John Dewey
American philosopher, psychologist and education reformer (1859–1952); a founder of pragmatism.
At a glance
Main ideas
Democracy as an ethical ideal, School as a social institution, The child and the curriculum …
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Democracy and Education, Human Nature and Conduct, Experience and Nature …
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Democracy and Education, Jane Addams and Randolph Bourne
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- Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, among the most prominent American scholars of the early 20th century.
- His overriding theme was democracy, in politics, education and communication.
- He was a central figure of pragmatism and a founder of functional psychology.
- At the University of Chicago he founded the Laboratory Schools to test his ideas on teaching, and he taught philosophy at Columbia's Teachers College from 1904 to 1930.
Why it matters
- He was a major voice of progressive education; methods such as problem-based learning draw on his idea of learning through active inquiry.
Key facts
- Born
- 20 Oct 1859, Burlington, Vermont1
- Died
- 1 Jun 1952, New York City, of pneumonia1
- Education
- University of Vermont (1879); PhD, Johns Hopkins University (1884)1
- Career
- University of Michigan; University of Chicago from 1894 to 1904; Teachers College, Columbia University, from 1904 to 19301
- Presidencies
- American Psychological Association (1899); American Philosophical Association (1905)1
- Founder
- University of Chicago Laboratory Schools; one of the founders of The New School1
- China
- Lectured there from 1919 to 1921, giving nearly 200 lectures in 11 provinces1
- Dewey Commission
- Directed it in Mexico in 1937; it cleared Leon Trotsky of Stalin's charges1
- Output
- More than 700 articles in 140 journals and about 40 books1
Main ideas
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Democracy as an ethical ideal1
Full democracy needs not only the vote but a fully formed public opinion, built by communication among citizens, experts and politicians.
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School as a social institution1
Learning is social and interactive, and the school is a place through which social reform can and should happen.
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The child and the curriculum1
Teaching should balance the subject matter with the student's own interests and experience, leaning on neither alone.
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Reflective thinking1
In How We Think he describes careful consideration of any belief in light of its grounds and its consequences.
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Instrumentalism1
His name for his version of pragmatism, which tests ideas by their consequences.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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His work on progressive education.
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Human Nature and Conduct1
The function of habit in human behavior.
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Experience and Nature1
His most "metaphysical" statement.
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The Public and its Problems1
A defense of democracy, answering Walter Lippmann's The Phantom Public.
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Art as Experience1
His major work on aesthetics.
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Experience and Education1
Connections
Links
Sources
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