In this philosophical school of thought, the aim is to instill students with the "essentials" of academic knowledge, enacting a back-to-basics approach.
Essentialism ensures that the accumulated wisdom of our civilization as taught in the traditional academic disciplines is passed on from teacher to student.
Essentialism is a relatively conservative stance to education that strives to teach students the knowledge of a society and civilization through a core curriculum.
This core curriculum involves such areas that include; the study of the surrounding environment, basic natural laws, and the disciplines that promote a happier, more educated living.
Essentialists' goals are to instill students with the "essentials" of academic knowledge, patriotism, and character development through traditional (or back-to-basic) approaches.
Establishing order in the classroom is crucial for student learning; effective teaching cannot take place in a loud and disorganized environment.
The term essentialist first appeared in the book An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education which was written by Michael John Demiashkevich.
He described how the Progressives preached a “hedonistic doctrine of change” whereas the essentialists stressed the moral responsibility of man for his actions and looked toward permanent principles of behavior (Demiashkevich likened the arguments to those between the Socratics and the Sophists in Greek philosophy).
Emerging in the eighties as a response to the essentialist ideals of the thirties as well as to the criticism of the fifties and the advocates for education in the seventies, neoessentialism was created to try to appease the problems facing the United States at the time.
Hirsch was Founder and Chairman of the Core Knowledge Foundation and authored several books concerning fact-based approaches to education.
In his most popular book, Cultural Literacy — What Every American Needs To Know, he offers lists, quotations, and information regarding what he believes is essential knowledge.
Although it is difficult to maintain a pure and strict essentialist-only curriculum, these schools have the central aim of establishing a common knowledge base for all citizens.
Thus, students are forced to think in the mindset of the larger culture, and individual creativity, and subversive investigation are often not emphasized, or even outright discouraged.