I was very surprised to see that John Dewey wrote My Pedagogic Creed over a century ago. Many of his thoughts are very much in line with many of my own opinions about the current state of education. For example, I was taken aback by his emphasis on students social interests as "the basis of concentration, or correlation, in all his training or growth." This is because I do not see much of these ideas within school curriculum and personally believe that a mindset like Dewey's is essential to student learning. This is very intriguing for one would think that this simple idea would be implemented in our schools after all of these years. Alas, this is not the case. The exact pedagogy that Dewey chastised is still in place and student social interests are more separated from school subject matters than they ever have been; Art, language, physical activity classes, and other extra curriculars have been cut from schools and teachers are teaching content in order to meet government standards instead of the needs of the student for example. Integration of these current core subjects with student social activity and interests could be a compromise.
Overall Deweys beliefs in this section gave me conflicting views on the use of technology in the classroom. On the one hand technology takes away from social experiences, however, technology is one of the main ways in which young people engage in social activities and is of interest to them. I wonder what Dewey would think of technology in terms of his ideas on science. I think Dewey would see technology as having "value because it gives the ability to interpret and control the experience already had." In other words, technology as a means to enhance experience would ultimately be effective pedagogy.
John Dewey had ideas and beliefs that I would hope many in the field of education would have today, for they outline some ways to transform education in a way that not only promotes social justice, but the human experience for all. I hope to implement some of his ideas in my classroom by connecting my content area to student interests, using these student interests (including technology) to enhance their learning, and using experience as a means for education as well.
I would have to agree with you on the importance of a social aspect to school for students. Though it is not in history or math textbooks students need social learning. Without a social aspect in school it becomes much more boring and not engaging for students. As teachers we need to embrace the social aspect of school and help students to grow socially in a positive way. After all, when they leave school they will have to know how to interact with people in the world in a way that benefits them and the person they are interacting with.
ReplyDeleteMiss D! You raise some really interesting points in this post. I too was shocked to see how eatable this century old text is to our current pedagogy as well. I can certainly sympathize with your concerns that technology could impede on the social aspect of learning that Dewey asserts as being so essential to the education of our little youngsters, however, I can also see him arguing that it is an essential part of the education because it is an essential part of the world in which we live. Good luck on reaching your goals, my friend!
ReplyDeleteCaitlin, first happy birthday. Second, awesome post. Dewey's points and assertions totally transcend time and are very relative to today's educational system. I agree with you in that many of Dewey's points are essential and important and they should be incorporated in educational ideology and as Elliot mentioned just the world in general. I feel that the confliction you have with Dewey's points and technology were very insightful and I too agree that a confliction can definitely arise when you observe the social impacts of technology and its lack thereof.
ReplyDeleteI to was surprised that Dewey wrote this a century ago seeing that many of his topics relate to education today. I also believe that the usage of technology can complicate things when dealing with socialization. Technology today has revamped the way children look at socializing, much of socializing consists of interaction through texting, internet and gaming which in my opinion is sad. I believe that technology today has definitely affected those raised in the generations before us. I feel priviledged to of grown up playing outside everyday and not thinking about cell phones until the age of like 14. Today, two year olds know how to navigate an iPad, I believe Dewey woud support technology as influential but I also believe he would think technology as being more problematic than influential.
ReplyDeleteBecky