EDEC 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: John Dewey, Teaching Philosophy, Scientific Method
3 Sep 2018
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EDEC 260: Lecture 6
Introducing John Dewey: The Historical and Wider Theoretical Context
Today’s Objective
- To develop a clear understanding of both Dewey’s historical and theoretical context as well as an overview
of his main contributions to the philosophy of education.
- We will touch upon Dewey’s:
- Philosophical considerations/ aims of education/ schooling and curriculum/ teachers and teaching.
- This will help prepare us for Part B where we will focus more specifically on Democracy and Education and
its implications for education.
Learning Outcomes
- You will become familiar with the historical context in which Dewey’s life and writings were embedded.
- You will acquire a functional knowledge of the wider theoretical background to the development of Dewey’s
key ideas and contributions to understandings of his philosophy of education.
- You will see how the socio-historical context of Dewey’s life greatly influenced his ideas on the schooling and
educating of students.
- You will see how Dewey’s fundamental belief in humans’ innate resourcefulness led him to develop an
educational vision that emphasized the importance of problem-solving for the ends of personal and social
adaptation to an ever-changing environment. (This is an example of summary statement for the test).
Class Outline
- Socio-historical context of the United States at the turn of the 20th century.
- The Progressive Movement (1890-1917) and its effects on education.
- Dewey: Biography, main educational ideas; and other contributions.
The U.S. During the Late 19th Century
- (He was born towards the end of the civil and saw a lot of history).
- After the Civil War (1861-1865), the U.S. slowly develops into a modern society. (The US is transforming into
an industrial society).
o Territorial expansion and technological advancements.
o Industrialization.
o Urbanization.
o Immigration. (The US starts becoming a multicultural society; the immigrants would come to look
for work).
▪ (immigrants experienced racism- US was still segregated).
- Social Ills:
o Large corporations control most of the wealth (big companies controls the wealth)
o Bad working conditions for workers. (the workers were living in living poor conditions)
o Ineffective political system (politicians were corrupt and were not doing their jobs in the interest
of people)
o (Overall change in industry and change in migration led to an industrial empire).
The Progressive Movement (1890-1917)
o (Those who participated in the progressive movement- These were people who wanted to change
through reform and not violent means and wanted to fix the system. They had 3 main goals:
regulate business so that it doesn’t monopolize economy and conserve resource and fix the
government. It was led mainly by men. At the heart of this whole movement, was this desire to
develop a reflex of rights and responsibilities for the citizens- Done through schooling!)
- A multifaceted social, political, and educational movement that sought to reform and revitalize both life and
the political system in the U.S.
o Main objectives.
o Strategies for effectuating change (change the mind of government, educate others).
- Drive to continuously engage modern individuals in social, political, and educational projects for the common
good.
- Centrality of education to instill political consciousness and activism among citizens.
The Progressive Movement and Education
- Students were at the center of the general impetus to improve society’s ills through education.
o (Progressive people focused on children because they thought children were the future and
wanted to develop that reflex. To do that they had to counter rote memorization and teachers
pouring information on them. So they advocated learning by doing it, being creative. They were
aiming for children well-being (the physical and emotional and academic). They looked at the
student at heart and wanted to do group learning and cooperative learning. They wanted to make
education for kids- and so they can related to their real life problems).
- Progressives sought to:
o Counter traditional methods of teaching as well as a highly routinized and bureaucratized school
system.
o Develop innovative methods of instruction that concentrated on students’ needs and interests:
▪ “Learning by doing,” “activity-based learning,” “group projects,” and “problem-solving.”
o Professionalize teaching and the administration of schools.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
- (he is important because his ideas influenced the change of the progressive movement was about to
bring about. His father was a farmer and his mom was from a wealthy background. He was called “John”
after his older brother who died from a horrible death when he was na infant. John finished high school
early and did his BA at the age of 15. He becomes a high school teacher and gets his degree in
philosophy. He opened a laboratory school where he studied children and their learning environment.
He thought the school was a miniature society where children learn through collaborative problem
solving. He wrote two main books. The main idea that came out his life: children early experience and
activity should reflect home life. Ex: they would also cook and clean at school. And learning through
solving problems and not just memorizing things by heart. And work in collaboration with others. The
key idea that comes from lab: idea problem solving, free exercising tested through experimental
methods).
- Early Life and Schooling.
- 1875: Enters the University of Vermont at the age of 15.
- 1879: High school teacher in Oil City.
- 1881-1884: Pursues graduate work in philosophy (and psychology).
- 1884-1894: Teaches philosophy at the University of Michigan.
- 1886: Meets and marries Harriet Alice Chapman.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
- 1894-1904: Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Psychology, and Pedagogy at the University of
Chicago.
- The Laboratory School (1896-1904):
o An experimental school where children learned by collaborative problem solving.
- 1905-1930: Philosophy Professor at Columbia University.
- Retirement and final years.
Main Ideas
- Dewey was associated with Pragmatism. (It’s all about finding practical solution to problems. True:
certainty. There is no such thing as truth for pragmatist. Truth is only temporary because
certainty/truth changes. Truth is base don human experiences. As human experiences change, so can
truth/certainty. Truth depends on its applicability; test it to see if it can solve the problems. What
counts are experiences, the world is constantly changing and what counts is our interaction with the
environment. Pragmatists are interested in finding practical solutions to problems).
o A philosophy that fundamentally stresses testing ideas for their practicality in solving
particular problems related to human experience.
- Dewey’s emphasis on the “experimental or scientific method” to solve problems has led his version of
Pragmatism to be called Experimentalism.
o Thinking is effective when using the “scientific method” to test the usefulness of solutions for
solving problems.
Aims of Education
- The ultimate goal is growth, which should lead to further growth. (Learning about more effective ways
of living, learning more effective ways of learning and doing and coping with the environment. Growth
is interacting with the environment and learning to solve problems. Growth is about developing a
repertoire of experiences of how tos- as you gain experiences list down how you went through it and
how you solved the problems and out in in the repertoire. Growth is the ability to continuously solve
problems and to survive an ever changing reality)
o Growth signifies the capacity to continue solving problems to ultimately live, or to orient
one’s life, in an ever-changing social reality.
- Consequently, authentic education is based on the learner’s own experiences and thus emerges from
his or her own activities in the environment.
Educational Ideas
- (Joh Dewey: humans are upright vertebrates with highly developed nerves. They have life sustaining
drives and impulses. We have highly developed brains- that can help us think, reflect and hypothesize
about the consequences of our actions which eventually leads to critical though, we have vocal chords-
it gives us sound and communication, with have an opposable thumbs and finger- we can use hammers.
All together, we grow as we solve problems. We can use elements in our environment to solve
problems caused by certain aspects of environment. Th interaction with the environment- is the
experience we gain, and through experience or interaction with the environment, thinking and learning
occurs. So we learn through doing it. This interaction with the environment prepare us for the next
problem (we put on problem solving skills in our repertoire and use it for the next problem we face).
Document Summary
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