What is perennialism and how is it relevant today ?

Behind every school and teacher is a set of beliefs, or philosophy of education, that determines what will take place in the classroom and how students will be taught. Perennnialism is a philosophical approach to the subject of teaching that places much emphasis on ideas that are everlasting and history. Perennialists believe that studying the great ideas and faults of Western Civilization will help us as modern humans to progress, if we can understand how to solve problems are our past, we will be able to solve them in the future. According to http://www.hccs.edu, "teaching unchanging principals is critical. Humans are rational beings, and their minds need to be developed."

This philosophy focuses mainly on teaching, preserving the past, cognitive development, and conformity. Through my research I found that perennialism is a very popular, effective approach to teaching. I agree with the beliefs of this philosophy because it only makes sense to learn from the past and from our mistakes. I think most learning is done through experience, whether good or bad. It is crucial for us as a society to learn from our successors and to build/grow from them. The world would not exist today if this had not been done in the past. Perennialism is essential to learning, civilization and society.

A quote I liked explaining pernnialism from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com says "Perennialism gives teachers the power to choose the curriculum, organize the school day, and construct classroom activities. The curriculum reinforces a predominantly Western heritage while viewing the students as vessels to be filled and disciplined in the proven strategies of the past. Essentialists focus on cultural literacy, while perennialists work from the Great Books." I think it is important that the teacher has an input on the curriculum and is able to organize his or her own school day. Although I do concur with this belief I think it is also important to have structure and to learn about things happening in the world today. I think a combination of many approaches will bring forth the best results in a classroom. It is most important to be well rounded and address all topics in a variety of ways in the classroom. So, despite the fact the I agree with this philosophy I think it needs to be altered and expanded upon.