John Dewey

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John Dewey

• The Need for a Philosophy of Education.

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Objectives How does Dewey view the nature of
the child and the nature of learning? Understand
the transaction between the childs instincts and
experiences and the environment according to
Dewey. What does Dewey find problematic with
traditional schooling? What is the role or
function of the teacher, according to Dewey? For
Dewey, how are democracy, society, and education
linked?
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John Dewey

• Education is a social process education is
  growth education is not a preparation for life
  but is life itself.

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Deweys Early CV ?? Education Completed high
school in 3 years Attended University of
Vermont in 1875 at 16 years old Explored topics
of political, social, and moral philosophy
Graduated from the University of Vermont in
1879 ?? Teaching Experience 1879 1st job as
a high school teacher in Oil City, Pennsylvania
1881 High School teacher while continuing study
of philosophy in Vermont ?? Graduate Studies
1882 Johns Hopkins University graduate program
in philosophy 1884 Ph.D. with dissertation
topic The Psychology of Kant
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Professional Career ?? Positions Held (1884)
Michigan ?? Instructor of Philosophy (1888)
University of Minnesota ?? Professor of Mental
and Moral Philosophy (1889) Chair of the
Department of Philosophy, Michigan (1894)
University of Chicago (1904) Resigned from the
University of Chicago, joined Columbia
University (1930) End of teaching career
(1939) Retirement from University activities
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JOHN DEWEY

• How does he view the nature of the child and the
  nature of learning?
• Nature of the child curious, social,
  constructive, expressive

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Experiential learning takes place
when a person involved in an activity
looks back and evaluates it, determines
what was useful or important to remember,
and uses this information to perform another
activity. John Dewey
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• The Need for a Philosophy of Education
• Philosophy needs to define what education is,
  moreover, any ideal that is a genuine help in
  carrying on activity must rest upon a prior
  knowledge of concrete actual occurrences
• - Education is a process of development, but
  it is a directed growth, which is meant to be
  directed by educators
• - all students are different from one another and
  will not learn in one standard, uniform way

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The Need for a Philosophy of Education

• the student possesses, inherently, the raw
  material and the starting-point of growth,
  however, the environing conditions to be
  furnished by the educator are the indispensable
  means of their development
• thus educators must modify environment to provide
  direction of student growth
• each student possesses innate possibilities and
  properties for growth and, as such, an ideal
  education is characterized by continual growth

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• The Need for a Philosophy of Education
• the educational end and the ultimate test of the
  value of what is learned (in the method described
  above) is its use and application in carrying on
  and improving the common life of all
• thus, by experiencing growth in education in a
  democratic environment, students will learn how
  to reform society

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The Need for a Philosophy of Education

• Dewey wants to make individuals more capable of
  self-support, but he also stresses connections
  and commitments to others.
• Schools should not just use activities, but
  select activities that connect to democratic
  life, the classroom as a community.
• Education is a process of development, an
  educated person has the power to go on and get
  more education, to grow. Grow like a seed? Not
  exactly. Not as deterministically, as say a
  tree. Humans have great potential to grow in many
  directions. The environment for growth matters.
  Traditional schools fail to recognize the
  diversity of capacities, the need to initiate
  growth must come from the needs and powers of the
  pupil (not a blank slate, not teacher-centered).
  (Need for a Philosophy of Education, Dewey, 1934)

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The Need for a Philosophy of Education Toward
more effective techniques, greater
self-reliance, a more thoughtful and inquiring
disposition more capable of persistent effort in
meeting obstacles. EXPERIENCE A PROBLEM, TRY TO
SOLVE IT. Dewey wants to connect interest
(NATURE OF THE CHILD CURIOUS, EXPRESSIVE,
SOCIAL, AND CONSTRUCTIVE) and effort (motivate
students to SOLVE PROBLEMS, ANSWER QUESTIONS)? If
successful, it leads to the student-curriculum
integration that Dewey desires. KNOWLEDGE THAT IS
USEFUL, that supports further growth and
expansion of interests. Does Dewey provide a
clear vision of the ideal democratic
society? For education to be most successful,
it is necessary that people participate in
democratic forms of life. A society of free
individuals in which all, doing each his own
work, contribute to the liberation and enrichment
of the lives of others is the only environment
for the normal growth to full stature. (Need
for a Philosophy of Education Dewey, 1934)
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The Need for a Philosophy of Education

• What does he reject about traditional education?
• Dewey believes that faculty psychology,
  behaviorism, and teacher-centered approaches to
  curriculum do not capture the correct psychology
  of learning.
• He rejects the idea that rote learning and
  memorization are learning.
• The educational center of gravity has been too
  long in the teacher, the textbook, anywhere and
  everywhere except in the immediate instincts and
  activities of the child himself.
• Schools should not be static in subject matter,
  authoritarian in methods, and mainly passive.
• Dewey fears that society and traditional
  schooling are promoting Selfish, egoistic,
  competitive views where we learn to outwit
  others and get on for ourselves

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Objectives How does Dewey view the nature of
the child and the nature of learning? Understand
the transaction between the childs instincts and
experiences and the environment according to
Dewey. What does Dewey find problematic with
traditional schooling? What is the role or
function of the teacher, according to Dewey? For
Dewey, how are democracy, society, and education
linked?