John Dewey’s Philosophy and Theories on Education

            John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1859.  He received his B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1879, and then his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1884.  Later from 1884 to 1888 he taught at the University of Michigan.  He then taught at University of Minnesota, then again at Michigan, the University of Chicago, and finally at Columbia University from 1904 until his retirement in 1931.  He has traveled to speak on education in China, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the Soviet Union.  In his lifetime, John Dewey wrote several books on philosophy, education and democracy, and psychology.  Dewey was naturalistic; he thought things should be explained by their place and function in the environment, not by supernatural causation.  He rejected metaphysics as the echo and disguise of theology.  Religion, he thought, was a weigh down to philosophy.  He is most known for his theories on education and his philosophy known as instrumentalism (Dewey). 

            Instrumentalism states that the various modes and forms of human activity are instruments developed by human beings to solve multiple individual and social problems.  This philosophy is similar to that of William James’ pragmatism; the doctrine that truth is the practical efficacy of an idea (the ideas truth is to be judged by its effectiveness) (Durant 520-521). 

John Dewey’s theory of socialization ties in with his instrumentalism.  He rejected the social contract theory, which states that “the cooperative aspect of human life was grounded in the logically prior and fully articulated rational interests of individuals.”  He thought moral and social problems are concerned with the guidance of human action to the achievement of ends defined by society that produce a satisfying life for individuals.  Dewey was vague as to what makes up a satisfying life, but in Human Nature and Conduct he speaks of 1.) the resolution of conflicts of habit and interest both within the individual and the community, 2.) the release from tedium in favor of the enjoyment of variety and creative action, and 3.) the enrichment of the individual’s appreciation of his or her circumstances within human culture and the world at large.  The central issue of ethical concern of an individual is how to reach these social ends.  Dewey stressed the need for an open ended, flexible, and experimental approach for the attainment of human goods (and an examination of the consequences of the means used to promote them, an approach he called the “method of intelligence”).  This is opposed to an empirical method that is tied to an examination of situations, gathering data, and the hypothesis of possible solutions that, when utilized, bring about resolution of the original problem.  Dewey’s main criticism of the traditional ethical thought was that is sought out solutions to moral and social problems in dogmatic principles and “simplistic criteria.”  He believed these were incapable of dealing effectively with the changing requirements of humanity.  In Reconstruction of Philosophy, Dewey located the source of traditional dogmatic approaches in the hopes of man for security in an uncertain world.  But these hopes are fruitless if the principles applied to problems remain unchanged in an ever-changing world.  He “avoided participating in what he regarded as the unfortunate practice of previous moral philosophers of offering general rules that legislate universal standards of conduct.” (Ethical)

Dewey believed that the society best suited for flexible adaptation was a democratic society.  Not only must that society have a democratic government, but also be democratic in habits of cooperation and public spiritedness.  The development of these democratic habits must begin in the earliest years of a child’s educational experience.  Dewey believed that a child’s education should not be viewed as merely a preparation for civil life, but as an extension of civil society and continuous with it.  The student should be encouraged to operate as a member of a community, actively pursuing interests in cooperation with others.  It is by a process of self-directed learning that Dewey believed a child is best prepared for the demands of responsible membership within the democratic community (Ethical).

“I believe that all education proceeds by the participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race.”  He believed this process began at birth.  He believed the only true education came from the stimulation of a child’s powers by the demands of social situations.  By these demands, he is stimulated to act as a member of a unity, and care for the welfare of the group.  He learns what these actions mean by the consequences.  Dewey used the example; “For instance, through the response which is made to the child’s instinctive babblings the child comes to know what those babblings mean; they are transformed into articulate language and thus the child is introduced into the consolidated wealth of ideas and emotions which are now summed up in language.” 

Education must begin with a psychological insight into the child’s capacities, interests, and habits, and these must be interpreted, then they must be translated into terms of what they are capable of in the way of social service.  Dewey believed education was a process of living, not a preparation for future living.  School should imitate and simplify existing social life, since it is so complex that the child cannot be brought into contact with it without either confusion or distractions.  The present education system fails because it does not view school as a form of community life.  Instead, school is a place where certain information is given, certain lessons are learned, and certain habits are formed.  The value of this information, these lessons and habits is conceived as lying somewhere in the future.  They are mere preparation.  The teacher’s role should not be a machine that spits out certain information, but a member of the community.  Examinations should be of use only so far as they test the child’s fitness for social life.  Dewey thought that the true center of correlation on school subjects is not science, literature, history, and geography, but the child’s own social activities.  He believed that so-called expressive or constructive activities, such as cooking, sewing, manual training, etc… should be primary.  The process and goal of education are on and the same thing.  To set up any end outside of education, as furnishing its goal and standard, is to deprive the educational process of much of its meaning and tends to make us rely upon false and external stimuli in dealing with the child (My).

“Education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform.”  John Dewey