Discussion 1: John Dewey

Read Mooney, pages 1-34; Complete Discussion 1; You post an original response of 300 – 500 words and then respond to at least ONE classmates posting, with one paragraph.

Choose ONE or BOTH of the following questions:

Progressive education has been called many different things. What are some of the misconceptions about it? Give a brief explanation that summarizes Dewey’s ideas about progressive education.
Today one common curriculum model is emergent curriculum, or planning curriculum around what emerges from the children’s interests and experience. Is this consistent or inconsistent with Dewey’s idea about education? Why?

Progressive education has been called many different things. What are some of the misconceptions about it? Give a brief explanation that summarizes Dewey’s ideas about progressive education.

Progressive education has been tagged many different things, some of which are misconceptions. There are various myths and misconceptions about the progressive education method. For instance, one of the common misconceptions about it is that it is a lazy form of teaching. This has been a false notion that has been labeled against the approach which ironically fits the traditional learning environments (Kohn, 2015). Another misconception about progressive education is that the approach only works best for a specific socioeconomic class. Opponents argued that it fits kids from wealthy backgrounds; hence, it would leave all the poor kids behind. Indeed, this was one of the negative perceptions against the method. Moreover, there has been the misconception that students fall behind when the progressive education model is used (Kohn, 2015). Additionally, there is the misconception that progressive education involves no set curriculum. Others argued that the progressive education approach promotes indiscipline among learners. However, it is essential for one to truly understand what progressive education is and get facts about it to avoid confusion between fiction, false notions, myths, and reality.

Progressive education is focused on the child’s powers and interests, and its curriculum reflects society. John Dewey is credited with being a vital education theorist who pioneered the progressive education movement in America. In this approach, Dewey argued that the current education system would reduce the retention rates of students in school as it was built upon mindless tasks (Dewey, 2019). He pointed out that it would be challenging for students to remember information learned from the traditional education systems once they finish their education. As such, he advocated for a progressive model, pointing out that education and student’s life experiences should be interconnected (Dewey, 2019). This way, it would be easier for a child to learn from anywhere at any given point in time. Additionally, Dewey argued that the progressive education model would quickly help in transforming information taught into new forms and images that fit with the student’s development and interests. Unlike the traditional models, Dewey’s concept of progressive education outlined that students must be invested in what they learn (Dewey, 2019).

Progressive education has been called many different things. What are some of the misconceptions about it? Give a brief explanation that summarizes Dewey’s ideas about progressive education.

Progressive education is focused on the child’s powers and interests, and its curriculum reflects society. John Dewey is credited with being a vital education theorist who pioneered the progressive education movement in America (Mooney, 2013). In this approach, Dewey argued that the current education system would reduce the retention rates of students in school as it was built upon mindless tasks (Mooney, 2013). He pointed out that it would be challenging for students to remember information learned from the traditional education systems once they finish their education. As such, he advocated for a progressive model, pointing out that education and student’s life experiences should be interconnected (Dewey, 2019). This way, it would be easier for a child to learn from anywhere at any given point in time. Additionally, Dewey argued that the progressive education model would quickly help in transforming information taught into new forms and images that fit with the student’s development and interests (Mooney, 2013). Unlike the traditional models, Dewey’s concept of progressive education outlined that students must be invested in what they learn (Dewey, 2019).

References

Dewey, J. (2019). Progressive education and the science of education. Recherche formation, (3), 71-82.

Kohn, A. (2015). Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find.Mooney, C.G. (2013). An introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson Piaget & Vygotsky (2nd ed.). Minnesota: Redleaf Press.

Part two Respond

There were many misconceptions about progressive education during the nineteenth century. Progressive education was criticized for allowing children too much freedom without appropriate guidance. There were also misconceptions that teachers were drawn to progressive education because it was easier. Dewey was also concerned that many teachers of his time were claiming to be part of the progressive education because they were ready to depart from more traditional approaches, but Dewey wanted to make sure the educators clearly understood progressive education before they moved in a new direction. Unlike earlier models of teaching, which relied heavily on authoritarianism and rote learning, Dewey’s progressive education asserted that children should be invested in what they were learning. Many people believed that if the classroom adopted this policy, classroom order and the teacher’s authority would disappear.

According to Dewey, the path to quality education is to know the children well, to build their experiences on past learning, to be organized, and to plan well. He also believed that the demands of this new method make observing, documenting and keeping records of classroom events much more important than when traditional methods were used. Dewey also believed that education and experiences are not equal, and that some experiences are not educational at all. He called these mis-educative experiences. He criticized situations where teachers set up learning environments and then turn children “loose” to explore without offering and guidance. Dewey thought that rather than saying “The children will have fun,” teachers need to ask questions like: how will this expand on what these children already know? How will this activity help this child grow? What skills are being developed? How will this activity help these children know more about their world? How will this activity prepare these children to live more fully? He believed that an activity is not a learning activity if it lacks purpose and organization. “It’s fun” was also not enough for Dewey to make an experience educational. He wanted to make sure it supported children’s development and learning.

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