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What are the Philosophical Foundations of American Education? Philosophical Foundations of American Education Ensure Every American the Right to Learn. 

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The philosophical foundations of American education are based on providing affordable education to all American citizens. 

Equal access to knowledge through education provides basic American rights, among them the right to learn and the right to freely choose one’s path. 

Education of American children based on cultural pluralism, access for all, rather than certain groups, is critical to our country’s future. 

In addition to knowledge, the freedom to learn must include the freedom to interpret, question and challenge, without censure, that information. 

The sharing of ideas, and listening to those of others, is the foundation on which the U.S. was built. 

Properly nurtured, it is through this type of learning that its graduates can shed light on innovative solutions to some of America’s biggest problems. 

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Death of Intellect; Birth of Big Brother 

Human beings, besides being able to absorb and process information, are able to evaluate and intelligently challenge that information. 

American workers, unable to afford college costs, must take lower-paying jobs than the wealthy children of the elite. 

The philosophical foundations of American education from 1880-1960 were based on academic study. 

A transition occurred from 1960-1980, when learning was based on values education, whereby students were “guided” to believe that values, rather than firmly-held, were situational, adaptable and subject to societal evolution. 

The indoctrination of flexible values in the previous two decades segued into workforce training education from 1980-2000, where values taught in the educational “system” conditioned high school students, and their parents, that making good money was THE reason to seek education. 

In the course of 130 years, Americans have been indoctrinated away from being lovers of knowledge and toward being “human capital”, learning how to earn a good living and how to keep their mouths shut. 

By disregarding the philosophical foundations of American education, schools are training, rather than teaching, America’s youth, who are being trained how to act, what to think and what to feel. 

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The Way It Should be

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American Children, and America, at Risk 

The philosophical foundations of American education are ideally as stated in the 1927 New Century Dictionary of the English Language: Education is defined as “the drawing out of a person’s innate talents and abilities by imparting the knowledge of languages, scientific reasoning, history, literature, rhetoric, etc. – the channels through which those abilities would flourish and serve”. 

American citizens certainly want that type of education for their children, and mistakenly assume that the kids are getting it. 

If concerned parents investigate what their children are being taught, would their own indoctrination prevent them from seeing anything wrong? 

Much is wrong, and American’s future is threatened. That which our children are really learning comes treacherously close to George Orwell’s “2+2=5” education, where acquiescence brings acceptance; creativity and independent thought are forbidden.

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