Dewey & Education

Section 1: Thesis Throughout the reading of Democracy and Education, the main point seems to be that if education is a social system, and that there are a multitude of societies with different goals and governing rules, then to have one education system is to operate under the assumption of one ideal society. Dewey goes about demonstrating this idea by highlighting three different educational theories and then examining them from that position. He discusses the educational philosophies of Plato, the eighteenth century, and the nineteenth century under the context of what each society held to be its driving values. Dewey concludes his argument by stating that education in a democracy is the “freeing of individual capacity in a progressive growth directed to social aims” (Dewey, 1916, p. 20). In other words, in order for a democracy to create an educational system without contradicting its founding principles, education must not only provide knowledge for an individual, but that it must also help each individual to grow in a sense that betters the group as a whole.
Section 2: Questions 1. What does Dewey consider the fundamental flaw in our definition of a society? In the beginning of his essay, Dewey points out that that a society could mean numerous things and have extremely varied goals. As he points out “In many modern states and in some ancient, there is great diversity of populations, of varying languages, religions, moral codes, and traditions” (Dewey, 1916, p. 2). Keeping that in mind, with so many different breakdowns of the population into smaller sectors, each one must have a set of rules or ideals that keep them unified. Because of that, when we look at society as a whole, on a larger scale such as when addressing the needs of education; it is impossible for there to be one set of principles that will apply to everyone. 2. Detail how one of Labaree’s competing goals of education might line up with a theory outlined by John Dewey.
Though not quite exact in definition of how they function, Labaree ‘s theories and the techniques outlines by Dewey seem to line up as such: Plato with social efficiency, the eighteenth century with social mobility, and the nineteenth century with democratic equality. Plato holds the idea that “education…should equate individual realization and social coherency and stability” (Dewey, 1916, p. 18). This aligns with the philosophy of social efficiency that education should “ensure that society has individuals who are able to function as workers” thus keeping the society functional (Ajunwa, 9/6/2012). In addressing the variation of natural talent in individuals, Dewey describes Plato’s approach to education with the statement that “it is the business of education to discover these aptitudes and progressively to train them for social use” (Dewey, 1916, p. 9). This directly aligns with the systems of social efficiency that create an environment where individuals gain content-specific knowledge.
3. What critiques are there of the eighteenth century’s approach to education? A major flaw in the educational approach of the eighteenth century is that it left so much of the process of gaining knowledge to “nature”. Dewey notes the lectures of Kant that tell us “education [is] the process by which man becomes man” and that in this method to education, it is each man’s responsibility to seek out continued education. The problem here seems to be that the system described has very little structure and almost a survival of the fittest approach to learning. As Dewey articulates “Parents educate their children so that they may get on; princes educate their subjects as instruments of their own purposes” (Dewey, 1916, p. 17).
4. According to Dewey, how can you measure the worth of a “society”? In acknowledging that there are many types of societies with many possible goals and aspirations, Dewey points out two ways to measure the worth of any given group. The first would be to assess the degree to which each member shares common interests. Secondly, one should consider the level of interaction said group has with other groups. Dewey points out that “there is honor among thieves, and a band of robbers has a common interest as respects its members” to illustrate that while there may be a shared interest among a group of criminals, they are not highly regarded with people outside of that clique and therefore not likely the ideal “society” to which you should develop educational ideals (Dewey, 1916, p. 2).