Experience And Education Author: Visit Amazon's John Dewey Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0684838281 | Format: PDF
Experience And Education Description
Review
"No one has done more to keep alive the fundamental ideals of liberal civilization." -- Morris R. Cohen
- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0684838281
- ISBN-13: 978-0684838281
- Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
This book was written about 20 years after Dewey's best-known education book, Democracy in Education. By the time he wrote this, he was celebrated by many (progressive educators) and scorned by others (traditionalists). Dewey wrote this book as a way to tell both sides that they have it wrong: in frustration with traditional methods of education, progressives were rebelling too far in the opposite direction. Tight external discipline was replaced by no discipline. Inflexible curricula were replaced by thin curricula. Strict drill was replaced by lax 'learn what you want' attitudes. In brief, Dewey wrote against the "either/or" approach he saw prevalent in education.
IF you look at the lesser-starred reviews below, you will see that one main criticism about this book is that it seems to state the obvious. I was not around then, but I am betting that this is a testament to Dewey's influence that what needed to be said then now seems so commonplace. Curriculum is necessary, Dewey wrote, but that doesn't mean that it can't be made relevant to students' lives. Explicit teaching and discipline are necessary but that doesn't mean that the student must be 'put upon' as much as 'worked with.' Education should not be simply the passive receipt of information from instructor to student via memorization, but that doesn't mean that schools should be squeamish about instilling things into students (or that everything has to be student-initiated).
If I have one complaint about this book, though, it is not that its contents are commonplace, but they are sometimes a bit contradictory.
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