Introduction to John Dewey's Philosophy of Education

Education is life itself.

- John Dewey

John Dewey (1859-1952) believed that learning was active and schooling
unnecessarily long and restrictive. His idea was that children came to school to do
things and live in a community which gave them real, guided experiences which
fostered their capacity to contribute to society. For example, Dewey believed that
students should be involved in real-life tasks and challenges:

 maths could be learnt via learning proportions in

cooking or figuring out how long it would take to get
from one place to another by mule
 history could be learnt by experiencing how people
lived, geography, what the climate was like, and how
plants and animals grew, were important subjects
Dewey had a gift for suggesting activities that captured the
center of what his classes were studying.

Dewey's education philosophy helped forward the

"progressive education" movement, and spawned the
development of "experiential education" programs and
experiments.

Dewey's philosophy still lies very much at the heart of many bold educational
experiments, such as Outward Bound. Read more about John De

ohn Dewey’s work in experiential education began in 1896 during his tenure with the University
of Chicago where he founded the University Laboratory School that later became the “Dewey
School.” The laboratory school became a venue for experiments in educational thinking. Dewey
considered his school a community where the students became active members. He wanted it
to be a place where education occurred based on principles of mental activity and on the
processes of growth (Chambliss, J.J. (Ed.), p. 146).

In 1906, when Dewey accepted an appointment with Columbia University, his years of work with
the Dewey School had already set the foundation for his educational philosophy. During his
tenure at Columbia, he continued developing his philosophy through a series of published
works that included Democracy and Education (1916), and Experience and Education (1938).

Dewey’s philosophy points out that the strict authoritarian approach of traditional education
was overly concerned with delivering preordained knowledge, and not focused enough on
students’ actual learning experiences. He insists that education requires a design that is
grounded in a theory of experience. He sides neither with traditional education, nor
with progressive education, but with the understanding of how humans have the experiences
they do, and how this understanding is necessary when designing effective education.
Because of Dewey’s insistence on this foundational aspect to his philosophy, he began a
movement that generated the development of experiential education programs and
experiments. His philosophy continues to remain foundational in designing innovative
educational approaches and programs today.

Description of Dewey’s Philosophy on Experience and Education

Dewey’s philosophy on education, published in Experience and Education (1938), is an analysis
of both traditional and progressive education. Where traditional education focused upon
curriculum and cultural heritage for its content, progressive education focused on the learner’s
interest and impulse, unconstrained by the educator (p. 9). According to Dewey, neither of
these systems is adequate. Traditional education consists of a rigid regimentation, ignoring the
capacities and interests of the learner. Progressive education allows excessive individualism and
spontaneity which Dewey says is “a deceptive index of freedom” (p. 10).

What Dewey’s philosophy (1938) proposes is a carefully developed theory of experience and its
relation to education. Sound educational experience involves both continuity and interaction
between the learner and what is learned (p. 10). Thus, Dewey’s philosophy is that experience
arises from the interaction of two principles:continuity and interaction.

Experience and Education (1938) demonstrates Dewey’s ideas on education, in a concise

statement that resulted from his observational experience with progressive schools. Written in
essay format, it divides Dewey’s philosophy into eight chapters that are organized so that each
one presents a definitive aspect of his philosophy.

The following links provide a brief description of each of the chapters in Dewey’s philosophy
summarized from his publication Experience and Education (1938).