Dewey’s Understanding of Education

 

Dewey’s Understanding of Education

John Dewey believed in a society that was set up on the principles of democracy leading to citizens involved in open minded inquiry as a way of life (Talebi, 2015). Education, for him, was the way to achieve it. But not an education that was based on mastering a set of syllabi but one where social interaction was the base between individuals involved in it and experiencing the curriculum. All of this led to a clear focus and that was to develop a human being that lived a life in full command to fit using his or her skill set optimally. Creation of an independent human being was the aim of education, as per John Dewey. This resonates very well with the IB program that focuses on teaching students to think critically and independently, and inquire but with care and logic (IBO, n.d.). 

Principles of Dewey’s Philosophy and their Influence on Education

Three of the most influential arguments in Dewey's education have been that of nature, social efficiency, and culture (Mintz, n.d.), for we receive education from 3 sources: Nature, men, and things (Dewey, 1976). He further expands them to bring about a set of granulated principles that can be implemented in the sphere of education. The ones that interested me are (a) Traditional vs Progressive Education, (b) Progressive Organization of Subject-Matter and (c) Experience – The Means and Goal of Education (eiclsresearch.wordpress.com, 2017). I will write about them along with their alignment with the principles of an IB education (IBO, 2013). 

 (a) Traditional vs Progressive Education.

According to Dewey, traditional education is where there is a fixed system of information, skills and standards to be transacted for a student. Students are expected to have an attitude of docility, receptivity and obedience. Progressive education provides active participation by students in development of subject matter. Dewey’s perspective is that neither progressive nor traditional education is the solution, but a perspective that knows how to use either depending on need of the hour. Experience justifies the method.

PBL or Problem Based Learning is a proponent of this model of thinking. This is where one takes a problem and resolves it through inquiry involving the content knowledge for the process and result.

This perspective has influenced my way of educational perspective a lot. As I do not reject any system nor do I place any system on a pedestal. I look at all with objectivity, learning from each. In IB education, this is the skill of Inquiry and research (IBO, 2013). This is where education focuses on being a lifelong learner, drawing from all experiences.

 (b) Progressive Organization of Subject-Matter.

Dewey believes in experiential education. However he also advocates an experience to lead to an acquisition of new ideas and an orderly arrangement of the same. He believes that to get the best out of an experience, we must cultivate an intellect that can convert it to a coherent set of thoughts. This is when each experience constructs and reconstructs experience. The educator forms ideas, acts on them, reflects on the outcome and reorganizes the thoughts. Dewey was quite alarmed at the way in the name of child-centered education, teacher and content were ignored by the way side. He had a specific and clear place for organization of subject matter in his theory (Talebi, 2015).

More than school education, this is a way of life for a lifelong learner! To never get caught in a web of thought but to never also have a scattered mindset. To experience each experience fully and then to derive from it a thought process that helps receive further experiences is the focus of a life led through experiences.

IB education creates knowledgeable thinkers. Exploring across a range of disciplines, the education exposes students to a range of issues and ideas with global significance. Then use the critical thinking skills to analyze and act.

 (c) Experience – The Means and Goal of Education.
Experience is the means of education and the goal. However an experience that has quality in it and reflection built at the end of it. But as per Dewey, this experience must be as close as possible to the real life of the learner. This is what made him a proponent of experiential education (Talebi, 2015). Experiential education or hand on learning is the movement that has humanized education by keeping learner at the heart of the same. In IB, the closest I can think of is the IB project, an intrinsic part of the curriculum that is a student-centered exploration in which students consolidate their learning throughout the programme using a project of their choice (IBO, n.d.).