Book review: Democracy and Education, by John Dewey John Dewey

Résumé du document

John Dewey was a philosopher, psychologist, and political commentator and activist, who also wrote about a whole host of other topics: art, nature, logic, ethics, and democracy, amongst others. However, most of all, he is perhaps known as an educational thinker. His ideas on education are laid out in his seminal work "Democracy and Education", which first deals with the various educational philosophies that existed up to his day, and then proceeds to critique and expand upon them in the context of a democratic society. Perhaps the best word that could be used to describe his venture with regards to these educational philosophies is "synthesis"; in a way, he viewed these preceding philosophies as extreme in their respective ways, and sought to find a middle ground where these extremes could be reconciled.

My essay will be divided into three parts: (I) John Dewey and His Times, in which I will locate the author in his era; (II) "Democracy and Education" in its Time, in which I will situate his work in the context of its age and amongst other philosophical currents at that time; and, finally, (III) Main Thesis of "Democracy and Education", in which I will outline the main ideas set out in Dewey's book.

Extraits

[...] However, most of all, he is perhaps known as an educational thinker. His ideas on education are laid out in his seminal work “Democracy and Education”, which first deals with the various educational philosophies that existed up to his day, and then proceeds to critique and expand upon them in the context of a democratic society. Perhaps the best word that could be used to describe his venture with regards to these educational philosophies is “synthesis”; in a way, he viewed these preceding philosophies as extreme in their respective ways, and sought to find a middle ground where these extremes could be reconciled. [...]

[...] He found the pedagogical system during his time too academic and theoretical, and thus sought to break down the traditional divide between formal instruction and practical application in reality—or what has been popularly termed “learning by doing”. The book's reception has been somewhat mixed. Many of its terms, such as “public intellectual” have been variously misinterpreted, since Dewey often used commonplace words or phrases, but in a new way, with a new interpretation. In addition, with regards to the implementation of his ideas as presented in the book, only certain notions like progressive education have been accepted in American society. By and large, the execution and practice of his proposals remain partial. [...]

[...] However, it views these two perspectives as being too extreme, each in its own way. Plato's philosophy was extreme because it overemphasised the society, while Rousseau's was extreme in that it focused too much on the individual alone. To Dewey, this distinction was a false one; rather than seeing these two elements in contradistinction with each other, he saw them as complementary and inextricably linked. The individual is only meaningful when regarded as an undeniable component of the greater society, while society is only meaningful insofar as it supports and contributes to the self-actualisation of its members, the individual. [...]

[...] As mentioned above, Dewey believed in a symbiotic relationship between the individual and society. Analogously, in his eyes, education ought to be carried out in the same fashion—that is to say, in a way that lets the student take part actively in the educative process, to the end that he or she may develop to the fullest extent his or her own unique gifts. As opposed to this was the traditional schooling method, where teaching was executed in a top-down way and learning was done in isolation, away from both engagement with others and practice in real life. [...]

[...] Thus individuals had to participate in social life, while social institutions created freelythinking and acting individuals at the same time. In a way, this symbiotic conception of the relationship between individuals and the community is reflected in other aspects of Dewey's philosophy, such as in his book “Democracy and Education”. II. “Democracy and Education” in its Time John Dewey's book “Democracy and Education” is an attempt to answer a several questions and to reconcile certain contradictions in the history of educational philosophy. [...]