John Dewey

John Dewey (1859-1952), American philosopher, psychologist, and educator. Born in Burlington, Vermont, Dewey received a B.A. degree from the University of Vermont in 1879 and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1884. Dewey's long and influential career in education began at the University of Michigan, where he taught from 1884 to 1888, and saw him teaching at the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, and at Columbia University from 1904 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1931. Dewey lectured, acted as an educational consultant, and studied educational systems in China, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the then Soviet Union.

During his tenure at Chicago, Dewey became actively interested in the reform of educational theory and practice. He tested his educational principles at the famous experimental Laboratory School, the so-called Dewey School, established by the University of Chicago in 1896. These principles emphasized learning through varied activities rather than formal curricula and opposed authoritarian methods, which, Dewey believed, offered contemporary people no realistic preparation for life in a democratic society. Dewey felt, moreover, that education should not merely be a preparation for future life but should constitute a full life in itself. His work and his writings were largely responsible for the drastic change in pedagogy that began in the United States early in the 20th century as the emphasis shifted from the institution to the student.

Dewey's theories have often been misinterpreted by the advocates of so-called progressive education; although Dewey opposed authoritarian methods, he did not advocate lack of guidance and control. He criticized education that emphasized amusing the students and keeping them busy, as well as education that was orientated towards pure vocational training.

As a philosopher, Dewey emphasized the practical, striving to show how philosophical ideas can work in everyday life. His sense of logic and philosophy was ever-changing, adapting to need and circumstance. The process of thinking, in his philosophy, is a means of planning action, of removing the obstacles between what is given and what is wanted. Truth is an idea that has worked in practical experience. Dewey followed the American philosopher and psychologist William James as a leader of the pragmatic movement in philosophy; Dewey's own philosophy, called either instrumentalism or experimentalism, stems from the pragmatism of James.

Dewey's influence can be seen in many fields besides education and philosophy. A political activist, he advocated progressive and sometimes radical approaches to international affairs and economic problems. His voluminous writings include Psychology (1887), The School and Society (1899), Democracy and Education (1916), Reconstruction in Philosophy (1920), Human Nature and Conduct (1922), The Quest for Certainty (1929), Art as Experience (1934), Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938), and Problems of Men (1946).