Books with author John Dewey

A morality "based on the study of human nature instead of upon disregard for it" is the focus of this influential work by one of America's greatest educators and philosophers. John Dewey maintains that the key to social psychology lies in an understanding of the many varieties of habit; individual mental activity, on the other hand, is guided by the subordinate factors of impulse and intelligence."The mind," Dewey asserts, "can be understood in the concrete only as a system of beliefs, desires, and purposes which are formed in the interaction of biological aptitudes with a social environment." His investigation focuses on three main areas: the place of habit in conduct; the place of impulse in conduct; and the place of intelligence in conduct. Each factor receives an incisive treatment, brimming with ideas, insights, and considered reflections.This classic of its genre presents a rich banquet of food for thought, certain to be appreciated by educators, psychologists, philosophers, and anyone interested in the role of the individual in society.

Although it was written at the beginning of the 20th century, “Moral Principles in Education” is still relevant to education today. John Dewey is probably most famous for his work in education at the University of Chicago and his founding of the University of Chicago Lab Schools. Dewey contents that it is still necessary to teach 'morals' (not in the dogmatic sense) in order to cultivate the minds of all students. The teaching of morals (almost always indirect) helps to create a sense of community, integrity, knowledge, power, and personal satisfaction within a student. The student learns to cultivate his or her own beliefs about the world, the community, his peers, etc. As Dewey touches on in the book, the sense of 'moral education' has been declining in America since the Depression; however, the moral aspect of education cannot be separated from the mimetic aspect, so it seems detrimental to students to try and pull the two apart.

One of the most influential forces in the shaping of American education, the famed philosopher and psychologist John Dewey (1859–1952) believed in "viewing the education of the child in the light of the principles of mental activity and processes of growth made know by modern psychology." As the administrator of the University of Chicago's laboratory school — which he established in 1896 and which was one of the first such schools in the United States — Dewey came to the realization that learning was a process starting from uncertainty and growing from the impulse which must begin with experience, and the curriculum must be made to relate to the students' interests.The two books in this volume — both short, but extremely influential — grew out of Dewey's hands-on experience with the laboratory school and represent the earliest authoritative statement of his revolutionary emphasis on education as an experimental, child-centered process, In The School and Society, he declares that we must "make each one of our schools an embryonic community life, active with types of occupations that reflect the life of the larger society and permeated with the spirit of art, history, and science." In The Child and the Curriculum, he stresses the importance of the curriculum as a means of determining the environment of the child, and allowing the teacher to guide children in asserting themselves, exercising their capacities, and fulfilling the destinies of their own nature.Gathered in this single convenient volume, these thought-provoking contributions by one of America's greatest thinkers in the field of pedagogy will be immense interest to educators, psychologists, parents, and anyone interested in the psychology and philosophy of childhood education.

Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education' is a 1916 book by John Dewey. Dewey sought to at once synthesize; criticize; and expand upon the democratic educational philosophies of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Plato. He saw Rousseau's philosophy as overemphasizing the individual and Plato's philosophy as overemphasizing the society in which the individual lived. Like George Herbert Mead and Lev Vygotsky; he viewed the mind and its formation as a communal process.

"Democracy and Education," a classic work by John Dewey, provides a cogent and landmark exposition of progressive educational theory. Democracy for Dewey was both a means and an end to the building of a good and just society. In this regard he sought to develop strategies and methods for training students through learning and discipline to become socially responsible adults and conscientious citizens concerned with the rights of others and the common good and to be equipped with the knowledge and technical skills to be productive members of society in the context of our modern industrial world. In "Democracy and Education" Dewey sought to at once synthesize, criticize, and expand upon the democratic (or proto-democratic) educational philosophies of Rousseau and Plato. He saw Rousseau's philosophy as overemphasizing the individual and Plato's philosophy as overemphasizing the society in which the individual lived. For Dewey, this distinction was by and large a false one; like Vygotsky, he viewed the mind and its formation as a communal process. Thus the individual is only a meaningful concept when regarded as an inextricable part of his or her society, and the society has no meaning apart from its realization in the lives of its individual members. Dewey's educational theories, as explained in "Democracy and Education," have enjoyed a broad popularity during his lifetime and after. Today Dewey is regarded a giant of both modern educational theory and progressive humanitarian thought, one of the great Americans of the last century of which all people of good will can be proud.