Philosophy of Education
There are many different philosophies that surround education. As with many scientific fields, there are people who lean towards one theory or in this case philosophy, over others. The quest for knowledge is something that people have been striving for sense the existence of the human species. Some have claimed that teaching is the second oldest profession in the history of the human species (Phillips & Seigel, 2013). John Dewey was noted stating that education is a necessity, basically because life of the human species goes on and so must its knowledge (Phillips & Seigel, 2013). Fundamentally, what this is saying is that information must be passed on from one generation to another. John Dewey was also one of the biggest proponents of the progressivism philosophy of education, which will be discussed in the following.
Progressivism
Although no one really knows exactly nor does anyone agree 100% on when the progressive era started in education, the general consensus is that the progressive era started between 1890 and 1919 (Net Industries, 2013). However, the man who had the principal impact on the progressivism in education was John Dewey (Net Industries, 2013). According to the philosophy and Dewey, the main purpose of education is to teach individuals how to be effective members of society and to teach people the knowledge as well as the skills that they will need to lead a productive life (Pappas, 2013). As a philosophy, progressivism makes a lot of sense. In order for individuals to learn skills that they may need to effectively solve problems, they must first be taught those skills, and this is done through education.
Progressivism was a philosophy that centered mainly on children but t...
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Kohn, A. (2008). Progressive education: Why it’s hard to beat, but also hard to find. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/progressive.htm
Muhammad, F. (2010). How do adults learn? Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Do-Adults-Learn?&id=5165904
Net Industries. (2013). Progressive education-philosophical foundations, pedagogical progressivism, administrative progressivism, life-adjustment progressivism. Retrieved from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2336/Progressive-Education.html
Pappas, C. (2013). John Dewey’s educational progressivism. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/13230295/John-Deweys-Educational-Progressivism
Philips, D., & Siegel, H. (2013). Philosophy of education. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/education-philosophy/
The term Progressivism implies a philosophy that promotes change/reform in the current political, economic, and social aspects of society while conservatism stresses gradual change in society but promotes tradition rather than change. The Progressive movement from 1901 to 1917 worked to improve aspects of society that grew out of problems which occurred during the Industrial Age. The goals of the "Progressives" were to stop monopolies, corruption, inefficiency and social injustices. Both progressive acts and amendments were being passed to deal with social ills, corruption in politics and corporate America. The period from 1901-1917 was more a victory for liberalism, mainly "modern liberalism", than a triumph of conservatism due to the fact that multiple reform movements were occurring in this era changing political, economic, and social aspects in society to protect the rights of the common man.
...did not exist in his school. However, although the emphasis of education returns to traditional way such as using less flexible curriculum, teaching basic subjects, various tasting and narrow choosing, we still notice the ideas of progressive education remain part of our educational scene such as teaching progressively. Compared to his experience, I find the education had a progress in the past forty years. Nowadays, high school students have more flexible curriculum, lots of social activities and more choices based on their interest. The ideas of progressive education are perfect in theory, but we cannot abandon traditional education. Without scientists such as Einstein, Tesla in 20th century, we would not have good life today. We should not only educate students based on traditional method, but also use some progressive ideals to train students more creative.
(Ranger). “Progressives believed, as their name implies, in the idea of progress” (Brinkley 477). Progressivism developed as a political party when both Democrats and Republicans became frustrated with their own political parties. The Progressive Era was the period in history from 1890 – 1920 centralized around the ideals of reforming social, political, economic and environmental issues within the United States. “The Progressive Movement was led by male and female Progressives from all walks of society including: members of the Republican and Democrat political parties, well educated
Arthur Bestor had the ideal that progressive education was teaching students skills that did not need to be taught in school. He wrote educational wastelands, which talked about how schools need to return to basic academic
Progressivism is a time of change, a time for reform, that has helped shape America to be the nation it is today. Progressivism is defined as “the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society (WordNet Search).” Between this era, and World War One, a lot of time and effort when into what the influences the country went under between the power of Woodrow Wilson and the society along with Europe, Russia, France, and everyone else involved in this war. The progressive era was a thirty year span from 1890s until the 1920s. People saw that there was many horrible things occurring in society and the government and they wanted these things to be fixed. Some examples of these things are living conditions, work conditions, and the wrong that the government was doing. Reformers wanted to solve issues with efficiency, nonpartisanship, morality, democratization, education, and expertise. People do not know exactly where these progressives came from, but it was more or less a group effort that grew and grew with the ideas of bettering the country as a whole, even if some of these choices and solutions were not that great. Yes, the motives for the reform were good but sometimes included horrible actions which excluded people or discriminated others.
