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John DeweyDemocracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1916A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary and Analysis: “Experience and Thinking”
In this chapter, Dewey examines experience as a two-sided phenomenon comprised of both active and passive phases –“doing or trying with something which is undergone in consequence” (116). He asserts that separating the active from the passive phase actually “destroys the vital meaning of an experience” (116). As with other topics, Dewey prefers the holistic approach to compartmentalizing or dualism. It is thinking that links the active and passive phases i.e., “what is done and its consequences” (116). In turn, thinking comprises multiple steps ranging from evaluating and observing the problem to suggesting a conclusion. “Experience and Thinking” comprises two sections.
1. The Nature of Experience
Dewey begins by highlighting two key phases of what an experience is. The active phase is “trying,” whereas the passive counterpart is “undergoing” (107). A person acts upon something as part of experiencing it, which is active. That something, in turn, leads to certain consequences, which are passive. Acting alone is not enough to constitute experience—the “undergoing of consequences” is necessary to make the event attain significance (107). For example, sticking a finger into the flame without learning the consequences of this action is not an experience but a physical change.
Dewey asserts that experience is “primarily an active-passive affair,” which is “not primarily cognitive” (108). Experience can be measured in terms of value which lies “in the perception of relationships or continuities to which it leads up” (108). He goes as far as to credit the mind-body dualism with “evil results” (108). For example, the physical actions performed by the body are perceived as an “intruder” (108). Even the fatigue that affects students and teachers is “a necessary consequence of the abnormality of the situation in which bodily activity is divorced from the perception of meaning” (108). Even examining maps involves using the eyes. From the vantage point of the mind, mind-body dualism “throws emphasis on things at the expense of relations or connections” (110). Looking for connections is a consistent theme for Dewey.
2. Reflection in Experience
For experience to have meaning requires thought; Dewey writes, “Thinking is thus equivalent to an explicit rendering of the intelligent element in our experience” (112). Thinking is linked to having aims and ends in mind. Reflective thinking is also linked to taking responsibility. Furthermore, reflection “also implies concern with the issue—a certain sympathetic identification of our own destiny” (113).
Dewey establishes two types of experience. The first type involves trial and error and moving on to new things in some cases. One may miss the “details of the connection” between actions and consequences (111). The second type allows one to identify the cause and effect which enhances one’s insight.
Thinking is also risk-taking because there are no guarantees about the outcomes. Its conclusions are hypothetical until an event confirms or denies it. Dewey links doubt to scientific advancement because people recognized that they could use it “for purposes of inquiry by forming conjectures to guide action in tentative explorations” to confirm, or deny, or change these assumptions (114). Some of the key features of reflective experience involve “perplexity, confusion, doubt,” “conjectural anticipation,” “careful survey,” and “consequent elaboration of the tentative hypothesis” (115). What Dewey describes here are the important aspects of the scientific method that arose with the Enlightenment. The method involves establishing a hypothesis, conducting experiments, observing, and confirming or modifying the original concept. It is still an integral part of science today.
Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis: “Thinking in Education”
In “Thinking in Education,” Dewey examines the process of teaching. He points out that teaching must “center in the production of good habits of thinking” (126). Dewey argues in favor of the type of teaching that fosters a broad, systematic type of thinking applicable in multiple areas. He links the “method of thought” with “the method of an educative experience” (126). In that process, problems must stimulate the thinking process of a student. The student should be able to arrive at applicable solutions and organize them. He should have access to all the information needed for this process and be able to test out his ideas. This chapter comprises one section.
1. The Essentials of Method
Dewey starts off by emphasizing the overarching goal of education: developing a student’s ability to think. He also identifies more specialized skills such as reading, spelling, and gathering information. Information does not exist on its own: “severed from thoughtful action,” it is dead (117). At the same time, being in possession of information, but not thoughtful action may lead to dangerous delusions because it only “simulates knowledge” (117).
The first stage of developing thinking skills lies in experience. Dewey feels obligated to identify this seemingly obvious item because thinking is often severed from experience. This issue leads to a teacher simply assuming that the student has or will obtain the necessary experience. For this reason, the initial approach to any academic subject “should be as unscholastic as possible” (118). This approach will foster empiricism and examples from daily life. Having children participate in active pursuits leads to them asking a multitude of questions and offering a variety of solutions. The students would be learning the basics of the scientific method based on observation, hypothesis, testing, confirmations, or changes to the hypothesis.
Next, the instructor must possess the necessary data when difficulties arise. Having the data will help the students to “think effectively” by combining experience, actions, and informational resources (120). After all, “[a] well-trained mind has a maximum of resources behind it” (121). Thinking, therefore, must correlate with facts, meanings, and acquired knowledge. Thoughts may be creative and involve “some inventiveness” (122).
