Deck 4: Philosophical Foundations of US Education

Question 1

An understanding of philosophy of education is important for all of the following reasons except _______.

A) to help your interviewing skills when pursuing a position
B) to help you decipher complex political forces affecting schools
C) to help you better evaluate proposals for school change
D) to help you enhance your professionalism in teaching

Answer 1

to help your interviewing skills when pursuing a position

Question 2

Philosophy is concerned with _______.

A) learning about the teachings of famous philosophers
B) identifying the basic truths about being, knowledge, and conduct
C) understanding societal behaviors and causation
D) processing the teachings of the past

Answer 2

identifying the basic truths about being, knowledge, and conduct

Question 3

Students who spend a great deal of time learning by rote memorization likely have a teacher who views knowledge as _______.

A) universally interconnected
B) of little real consequence to learners
C) the sum total of small bits of subject matter
D) most valuable when constructed by students

Answer 3

the sum total of small bits of subject matter

Question 4

Self-directed learners can be referenced as _______.

A) constructivist
B) progressive
C) gifted
D) developmental

Question 5

A constructivist teacher would expect all of the following learnings from students except _______.

A) learning how to reason
B) learning how to communicate effectively
C) learning how to solve problems
D) learning how to ready themselves for work

Question 6

Metaphysics has important implications for education because _______.

A) instruction in values is essential to a happy life
B) the school curriculum is based on what we know about reality
C) the school curriculum is based on what we know about human learning
D) instruction in learning theory is central to teacher education

Question 7

Logic is the area of philosophy that deals with _______.

A) questions of ultimate existence
B) the process of reasoning
C) matters related to final knowledge
D) issues of the origin of values

Question 8

Perennialism views truth as _______.

A) relativistic
B) in a state of constant change
C) beyond human comprehension
D) constant

Question 9

Essentialism is most accurately characterized as a _______ philosophy of education.

A) conservative
B) progressive
C) liberal
D) permissive

Question 10

John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that _______.

A) effective teaching is based on the notion of the constancy of human nature and truth
B) learning is essentially passive
C) curricula in public schools should emphasize the Great Books of the Western World
D) public school curriculum should derive from students' interests and needs

Question 11

Progressivism is based on the belief that education should be student-centered and adhere to all of the following assumptions except _______.

A) curriculum content should come from student interests and talents
B) teaching should value the whole child
C) learning is active not passive
D) curriculum should focus on the enduring disciplines of knowledge

Question 12

A social reconstructionist curriculum would likely feature all of the following except _______.

A) field trips
B) study of the Great Books
C) community-based projects
D) interaction with persons beyond the classroom

Question 13

In the 1950s and 1960s, humanistic psychology became the basis of educational reforms that sought to enhance students' _______.

A) knowledge of psychology and secular humanism
B) achievement of society's expectations of them
C) experience with the enlightening effects of the classical works of western art and literature
D) achievement of their potential through self-actualization

Question 14

Skinner's operant (or type R) conditioning advances all of the following ideas except _______.

A) satisfying responses are conditioned
B) teachers should withhold reinforcers until students have reflected on their behaviors
C) pleasant things have an energizing effect on human behavior
D) pleasant things have a strengthening effect on human behavior

Question 15

List and discuss the reasons a school would develop and advertise a philosophy or mission.

Question 16

Why do some parents object to a social reconstructivist approach to teaching?