Johndeweysp08


 * The Legacy of John Dewey **

(image from [|www.cals.ncsu.edu] patent pending)

John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1859 (spartacus). A remarkable student growing up, Dewey is mostly known for his groundbreaking philosophies of education. Dewey's main idea was that a good education is the source of a good society. For a society to survive, it needs schools to have education and communication: the necessity of teaching and learning. Dewey states, "A school is an important method of transmission." The Teaching style of "giving and receiving orders" only covers "actions and results." However, communication between people in different social groups of a society need a purpose that can be shared (interests). "Communication is educative." Each time someone talks to another person they have a new and unique experience. "The new experience has to be formulated in order to be communicated." Stepping outside the box and looking at the experience as someone who only witnessed the experience is what Dewey means by formulation. The formulation of the experience creates a vitally social arrangement. A vitally social arrangement is educative to people who participated in it. When the arrangement is altered, making not vitally social, is when it is not educative. Dewey's idea of education and communication, and its effects on society: with the expanding of society, "the need of formal and intentional teaching and learning increases with the complexity of society." Dewey wrote many books, here is a list of a few of them: //Moral Principles in Education // (1909), //Interest and Effort in Education // (1913), //Democracy and Education // (1916), //Reconstruction in Philosophy // (1920), //Experience and Nature // (1925), //The Quest for Certainty // (1929), //Philosophy and Civilization // (1931), //Art as Experience // (1934), //Liberalism and Social Action // (1935), //Experience and Education // (1938), //Freedom and Culture // (1939) and //Public Schools and Spiritual Values // (1944) (spartacus). Dewey died June 1, 1952, but his the legacy of his philosophy will live on forever (spartacus). (All phrases in quotation marks from [|www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/jdewey/html])
 * Dewey and his Ideas **

Before Dewey, teaching was very direct and only consisted of lectures (Campbell). It was "give and receive" with the teachers doing the giving and the students receiving. There was no input from students, and students who spoke out of line would be punished. Students were not allowed to have input in the class, or it was very rare if it happened at all. Also schools rarely ever took field trips. Field trips are one of the most influential teaching ideas ever created. It puts the students into a hands on learning environment. Education before Dewey was to make sure that the students would be able to survive in the work place, meaning they would not hold production back (Campbell). Company owners really could not care if their workers could talk, but just be able to work twelve hour shifts with no problems. However this made the American society simplistic during a time when America was trying to become more complex. Dewey's ideas created the progressive education movement, and changed the styles of how schools are teaching and communicating; consequently, the creation of the field trip. Also, Dewey's ideas made getting an education easier to obtain, since students were allowed to have input making the conversation a more complex experience. Thus making the outcomes of how future adults were communicating more complex: fitting the society America was trying to become (Campbell). Dewey practically changed the entire American Education System, to make a better a society.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The before and after of Dewey **

If Dewey was not born, or for some reason did not come up with these great ideas, what type of education system would America have now? Campbell believes America's education system would not have changed. It would still be a system were an eighth grade education would be acceptable enough to go into the work force. The complex society that America was trying to become would have failed, and where America is now would never be (Campbell). Most college kids would all be working in the fields or mills, not furthering their education. Thankfully though, Dewey was born, and did come up with these great ideas.
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">What if there was no Dewey? **

References: [|www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAdewey.htm]

[|www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/jdewey.html]

Campbell, James. //<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Understanding John Dewey. // Open Court Publishing Company. 1995.