current understandings trigger the need to learn and 1 2 3 4 5
to make meaning.
 12. Students must learn to make good choices and to be responsible 1 2 3 4 5
for their behavior.
13. Schools should guide society towards significant social change 1 2 3 4 5
rather than merely passing on traditional values.
14. Schools should help individuals accept themselves as unique 1 2 3 4 5
individuals and accept responsibility for their thoughts, feelings
and actions
15. Teachers should encourage democratic, project-based 1 2 3 4 5
classrooms that emphasize interdisciplinary subject matter.
16. A knowledgeable individual facilitates or scaffolds learning for a 1 2 3 4 5
novice based on understanding the learner's developmental level
and the content to be learned.
17. Transmitting traditional values is less important than helping 1 2 3 4 5
students to develop personal values.
18. Education should help drive society to better itself, rather than 1 2 3 4 5
restricting itself to essential skills.
19. A learner must be allowed to learn at his/her own pace. 1 2 3 4 5
20. The primary goal for educators is to establish environments where 1 2 3 4 5
students can learn independently through purposeful reflection
about their experiences.
21. Learning requires modifying internal knowing structures in order 1 2 3 4 5
to assimilate and accommodate new information.
22. The role of the teacher is help create a nurturing atmosphere for 1 2 3 4 5
students and to promote the growth of the whole person.
23. Learning should guide students to active participation in social 1 2 3 4 5
reform.
24. An individual is what he/she chooses to become not dicatated by 1 2 3 4 5
his/her own environment.
25. Students' involvement in choosing how and what they should 1 2 3 4 5
learn is central to education.
Adapted from https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/selfassessment.html

ANALYSIS

Record the number you chose for each statement in the self-assessment in the spaces
given. Add the numbers for each section to obtain your score for that section. The highest score(s)
indicates your educational philosophy and psychological orientation.
Constructivism= 1,6,11,16,21
Humanism= 2, 7, 12, 17, 22
Social Reconstructivism= 3, 8, 13, 18, 23
Existentialism= 4, 9, 14, 19, 24
Progressivism= 5, 10, 15, 20, 25
The higher your score in a cluster (constructivism, humanism, social reconstructivism,
existentialism, and progressivism), the higher you are inclined to such educational philosophy. On
the contrary the lesser score you get from a cluster, the lesser you are inclined to such educational
philosophy
 ABSTRACTION

I am assuming that you have background knowledge about philosophy since you have taken
this subject in your senior high school years. But to refresh your brain, let’s have a brief recap about
philosophy.
Etymologically speaking, Philosophy comes from the Greek words philo and Sophia, which
means “love” and “wisdom”, therefore philosophy refers to love of wisdom. Eventually, the definition
of philosophy had evolved through time and became comprehensive. Philosophy is an activity people
undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which
they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. It is also the ultimate search for the
meaning of life and seeks to answer basic questions in life. Philosophy, as a mother science,
encompasses the field of education, that’s why we have the term philosophy of education. Philosophy
of education is concerned with the nature and aims of education and the problems that arise from
educational practices. The purpose of philosophy of education is for teachers to develop a coherent
framework of teaching for self-reflection in their teaching practices. In learner-centered teaching,
philosophy of education guides teachers to develop their perspective in addressing what to teach,
how to teach, what learning experiences to use, and why assess.
Learner-centered philosophies are another essential philosophy that educators should be
aware of. By focusing on the needs of students, teachers can assist and teach students within the
classroom, ensuring a higher level of student success.
Student-centered philosophies focus more on training individual students. These
philosophies place more emphasis on the individuality of students and helping them to realize their
potential. A student-centered classroom may be less rigid or structured, less concerned about past
teaching practices and drilling academics, and more focused on training students for success in an
ever-changing world. Students and teachers typically decide together what should be learned, as
well as how this can best be achieved.
Progressivism
Progressivism 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 merely impart learned facts. Teachers are less concerned with
passing on the existing culture and strive to allow students to develop an individual approach to tasks
provided to them.

John Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and John Dewey (1859–1952) are the guiding minds
of progressivism. Rousseau maintained that people are basically good and that society is responsible
for corrupting them. He supported education in nature, away from the city and the influences of
civilization, where the child’s interests (as opposed to a written set of guidelines) would guide the
curriculum.

