1859-1952JOHN DEWEY, AMERICAS PHILOSOPHER

Time LineOn October 20, 1859 John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont, from a modest family. He was married twice and had six children.

In 1879 he graduated from the University of Vermont (Phi Beta Kappa). Then, he worked as a high-school teacher in Pennsylvania and as a elementary school teacher in Vermont. So, after studying philosophy independently, he entered the graduate program in philosophy at Johns Hopkins University to receive his Ph.D.

From 1884 to 1894 he had a faculty position at the University of Michigan.

In 1894 Dewey joined the University of Chicago where emerged his Pragmatic Philosophy.

In 1903 Dewey also set up the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools to actualize the pedagogical beliefs that provided material for his first major work on education, The School and Social Progress (1899).

In 1899, Dewey was elected president of the American Psychological Association.

From 1904 until his retirement in 1930, he was professor of philosophy at both Columbia University and Columbia University's Teachers College.

In 1905 he became president of the American Philosophical Association.

Years later, the United States Postal Service honored John Dewey with a Prominent Americans series 30 postage stamp.

Nowadays, Dewey is considered one of the founders of The New School.

Deweys Theories and Beliefs on EducationExperiential education: Dewey focused his concept of instrumentalism in education on learning by doing or hands-on learning, which means to learn not only by the theory, but also by the practice. Instrumentalism is a theory of knowledge created by Dewey in which ideas are seen to exist primarily as instruments for the solution of problems encountered in the environment. The schools role: Dewey stressed the importance of education in school not only as a place to gain content knowledge, but also as a place to learn how to live. The purpose of education should be the realization of everybodys full potential and the ability to use any skills for the greater good.

Deweys Theories and Beliefs on EducationThe educational process role: Dewey advocated for an educational structure that makes a balance between the child and the curriculum, that is to say, delivering knowledge while also taking into account the interests and experiences of the student. The teachers role: The teachers role should be that of facilitator and guide since the teacher becomes a partner in the learning process who leads students to independently discover meaning within the subject area.

The Dewey SchoolIn January of 1896, Dewey opened the doors of the Experimental University of Chicago with the idea of setting up an Experimental School by his own.The program core of the studies of the Dewey School figured what he denominated occupation, in other words, a form of activity done by the children that reproduce a type of work done in social life or that is parallel to it.

The Dewey Teaching Method

AgeActivity4-5 years oldCook, Carpentry, needlework6 years oldThey built a farm of wood, planted wheat and cotton; they sold their products in the market. 7 years oldThey studied pre-history in caves made by themselves 8 years oldThey studied navigation like Marco Polo, Colon, Magallanes and Robison Crusoe.9 years oldLocal history and geography10 years oldThey studied the Colonial History11-12 years oldAnatomic experiments, electromagnetism, political economy and photography 13 years oldThey built a building for their debate club.

Dewey wrote: the child goes to school to make things: to cook, to sew, to work the wood, and to make tools through acts of simple construction; and in this context, and like consequence of those acts it articulates the studies: reading, writing, and calculus.

The Dewey pedagogical key consisted in providing the children with experiences of first hand about conflictive situations, most of the time based on personal experiences. In his opinion, the mind is not completely free until the right conditions are created to make the children participate actively in the personal analysis of his/her own problems, and participate in the methods to solve them, at the price of multiple tries and mistakes.

Even though he didnt expect that the Experimental School method were followed in a strictly way in other places, he kept the hope that his school served as a source of inspiration to whom pretended to transformed the public education.

The End of the Dewey SchoolThe 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 didnt belong to Dewey, in fact, it belong to the Chicagos University.The lost of the Experimental school left an opened room to others to understand, apply, and even deform Deweys pedagogical ideas.

John Deweys PhilosophyEducation starts with the needs and interests of the child, allows the child to participate in planning her course of study, employ project method or group learning, depend heavily or experiential learningChildren are active, organic beingsneeding both freedom and responsibility Ideas are not separate from social conditions, philosophy has a responsibility to society

Deweys Role for the TeacherNot the authoritarian but the facilitatorencourages, offers suggestions, questions and helps plan and implement courses of studyhas command of several disciplinesInquiry method, problem solving, integrated curriculum

Quote

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.

John Dewey