Existentialist Curriculum

Existentialist Curriculum

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts. Existentialism classrooms therefore offer freedom for both educator and student. Existentialism also encourages growth and creativity through limitless freedom. This philosophy emphasizes creativity and encourages students to express themselves without worrying about facts in textbooks or standardized testing. An existentialist teacher would view students as an individual, who will learn and apply knowledge at their own pace. The teacher allows the student to explore their minds and develop intellectually using knowledge as a tool to help the student grow as a person. With an existentialism curriculum, students are given choices pertaining to their education. The existentialist teacher brings in various multimedia materials, and welcomes technology as a tool for teaching. The teacher teaches whatever the students appear interested in on that day rather than force them to focus on one specific thing. The students and teacher might sit together in a circle, rather than in typical classroom format.
Maxine Greene has his own theory of education. He says that students should explore the meanings of the texts that they are reading and share their insights with other students and re-evaluate their ideas. The ultimate purpose of education is to help students and their teachers create meaning in their lives. Education at its best is a process of teaching people to explore ideas about themselves and the world in which they live, to ask questions about the experience called living and to embrace doubt, to notice the unusual without fear and to look upon the ordinary with new eyes.
In a typical existentialist curriculum is a humanities curriculum should be emphasized....