Existentialism In the Classroom

Soledad Perez

Before reading this lesson, think about two classrooms. The first classroom is colorful with flexible setting, the students have the freedom to make choices on their learning and opportunities for creativity and personal self-expression. The second classroom is stricter and more structured, students are seated in assigned desks in rows facing the teacher. This classroom is teacher centered with focus on standardization, rules and limited critical thinking.

Which classroom environment do you feel fosters the best learning outcomes?

What is existentialism in education?

Existentialism is an educational philosophy that emphasizes the importances of individuality and learning through lived experiences. It prioritizes student autonomy, engagement, and reflection to create a learning environment that fosters authentic and confident students. There are multiple themes to existentialism but the three main themes that relate to existential pedagogy are freedom, choice, and responsibility (Ismbook, 2022). Existentialism allows students to actively engage in their own learning by giving them the freedom to make choices related to their education. This approach also teaches the importance of taking responsibility for the choices they make while empowering students to make decisions that are meaningful to them (Examining the Role of Existentialism in Education, 2024). The video on the left explains how an existentialist teacher could apply these themes in the classroom.

How do you apply existential pedagogy in the classroom?

Existential pedagogy is a teaching approach based on the ideas of existentialism. This style of teaching encourages students to be reflective and deepen their knowledge of themselves and how to relate to the world around them. Existentialist educators should create an environment that is student centered and supportive to encourage students to participate in their own self-discovery and feel a sense of ownership of their learning. (Drew, 2024). An example of incorporating existential pedagogy in the classroom is to use project-based assignments and give students choices on the type of project they create or choices on the topic for the project (Drew, 2024). Allowing students to make choices on their own learning promotes engagement and allows them to apply their individual knowledge and skills authentically while also fostering intrinsic motivation.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to existential pedagogy?

There are both advantages and disadvantages to existential pedagogy. Some advantages include personal development, critical thinking, student autonomy, engagement and sense of responsibility. This teaching approach also has a positive effect on motivation for students; by emphasizing more choice and freedom it allows students to find their own meaning in their education and foster intrinsic motivation. These advantages create a learning environment that goes beyond the classroom walls. (Examining the Role of Existentialism in Education, 2024). A disadvantage to this teaching approach is a potential lack of structure in the classroom because of the emphasis on the individual learner especially in larger classroom settings (Drew, 2024). Another disadvantage is how existentialist pedagogy goes against a traditional standardized educational system. In a school system where standardized test and curriculum are prioritized it can be difficult to provide students with the flexibility to explore topics and challenge themselves while also meeting the requirements of standardized tests.

Conclusion.

After researching this educational philosophy, I believe this is a great approach to make a lasting impact on how students relate to the real world as well as academically. There are many themes and ideas that relate to existential pedagogy but most of them all agree that students need to create their own meaning in their education (Ismbook,2022). Giving students more choice in their own education is the best way to promote engagement and motivation, when students feel they have a say and control in how they are learning they are much more likely to be excited to learn and willing to try new things. This is an approach I plan on bringing into my classroom by including open dialogues, group activities, and project-based assignments that offer students an opportunity to explore meaning in their work while also educating students on learning targets that are required standards in curriculum (Rohmah,2019).

How I used AI

I used ChatGPT suggestions to make parts of my essay flow better.
I used MyBib to help with APA citations.
I used Canva AI image generated to create an image of a classroom I prompted it to create an image of "an existentialist classroom with children learning"
I used ChatGPT to help create the questions for the pop quiz.

AI was very helpful when creating my lesson, it helped revise my written content to make it easier to understand and it was helpful in making sure I correctly cited all of my sources. Using AI helped me narrow down aspects of my topic to discuss in my lesson and ways to make it more interesting for readers. It also helped me understand parts of my topic by asking it to explain certain aspects of existentialism to me as if I was five. This helped my overall research of my topic and helped me to better explain parts of my topic in my lesson. AI overall made creating my lesson easier and better for the reader.

References

Drew, Chris. “Existentialism in Education - 7 Key Features (2020).” Helpful Professor, 20 July 2019, helpfulprofessor.com/existentialism-in-education/.

“Examining the Role of Existentialism in Education - MAY CONTAIN PHILOSOPHY.” Maycontainphilosophy.com, 2 May 2024, maycontainphilosophy.com/existentialism-in-education/.

Ismbook. “Existentialism in Education: Themes, Philosophers, Pros and Cons.” Ism Book, 22 Aug. 2022, ismbook.com/existentialism-in-education/.

Rohmah, Lailatu. “Eksistensialisme Dalam Pendidikan.” Edugama: Jurnal Kependidikan Dan Sosial Keagamaan, vol. 5, no. 1, 1 July 2019, pp. 86–100, https://doi.org/10.32923/edugama.v5i1.960.

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