Woohoo Dewey

After reading Dewey, I feel like I have a new perspective on my philosophy of education. Reading Dewey was fairly easy; his points are very clearly stated. He explains, for the most part, exactly what he means (which is very nice). I feel like I might have previously read some of Dewey before, but I cannot exactly remember.

Dewey makes several points that stood out to me. First, his statement that school is a social institution is something that I haven't really heard before. Growing up, viewing school as a social institution was me getting to hang out with my friends all day =) Now that I am studying to be an educator, I completely agree with his statement. What a student learns in school will not only benefit him/her, but also the community & society. It will also benefit the student in the present as well as the future. The student should be learning tools to help him/her survive and improve life. Dewey doesn't necessary agree that education is preparation for the future, but I believe that what the students learn and apply to their lives at present will stay with them throughout the rest of their lives; thus preparing them for their future.

Secondly, Dewey states that "the home is the form of social ife in which the child has been nurtured and in connection with which he has had his moral training." I think this statement is half true, but it brings up the question, what about those students that do not have a stable or nurturing homelife? I think this is just a challenge for teachers. Children who do not have such a great home environment need encouragement and nurturing while at school. Whatever place the student is at his life is where the teacher needs to begin. The teacher may have to adapt and adjust to the student's sense of values. I also agree with Dewey's statement that "The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences." I think sometimes teachers tend to impose their own believes on students, but like Dewey, I believe that teachers should present students with positive material that can benefit them, while allowing them to reach their own conclusions.

One final quote from Dewey that I noticed was concerning literature. Since I am an English majoy, I definitely noticed this one: "Literature is the reflex expression and interpretaion of social experience; that hence it must follow upon and not precede such experience." I half agree with this statement. I believe that in order to interpret literature or analyze it, one has to somehow relate to the author. One can understand a work by comparing/contrasting their own personal experiences with the piece of literature. However, one can also read literature just for merely a good read. Because some people do not share similar experiences as characters in literature does not mean those people should not enjoy or learn about literature. Learning literature is in itself a life experience =)

Overall, I like Dewey's theory on education. It will be interesting to compare and contrast it to other views.