Evaluation of Principles
and Practices
Arielle Schoen
Principle of Growth
Approach of those guiding experiment was biological and
functional—growth is main characteristic of life at all levels
Study of development of early infancy was the key to finding
out this principle
Mr. Dewey’s three factors of rhythmical, unified labor:
Sensory-stimulus, central connection/idea, and muscular
response
These ideas function in a circuit to maintain, reinforce, and
transform the act
Principle of Growth
Of the three factors, idea links the sensory-stimuli with
motor-response
Idea is the meaning of an act
Habits are then built out of many acts
Intelligence can control the original impulse, interpret
sensory-stimuli, reinforce or transform, and direct a
motor-response into an intelligent action
Principle of Growth
Every individual acts to reach a desired end
Every act involves a choice—a preference for one
result of the action rather than another
Choice is made either on imitation and obedience to
tradition or on individual preference to consequences
Conflict of impulsive tendencies is also state of
emotional disturbance
Principle of Growth
Mr. Dewey’s theory: when cooperative action is not
achieved by thought and will, the deed represents
whichever self has proved stronger and is not a
complete act representing one’s whole self.
Paragraph p. 417
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY4etXWYS84
Conditions Necessary to Growth in
the Formative Period
Two psychological assumptions in The Dewey School’s
theory and guiding practices that are different from
traditional schools :
1) needs, powers, and interests of growing children are
unlike that of maturity
2) but children utilize same general conditions as adult
in moral/intellectual development
Conditions Necessary to Growth in
the Formative Period
Children need freedom to experiment and investigate
Make many contacts with people and things to deepen
range of knowledge and experience
However, ability to think, act intelligently, and utilize
self-control are not on adult level
Interests lie primarily in activities—like to observe
through senses and muscular effort
Conditions Necessary to Growth in
the Formative Period
Child passes through stages of growth
Both children and adults solve problems by
1) selecting relevant materials and choosing methods
2) adapting these materials
3) by all experimenting and testing that accompanies
effort
Growing Consciousness of
Relation of Means to End
Dewey School stages of growth:
Early Childhood is impulsive
Resulting from trial and error plus experimentation
process, child begins to stop and think about actions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYs4KS_djg
Scientific Approach to
Education
In education there is no need for consideration of
values
Three basic ideas:
1) Only way to use science is to apply it something
already existing
2) Various processes and functions of education can be
separated from one another
3) Possibility to isolate and rate mental ability by certain
tests and measurements
Competition Vs. Cooperation
in Education
Schools prepare children for a competitive world
In public schools, children work primarily by themselves
and are taught to compete with their peers
Dewey School does opposite—places children in a
social setting
Relation of the Dewey School to
Present Progressive Schools
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J16U7Cn2kbQ
Which do you find better—American traditional schools
or the Dewey School?
How can we as future educators implement the Dewey
School’s foundations in our on classrooms?
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