Essentialism

An educational theory that first appeared during the 1930s in the United States, essentialism emphasizes the basic skills related to reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. It is rooted or grounded in the ancient philosophical orientations of idealism and realism. Essentialism focuses on or adheres to the major idea that there are core (essential) subjects or disciplines that should be studied; and, the teacher is the primary authority in the classroom. Teachers are not charged with changing society; rather the essentialists focus on transmitting the values and knowledge that students need to become effective citizens.

The aim of essentialism is to educate students to become useful and competent individuals. Its content includes the three R's, liberal arts and science, academic disciplines, academic excellence, and basic skills. Testing is used to determine mastery of these subjects, and assessments are based on rigorous academic standards. The essentialist tradition maintains that there are concerned citizens who believe the public schools have declined and that they need to return to stricter discipline and to a study of the “basics.” Since the 1930s, the essen–tialists have advanced efforts to warn the American public of progressive notions (e.g., “life–adjustment education” and child–centered education) and the continuing erosion of education or learning in the United States.

Proponents of essentialism have included William C. Bagley, Isaac L. Kandel, Arthur Bestor, Hyman Rickover, James Bryant Conant, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Diane Ravitch, and various governmental commissions in the United States (e.g., the 1983 President's Commission on Excellence in Education).

In 1938 a group of prominent educators led by William C. Bagley (1874–1946) began a movement that called for intellectual training in schools instead of “child growth and development.” Bagley argued that education requires hard work and attention as well as respect for genuine authority. He stressed the logical sequence of subjects and called for a “back to basics” movement to combat the lowering of academic standards. Bagley's disciples argued that progressive educational tendencies and practices were too soft and placed less emphasis on dealing with educational basics such as mastery of the three R's and established facts.

During the 1950s, essentialists returned in force and again exerted antiprogressive sentiments via the Council for Basic Education under the leadership of Arthur Bestor and others. Bestor wrote Educational Wastelands: The Retreat From Learning in Our Public Schools—a work that is also considered an essentialist manifesto. Joining Bestor in the attack on progressive ideas in public schools was Hyman Rickover, who deplored the lack of developed minds in the United States. He favored a European type of education that focused on the basics and would lead students to be better prepared to enter an intensive and rigorous professional or technological program of study. With greater emphasis on the basics, many believed schools in the United States could produce the kinds of minds capable of matching those of the Soviets, who had launched the artificial satellite Sputnik in 1957. As a result of this event and these educational concerns, the federal government passed significant reform legislation, the National Defense Education Act, in 1958.

...