Idealism is a school of philosophy that holds those ideas or concepts are the essence of all that is worth knowing. Plato and Socrates stated that truth is the central reality. For Martin, to be educated is to engage in a conversation that stretches back in time. She is noted for her work describing how women have historically been excluded from the conversation that constitutes Western educational thought. See figure 11.1 on page 370.
Realists place considerable importance on the role of the teacher in the educational process.
It stresses becoming rather than being. For pragmatists, truth is what works. Therefore, truth is relative. See figure 11.2 on page 372. In existentialism, reality is lived existence and the final reality resides within the individual.