Many progressives thought that the greatest way to reform society was through its schools. Public education had grown rapidly since the Civil War. Progressives had new ideas about the purpose of education. Progressive educators believed that children should learn best by contributing in activities where they can work on projects and learn at their own rate. I thought this idea was a better way of learning because memorizing methods were really stressful and many people have diverse ways of learning: visual, hearing, hands on, and etc.
In the 1950’s with the cold war anxiety and cultural conservatism, progressive education was widely rejected and feared and was soon forgotten. But Dewey’s reputation won a greater international following for his educational reforms than for his instrumentalist philosophy. (marxists). Between the two World Wars, where previously backward countries were obliged to catch up quickly with the most modern methods, as in Turkey, Japan, China, the Soviet Union and Latin America, the reshapers of the educational system turned toward Dewey’s innovations for guidance (marxists).
In the first chapter, Dewey draws attention to a conflict in educational theory, between traditional and progressive education. He conceives of traditional education as a system that has that encourages student attitudes of ‘docility, receptivity, and obedience’ (Dewey, p. 3). He considers the task given educators in traditional education to communicate knowledge and skills, and enforce rules of conduct for the next generation. He considers progressive education a system that critiques traditional education for imposing controls and limiting active participation by students in developing subject matter. Progressive education gives learners ‘growth’, freedom of expression and activity. Dewey sees the strengths of progressive education contributing helpfully to an experience of education (p. 20).
First, Dewey analyzed the method of progressive versus traditional education. Humans, by default, formulate “its beliefs in terms of Either-Or” (pg.5) categories which has been reflected in the current educational system. He labels education as transference of knowledge, skills, a...
Dewey discusses the limitations of traditional education upon the development of the young. The subject-matter of traditional education is, “so bound up with the past as to give little help in dealing with the issues of the present and future” (p. 23). What is missing is the connection of the past and present within experience. To remedy the divide between traditional and progressive education, he calls for a theory of experience.
Introduced as a twentieth century pedagogical approach, a progressive education is designed to develop students in a far more different way than the other styles. The term "progressive education" has been used to describe ideas and practices that are intended to create a more effective student for the democratic society were a part of. Although there are numerous differences of style and emphasis among progressive educators, they share the notion that democracy means capable and active participation by all citizens in regarding social, political and economic aspects. In class, we discussed the how a "progressive" education can help create a tolerance for diversity, meaning that each individual can be recognized for his or her own skills, ideas, interests, and cultural identity, and also develop a more critical, socially engaged ability in the process. By understanding this idea, such a person can effectively understand and even contribute in the affairs of their community in a collaborative effort to achieve a common good. Taking a look at Shirley Engle's "Decision Making: The heart ...
A branch of progressivism is logic and it is one that the students will come to know by the progressivist ideal that what is learned in the classroom has relevance to the real world. Progressivists believe that education should mirror life. Education often uses past experiences to gain more knowledge, much like life. Therefore, e...
This book, Dare The School Build a New Social Order by George Counts, is an examination of teachers, the Progressive Education Movement, democracy and his idea on how to reform the American economy. The book is divided into 5 different sections. The first section is all about the Progressive Education Movement. Through this, George Counts points out many downsides and weaknesses of this ideal. He also talks about how he wants teachers to lead society instead of following it. In the second section, he examines 10 widespread fallacies. These fallacies were that man is born free, that children are born free, they live in a separate world of their own, education remains unchanged, education should have no bias, the object of education is to produce professors, school is an all-powerful educational agency, ignorance rather than knowledge is the way of wisdom, and education is made to prepare an individual for social change.
The use of progressivism in the classroom broadens students? points of views and expands their abilities to understand differences in opinions. Furthermore, it inculcates students with a vast array of knowledge about their surrounding environment and everyone in it. Without the use of the progressive method, it is almost impossible to thoroughly educate children on complex topics such as racism, religion, and people that come from different societies, nationalities, or ethnic groups. A lack of knowledge of this sort le...
“Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.” John Dewey describes and supports progressivism, an education philosophy that I professionally identify with. Progressivism is a student centered philosophy that focuses on experiences, opportunities, and values that enhance a student 's learning and life. The role of the teacher is to act primarily as a facilitator of learning, they encourage and guide students to explore and promote individual development. As a future educator I believe it is important to involve students and allow them to take responsibility for their own learning and achieving their goals. The role of the student is to discover, engage, and express themselves.