Essentialism holds that although the phenomena of the universe and society are constantly changing and unpredictable, the value of human culture is eternal and objective, and there are "all kinds of best things" in human cultural heritage, that is, common and unchanging cultural elements.

2. Educational content

Essentialism emphasizes that the content of school education is to inherit the traditional "cultural heritage", and holds that Latin, algebra, geometry and other subjects with special value to the cultivation of students' spirit should become common compulsory subjects in middle schools.

3. Courses

Because the essentialist emphasizes that education must impart knowledge and truth consistent with objective facts to students, he naturally advocates that education must impart systematic courses such as knowledge, skills and attitudes that are indispensable in culture to students, restore the status of various disciplines in the educational process, and compile teaching materials in strict accordance with the internal logical system of each discipline, and the core of the course must be "elements".

Because different essentialists have different philosophical foundations and different perspectives, they have different curriculum views. But in general, everyone has basically reached a consensus on these issues, that is, the curriculum must be subject-centered and students' learning must be systematic. ?

4. Teaching methods

As an important school of new traditional education, essentialism inherits the basic ideas of traditional education in educational thought and traditional teaching methods in teaching methodology. For example, it advocates giving full play to the leading role of teachers in the education process, attaching importance to students' mental training, emphasizing hard work, advocating gifted learning, advocating strict discipline and high standards. Essentialists believe that the process of education is the process of guiding students to accept prescribed textbooks and national experience. The standard to measure students' progress and graduation is the knowledge that should be mastered and the facts that should be remembered, while the examination is to examine students' acceptance and memory of knowledge. Based on this, the teaching methods advocated by essentialists are mostly instructional narratives. At the same time, essentialists attach great importance to students' intellectual training, and they think it is very necessary to carry out strict intellectual training.

Compared with the teaching method that progressivism emphasizes "interest learning", essentialism advocates "study hard" and that students must study hard and concentrate. The essentialist does not deny the role of instinct, interest and need in children's development, but he believes that advanced and lasting interest can not be felt at the beginning, but can only be produced through long-term efforts, so it is necessary to cultivate students' spirit of hard study and cultivate students' stable and lasting interest in learning. ?

Essentialists advocate cultivating students' ability of self-control, self-reliance and self-discipline. Essentialists believe that people must and can subordinate their immediate desires to long-term goals. If children are not encouraged to set up lofty ideals and ambitions, their development will be hindered. In order to realize their ideals and ambitions, children must learn to restrain themselves and control their desires and behaviors. These abilities are often formed through hard exercise and will tempering, and are generally the result of strict external discipline. To this end, children must learn self-control, self-reliance and self-discipline. ?

Essentialists advocate "natural learning" and put forward "intelligence standard". They believe that the intellectual and moral resources contained in children should not be wasted, which is the real democratic interest. Essentialism advocates improving the school's "intelligence standard" and fully developing people's "wisdom power". In order to cultivate talents, we should arrange courses according to students' learning level, that is, the so-called "equal level arrangement" or ability arrangement, rather than according to the learning content. Schools must organize strict examinations, set higher standards for study and testing, and restore strict discipline.

5. Teachers

Essentialism emphasizes the central position of teachers. They believe that the initiative of education lies with teachers rather than students in the educational process, and teachers should play a leading role in the educational process. The growth and development of children can not be separated from the guidance of teachers. Essentialism holds that children often have a kind of inertia. If children are emphasized as the center and children's instinct, interest and freedom are the center, children will lose their God-given development opportunities, and it will be difficult for them to gain higher freedom of high-quality life in the future. Therefore, in the process of education, we must give full play to the leading role of teachers and establish their authority, so that children can grow up healthily under the beneficial guidance of teachers.

While emphasizing the leading and central position of teachers, essentialists also put forward clear requirements for teachers' qualifications. He requires teachers to have extensive knowledge of general education and learning fields, a deep understanding of children's psychology and learning process, the ability to impart facts, knowledge, truth and ideals to students, the ability to correctly evaluate the historical-philosophical basis of pedagogy, and the loyalty to educational work. Essentialists require teachers to be loyal to their work, not to dominate students at will, and not to let students go with the flow. Teachers must be creative in their work, be good at creating a healthy classroom atmosphere and become a powerful promoter in students' learning process.

Expansion: Essentialism education, a school of educational thought that appeared in the United States in the 1930s, opposed progressive education. Also known as traditionalist education and conservative education. Baglai, kandel, Finney and Briggs were the main early representatives. 1938 February, Baglai and others set up the essentialist to promote american council on education in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the meeting, Baglai presented the Essentialist Program for Promoting American Education as the theoretical basis of the group. Essentialists are critical of progressive education. They believe that progressive education emphasizes learners' interest, freedom, current needs, personal experience, psychological organization and students' initiative, but ignores efforts, discipline, long-term goals, national experience, logical connection and teachers' initiative, completely abandons strict academic performance standards as the basis for upgrading, and despises the systematic and orderly learning, thus reducing the quality of education. The goal of essentialism education is to correct the above disadvantages and bring American education back to the normal track. Although the essentialists have different philosophies, they all emphasize the importance of "national experience" or "cultural heritage" in education. They think that most people's experiences tested by history are more meaningful than personal experiences, and there are "all kinds of best things in culture" and "a basic knowledge core" in human heritage, that is, common and unchanging cultural elements. It includes all kinds of basic knowledge, skills, traditional attitudes and ideals, which everyone must learn. The main task of the school is to teach the younger generation the common elements of these cultures. Emphasis is placed on systematic learning with discipline as the center, and it is advocated to restore the position of each discipline in the educational process and to compile teaching materials in strict accordance with the logical system. It is believed that Latin, algebra, geometry and other subjects with special value to the cultivation of students' spirit should be regarded as general compulsory subjects in middle schools. Pay attention to the cultivation of intelligence, advocate the improvement of intelligence standards, give full play to the authoritative role of teachers, and students who are not interested in factor learning should be forced to learn. In the1940s, the idea of essentialism education was at a disadvantage because of the great momentum of progressive education. After the Second World War, especially in 1957, the Soviet satellite went into the sky, which shocked the American government and blamed the backwardness of science and technology on the quality of education. The educational proposition that essentialism attaches importance to systematic knowledge transmission has attracted people's attention. In 1950s, American primary and secondary schools carried out curriculum reform, emphasizing the new three arts (mathematics, natural science, foreign languages) and "ability grouping" according to "academic standards". These aspects are mainly based on the educational theories of the main representatives of essentialism in this period, such as J.B. conant and H.G. Rickover. However, by the end of 1960s, due to the one-sided emphasis on book knowledge and traditional teaching methods, the essentialism education increased the burden on students, divorced from reality, and caused widespread dissatisfaction among students, so it gradually lost its dominant position in the United States.