John Dewey The Pragmatist

John Dewey at the University of Chicago in 1902. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Dewey was born on October 20th 1859 and died on June first 1952. Dewey is a reformer with a background in philosophy and psychology who taught that people learn best through social interaction in the real world.  He did not believe that the mind could be disciplined through reading Great Books, rather that the mind should be trained to analyze experience thoughtfully and draw conclussions objectively. He saw education as an opportunity to learn how to apply previous experiences in new ways. He believed that students, facing an ever changing world, should master the scientific method: 1. become aware of a problem; 2. define it; 3. propose various hypothesis to solve it; 4. examine the consequences of each hypothesis in the light of previous experiences; and 5. test the most likely solution. I am a big fan of his theories because I believe in building the curriculum around the experiences, interests and abilities of students and encouraging students to work together cooperatively. My philosophy of physical education realtes to him and I will teach my class around his theory. I will get the community involved and take my students on field trips and get them to do research outside of class. Students will work in small groups to obtain information and teach other information while I walk around and assist them for success.