Understanding Essentialism in Education

📚 Essentialism in education emphasizes teaching basic skills and core knowledge in subjects like reading, writing, math, science, history, foreign language, and technology.

🎓 Essentialist educators focus on transmitting progressively difficult topics and promoting students to the next level or grade.

🧠 The philosophy of essentialism stresses the importance of training the mind, focusing on the historical context of the material world and culture to provide a solid understanding of the present day.

💡 Essentialism in education emphasizes sticking to a core curriculum.

🌍 The essentialism movement was revived by global competition mandates.

📄 The 'A Nation at Risk' report highlighted the lack of basic essentials in education.

📚 Gene Allen's book 'Change and a Nation Still at Risk' and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2005 promoted essentialism in education.

🏫 Essentialism is a common model in U.S public schools today, where students attend different classes in seven periods and teachers primarily deliver knowledge through lectures.

📝 In essentialist schools, students are expected to take notes during lectures and are provided with practice for further learning.

📚 Students engage in hands-on projects and assessments to demonstrate their learning.

🏫 School board approves a specific curriculum for each class, allowing teachers to decide how to teach it.

📈 Students are promoted to the next grade when they show sufficient competence.