John Dewey

A Presentation on John Dewey

1. John Dewey
(1859 -1952)
Dr.S.Prakash
Principal
Thiagarajar College of
Preceptors
Madurai.

2. GeneralInformation
JohnDeweywasbornintheUnitedStatesof
AmericaonOctober20,1859.
Americanphilosopher,psychologistandeducational
reformerwhoseideashavebeeninfluentialin
education,philosophy,andpsychology.

3. GeneralInformation…..
knownbestforhispublicationsabout
education,buthealsowroteaboutother
topicssuchasexperience,nature,art,
logic,inquiry,democracy,andethics.
Majorrepresentativeofpopulist
philosophiesofschoolingduringthefirst
halfofthe20thcenturyintheUnited
StatesofAmerica

4. TimeLine
OnOctober20,1859JohnDeweywasbornin
Burlington,Vermont,fromamodestfamily.Hewas
marriedtwiceandhadsixchildren.
In1879hegraduatedfromtheUniversityofVermont
(PhiBetaKappa).Then,heworkedasahigh-school
teacherinPennsylvaniaandasaelementaryschool
teacherinVermont.So,afterstudyingphilosophy
independently,heenteredthegraduateprogramin
philosophyatJohnsHopkinsUniversitytoreceivehis
Ph.D.
From1884to1894hehadafacultypositionatthe
UniversityofMichigan.
In1894DeweyjoinedtheUniversityofChicagowhere
emergedhisPragmaticPhilosophy.

5. In1903Deweyalsosetupthe“UniversityofChicago
LaboratorySchools”toactualizethepedagogicalbeliefs
thatprovidedmaterialforhisfirstmajorworkon
education,“TheSchoolandSocialProgress”(1899).
In1899,DeweywaselectedpresidentoftheAmerican
PsychologicalAssociation.
From1904untilhisretirementin1930,hewasprofessor
ofphilosophyatbothColumbiaUniversityandColumbia
University'sTeachersCollege.
In1905hebecamepresidentoftheAmerican
PhilosophicalAssociation.
Yearslater,theUnitedStatesPostalServicehonored
JohnDeweywithaProminentAmericansseries30¢
postagestamp.
Nowadays,Deweyisconsideredoneofthefoundersof
TheNewSchool.

6. Writings
MajorDewey'seducationaltheorieswere
presentedinthesewritings:
MyPedagogicCreed(1897)
TheSchoolandSociety(1900)
TheChildandtheCurriculum(1902)
DemocracyandEducation(1916)
ExperienceandEducation(1938)

7. Dewey’s Writings
•Hiswritingsemphasizethedynamicsand
continuouslychangingcharactersoflife.
•Inotherwords,Itmaybesaidthatthereareno
fixedideasandanyideasandanyideaistobe
testedonlybyitspracticalsignificance.
•Ideasarethereforetobechangedaccordinglyin
thecourseoflifetime
•Thiskindofphilosophicalviewispopularly
knownaspragmatism.

8. Dewey’s Theories and Beliefs on
Education
Experientialeducation:Deweyfocusedhisconceptof
“instrumentalism”ineducationon“learningbydoingor
hands-onlearning”,whichmeanstolearnnotonlybythe
theory,butalsobythepractice.“Instrumentalism”isa
theoryofknowledgecreatedbyDeweyinwhichideas
areseentoexistprimarilyasinstrumentsforthesolution
ofproblemsencounteredintheenvironment.
Theschool’srole:Deweystressedtheimportanceof
educationinschoolnotonlyasaplacetogaincontent
knowledge,butalsoasaplacetolearnhowtolive.The
purposeofeducationshouldbetherealizationof
everybody’sfullpotentialandtheabilitytouseanyskills
forthegreatergood.

9. Dewey’s Theories and Beliefs on
Education
Theeducationalprocess’role:Deweyadvocated
foraneducationalstructurethatmakesa
balancebetweenthechildandthecurriculum,
thatistosay,deliveringknowledgewhilealso
takingintoaccounttheinterestsand
experiencesofthestudent.
Theteacher’srole:Theteacher’sroleshouldbe
thatoffacilitatorandguidesincetheteacher
becomesapartnerinthelearningprocesswho
leadsstudentstoindependentlydiscover
meaningwithinthesubjectarea.

10. The Dewey School
•InJanuaryof1896,Deweyopenedthedoorsof
theExperimentalUniversityofChicagowiththe
ideaofsettingupan“ExperimentalSchool”by
hisown.
•TheprogramcoreofthestudiesoftheDewey
Schoolfiguredwhathedenominated
“occupation”,inotherwords,“aformofactivity
donebythechildrenthatreproduceatypeof
workdoneinsociallifeorthatisparalleltoit.

12. The Dewey Teaching Method
Age Activity
4-5 years oldCook, Carpentry, needlework
6 years old They built a farm of wood, planted wheat and cotton; they sold
their products in the market.
7 years old They studied pre-history in caves made by themselves
8 years old They studied navigation like Marco Polo, Colon, Magallanes
and Robison Crusoe.
9 years old Local history and geography
10 years oldThey studied the Colonial History
11-12 years oldAnatomic experiments, electromagnetism, political economy
and photography
13 years oldThey built a building for their debate club.

13. •Deweywrote:“thechildgoestoschoolto
makethings:tocook,tosew,toworkthe
wood,andtomaketoolsthroughactsof
simpleconstruction;andinthiscontext,
andlikeconsequenceofthoseactsit
articulatesthestudies:reading,writing,
andcalculus.

14. •TheDeweypedagogicalkeyconsistedin
providingthechildrenwith“experiencesoffirst
hand”aboutconflictivesituations,mostofthe
timebasedonpersonalexperiences.Inhis
opinion,“themindisnotcompletelyfreeuntilthe
rightconditionsarecreatedtomakethechildren
participateactivelyinthepersonalanalysisof
his/herownproblems,andparticipateinthe
methodstosolvethem,atthepriceofmultiple
triesandmistakes.

15. •Eventhoughhedidn’texpectthatthe
ExperimentalSchoolmethodwere
followedinastrictlywayinotherplaces,
hekeptthehopethathisschoolservedas
asourceofinspirationtowhompretended
totransformedthepubliceducation.

16. The End of the Dewey School
•The precursor community of Dewey lasted too
short. Its end was caused by the people who
worked with Dewey in the Experimental school.
They all wanted to have the control of the
school, since the school didn’t belong to Dewey,
in fact, it belong to the Chicago’s University.
•The lost of the Experimental school left an
opened room to others to understand, apply,
and even deform Dewey’s pedagogical ideas.

17. Quote
“Educationisnotpreparationforlife;
educationislifeitself.Education,
therefore,isaprocessoflivingandnota
preparationforfutureliving.”
John Dewey

18. Stamp

19. Conclusions
•Deweyconsideredschoolsandcivilsocietyas
twofundamentalelementsandmajortopicsthat
needattentionandreconstructiontoencourage
experimentalintelligenceandpluralityinorderto
improveourlifeandenvironment.
•Deweystronglybelievedthatstudentsmustbe
activelearningperceiversandcriticalthinkers
ratherthanpassivebelieversandreceiversof
information.

20. Conclusion…
•Dewey’stheorieshavebeenagreatinfluence
on20th-centurythought.Hiswritingson
educationaltheoryandpracticehavebeen
widelyreadandacceptedbecauseheshowed
thatthedisciplinesofphilosophy,pedagogy,and
psychologyshouldbeunderstoodasclosely
interrelated.Forthatreason,Dewey'sideas
haveremainedatthecenterofmuch
educationalphilosophyintheUnitedStatesand
inmanycountriesaroundtheworld.