Teaching John Dewey John Dewey

Teaching John Dewey

John Dewey

How would John Dewey be classified and why? If John Dewey would be in a classroom setting, how would he relate to students? Would the style be authoritarian, laissez-faire or democratic?

Dewey's educational philosophy was an intensely egalitarian and pragmatic philosophy of education known as instrumentalism. Thus John Dewey would employ an intensely democratic style. Dewey was considered to be a quintessentially 'American' educator in his philosophy. Dewey was intent on empowering all students to the best of their ability. He wished to teach students how to employ human critical reasoning faculties to grapple with modern problems in a pragmatic fashion. However, Dewey was not laissez-faire in the sense that he thought individuals had to be taught to learn -- this capacity was note innate. Dewey believed that most people, by virtue of inherited human nature, lived "by custom and habit," and as they had done in the past. But he believed the changing nature of the world meant that the current physical and social situations present problems called for new responses from educators and students. "According to Dewey, we cannot solve such problems by habitual action and thought. We must use intelligence as an instrument for overcoming any obstacles." (Smith, 2005) Hence, the label 'instrumentalism' for Dewey's philosophy.

Reference

Smith, John E. "Dewey, John." World Book Online Reference Center. 2005. World Book, Inc. 19 Oct. 2005. http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wb/Article?id=ar157140.

Does one have to have mastery to teach? How would John Dewey classify mastery of education, objectives, mastery of items, skills?