History

       John Dewey was born in Vermont in 1859.  His family had been farmers for three generations.  He studied philosophy and received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1884.  While Dewey was a professor of philosophy he befriended one of his student’s Alice Chipman.  They were married in 1886 and Dewey became interested in education because of his wife’s interest in how social problems related to education. 

In 1896 Dewey established the Dewey’s Laboratory School which became the brain child of progressive education in contrast to the rigid, teacher centered traditional educational format.  From this school Dewey was able to put his ideas to practice.  He created theory based on his research of how progressive instruction improved student learning.  Today, practices such as hands-on learning and student centered activities are based on Dewey’s research.  Dewey made a wealth of timeless contributions to the knowledge base in educational psychology and theory. 

       Dewey is most known for his role in developing the progressive movement in America.  He believed that teachers should be facilitators to learning and not lectures spouting out information.  Dewey believed that learning should begin with the child’s prior knowledge.  He believed that children learned when they constructed their own meaning through independent thinking and experimentation with new concepts.

 

Theories

       Traditional versus progressive education is not a recent phenomenon.  In fact, more than 100 years the quest for improvement in education has been wedged at times between these two ideas.  Dewey believed that the purpose of education was not just to transmit information but to create thinkers.  He believed that this was vital for a democratic society.

       Dewey developed a natural learning theory and an experimental philosophy of education with the belief that students were not just empty vessels waiting to be filled but inquiring minds that wanted to know.  Dewey believed that education should imitate the learning that goes on before a child enters school.  Children learn to walk, talk, create, a variety activities just through day to day living and play.  Once they enter school, the mentality changes.  The teacher has the knowledge and tells the child.  Gone is the idea that the child can continue to learn just by using the natural curiosity and exploration that he or she has been successful with.

       This debate was fueled by those who believed that children were empty vessels waiting to be filled.  These adults thought that children were not capable of learning without direct instruction by someone with all of the answers.   Dewey saw childhood as the time when experimental inquiry automatically takes place.  Dewey saw that as children grew, they lost some desire to learn in school.  I can clearly see this.  For a lot of people reading became boring because there with questions to complete or a report to write at the end.  Math was only random numbers in which you missed if you made the smallest mistake, and history was not exciting stories but just dates to remember. Progressive learning involves the student connecting the learning to real world activities not isolated skills. Children have more desire to learn when they have a purpose.  I remember thinking in my head, “I will never need to know this”, and I never did. Some of my former education was a waste and could have been better spent with a more student centered approach.

       Dewey spoke of how traditional education often ignored the experiences of the learner.  Progressive education takes into consideration the cultural backgrounds of the learner while traditional education can just focus on completing the required text.  The teacher does not have to be concerned about the background knowledge of the student if they believe that education is just telling information versus allowing the learner to think and make connections for themselves. Dewey stated that “The notion that some subjects and methods and the acquaintance with certain facts and truths possess educational value in and of themselves is the reason why traditional education reduced the material of education so largely to a diet of predigested matter.  Progressive education believes that “all genuine education comes about through experience” (Dewey, 1938, p 25). 

       Dewey thought that it was the responsibility for education and the teacher to create an environment that encouraged learning. I believe this alone would decrease the drop-out rates in high school.  Schools should be places were students desire to go because the learning is interesting and relevant.  Instead, we have an education system that gives out grades to “punish” students for not living up to an arbitrary standard.  If education was more progressive, learning activities would provide teachers with the knowledge of the student’s strengths and weakness and direct the teacher on what is needed to assist the student.  Progressive education also allows the student to tap into their strengths and to investigate knowledge further.  Dewey believed that the desire to learn is intrinsic.  No one can force the child to learn. Ultimately the student is responsible for the learning.  The teacher is responsible for providing environment to make learning desirable not mundane.

 

Synthesis

       In traditional education, teachers rely heavily on textbooks to transmit knowledge to the learner.  Knowledge is “taught as a finished product, with little regard either to the ways in which it was originally built up or to changes that will surely occur in the future.” (Dewey, 1938, p.19).  Most of my learning experiences have involved long boring lectures with reading assignments.  The instructor would throw out tons of information and I would struggle with trying to interpret and make connections about what was being said.  I always felt like if I could grasp the new information, I would be able to remember it and do well on the test. 

       I believe I would have enjoyed attending a school that believed Dewey’s philosophy.  I loved history but not memorizing.  I wanted to explore the connection between events. Dewey would have encouraged my desire to investigate and learn more.  I can imagine that math would have also been better in a progressive school focusing on the concepts and not just the right answer.   One of the best learning experiences I had of a more progressive approach was in one of my undergraduate courses.  The professor prepared to teach the class about self-directed behavior theories.  She asked the class to share life experiences and then she would link these experiences to an actual theory to help us understand.  In this way, the professor had to base her responses on what was shared.  She did not come with vast amounts of notes and charts for us to memorize.  We were active participants and learned new information through discussions.  We had vivid pictures in our heads to help us understand new concepts.  Years later, I can recall and utilize the information I learned in that class.  I have been taught by teachers that believe in the traditional philosophy, but the more effective instruction and learning occurs when the facilitator has a strong progressive belief and method of delivery.  I also understand why Dewey feels that traditional and progressive education are not either or philosophies.  I know that there are certain things that we need to learn and that not all of our experiences will lead us to the path of that knowledge.  Traditional education shows us that there are some things that we need to know but progressive education philosophy shows us a better way to reach that goal.  Dewey expressed that the goal of the teacher was to help the student continue to wonder and have a spark for knowledge.  This is a far stretch from memorizing information and reading boring materials in order to pass a test.  Dewey was very insightful and made an important contribution to education.

 

References

 

Fallace, T.D.  (2010).  John Dewey on the history of education and the historical methods.  Vol.26 (2). 2010.

 

Simpson, D.J.  (2001).  John Dewey’s concept of the student.  H.W. Wilson Company.  Can J Educ, 26(no2). 2001.

 

Mooney, C.G.  (2000).  Theories of Childhood: An introduction to Dewey,

Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky. St. Paul, Minnesota.  Redleaf Press.

Dewy, J.  (1938).  John Dewey experience and education. (1st ed.). New York, NY.  Touchstone.

 

John Dewy.  (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey.