[Session 12] Two Major Trends of Pedagogy (2) Dewey's Educational Philosophy
- Introduction -

John Dewey is famous as a progressive empiricist, who established the laboratory school of the University of Chicago in the early 20th century and set out pragmatically an antithesis to traditional disciplinistic education which was dominant at that period. However, after he had long acted up to his progressive educational philosophy, he came to warn against excessive progressiveness. He later insisted that it is not sufficient only to reject the traditional education and that an either-or philosophy is not helpful.

"The problems are not even recognized, to say nothing of being solved, when it is assumed that it suffices to reject the ideas and practices of the old education and then go to the opposite extreme." John Dewey, Experience and Education, (1938), p.22, l.1-5.

Let's think about "Progressive organization of subject-matter" argued in Dewey's Experience and Education. The book is regarded as the sole theoretical basis for controversial "Hours of Comprehensive Studies," (note from translator of John Dewey's, Experience and Education, (1938) (Kodansha Gakujyutsu Bunko, p.158) while students' academic achievements are lately reported to be declining.

The task of this Session is to post your opinion on "What progressive organization of subject-matter is" on the discussion board and make comments on each other's opinions. Read Chapter 4 carefully, and afterwards post your opinion by showing the quotation appropriately.。

Here is Dewey's real voice; a link to a Web site of Southern Illinois University, Center for Dewey's Studies and a link to Wikipedia, as light relief for when you get tired... Visit Web sites to view photos.

Dewey's real voice
Creation, not acquisition, is the measure of a nation's rank; it is the only road to an enduring place in the admiring memory of mankind. (LW.14.256）
If there is no response, click here.(broken link)

・Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University (broken link)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Dewey

*Links to other materials are shown in "4. Links."