John Dewey proposed that people learn best through social interaction and problem solving.
Dewey developed the scientific method of problem solving and experimentalism. As a result of the
varied opinions emerging from the movement, progressivism was not developed into a formalized,
documented educational philosophy. Progressivists did, however, agree that they wanted to move
away from specific characteristics of traditional schools. In particular, they were keen to remove
themselves from the textbook-based curriculum and the idea of teachers as disseminators of
information, in favor of viewing teachers as facilitators of thinking.
 The progressivist classroom is about exploration and experience. Teachers act as facilitators
in a classroom where students explore physical, mental, moral, and social growth. Familiar sights in
a progressivist classroom might include small groups debating, custom-made activities, and learning
stations. Teachers typically walk freely among the groups, guiding them using suggestions and
thought-provoking questions.

Constructivism
Constructivism is a learner-centered educational theory that contends that to learn anything,
each learner must construct his or her understanding by tying new information to prior experiences.
Constructivism has two sub-groups, one which focuses on the interaction among students, the other
focusing on each student's perceptions.
A Focus on Social Interaction
During the early part of the twentieth century, a Russian psychologist and sociologist named
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) studied children's interactions. He saw that when students worked in small
groups to solve problems, by discussing problems, the learners were able to talk each other through
to the solutions, which is to say that by helping other group members, they collectively solved
problems more efficiently than they could solve them when working alone. He called this social
learning approach, "negotiating meaning."
Vygotsky used a system, which now is known as cooperative learning, to encourage
cooperation within each learning group. To receive a good mark on any task, the members had to
successfully help their fellow group members understand and succeed at the task. This system is in
sharp contrast to traditional education in this country in that it is not teacher-centered but is learner-
centered; not passive but active and problem-centered; and is based not on competition but
cooperation.
Because constructivists believe that individuals must construct their knowledge, they believe
that all knowledge is temporary (each concept is considered valid until further experiences enable
the learner to refine it). Because learners in constructivist classrooms use a problem-centered
approach, content is studied not as isolated facts but as broad concepts and interdisciplinary themes.
A Focus on the Individual Learner
Another leading psychologist who contributed significantly to constructivism was the Swiss
educator Jean Piaget. Born in 1896 (the same year that Vygotsky was born), Piaget focused his
attention on the learner as an individual. While many may not think of him as a constructivist, his
work consisted of giving his students (usually his own three children) problems to solve, not written
problems but problems that encouraged them to manipulate concrete objects. He watched the ways
they manipulated the objects and saw that each learner made assumptions and drew right or wrong
conclusions about -the objects.
Based on the epistemological belief that knowledge is subjectively and individually
constructed rather than that it exists external to the learner, constructivism lays down the
fundamental theoretical foundation of learner-centered education. Constructivists such as Piaget and
Vygotsky state that knowledge is constructed while learners are engaged in social interaction on the
learning topic by experiencing disequilibrium, negotiating, and finding an equilibrium through
assimilation and accommodation. Therefore, learning should be designed to facilitate individual
knowledge construction by helping learners engage in an authentic task and meaningful
conversation around the task.

Humanism
Carl Rogers (1902-1987), one of the foremost psychologists of the 20th century, argued that
the role of therapists should be to free the client to solve his or her own problems, thereby realizing
one’s full organismic potential, rather than prescribing solutions that develop a false, ideal self-based
on the expectations of others. He advocated applying this person-centered approach to education.
Rogers argued that humans have an innate desire to learn, but that a person cannot be taught
directly; instead, one can only facilitate the learning of another. Therefore, learning must be self-
initiated and self-regulated, motivated by the person’s natural desire to learn those things that are
necessary to maintain and develop the self. Consequently, the act of learning requires the full
participation of the learner, which means that the learner “chooses his own directions, helps to
discover his own learning resources, formulates his own problems, decides his own course of action,
[and] lives with the consequences of each of these choices.”
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), a known humanist psychologist, proposed Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs as an approach in motivation theory and educational theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs is an eight-tiered model (initially five) of human needs presented in the form of a pyramid
that requires the individual to satisfy the first level of needs in order to advance in the next one. The
model implies that learners are less likely to engage in class if their essential needs are unmet.
Likewise, teachers are reminded to suffice the essential needs before teaching—do not teach
learners with an empty stomach.

Social Reconstructionism

Social reconstructionism 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 and correct any
noteworthy social problems that face our nation, with diverse targets including racism, pollution,
homelessness, poverty, and violence. Rather than a philosophy of education, reconstructionism may
be referred to as more of a remedy for the society that seeks to build a more objective social order.

