The document reflects on life experiences and perspectives through phases of growth and change, likening insights gained to seeds planted that allow thoughts to take root and blossom over time amid strife and trials, suggesting that education and freedom are means of pursuing peace within societal challenges.

1. My person returns to unwind all its threads,
Woven by language into the habits of heads;
An old wearied head must bow down one final eve,
But my lively thought shines in cloth I helped to weave.
Your gift by my leave is but some seeds yet to grow,
Whose value was found in times of need long ago;
Sow all of these seeds in our vast garden with care,
Protect and defend the greater harvest to share.
To view such swift change, see truths melt under new suns,
To watch how scared souls kept on refining their guns;
My nation was home despite such strife with no cease,
My freedom was here while humbly searching for peace.
By trial did I live, by more trial find my thought’s worth,
My death you will get if you conceive no new birth;
No life without doubt, for the best fail now and then,
No rest for my faith, that each new day tests again.
--John Shook

2. Objective: GSSWBAT examine the
philosophy of John Dewey as it relates
to the field of education.
Guiding Question: Should education be
seen as a process of self-discovery or as
a means to learn communication in order
to participate in society?
Who is John Dewey? Check out this link.

3.  “…my lively thought shines in
cloth I helped to weave”
 “…seeds yet to grow”
 “To watch how scared souls kept
on refining their guns”
 “By trial did I live, by more trial
find my thought’s worth”
• Education as Self-
Discovery?
• Potential for growth
of minds
• Necessity for survival;
education as a means
of continuing
existence
• Developing intrinsic
and persisting
direction
Points of Discussion

4.  Education should not:
 … be teacher centered
 … expect students to repeat
information
 … rely solely on text or
teacher
 Education should:
 … be based on students’
interests
 … involve active learning
 … integrate multiple
subjects
 ... be loosely planned as to
reflect the interests of the
students.
According to Philosopher John Dewey, mere
schooling is not necessarily education…

5.  prag·ma·tism (prgm-tzm) n.
 1. A practical, matter-of-fact way
of approaching or assessing
situations or of solving problems
 2. action or policy dictated by
consideration of the immediate
practical consequences rather
than by theory or dogma
 This slide and the following 3, highlight
key ideas from Dewey’s “Democracy
and Education”
Democracy - “a belief in
the ability of human
experience to generate the
aims and methods by
which further experience
shall grow in ordered
richness.” – John Dewey
Education: “Education is a social
process. Education is growth.
Education is, not a
preparation for life; education is
life itself.”

6.  In order for a species to continue in
being, individuals must undergo
constant renewal
 Renewal only takes place by means
of educational growth of its
“immature members”
 Education is to Social Life, what
reproduction and nutrition is to
physiological life
 Education, thus, is learning how to
communicate to society
 Dewey argues that splitting
communication between “in-
school” and “out-of-school” is
DANGEROUS!
 Food forThought:
 Dewey’s use of the word “savage” on
page 2-3 and elsewhere in the reading
may raise some controversy.The
philosopher argues that education
should be the means through which
“immature members” acquire socially-
appropriate communication.Yet how is
social communication deemed
appropriate, and who determines its
“appropriateness”?

7.  Individuals can not function without
“proper realization” of others
 Social environments form mental and
emotional dispositions of behavior in
individuals by engaging them in
appropriate social functions
 The only way to control the kind of
education the immature receive is by
controlling the environment
 We never educate directly, but indirectly
by means of environment
 Education, and thus continuous and
progressive life cannot take place
directly
 Therefore students must engage in
activities in an appropriate environment
VS
Teacher-
centered?
Or
Student-
centered?
Food forThought: How does
Dewey’s theory on controlling the
environment compare to Plato’s theory on
gaining education by “seeing the light”?

8.  The “immature” have to be corrected and guided
 We must do so indirectly, emotionally or intellectually
 NOT directly or personally
 It should be a goal of education to develop intrinsic and
persisting direction in the right way by forming mental
dispositions
 The business of education, thus, is to achieve internal control
 Students must “take part” in their environments to “acquire
social sense of their own powers”

9. Dewey
Appreciative of the diversity
of individuals
Plato
Faithful to the process of inquiry and
questioning
Read the article attached to the link below and complete the
Venn- Diagram which follows.
VERY INTERESTINGARTICLE COMPARING DEWEY AND PLATO