John Dewey Research Paper

The great philosopher John Dewey once said, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” Dewey was the most notable educational thinker of the twentieth century. As an educator and social critic, he modified the fundamentals of teaching and learning. Dewey was born on October 20, 1859 in Burlington, Vermont. His parents Archibald Dewey and Lucina Artemisia Rich, Dewey’s mother bore four sons and of which Dewey was the third. His father was a Union Army solider in the Civil War. At the age of fifteen Dewey enrolled at the University of Vermont where he studied philosophy, after four years he graduated second in his class. After graduating, he worked at a seminary where his cousin was the principle. Dewey

He took the basis of pragmatism, which is determining an idea has merit by testing it. From pragmatism he created progressivism. Unlike traditional teaching, progressivism is based around the student. The teacher works more like a facilitator to the students. By creating the curriculum around the students concerns and curiosity the teacher prepares them for real world experiences. Dewey realized that not all students are cut out for college, so when they enter the world they need to be prepared for what they are about to face. Dewey believed that students are facing an ever changing world, so he thought that they should master the five principles of the scientific methods. The principles are: become aware of the problem, define it, propose various hypotheses to solve it, examine the consequences of each hypothesis in the light of previous experience, and test the most likely

He founded the Laboratory School, in order for him to express his educational ideas. Many parents were drawn into the school and the curriculum because it was focused on their child’s interest. In the Laboratory School, Dewey designed the school with only one classroom with other facilities incorporated for experimental learning. The other facilities were: an art room, a wood-working center and a laboratory dealing with science. There was even a kitchen for students, but it was not for cooking but for them to study Chemistry. According to Dewey, students will not learn from being isolated or working alone, he believes that students learn from social interactions. For example, the students would do social activities and group modules that shaped their minds around cooperatively working together. The social activities that the students would do were things such as: field trips, role playing and short story skits.

In a traditional school students were obligated to pass test to be promoted to the next. If the students in a traditional classroom were not showing satisfactory conduct they could be demoted. According to Dewey, the Laboratory School was different. There were no grade levels instead the students were grouped merely on their interest. Dewey believed that if the students are learning in a way that they can relate too, the will retain more information. While