Existentialism Curriculum and Methods of Teaching

Existentialists say that curriculum should be based on the social or cultural background of the learner. They do not bother as much about the content as they bother about how it is taught. They recommend subjects in social sciences for knowledge of people and social interaction; the sciences and technology for the survival in this world of increasing technological advancements; and most importantly, the humanities especially Literature.

The study of literature is emphasized because it enables learners to follow the heroes of the novels as they lived. It showed how they loved or hated, how they struggled against great difficulties, how they took important decisions, how they faced the consequences of their action. In short, literature is a way of making learners appreciate the human living condition of their heroes as they really are.

Existentialist's Methods of Teaching
The existentialists as earlier mentioned, are concerned more with methods than with the contents. For them, the aim of teaching is to help the learner to know in a thorough manner so that he can use the knowledge to make his decisions. Consequently, there are four of these methods in the practice of education.

Socratic Method of Teaching
This is because it involves regular questioning. In order to find a suitable answer, it involves the learner in reasoning activity and it his a joint search by the teacher and the learner for knowledge through the use of question and answer. Note worthy is that the idealists also recommend this method.

Role Playing and Drama
This is another good method approved by existentialists. In it, the learner images himself into the role he is playing that is, he plays his role as if it is real.

Individualized Teaching Method
This method is the most important for the existentialism philosopher. In this method, the teacher plays a very important part. Because of this, the teacher occupies a special position of importance in the education of the child. He has to know the individual differences of the different children and be able to teach each child as though he is teaching him or her alone.