Thursday, September 29, 2011

John Dewey (1859-1952)



Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform.
He thought that education and democracy are intimately connected. That's why he not only worked to improve education but he also cared about the well-being of the community.
He changed the curriculum center education to a student center education. He thought teachers should help children develop the character, the habits and virtues, that would enable them to achieve self-realization.
He created "The Laboratory School". This was useful as a testing ground for his ideas on education. In this school children learned throught experience and practical work.
What I learned about him is that it is very important to focus on the students and provide them the tools to help them develop as members of society. It is a very difficult task, but as teachers we should try to apply this.

3 comments:

fabicu said...

According to Savater, Dewey is the thinker of education.His philosophy, based on democracy at school, has had a great impact on every single educator in our times. His practical way of facing education has set the basis of the economically saccesful country of the USA for a very long time.He sustained that activities al school had to be based on manual work and empirical experiences. He also claimed that teachers should adjust their work to learners' needs, changing the tradicional education rules.As Savater says, Dewey didn't think for the eternity, but for the future, placing clear tips for reaching goals through education

Rosa Peralta said...

Dewey was of great influence on educators. He is one of the founders of the philosophical school of pragmatism. His ideas change the way education was conceived. In his own words: " Education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living."

Noe said...

Dewey is one educator who highlights the importance of students in the classroom. It is relevant for teachers to bear in mind his ideas. He considers education is related to democracy, so students must have freedom to learn in order to be creative enough to be active people in the society. That is why he thinks teachers must be facilitators or guides rather than sources of knowledge. They must teach students how to think and not what to think because children learn by doing.