John Dewey said it all!

Welcome!

Yes, it is true, I’m old news:  John Dewey addressed the tenets behind the classroom practice I am advocating for here.  Emotional security, the idea of teaching and learning as communication, the idea of exchange between teacher and learner rather than the “sage” to “sponge” pattern.  In Dewey’s mind this associative reflecting and communicating were the underpinnings of Democracy.   It is uncanny as I discover (or rediscover?) this great thinker how many of his ideas are 100% aligned with my own.  He seems to be pro discussion and debate, pro rigorous thought and allowing all thought to be valued, he seems to be a true problem solver and considered problem solving itself a life purpose.  Later he dismisses much philosophical thought as being built on a false premise that separated “mind” from “reality”...they are inseparable to his thinking.  Reminds me of the time a physics teacher told me “color exists in the brain”… I thought to myself…. And what doesn’t exist in the brain?  Dewey discusses relevance - “the problems of men” versus “the problems of philosophers.”  In the end, social progress and Democracy seem to be the true concerns of John Dewey.  His educational philosophy, particularly his positing the importance of deep reflection, was an essential part of that larger view.

But hardly anyone I’ve asked of late can say with any certainty that they know of or understand his work.  Is my job to become a Dewey scholar and lecture?  Or is my job to do my own rigorous thinking and allow my students to do theirs… and to work at communicating - what is relevant and important in a two-way or ten-way or however many minds are in the room-way fashion?

 

Would John Dewey be proud of the classroom tone found in “Race to Nowhere” or would he be horrified, probably seeing the collapse of our Democracy unfold before his eyes.

The trick of the teacher is to keep the agile young minds developing their own points of view, curiosities and inquiries, while keeping roughly on task.  (Whole post on TASK later.)

There is a term I heard recently in education circles- “working knowledge.”  It is a tricky one because it requires the ability to apply knowledge to new and unique situations.  Rigorous reflection is an undeniable part of this process.  Rigorous reflection is also essential to developing communication skills.  “Say it in your own words.”  This could be a John Dewey mantra.  Is there time in the classroom for each student?  This depends on whether “saying it in your own words” is valued.  It depends on the comfort level of the teacher to be a “guide on the side.”

Rigorous thought, which requires freedom, emotional safety (respect) and tolerance, is the underpinning of meaning making. Without it we may as well be in a different kind of society all together.

Bless you John Dewey!  And bless the teachers who create opportunities in their classrooms that would make you proud.

Thanks for reading. -L 

More soon on carving out a more succinct definition of “Variables Thinking.”  And more soon on how reflective thought can actually look in a classroom....& why it is not only practical but also pragmatic.  ( I'm simmering too some posts on the radical subjectivity created by the info age and the www  which also speak to a need for more sharing especially amongst adolescents.)