Democracy and Education

John Dewey

Description

John Dewey's Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education seeks to both critique and further the educational philosophies espoused by both Rousseau and Plato. Dewey found that Rousseau's ideas overemphasized the individual, whereas Plato's did the same with the society that the individual lived in. Dewey felt this distinction to be a false one, seeing the formation of our minds as a communal process, like Vygotsky did. Hence an individual makes sense only as a part of society, and the society makes sense only as a realization of its individuals.

Sujets

• Education

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781775413585
• Langue: English

Extrait

DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
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JOHN DEWEY
 
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Democracy and Education An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education First published in 1916.
ISBN 978-1-775413-58-5
© 2009 THE FLOATING PRESS.
While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike.
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Contents
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Chapter One: Education as a Necessity of Life Chapter Two: Education as a Social Function Chapter Three: Education as Direction Chapter Four: Education as Growth Chapter Five: Preparation, Unfolding, and Formal Discipline Chapter Six: Education as Conservative and Progressive Chapter Seven: The Democratic Conception in Education Chapter Eight: Aims in Education Chapter Nine: Natural Development and Social Efficiency as Aims Chapter Ten: Interest and Discipline Chapter Eleven: Experience and Thinking Chapter Twelve: Thinking in Education Chapter Thirteen: The Nature of Method Chapter Fourteen: The Nature of Subject Matter Chapter Fifteen: Play and Work in the Curriculum Chapter Sixteen: The Significance of Geography and History Chapter Seventeen: Science in the Course of Study Chapter Eighteen: Educational Values Chapter Nineteen: Labor and Leisure Chapter Twenty: Intellectual and Practical Studies Chapter Twenty-One: Physical and Social Studies: Naturalism andHumanism Chapter Twenty-Two: The Individual and the World Chapter Twenty-Three: Vocational Aspects of Education Chapter Twenty-Four: Philosophy of Education Chapter Twenty-Five: Theories of Knowledge Chapter Twenty-Six: Theories of Morals Endnotes
Chapter One: Education as a Necessity of Life
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1. Renewal of Life by Transmission.
The most notabledistinction between living and inanimate things is that theformer maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struckresists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blowstruck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it isshattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt toreact in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow,much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to itsown continued action. While the living thing may easily becrushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn theenergies which act upon it into means of its own furtherexistence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split intosmaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but losesits identity as a living thing.
As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energiesin its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and thematerial of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that itturns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it isgrowing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment toaccount is more than compensated for by the return it gets: itgrows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may besaid that a living being is one that subjugates and controls forits own continued activity the energies that would otherwise useit up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon theenvironment.
In all the higher forms this process cannot be kept upindefinitely. After a while they succumb; they die. Thecreature is not equal to the task of indefinite self-renewal.But continuity of the life process is not dependent upon theprolongation of the existence of any one individual.Reproduction of other forms of life goes on in continuoussequence. And though, as the geological record shows, not merelyindividuals but also species die out, the life process continuesin increasingly complex forms. As some species die out, formsbetter adapted to utilize the obstacles against which theystruggled in vain come into being. Continuity of life meanscontinual readaptation of the environment to the needs of livingorganisms.
We have been speaking of life in its lowest terms — as aphysical thing. But we use the word "Life" to denote the wholerange of experience, individual and racial. When we see a bookcalled the Life of Lincoln we do not expect to find within itscovers a treatise on physiology. We look for an account ofsocial antecedents; a description of early surroundings, of theconditions and occupation of the family; of the chief episodes inthe development of character; of signal struggles andachievements; of the individual's hopes, tastes, joys andsufferings. In precisely similar fashion we speak of the life ofa savage tribe, of the Athenian people, of the American nation."Life" covers customs, institutions, beliefs, victories anddefeats, recreations and occupations.
We employ the word "experience" in the same pregnant sense. Andto it, as well as to life in the bare physiological sense, theprinciple of continuity through renewal applies. With therenewal of physical existence goes, in the case of human beings,the recreation of beliefs, ideals, hopes, happiness, misery, andpractices. The continuity of any experience, through renewing ofthe social group, is a literal fact. Education, in its broadestsense, is the means of this social continuity of life. Every oneof the constituent elements of a social group, in a modern cityas in a savage tribe, is born immature, helpless, withoutlanguage, beliefs, ideas, or social standards. Each individual,each unit who is the carrier of the life-experience of his group,in time passes away. Yet the life of the group goes on.
The primary ineluctable facts of the birth and death of each oneof the constituent members in a social group determine thenecessity of education. On one hand, there is the contrastbetween the immaturity of the new-born members of the group —its future sole representatives — and the maturity of the adultmembers who possess the knowledge and customs of the group. Onthe other hand, there is the necessity that these immaturemembers be not merely physically preserved in adequate numbers,but that they be initiated into the interests, purposes,information, skill, and practices of the mature members:otherwise the group will cease its characteristic life. Even ina savage tribe, the achievements of adults are far beyond whatthe immature members would be capable of if left to themselves.With the growth of civilization, the gap between the originalcapacities of the immature and the standards and customs of theelders increases. Mere physical growing up, mere mastery of thebare necessities of subsistence will not suffice to reproduce thelife of the group. Deliberate effort and the taking ofthoughtful pains are required. Beings who are born not onlyunaware of, but quite indifferent to, the aims and habits of thesocial group have to be rendered cognizant of them and activelyinterested. Education, and education alone, spans the gap.
Society exists through a process of transmission quite as much asbiological life. This transmission occurs by means ofcommunication of habits of doing, thinking, and feeling from theolder to the younger. Without this communication of ideals,hopes, expectations, standards, opinions, from those members ofsociety who are passing out of the group life to those who arecoming into it, social life could not survive. If the memberswho compose a society lived on continuously, they might educatethe new-born members, but it would be a task directed by personalinterest rather than social need. Now it is a work ofnecessity.
If a plague carried off the members of a society all at once, itis obvious that the group would be permanently done for. Yet thedeath of each of its constituent members is as certain as if anepidemic took them all at once. But the graded difference inage, the fact that some are born as some die, makes possiblethrough transmission of ideas and practices the constantreweaving of the social fabric. Yet this renewal is notautomatic. Unless pains are taken to see that genuine andthorough transmission takes place, the most civilized group willrelapse into barbarism and then into savagery. In fact, thehuman young are so immature that if they were left to themselveswithout the guidance and succor of others, they could not acquirethe rudimentary abilities necessary for physical existence. Theyoung of human beings compare so poorly in original efficiencywith the young of many of the lower animals, that even the powersneeded for physical sustentation have to be acquired undertuition. How much more, then, is this the case with respect toall the technological, artistic, scientific, and moralachievements of humanity!
2. Education and Communication.
So obvious, indeed, is thenecessity of teaching and learning for the continued existence ofa society that we may seem to be dwelling unduly on a truism.But justification is found in the fact that such emphasis is ameans of getting us away from an unduly scholastic and formalnotion of education. Schools are, indeed, one important methodof the transmission which forms the dispositions of the immature;but it is only one means, and, compared with other agencies, arelatively superficial means. Only as we have grasped thenecessity of more fundamental and persistent modes of tuition canwe make sure of placing the scholastic methods in their truecontext.
Society not only continues to exist by transmission, bycommunication, but it may fairly be said to exist intransmission, in communication. There is more than a verbal tiebetween the words common, community, and communication. Men livein a community in virtue of the things which they have in common;and communication is the way in which they come to possess thingsin common. What they must have in common in order to form acom