Outraged at the inequity in educational opportlessonies between the rich and the poor,
George Counts wrote Dare the School Build a New Social Order? in 1932. He called on teachers to
educate students to prepare them for the social changes that would accompany heightened
participation in science, technology, and other fields of learning, without compromising their cultural
education. This text was influential in the development of social reconstructionist schools in the
Lessoned States. For social reconstructionists, the class becomes an area where societal
improvement is an active and measurable goal.

However, if education is to solve society’s problems, the nature of problems we are

facing is ill-defined, contrary to the knowledge which is conventionally divided into various
categories of disciplines. Problems that we face in life do not fall into separate categories like
the disciplines of knowledge. We can only categorize them into specific themes of problems, such
as poverty, disease, floods, unemployment, etc. Under the student-centered learning
approach, problem-based learning teaching and learning strategy emphasizes learning in the
context of solving real-world problems.

The reconstructionist classroom contains a teacher who involves the students in discussions
of moral dilemmas to understand the implications of one’s actions. Students individually select their
objectives and social priorities, and then, with guidance from the teacher, create a plan of action to
make the change happen.

Existentialism

Existentialism 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 of
conformity. Rather than the belief that the mind needs to understand the universe, existentialists
assume that the mind creates its universe. Their beliefs incorporate the inevitability of death, as the
afterlife cannot be experienced personally with the current senses, focusing on the fact that the
experience we have of the world is temporary and should be appreciated as such.

Education from an existentialist perspective places the primary emphasis on students’

directing their own learning. Students search for their own meaning and direction in life as well as
define what is right and what is false, what is pleasant and satisfying, what is unpleasant and
dissatisfying, and what is right or wrong. The goal of an existentialist education is to train students to
develop their own unique understanding of life.

An existentialist classroom typically involves the teachers and school laying out what they
feel is important and allowing the students to choose what they study. All students work on different,
self-selected assignments at their own pace. Teachers act as facilitators, directing students in finding
the most appropriate methods of study or materials, and are often seen as an additional resource,
alongside books, computers, television, newspapers, and other materials that are readily available
to students.

If we follow existentialist philosophy, as teachers, we must readily accept our students

as they are (exist), and we do not decide on what and how the students should learn.
Existentialists believe on the importance of human existence and human free will to decide
and be responsible for oneself. Something which is considered good by one can be considered
wrong by another, and everyone must respect that.

Teachers will provide opportunities for students to experience by the certain learning
activities themselves in order to learn, through which students will become self -actualize –
becoming aware of and realize their meaning of the experience, reaching answers to their
questions. However, it is the student’s responsibility to choose and decide the direction to
learn.

In the existentialist classroom, subject matter takes second place to help the students
understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals. The teacher's role is to help
students define their 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.
So, given these philosophies of learner-centered teaching, which of these do you think
is your personal philosophy when you teach? Is it a combination of two or more?

APPLICATION

In 200-250 words, you are tasked to create your own learner-centered teaching philosophy,
which you will apply in when you become a professional teacher. You will be guided by the following
questions in formulating your own teaching philosophy.

• Why teach?

• What to teach?

• How to teach?

• How will you manage the class?

• How will you build a relationship with the learners?

 Criteria Percentage
Depth 40%
The reflection demonstrate an in-depth reflection on, and personalization of, the
philosophies of education.
Structure 40%
The reflection is written in a clear, concise, and well organized with excellent
sentence/paragraph construction.
Components 20%
The reflection includes all the answers based on the questions indicated in the
instruction.
Total 100%
 REFLECTION

In 100-150 words, reflect on your newly formulated philosophy of education. How will you
act in your own teaching philosophy? Write your reflection in your journal notebook.

REFERENCES

Abdullah, et al. (2013). Philosophy of Student Learning. Centre for Development of Academic
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Bailey, R. (2010). The Philosophy of Education: An Introduction. Bloomsbury Academic. New York,
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Bhatt, S. (2018). Philsophical Foundations of Education: Lessons from India.Springer Nature

Singapore. New Delhi, India

Haynes, J., Gale, K., & Parker, M. (2015). Philosophy and Education: An Introduction to Key
Questions and Themes. Routledge Publishing. New York, USA

Information Resources Management Association (2015). Curriculum Design and Classroom

Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications. Information Science
Reference. USA

Ornstein, A., & Levine, D. (2008). Foundations of Education 10th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Boston, USA

Stehlik, T. (2018). Educational Philosophy for 21st Century Teachers. Palgrave Macmillan. Magill,
SA, Australia

Winch, C., & Gingell, J. (2008). Philosophy of Education: The Key Concept 2 nd Edition. Routledge
Publishing. New York, USA