| Academy | A classical secondary school in colonial America that emphasized elements of Latin and English grammar schools and by the nineteenth century became more of a college preparatory school. Also the name of the ancient Greek school founded by Plato.
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| aesthetics | The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of beauty and judgments about it.
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| back-to-basics | During the 1980s, a revival of the back-to-basics movement evolved out of concern for declining test scores in math, science, reading, and other areas. Although there is not a precise definition of back to basics, many consider it to include increased emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic, fewer electives, and more rigorous grading.
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| behavior modification | A strategy to alter behavior in a desired direction through the use of rewards.
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| behaviorism | A psychological theory that interprets human behavior in terms of stimuli-response.
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| Cartesian dualism | The belief that reality is composed of both materialism and idealism, body and mind.
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| constructivism | With roots in cognitive psychology, an educational approach built on the idea that people construct their understanding of the world. Constructivist teachers gauge a student's prior knowledge, then carefully orchestrate cues, classroom activities, and penetrating questions to push students to higher levels of understanding.
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| core curriculum | A central body of knowledge that schools require all students to study.
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| deductive reasoning | Working from a general rule to identify particular examples and applications to that rule.
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| empiricism | The philosophy that maintains that sensory experiences, such as seeing, hearing, and touching, are the ultimate sources of all human knowledge. Empiricists believe that we experience the external world by sensory perception; then, through reflection, we conceptualize ideas that help us interpret the world.
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| epistemology | The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of knowledge and learning.
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| essentialism | An educational philosophy that emphasizes basic skills of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, geography, and language.
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| ethics | The branch of philosophy that examines questions of right and wrong, good and bad.
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| ethnocentrism | The tendency to view one's own culture as superior to others, or to fail to consider other cultures in a fair manner.
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| existentialism | A philosophy that emphasizes the ability of an individual to determine the course and nature of his or her life and the importance of personal decision making.
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| Golden Mean | The doctrine put forth by Aristotle asserting that virtue lies in the middle ground between two extremes.
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| Great Books | The heart of the perennialists' curriculum that includes great works of the past in literature, philosophy, science, and other areas.
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| idealism | A doctrine holding that knowledge is derived from ideas and emphasizing moral and spiritual reality as a preeminent source of explanation.
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| inductive reasoning | Drawing generalizations based on the observation of specific examples.
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| informal education | A practice that, in many cultures, augments or takes the place of formal schooling as children learn adult roles through observation, conversation, assisting, and imitating.
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| Laboratory School | Schools often associated with a teacher preparation institution for practice teaching, demonstration, research, or innovation.
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| logic | The branch of philosophy that deals with reasoning. Logic defines the rules of reasoning, focuses on how to move from one set of assumptions to valid conclusions, and examines the rules of inference that enable us to frame our propositions and arguments.
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| materialism | A philosophy focused on scientific observation and the belief that existence is experienced only in the physical realm.
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| metaphysics | The area of philosophy that examines the nature of reality.
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| oral tradition | Spoken language is the primary method for instruction in several cultures around the world. Word problems are used to teach reasoning, proverbs to instill wisdom, and stories to teach lessons about nature, history, religion, and social customs.
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| perennialism | The philosophy that emphasizes rationality as the major purpose of education. It asserts that the essential truths are recurring and universally true; it stresses Great Books.
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| philosophy | The love of or search for wisdom; the quest to understand the meaning of life.
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| political philosophy | An approach to analyzing how past and present societies are arranged and governed and how better societies may be created in the future.
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| pragmatism | A philosophical belief that asserts truth is what works and rejects other views of reality.
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| Praxis | series of tests developed by ETS to assess teachers' competence in various areas: reading, writing, math, professional and subject area knowledge. Praxis test requirements differ among states (see Appendix 1).
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| progressivism | An educational philosophy that organizes schools around the concerns, curiosity, and real-world experiences of students.
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| rationalism | The philosophy that emphasizes the power of reason and the principles of logic to derive statements about the world. Rationalists encourage schools to emphasize teaching mathematics, because mathematics involves reason and logic.
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| scaffolding | Taken from the construction field, scaffolding provides support to help a student build understanding. The teacher might use cues or encouragement or well-formulated questions to assist a student in solving a problem or mastering a concept.
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| social Darwinism | A belief similar to Darwin's notion of "survival of the fittest," that contends that society is a natural sorting system which rewards the talented and places the less deserving at the bottom of the social and economic pecking order.
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| social reconstructionism | See reconstructionism.
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| Socratic method | An educational strategy attributed to Socrates in which a teacher encourages a student's discovery of truth by questions.
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