Schools should be focused on the process of learning and discovery. In this process, ideas “are anticipations of possible solutions” and require testing (123). It is testing that “confers full meaning and a sense of their reality” (124). At the same time, Dewey acknowledges “a peculiar artificiality” linked to school education (124). For example, everyday experience is sometimes considered unimportant. Interactive study conditions, for instance, games, labs, and dramatizations, are somewhat better suited for replicating real life.
Chapter 13 Summary and Analysis: “The Nature of Method”
In this chapter, Dewey examines educational methodology. To him, a method is “a statement of the way the subject matter of an experience develops most effectively and fruitfully” (138). Once again, experience and observation play an important role here. Similarly, Dewey warns against interpreting methods as isolated phenomena because this approach is based on perceiving the mind in isolation. Methods should comprise both individualized and generalized aspects “because of the fund of wisdom derived from prior experiences and because of general similarities in the material dealt with” (138). “The Nature of Method” comprises three subsections.
1. The Unity of Subject Matter and Method
“The Trinity of school topics is subject matter, methods, and administration or government,” Dewey begins (126). He links the dualism of mind and the physical world to the dualism of subject matter and method (126). Subject matter is “systematized classification of the facts and principles,” whereas method is concerned with the best way to present this information (126). As mentioned previously, Dewey is critical of this perception calling it “radically false” (127).
Earlier, Dewey already identified the way the mind interacts with the senses when observing objects and thereby is in constant relationship with the physical world. Therefore, the criticism of mind-body dualism and other types of compartmentalization is a running theme for Dewey. There is, however, a differentiation between one’s own attitude and the object to which it applies. Yet both aspects are part of the same experience.
Dewey argues that isolating the method and the subject matter leads to “some evils in education,” for example, ignoring specific experiences (129). Another problem is one of “false conceptions of discipline and interest” (129). This false dichotomy also makes learning “a direct and conscious end in itself” instead of being “a product and reward of occupation with subject matter” (130). Finally, severing the ties between material and mind, method turns into “a cut and dried routine” with mechanical steps (130).
2. Method as General and as Individual
After this, Dewey examines the individualized pedagogical methods and their generalized counterparts. A general method comprises “knowledge of the past, of current technique, of materials, of the ways in which one’s own best results are assured” (131). One important aspect of learning is “becoming master of the methods which the experience of others has shown to be more efficient” (131). Such methods enhance individual approaches. The differences between general methods and “prescribed rules” lies in the fact that the former is indirect whereas the latter is “a direct guide to action” (131).
On the individual front, “every individual shall have opportunities to employ his own powers in activities that have meaning” (133). Thus, teachers must be cognizant of each student’s unique circumstances. This approach will lead to originality because it forcing “an alleged uniform general method” (133).
3. The Traits of Individual Method
An individual method comprises “directness, open-mindedness, single-mindedness (or whole-heartedness), and responsibility” (133). Open-mindedness presupposes having an interest and “sharing, partaking, taking sides in some movement” (134). Open-mindedness is, therefore, interactive and “actively welcomes suggestions” from different perspectives (134). Single-mindedness refers to a “completeness of interest, unity of purpose” (135). Dewey also compares single-mindedness to having mental integrity and displaying a “full concern with subject matter for its own sake” (136). Finally, responsibility “as an element in intellectual attitude” refers to “the disposition to consider in advance the probable consequences of any projected step and deliberately accept them” (137). An alternative term for “responsibility” is “intellectual thoroughness” which is focused on “seeing a thing through” (138).
Chapter 14 Summary and Analysis: “The Nature of Subject Matter”
Chapter 14 focuses on the link between education, its subject matter, and its meaning derived from society. As social life becomes more complex, so do the factors relevant to education. Dewey argues that it is important to systematize and transmit them in an appropriate way. At the same time, he warns against identifying “subject matter as something of value by itself” rather than something that is linked to experience (148). This chapter comprises four sections.
1. Subject Matter of Education and of Learner
Dewey reiterates his earlier statements that subject matter must comprise “facts observed, recalled, read, and talked about” (138). As society becomes more complex, it may become necessary to learn more skills that relate to this complexity. It is also important to examine education both from the standpoint of the educator and of the student. For example, the school curriculum must translate “into concrete and detailed terms of the meanings of current social life which it is desirable to transmit” (140). It is up to the teacher to establish an adequate environment to facilitate an appropriate form of learning by modifying the stimuli. There also is a difference between the perception of the subject matter by the instructor and by the learner, and this difference must be accounted for. Age-appropriate organization of the material is also important.
