31CHAPTER2Educational PhilosophyFIRST PERSONMaking Time to Care About PhilosophyConnections to Practice and Social JusticeAfter completing my undergraduate English degree at the USC, I began my teacher education coursework at California State Univer-sity, Los Angeles. One course I was required to take was called “Educational Foundations.” The textbook was a compilation of edu-cational history, including a discussion of contemporary teacher roles, curricu-lum development trends, and school administrative structure. The class and its accompanying text were also dedicated to a rather lengthy examination of educational philosophy. We read extensively about such philosophers as Aristotle, Erasmus, and Plato, and our understanding of such philosophies as behaviorism, perennialism, and essentialism was tested.In retrospect, it was amazing how quickly I became disengaged with this content. One of the reasons why it had so little relevance to me at the time was the incongruence between the curriculum and instruction I was observ-ing in my public school clinical experiences and what I was required to study in my education program. Within the Los Angeles inner-city schools where I observed classes, tutored individual students, and would ultimately fi nd full-time employment, the philosophical underpinnings framed in my teacher preparation coursework and demonstrated in the practices of teachers in the predominantly African American secondary schools (such as Crenshaw High School and Manual Arts High School) and in the predominantly Latino/a Roosevelt High School, held little relevance. Furthermore, the philosophical beliefs demonstrated by my teachers continued to support a “defi cit theory” that maintained low expectations and translated into the placement of mi-nority students in low academic tracks that excluded them from equitable access to a college preparatory curriculum.CHAPTER OBJECTIVES● Readers will become familiar with philos-ophies that offer a foundation for under-standing different approaches to teaching and learning.● Teacher-centered and student-centered philosophies will be introduced to help readers consider how such distinctions inform pedagogy.● Readers will recognize the interconnec-tions among philosophy, social change, and problem solving relevant to schooling.● Readers will identify the contributions of educators and social justice leaders whose philosophies continue to infl uence the pursuit of educational equity.● The philosophies introduced in this chap-ter will assist readers as they consider and develop their own educational phi-losophy to apply in their own classrooms.Huerta 978-0-618-5625-8/10008Ch02-A56255-031-058.indd 31Ch02-A56255-031-058.indd 31 9/3/07 11:41:43 AM9/3/07 11:41:43 AMCHAPTER 2 • Educational Philosophy32Presently, the educational beliefs of such leaders as Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann continue to infl uence classroom teachers as they deliver a curriculum focused on English literacy, American history, mathematics, and science. In addition, the admin-istration of President George W. Bush supports an outcomes-based initiative; the No Child Left Behind Act is a mandate driven by the belief that an American labor force with skills tested in the public schools will ultimately produce workers who will serve the American economy and reproduce its culture more effectively.However, noble philosophical beliefs once introduced in teacher education pro-grams are often reduced to meritocractic educational policies whose primary focus is the stratifi cation of students through the use of standardized tests, deculturalization, punitive actions, and the maintenance of academic tracks. It is now important to revisit leaders, such as Gloria Anzaldúa, W. E. B. Du Bois, Mohandas Ghandi, and Mary Wollstonecraft, whose life stories and emergent philosophies can help a new genera-tion of educators envision innovative possibilities for all learners by affi rming student identity, building communities, supporting diversity, and encouraging service to others. As student teachers develop their own emergent educational philosophies, they will soon learn what their collaborations with youth will ultimately become. As Anzaldúa reminds us, “Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks” (1983).Defi ning philosophy is a diffi cult task. The etymology of the word philosophy can be traced to the Greek philo, which means “love,” and sophos, which means “wisdom.” It can be described as a set of one’s beliefs or ideas about the meaning of life or can be explained as a complex analysis regarding the nature of reality and the universe. A philosophy can also be analyzed through the lens of one’s own meaning-making about knowledge, truth, and ethics.Before entering a classroom, every educator must arrive at a philosophy that guides his or her role as a teacher. Teachers must examine the construction of knowledge, identify what knowledge they will teach, and determine how they will ultimately teach and assess that knowledge. Once a teacher understands how these variables are interrelated, this understanding can translate into an educational phi-losophy that infl uences an educator’s decisions about such issues as the intent of education, what knowledge is, how that knowledge is demonstrated, and how such knowledge can refl ect and serve a larger community. Thus, the intent of this chapter is threefold. First, it introduces preservice teachers to historical philosophies that infl uence educational practice and pedagogy. Second, the chapter provides back-ground on leading social and political fi gures whose lived experiences inform new ways to examine the relationship between educational philosophy and social jus-tice. And third, through the merger of these philosophical perspectives, preservice teachers will have an opportunity to create their own educational philosophy, using guidelines provided at the chapter’s conclusion.The Role of Philosophy in the Teaching ProfessionThe Role of Philosophy in the Teaching ProfessionHuerta 978-0-618-5625-8/10008Ch02-A56255-031-058.indd 32Ch02-A56255-031-058.indd 32 9/3/07 11:41:45 AM9/3/07 11:41:45 AM33Fundamental Philosophical PositionsWe will examine eight philosophical orientations that are especially relevant to educational policy, curriculum, and instruction: essentialism, perennialism, be-haviorism, idealism, realism, progressivism (pragmatism), social