Dewey, John
From WikEd
Contents |
[edit] John Dewey (1859-1952)
Biography
John Dewey, the third of four sons, was born on October 20, 1859 to Archibald Sprague and Lucina Artemesia Rich Dewey in Burlington, Vermont. John Dewey attended public schools in Burlington and then attended the University of Vermont in Burlington. Scottish realism was the primary school of thought at the University of Vermont when Dewey was a student there. His rejection of the ideas of realism is thought to have prompted his interest in philosophy.
John Dewey's significance for informal educators lays in a multiple areas. First, his belief that education must engage and enlarge experience has continued to be a significant idea in informal education. Secondly Dewey fought for the exploration of thinking and reflection. Third, his concern with interaction and environments for learning provide a continuing framework for practice. Last, his passion for democracy. he was a big proponent of education for all- because of this he was also looking for many ways to incorporate education in all aspects of life.
Upon his graduation from college in 1879, Dewey taught high school for two years. During this time, Dewey published his first essay, A Journal of Speculative Thought. The acceptance of his first philosophical work led Dewey to enroll as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his doctorate in 1884.
John Dewey then taught at the University of Michigan for ten years, excluding the year he spent at the University of Minnesota in 1888. While at Michigan, Dewey published his first two books, Psychology and Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding. At Michigan, Dewey came into contact with James Hayden Tufts, who would later become an important philosophical collaborator to his works.
Both Dewey and Tufts transferred to the University of Chicago in 1894. In Chicago, Dewey founded and directed a laboratory school where he could apply his new ideas in pedagogical method directly. The information he gathered at his school provided the material used for his first work on education, The School and Society, written in 1899. In 1904, Dewey resigned from his post in Chicago because of a disagreement with the administration concerning the Laboratory School.
Dewey then began teaching at Columbia University in New York City, where he would spend the remainder of his career until he retired in 1930. Despite his retirement, Dewey remained active in the philosophical community. One activity of note was his participation in the Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Against Leon Trotsky at the Moscow Trial.
John Dewey continued to publish throughout his retirement until his death on June 1, 1952 at the age of 92. See The Chronology of John Dewey's Life Works compiled by Barbara Levine,retrieved from The Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University, for a complete chronology of Dewey's work.
John Dewey and his Philosophy of Education John Dewey was very important in the development of the student centered approach to education and also to the the development of problem centered education, especially in the Social Studies departments. Although Dewey wrote most of his material early in the century his influence on education continues and is discussed today.
Dewey focused on a developmental democratic approach to education. He believed that “for education to be successful, it is necessary that people participate in democratic forms of life‿ (Tozer, p. 107). For example, by letting the students develop their own interests, students will become more successful in their educational practices. Dewey also believed that by “participating in democratic life is more educational for the population, than is participation in any other form of political life.‿ (Tozer, p.107). By interacting more democratically within the school system, the child would be able to focus more on their interests rather than the interests of others.
He proposed an idea of "learning by doing". By this notion, Dewey wanted to have students learn from their experiences and focus on a more intellectual study. He wanted all children to have a great capacity for intellectual development‿ and be able to “execute purposes of his or her own‿ (Tozer, p.108). For example, through this type of intellectual development, students could learn about other occupations and not be trained to focus on the occupation that they will have for the rest of their lives.
Dewey emphasized a more unified curriculum through vocational education in schools. Dewey’s belief in a hands-on approach to education would give students the chance to experience other skills rather than just industrial skills. These “’occupation-based’ projects should never educate for vocations, but educate through vocations‿ (Tozer, p. 108). For example, a student should be given the chance to develop their own natural interests through experiencing other types of vocations and not just educate for the sake of the vocation that they are needed for in society and the workplace He didn’t want students to focus on grades but to only focus on developing their interests and use prior experiences to help develop their learning processes. While Dewey believed that children would need to develop through vocations, Eliot believed that children should develop for vocation. Carole Johnson
I was wondering if anyone felt that the trend in education in more recent years has been away from progressive education in view of all the mandates that have resulted in terms of accountability and testing? Are the essentialist gaining ground in this era and should this be a natural result of improving schools? Is there a way to be accountable and still foster progressive forms of education? How do you think that this might be possible so that we can produce thinking citizens?
[edit] Testimonials
I've been a proponent of Progressive education for a long time. I understand why it fell by the wayside decades ago, but can't begin to figure out why it continues to suffer in relative obscurity as far as real schools actually go. The Eight Year Study, conducted in the 1930's offers an engaging look at the promising benefits of Progressive Ed. Take a look: Eight Year Study G. Johnson
Books written by John Dewey.
As a high school educator, I was incredibly discouraged to see the value of education reduced to a series of multiple choice tests. We are missing the big picture; we are boiling education down to a circus act where students and teachers jump through a bunch of futile hoops that leave them unmotivated to do anything meaningful with whatever “knowledge” that might have been accrued. It is as if we are sucking the life out of living, and I believe that time will show this to be an unsuccessful movement in education. Perhaps we can then get back to the ideas of Progressive education. –J. Blanken-Webb
[edit] External Links
The Center for Dewey Studies at Southern Illinois University
[edit] References
Tozer, Steven E.School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. McGraw-Hill College. 4 ed. 2001.
