ERIC Number: EJ1158258
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2159-1474
EISSN: N/A
John Dewey in the 21st Century
Williams, Morgan K.
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education, v9 n1 p91-102 2017
John Dewey was a pragmatist, progressivist, educator, philosopher, and social reformer (Gutek, 2014). Dewey's various roles greatly impacted education, and he was perhaps one of the most influential educational philosophers known to date (Theobald, 2009). Dewey's influence on education was evident in his theory about social learning; he believed that school should be representative of a social environment and that students learn best when in natural social settings (Flinders & Thornton, 2013). His ideas impacted education in another facet because he believed that students were all unique learners. He was a proponent of student interests driving teacher instruction (Dewey, 1938). With the current educational focus in the United States being on the implementation of the Common Core standards and passing standardized tests and state exams, finding evidence of John Dewey's theories in classrooms today can be problematic (Theobald, 2009). Education in most classrooms today is what Dewey would have described as a traditional classroom setting. He believed that traditional classroom settings were not developmentally appropriate for young learners (Dewey, 1938). Although schools, classrooms, and programs that support Dewey's theories are harder to find in this era of testing, there are some that still do exist. This paper will explore Responsive Classroom, Montessori Schools, Place-Based Education, and Philosophy for Children (P4C), all of which incorporate the theories of John Dewey into their curricular concepts.
Descriptors: Educational Philosophy, Change Agents, Educational Theories, Fundamental Concepts, Progressive Education, Classroom Techniques, Montessori Method, Place Based Education, Developmental Psychology
Buffalo State College School of Education. 1300 Elmwood Avenue Bacon Hall 306, Buffalo, NY 14214. Tel: 716-878-4214; Fax: 716-878-5301; e-mail: schoolofeducation@buffalostate.edu; Web site: http://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/jiae
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A