2. The Development of Subject Matter in the Learner
Dewey suggests organizing the subject matter into stages for the student. For example, the first stage could be “the intelligent ability-power to do” which is expressed by being familiar with things (142). After all, the “knowledge that comes first to persons, and remains most deeply engrained, is knowledge of how to do,” such as riding a bike (142). Once again, Dewey underscores the necessity of linking education to experiences in the real world. In contrast, second-hand knowledge “tends to become merely verbal” in as far as it “cannot be organized into the existing experience of the learner” (144).
Information is also a type of subject matter. Information provides additional background to experiences and interactions in the real world, for instance, the experience of one’s eyes or hands. Information can range in value. Dewey links value with meaning and the student’s ability to apply information on one’s own.
3. Science or Rationalized Knowledge
After this, Dewey defines science as “a name for knowledge in its most characteristic form” (145). He differentiates between knowledge and opinions and speculation. At the same time, uncertainty and appropriately posed questions are part of the scientific process: Descartes once said that “science is born of doubting” (145). Science is rational; when one’s assumptions fail, it is the result of the “inadequacy and incorrectness of our data” rather than “hard luck” (146). Science comprises methods and procedures designed to test the results. Dewey considers this realm crucial; he writes, “Without initiation into the scientific spirit one is not in possession of the best tools which humanity has so far devised for effectively directed reflection” (146).
4. Subject Matter as Social
Finally, Dewey asserts that information and scientific knowledge exist “under the conditions of social life and have been transmitted by social means” (147). However, this aspect does not guarantee their equal value. Curricula, therefore, must be adapted “to the needs of the existing community life” (147). Dewey believes that education must have a strong mutual relationship with society. However, it should also improve society:
Democracy cannot flourish where the chief influences in selecting subject matter of instruction are utilitarian ends narrowly conceived for the masses, and, for the higher education of the few, the traditions of a specialized cultivated class (148).
In other words, school curricula must be cognizant of the “social responsibilities of education” (148).
Chapter 15 Summary and Analysis: “Play and Work in the Curriculum”
In “Play and Work in the Curriculum,” Dewey examines the way an optimal curriculum should be designed. It should include “the consistent use of simple occupations which appeal to the powers of youth and which typify general modes of social activity” (158). When the necessary activities “are carried on for their own sake,” students can gain skills, information, and tools. Chapter 15 comprises three sections.
Dewey uses the term “play” not to denote pointless amusement, but its psychological meaning. The APA Dictionary of Psychology defines “play” as “a cultural universal and typically regarded as an important mechanism in children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development” (“Play,” APA Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association, accessed 6 November 2022) Play facilitates various types of development in young learners while appearing to be pursued for enjoyment. Work, in Dewey’s view, is “psychologically simply an activity which consciously includes regard for consequences as a part of itself” (158).
1. The Place of Active Occupation in Education
First, Dewey asserts that focusing on experiences and on each learner’s unique abilities is desirable. Physical activity in children facilitates enjoyment and enhances their natural impulses. However, in some cases, games and play are used solely to break up the monotony of “regular” schoolwork rather than using them for educational purposes. Focusing on play in an appropriate way reduces “the artificial gap between life and school” (149). Here again, Dewey argues for integrating the education process into one’s social environment. He suggests that “an educational result is a by-product of play and work in most out-of-school conditions” (150). In such cases, it is incidental. For this reason, it is important to employ play in an appropriate manner.
2. Available Occupations
Dewey provides examples of practical applications of active occupation. They range from paper-cutting and woodshop-style classes to storytelling and outdoor field trips. Dewey argues that these activities lend themselves to developing a particular technical skill set and fostering enjoyment. Their educational importance also lies “in the fact that they may typify social situations,” such as the history and importance of farming as part of gardening activities (153).
However, they must be subordinated to education, i.e., "intellectual results and the forming of a socialized disposition” (151). At the same time, even those programs that involve activity-based teaching, such as the Montessori method, display “the fear of raw material” (152). Dewey, in contrast, suggests starting with crude materials because this approach would allow one to gain intelligence.
3. Work and Play
Dewey specifies that “active occupation involves both work and play activities” (155). The play approach to learning allows a child’s imagination to flourish, for instance, by constructing a toy boat out of surprising materials. Dewey laments that as children grow, play turns into a purposeless activity because it does not produce tangible results. This perception is linked to the success orientation of society. One of Dewey’s solutions to this problem is making art. He argues that education must include enjoyment and leisure because this approach leaves “a lasting effect on the habits of mind” (157).
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