He did have a number of insights which rose above his contemporaries, such as the belief that the psychological sciences could aid learning by helping to understand individual structure and growth.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Reflecting on John Dewey re:Educational Technology
Well, I have to say, the guy's quite the talker. And believer, wow, does he believe. 37 volumes in his 93 years, and that's nothing to sneeze at! I'm thinkin' about his thinkin' and why I think that ( is that metacognitive enough for 'ya?), and I believe, indeed, that he never really saw women and lower socioeconomic classes as participants in his process of education as enculturation. Which fit in with most men of letters (or not) of his time; after all he was born in 1859, and the piece we read was from 1897. I simply have a problem with the process of schooling to continue what was taught to you in your early social life, rather than as a ladder with which the student can climb above the class into which he or she was born. I believe the reason I feel that way is due to my strong belief in free and equitable public education. Dewey, a proponent of experimentalism, saw the profession of teaching as akin to the priesthood, literally extorting the teacher to be a "usherer in of the true Kingdom of God". Hello? Ain't gonna fly in this chicken coop, mary. I am wondering if he was a high ranking Mason. Some of his phrases, "signs of growing power", and "I believe that the prophesy the stage upon which he is about to enter" (huh?), are too outlandish to be mainstream, even in his time. How is that "experimentalism"?
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Kathy, what you mention seems to indicate that Dewey wants schools to take on the role of church, and teacher to take on the role of Priest.
ReplyDeleteIf that is what you are implying, then it appears that you are approaching this from an a different angle. The fundamental principle of separation of church and state now comes into the picture…very brilliant.
This is an intriguing perspective. I know that there were other thought leaders of this period -- Joseph Smith's founding of Mormonism earlier in the 1800s, for example -- that built on Masonic traditions and rituals. Hmmmm ....
ReplyDeleteHee hee...I love your comments regarding how dated Dewey is! No, he never really mentions cultural/gender equality. I wonder what his Creed would've looked like had it been written in 1997? The guy seems pretty progressive, I bet he'd be on board with it all!
ReplyDeleteI think, like all philosophers and researchers, it's so important to take what they say with a grain of salt. Dewey isn't the end all be all of educational thought, and I like that you recognized his 'social/observational bubble' I think the good thing is that you're thinking critically, and perhaps in the end, we'll each only adopt pieces of his teachings (that we believe to be relevant) into our own philosophies
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