A work in progress edited by
Daniel Schugurensky
Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology,
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
As part of the progressive education movement, particularly due to the
pedagogical ideas of John Dewey, a five-year program was initiated to replace
7,000 stationary desks. A sample of three cities (Denver, Washington and New
York) showed that most school desks were bolted to the floor, discouraging
student movement.
Although progressive education was in full swing, Dewey was concerned that the
actual practices of progressive teachers were distorting the original
philosophy behind it. On July 9, 1930, Dewey published in the New Republic an
essay entitled 'How much freedom in new schools?', in which he expressed
concern that the daily practices of progressive educators were violating the
basic principles of progressive education, and warned that a backlash against
progressive education would soon take place if such trend continued. In this
essay, which was his contribution to a symposium organized to evaluate
progressive schools during the 1920s, Dewey criticized the interpretation and
implementation of progressive education principles by principals and teachers
in many progressive schools. He argued that many educators were too eager to
avoid the formalism and regimentation of traditional schools. As a result, the
imposition of adult interests to the child and teacher's authoritarianism fell
into the opposite extreme. Teachers were becoming mere chaperones or
custodians, confusing freedom with anarchy, and allowing children to decide
their curriculum content based on their immature and passing interests. Dewey
contended that in many school avoidance of adult imposition had become 'a
veritable phobia', and maintained that those educators did not understand the
laws of growth and learning, and their application to the school work.
Sources:
Bullert, Gary (1983). The Politics of John Dewey. New York: Prometheus Books.
Dykhuizen, George (1973). The Life and Mind of John Dewey. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Geiger, George, R. (1958). John Dewey in Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press.
DS
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