Explaining a concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Explaining a concept - Essay Example Perennialism can be understood to be the â€Å"conservative† approach in that it argues that the same tried and true methods and subject matter should continue to be taught to the next generation of students do the fact that it is both tried and true and has informed the preceding generations. On the other hand, progressivism takes the more â€Å"liberal† approach in positing that individuality, progress, and change are key cornerstones of a truly great education (Labaree 281). As a means of providing an explanation for the concept of progressivism, this brief paper will to approach this particular educational approach in a way which will seek to shed light on whether such a concept is in fact the best concept to engage students with and to provide a higher degree of educational success and interaction. The progressivist concept of education places a high degree of emphasis upon the experience of the individual as well as the changing ways in which new material and old material alike can help to better hone the quality of education that the student is able to achieve. At its core, the concept engenders the belief that individuals will most benefit by studying those materials which most directly impact upon their own lives. Although such an approach is most certainly less concrete than that of the perennialist’s approach to education, it nonetheless is able to take into account the transforming needs that our society and the world in general is placing upon the educational system and the individual student. A secondary component of the concept is the understanding that it is necessarily a more visual concept than that of the perennialist’s approach. This is mainly due to the fact that the perennialist’s approach hinges upon the primary data sources and methods of learning that have been in existence since the dawn of knowledge. However, the fact of the matter is that these rather stodgy and non-visual means to engage the pupil have