Best Answer
There are four different philosophical approaches in education: idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. While each of these four philosophical approaches can be seen in parts of modern-day education, realism is probably the most pervasive current philosophical influence.
Realism developed from the teachings of Aristotle and can be thought of as concerning objective facts. While different people may perceive things in various ways, the objective truth of an event does not change. This emphasis on rational thought means that realism underpins much of what we think of as truth.
Realism is reflected in educational approaches that teach critical thinking skills and decision-making. It requires teachers to present objective facts as basic facts and impart skills that students need in order to assess whether information they are being given is factual and how to draw conclusions using those facts.
Because realism is based on the idea that there is a central set of standard or basic facts and skills that people should have, based on the idea of an objective reality, realism calls for standardization in education. However, it is important to realize that the call for standardization is based on what students are being taught and does not necessarily reflect a need for standardized testing of that knowledge.
One of the important elements of realism in education is a good understanding of the scientific-method. The scientific method teaches students to distinguish between facts, hypotheses, theories, and to develop the observation and experimentation skills to test the hypotheses that they draw from facts. The practical result is that modern education seems to emphasis math and science over traditional humanities work, which is reflected in how many educators push STEM. However, this is not just due to the popularity of realism, but also due to educators being realistic and looking at the workforce and the type of skills that will be needed by future employers. It is not detrimental to students with other interests, as these same skills are used in multiple disciplines and are part of critical reasoning.
