As for Mr. Dewey, I find him a fascinating, luminous character in the history of education. The article written about him almost seems to deify him as visionary, frighteningly prolific writer, and opinion-maker. I tend to get skeptical with so much hype built around him, but then again, I fall very much into his way of thinking - a Pragmatist as we discussed in Shari's class today. His rejection of the paradigm of teacher as god and students as passive supplicants impressed me. And his linking learning to experience was actually brilliant. Seems kind of obvious now, but a century ago, this was prescient thinking.
After reading about him, I was happy to read his own words. I came up with a slew of questions that I hope we get to discuss in class. To wit:
* When Dewey says that "the school life should grow gradually out of the home life," what exactly did he mean? Is he saying that homeschooling would be the ideal, as long as the children interacted with society?
* Related: Are the values from home life more important that those of society? Is Dewey arguing that the school should be responsible for educating the "whole child?"
* I'm unclear as to what Dewey meant by "symbols." Did he simply mean the alphabet, words, numbers, etc.?
* What was his dig at Sentimentalism? Was he referring to the Romantics of the 19th century, Flaubert's Sentimental Education? Qu'est-ce qu'il voulait dire?
Finally, my disappointment at Dewey's concluding statement for the creed: "the teacher is the prophet of the true God..." I buy into the concept of teacher as social agent, guiding their students and helping to create societal reform, but once he brings God into the picture, I think he way overstepped his boundaries. Just random thoughts from your neighborhood agnostic who believes in a clear separation of church and state.
It's getting late.
--Joe
Hi, Joe!
ReplyDeleteI guess one thing that is important to keep in mind when reading Dewey is that he did come from a world that was very different from our own, which you pointed out when you talked about Dewey's rejection of the paradigm of the teacher as a god. That would probably explain his reference to God in the closing of his creed (unless, of course, he was genuinely a Christian man, which is definitely a possibility) and would probably even answer your question about his belief that school life should grow out of home life. What exactly was the standard for "home life" when he was alive? I guess we'll never know for sure. Either that, or we could try looking it up on wikipedia, but after reading a certain article for this class, something tells me that may not be the most reliable resource. Hmm...
-Stephanie
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ReplyDeleteHey Joe,
ReplyDelete(Deleted former iteration due to spelling errors, eek!) I found the bit about the teacher being "the prophet of the one true God" to be a glaring non-sequitur. He hadn't talked about God (whoever that is for him) the whole way through his creed, so why paste this onto the end? If he really had been a religious man, one would think he would be looking to transform society through the church, not through the schools. But, perhaps that is the point. If the teacher is the "one true prophet," then that prophet is not to be found employed at the church, is s/he? Still, it's a crazy loose end, isn't it? Now, if the person he had been speaking of were Elisha, Muhammad, or Zarathustra, then I would understand, but a teacher? I think this loose end is a glimpse at his deeper thinking, something he leaked out for a significant second. Jarring things in written pieces by complex thinkers usually indicate such, in my experience. So maybe, for JD, the schools IS the church. So if we go fully Dewey in our schools, how are we gonna separate church and state?
Best,
Monte
Hi, Joe -- The "sentimentalism" statement hit many of us. I admit that I never thought about it in terms of literary/cultural periods -- and it makes perfect sense! My hunch -- and here's where our prior knowledge comes to the interpretation table -- was that he was thinking about the "children are precious and our work is precious" approach. But I like your angle!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that Dewey article, it got me really excited about being a teacher. In fact, I sent it to a friend that could not figure out why I wanted to go into teaching. I also had problems with the God part at the end, but it was such a different time then and it didn't surprise me that he worked God into his argument.
ReplyDelete