Dewey

Theorist: John Dewey (also see Dewey)

Fundamental Theory: Learning is done through experience. We cannot know anything until we have experienced it and deal with the repercussions. In many ways, John Dewey was one of the first [|action researchers] suggesting a process of inquiry for both teachers and students. He saw learning as a social collaborative process, and not solely the work of and individual.


 * //Is learning a solitary activity undertaken by an individual, or is learning a social activity, something done by a group within a context?// **

Learning is done within a group context. We have seen that a community or social group sustains itself through continuous self-renewal, and that this renewal takes place by means of the educational growth of the immature members of the group… Education is thus a fostering, a nurturing, a cultivating, process. All of these words mean that it implies attention to the condition of growth.


 * //Is learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information or is it focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge? //**

Learning is primarily focused on the development of understanding concepts and new knowledge. When we experience (learn) something, we act upon it, then we suffer or undergo the consequences. We do something to the object or person and it does something to us in return. The connection of these two phases of experience measures the fruitfulness or value of experience and can be applied to concepts we may face later on.


 * //Is our goal as educators to prepare an individual who can recall sets of information or develop groups of individuals who can apply the information to as yet unsolved problems?// **

In determining the place of thinking /learning in experience, we first note that experience involves a connection of doing or trying something. Thinking about that experience allows us to create connections between what is done and its consequences. This helps us form relationships that may be applicable to the unsolved problem which is the goal of educators.

** //Does development precede learning, or does learning precede development?// **

Development and learning interact--however, Dewey was more philosopher more than a psychologist and therefore more focused on learning as a disposition of mind. He focused on the process of learning as an interchange with society. Education a process of passing culture to the next generation but not by giving them facts but by creating situations that help them understand our cultural world. The educated mind is one that is engaged in inquiry through continual experiments. Learning creates development of culture-- it is what we pass on to children that define who we are.

If you were forced to pick one of the two sides, I think that Dewey leans toward learning precedes development, but I also think he would value the starting place of the child. In Dewey's approach, every child has a unique potential, regardless of any given physical or psychological inequality. The learning and development of the individual to achieve their unique potential is the aim of education. Thus each person makes their unique contribution to society.This is accomplished by helping them develop an educated mind-- the dispositions that involve inquiry. This inquiry process will lead both learning and development. 

Taken from: Democracy and Education (1916)