Experience and education: the 60th anniversary edition

John Dewey & Progressive Education

In Experience and Education, John Dewey points out fundamental differences between traditional education and progressive or new education. Traditional education depended on the teacher as an external force to impose knowledge on the students who may or may not have been ready to receive it. It relied on rote memory and learning a body of knowledge constructed in the past. Students were expected to learn knowledge, for which they were not ready, because they had nothing in their experience yet that would allow them to relate to the material.

The traditional approach assumed knowledge was static and did not recognize change in the future as a factor. Problem solving and application of knowledge was neglected in favor of memorization. Traditional education allowed little or no freedom of expression to the student and was unconcerned with the development of individuality.

In contrast progressive education calls for the student to be actively involved in the learning process. This requires more freedom because the student is drawing upon his/her internal store of knowledge and adding to it. It recognizes that every student is at a different stage of development. The student's experience is emphasized rather than rote memory, and a practical application of knowledge to an ever-changing future. Skills are taught, as they are relevant to the learning activity that is going on.

Having said that, Dewey points out that it is not enough to simply reject the old way. The new way has to be developed. Methods, planning, and organization are still required on the part of the teacher. Structure and direction are still essential. Progressive education is not simply allowing students to do whatever they want. Freedom of expression does not mean putting up with all kinds of uncontrolled behavior. There still has to be focus and direction. Dewey didn't say it in speech, but a learning climate has to be established in which students want to learn, have or can get the skills to learn, and are enabled to learn with the guidance and direction of a good teacher.

Dewey's theory of education was the essential forerunner to "experiential learning" currently proposed by humanistic psychologists as ideal. Students are not "empty vessels" waiting to be filled by a teacher who knows whatever is worth knowing. They bring to school knowledge of language and culture as well as a set of individualized experiences. The need for students to be involved and to participate actively in their own learning is greater today than it was in Dewey's time. In Dewey's time there was no television. Students today watch electronic images on a glass screen for several hours a day, during which they are entirely passive, not expected to think, form arguments, or respond articulately to what they are watching. They often come to school expecting that the teacher will entertain them. The teacher's task, therefore, is to wake them up, get them to think, help them learn to express their thoughts and feelings articulately, and provide activities and discussions that will lead to learning. Students may sit quietly and seem to be listening to a teacher who lectures, but often remember very little afterwards. The best and most permanent learning is from experience. It is therefore up to the teacher to provide experiences that students can actively participate in and learn from. Experiential learning meets the student at his own level of academic readiness and allows him/her to add to his/her body of knowledge and experience.